A reflection from Bettie

Revelation 3:20 I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Lord, you have the power, the mercy and the justice that can convict any of us, if we would but open the door to you. We pray that these two abortionists [at 320 and on Eastern] will have ears to hear You knocking, and the will to let You come into their hearts. And may our hearts be humbled to receive You as the focus of our lives. That we let You burn away any chafe that keeps us from Your love and the love You have for those You have created in Your image. Help us to love as You love, with compassion and mercy, with acceptance and unconditionally. Help us to understand the hurt and misery that have brought both the women and the doctors to this point in their lives.

From Catholic Exchange: Chuck Colson, "Loving the Unlovely":

“Who can save a child from a burning house without taking the risk of being hurt by the flames?….Who can take away suffering without entering it?” --Henri Nouwen

You can't just show up with a few Scripture quotes and pep talks and make things all better. It takes enormous amounts of time, patience, and trust in God, and a willingness to invest oneself fully, in order to let Him do His greatest work through us.

Whether or not we get to see the results, this is the kind of approach through which God can turn the ugliest life into something beautiful.

Peaceful

St. Teresa of Avila, who wrote extensively about mystical union with Christ, penned this prayer, which was found posthumusly in the marginalia of her diaries:

Let nothing disturb you;
let nothing frighten you.
All things pass;
God is unchanging.
Patience obtains all.
Whoever has God
wants nothing else;
God alone suffices.

It's almost a mantra: "God alone suffices," or as St. Ignatius prayed, "Give me only your love and your grace, for that is sufficient for me."

Let's then consider the Lord's Prayer, pared down to its basic predicates: "Give us bread, forgive our sin, and Lead us."

In all these prayers, there is a sort of resignation of the will. An acquiescence. "Okay, God," we seem to say, "thy will be done."

Hence our total peace. It's liberating to simply give over to God, in whose hands we have all we could ever possibly want or need. It's calming to know that the Almighty has it covered, that we are forgiven.

We can forget that sometimes in our eagerness to bring about the Kingdom. We want to impress, we want to get 'x' amount of things crossed off our list before we die. We don't always behave as though God has held up His end of the bargain.Yet, remaining ever transcendent, ever immanent, God our Father is saying, "Just be with me, as I am with you. I love you!"

This gift of presence is all God really desires of us, what will sufice. Present presence. Peaceful presence. Present and full of peace. God's peace.

Lead us Lord, ever more deeply into your peace, a peace the world cannot give~

"Be thankful."

--Col 3:15b

[you really should read the whole chapter]

My mother celebrates six decades today, the day that was also my due date. Her mother chose life, and then my mother chose life. My wife is choosing life for her grandchild.

What else can I do but be thankful this day?

Abortion seems to stem most of all from a lack of gratitude. We are only here by the gratuity of God. All that has been provided for us, be it meagre or excessive, has been provided to meet the needs of all; thus it remains sufficient. To claim insufficiency is to render oneself poor, very spiritually poor. Yet a proclamation of gratitude yields such abundant blessings...

Nothing could be more empty of gratitude than abortion.

We are called to gratuity. To give freely, joyfully, excessively, without reservation. In this we will most resemble Christ, who is still giving daily- this very moment in fact. We are called to be gratuitous in our love of others, especially those who seek calumny against us.

I believe that we are doing this at 320. Ultimately, the staff there will not answer to us. But when we answer to God, we will be able to declare righteously that we loved every single person inside that building and prayed for each of them.  Let us be grateful for their life, and pray for the conversion of every heart towards the One who loves us all into being.

Happy Birthday, Mom. Thank you for loving me gratuitously.