National news

Our local ArtPeace Project caught the attention of Sean Carney, the national director of 40DFL. You can read his post on the national blog by clicking on this link.

Here is a photo of one portion of the project, made by Grand Rapids schoolchildren to support our local campaign of fasting & prayer.

We are so blessed that Patrick Keeley has made it his mission to get this project going. you can learn more about the ArtPeace Project by following this link. It will be submitted to ArtPrize next year, and that will allow even more people to learn about our efforts to pray & fast for an end to abortion at 320 Fulton.

Remember to check it out on Facebook!

Human Life is Sacred

Fr. Shenan, the president of Human Life International, has this beautiful wisdom to share with all of us. I have pasted it here in full so that you may know how many people around the world are standing with us when we stand at 320 Fulton:

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?"

Blessed Teresa understood well the crisis facing America and every nation that freely embraces the killing of the most innocent and vulnerable among us. She boldly and courageously challenged all of us, from the powerful to the lowly, to make atonement before the Heavenly Father and mend this festering wound. Her remedy was love and acceptance for every child regardless of the circumstance in which he was conceived. No one child should be marked as "unwanted or undeserving" of life. Every life is precious and sacred! 

Only true love for God and neighbor could pierce through the most hardened of hearts. Consider Blessed Teresa's reflection from the 1997 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington:

How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.

We are often uncertain of what we can do to change the grappling hold of evil in this world. Promoters of the Culture of Death would have us believe that we are helpless in changing the current momentum, but this is a blatant lie. We are not alone. Jesus is with us! Jesus, the one Who conquered death, removes our fear. As Saint Paul in his Second Letter to Corinthians beautifully encourages us:

But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

Recognizing our unity and strength in Christ, we step forward to join the fight. We realize the fight is not fought only upon the temporal plains of this world, in courtrooms, legislative halls, branches of government or town squares; but also, and perhaps primarily, in the hearts of God's people. It comes to us to cooperate with Our Lord, who is always offering us a true renewal of our hearts, and asking us to help him reach the hearts of others: "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26).

The darkness of the Culture of Death must be confronted with the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We cannot win this battle merely with our own gifts and efforts; but we absolutely can win with the help of the One who is Freedom, Truth, Light and Life.

Wednesday, September 28, marked the beginning of the Fall 2011 40 Days for Life Campaign. 40 Days' mission is to draw attention to the evil of abortion, and to unite the Body of Christ while invoking God's power through prayer, fasting and peaceful vigil. Thousands of pro-lifers throughout the world are wedded through prayer as they witness the power of Love - one "drop" at a time.

Mother Teresa gave us that powerful image in her famous quote:

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. I do not agree with the big way of doing things.

One drop of love joined with other drops can change the world. The fruit of 40 Days for Life has become more evident with each passing year and its powerful influence is breaking through the hardened barriers promoted by the Culture of Death.

I am asking you to join me in this great crusade, and to encourage others to join us. I need your help, your brothers and sisters praying in front of abortion clinics need your help, and most importantly, innocent babies in the womb need your help. Please locate a 40 Days Campaign in your area and actively participate.

Get involved. Stand with me and your brothers and sisters. This peaceful activism, with a spirit of repentance at its core, seeks the Almighty's favor in transforming the hearts and minds of His people, especially those supporting the Culture of Death.

While we are praying for the unborn, and for conversion of those who facilitate or perpetrate the horror of abortion, let's also remember each other, and pray for joy, strength and perseverance as we keep up the fight for life.

"I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you, praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you because of your partnership for the Gospel... I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:3-6).

  

Sincerely yours in Christ,  

  

Father Shenan J. Boquet
President, Human Life International

"Life is the first good received from God and is fundamental to all others; to guarantee the right to life for all and in an equal manner for all is the duty upon which the future of humanity depends" Pope Benedict XVI

Archangels

Today is the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.

Michael means "Who is like God?"

Raphael means Medicine of God.

Gabriel means Strength of God.

Can you think of anyone better to have on your side while praying for an end to abortion? As we ask God to bring healing, we can know that Raphael is at our side. As we ask God to help us persevere, we have Gabriel at our side. As we pray for victory, we know that Michael is winning the battle as recorded in the Book of Revelation:

⁷ Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

May God's holy angels heal your heart, bring you strength, and teach all of us that nobody is like God! To God be all glory, laud, and honor~

News from the Front

Our God is so good! Today, in the first hour that the abortion clinic
was open after 40 DFL began at midnight, here is what happened to one
of our Core Team members....
"I was at the abortion clinic at 8 am this morning and soon after I
arrived, a girl around 20 yrs old arrived with her mom.
They were in the clinic for close to 1 1/2 hrs. when they came out and
went to their separate cars. The mother's car was parked by the wall
and Mary, the sidewalk counselor, again asked if there was any help
she could offer. The mother said she wasn't going through with the
abortion. The young woman was parked across the lot and overheard the
conversation and shouted that she wasn't going to have the
abortion. Mary offered the woman a baby gift bag and she
walked across the parking lot to receive it!"
We will keep you updated of our stories 'on the sidewalk' as the
campaign progresses.

Let it begin! Let it begin!

Today we begin our fall 40 Days for Life campaign, with peaceful vigil and prayerful fasting until November 6.

Today we join over 300 cities around the world in praying for an end to abortion.

Today we claim 320 Fulton for Christ, asking that His healing and light and truth may prevail here, in the hearts of those who seek to end human life, in the budding hearts of these children, in the hearts of those gathered to pray on their behalf.

Peace be with you these forty days~

Praying for those we can't see

Fabi at VirtuousPla.net writes about something all of us in 40DFL have experienced when praying on the sidewalk:

On Being a (Spiritual) Friend

The foundation of friendship is secret. It is not boastful, but quiet. It does not seek compensation, but pours out love as readily as a mother gives her child milk. I’m speaking of prayer and fasting. Both of which Jesus asked us to do without anybody noticing.

Few things show more profound love for another human being than time taken out of the day to pray for them. Heaven is listening but your friend is not and so there will be no “Thank you” or embrace from him or her. In this way you are strengthening your bond with another person and you are striving for a selfless love.

To take it a step further befriend your friend’s guardian angel. In this way the things you cannot do the angel will do for you.

Fasting is something that is relatively new to me. I usually just feel grumpy when I set my expectations too high, but offering up even the smallest sacrifices of your day for a good friend is a pain in the devil’s side. If you could actually see your friend’s spiritual battles in all their horror and magnificence you’d be throwing some pretty [bad] blows, making demons flee. It is exhilarating to think of this but also daunting. I think of these things and I don’t know if I truly love my friends this much, to sacrifice my comforts for the love of them. So when I do challenge myself I start small, because I am a spoiled child. I remind myself it is better to start small than not to start at all. Better to begin a squire then never be out on the battlefield defending not only myself, but those I love from evil.

In the eyes of the world keeping the foundation of friendship rich is a thankless job. Prayer and fasting are so hard to grasp for our modern go get ‘em minds. We want results and fun or nothing at all. But a true spirit of friendship is so much deeper than even I am able to grasp at this moment. It goes beyond the vain superficialities that we sometimes think make up our relationships.

If prayer and fasting is all you can do that is a great thing. Sometimes it is not practical, wise or mutually edifying to be in physical contact with a friend, but what can the devil do with your eyes lifted up to heaven and your hungry body ready to be fed by God?

God grant us all the grace to love with pure hearts and be living sacrifices for those we love, so that in the end we might be called True Friends.

Wish I was there

I'll be fasting in solidarity with all of you beautiful people from my home in Alpena, where I moved at the end of last year's vigil.

At first I was sad to leave Grand Rapids. There isn't a 40 Days campaign in Alpena because there are no abortion clinics in that whole county. Which is a very good thing! yet, it left me twiddling my thumbs: how shall I show my commitment to children in the womb and the pro-life cause?

God didn't leave me asking that question for long. I was hired by the Alpena Child Abuse/Neglect Team as a Coordinator. We are the local council of the Children's Trust Fund, supporting programs in our county that work towards the prevention of child abuse/neglect. As coordinator, I take minutes at meetings and submit reports to the state detailing our use of their money. One program we support directly is the Alpena Baby Pantry. I am now a co-coordinator of the pantry, where parents can receive free diapers, wipes, formula and browse our clothing racks for all the infant clothing they could possibly need.

We respect the dignity of the parents in allowing them to choose what they like. We meet a physical need that will help support the parents, and parental support is one of the factors in preventing abuse.

God also blessed me with the opportunity to stay at home and show my pro-life commitment in raising my  daughter well.  She's now 20 months old, and soon to be a Big Sister in March. We are praying for our child in the womb as we continue to pray for all children in the womb.

I will be praying with you long-distance. I will depend upon all of you lovely people to be my hands and feet on the ground, braving the cold and taunts at 320 Fulton. God bless you abundantly!

Some advice

for the trepidacious:

What Jen Fulwiler Learned About Praying in Front of an Abortion Clinic

1. The pro-life movement is well organized.
2. Average people are getting involved in the pro-life cause.
3. Communities don’t want abortion facilities in their neighborhoods.
4. Pro-lifers care about the mothers just as much as they care about the babies.
5. Spiritual warfare is real.
6. Prayer works.

She discovered this during her community's 40Days for Life campaign.

You can join us in prayer outside 320 Fulton. You have the option, of course, to pray at home in the safety of your living room; I will be fasting in solidarity with you all the way up in Alpena.

But nothing can really replace the experience of standing there on the sidewalk, fully aware of the Lord's presence and the power of the heavenly host at your side, completely naked in your commitment to the pro-life cause...

...which is the lives of innocent fellow human beings and the persons who hold these lives in their hands. 

We have liftoff!

I was providentially blessed to be able to attend the kickoff rally at Loosemore Auditorium today on the campus of GVSU.

Amy Oatley & Amy Launiere were the keynote speakers, and they both provided personal testimony that illustrates the ripple effects that take place when you stand at 320 Fulton to pray for an end to abortion.

Very often when we stand there, it might feel initially like we're not really doing anything. In fact, Mary Flegel made it clear that we really don't want you to do anything but stand on the sidewalk and pray!

Don't park at Omega House, don't walk along the wall, don't hold signs, don't talk to the people going in, don't engage the protesters in conversation- simply pray & fast.

It might not seem like much, but in our peaceful, vigilant prayer we have all the power and effectiveness we need- because when we stand and pray, we stand with God, who is the only One who will conquer. Our signs won't conquer, our righteous arguments won't conquer- only God will conquer. Prayer conquers. Fasting conquers. It's the sidewalk counselors job to reach out to the women, and we needn't interfere with their job.

Our job is to fast, to stand, to pray. I dare you to tell God that's not enough.

Because what we learned at the rally is that peaceful vigil shuts down abortuaries, it causes abortionists to quit their job and join us in prayer, it causes women to choose life, it causes people's hearts to change. Abortion will end, and it will be God's victory. We'll be able to praise God knowing we did our part:

Fast. Stand. Pray.