What speaks louder?

Ms. Johnson had worked for Planned Parenthood for years, eventually becoming director of the clinic.  One day, while helping during an ultrasound-guided abortion, she witnessed the end of life.  Witnessing it with her own eyes was the day of her conversion.  She quit her job and joined the Coalition for Life.  It’s an amazing and emotional story.  But what struck me most was that the Coalition for Life had, for years, loved and prayed for her.  It was this love and these prayers that guided her eventual change of heart.  Had they been angry, violently standing up for what was right, she likely would have shut them out.  But their love in the face of her opposition was remarkable.  True charity.

Charity doesn’t mean you don’t stand up for what is right.  But we must be wise in the words we choose and the way we choose to say them.  Those Coalition for Life volunteers praying at the abortion clinic— just praying, not debating, or arguing, or accusing— spoke clearly.  They spoke not just opposition to abortion, but also love for all that walked through the clinic doors—love for the unborn child, women in crisis pregnancies, as well as and those that worked at the clinic.  This surely is what Christ was speaking of in his call to love and prayer.

So here is Christ’s challenge to us all:  Pray for those who persecute us.  Say I love you anyway and will be there if you need help.  Can we demonstrate the love of Christ in such a way that, in spite of opposition, our actions stop people in their tracks and make them wonder at our love?  What feeds this love, what motivates this love?  I have a feeling that this love will inspire more conversions of heart than anything else we can do.

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/charity-in-the-face-of-oposition

Forgiveness

Learn more about this sculpture at LifeSite News.

Good News from RTL

Right to Life of Michigan applauds the passage of legislation in the 
Michigan House of Representatives designed to prevent women from being 
coerced to have an abortion against their will. Passing with strong, 
bi-partisan votes of 72-37, the 5-bill package represents the most 
comprehensive abortion anti-coercion policy in the country.
The lead bill in the package, the Coercive Abortion Prevention Act (HB 
4799), creates criminal penalties for actions or threats of violence, 
financial pressure, withdrawing housing support or employment 
discrimination. Other bills in the package require that abortion 
clinics screen for coercion and domestic violence, and then provide 
appropriate referrals to facilitate an escape from the abusive 
situation. All abortion clinics also must post a sign informing women 
of their rights under this law.
Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing thanked 
legislators for their leadership in protecting vulnerable women. "We 
are grateful House representatives have stepped forward to offer women 
support and legal backing against this terrible form of coercion. No 
woman deserves to be forced into aborting her unborn child," Listing 
said.
As many as 64 percent of women who have abortions report feeling 
pressured. This pressure often rises to the level of coercion, as 
housing, university athletic scholarships, and other financial support 
are used as leverage to force women to have abortions. Further studies 
reveal that in an alarming number of cases, coercion escalates into 
physical violence.
House approval of the bills caps 6 years of work to enact this 
protection for pregnant women and a favorable reception of the bills 
is expected in the Michigan Senate.

Prayers answered

cue music... Our God is an awesome God. HE reigns from heaven above...

THIS NEWS JUST IN -

Eastern Avenue abortion clinic in Grand Rapids is now CLOSED FOR GOOD!!!!!

God has heard the prayers of his people. ALLELUIA!!!

Now we continue to pray for the conversion of the people's hearts who worked there to come to Jesus and that the Fulton Street clinic will close in the year to come also.

Keep praying, keep fasting, keep praising and working for LIFE!!

There's a party going on with all the angels and saints. Thank you, JESUS!

Christ has no body but yours; no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks compassion on this world; yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body. Christ has no body now but yours; no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

- St. Theresa of Avila

Spring Campaign

I have submitted my application to national for the campaign beginning Feb.22 and it has received special attention. We will be praying that Planned Parenthood will not be opening its mega-facility at 1625 Opdyke in Auburn Hills, on the border with Pontiac. If they succeed, it will be the largest facility of its kind in Michigan. They will have easy access to their two target demographics: impoverished women in Pontiac and co-eds on the campus of Oakland University.

I will be coordinating the vigil in my hometown remotely from my headquarters in Alpena. Pray that God will send me leadership who can stand in the trenches. If you know of anyone in north Oakland County with staunch pro-life values who could help with this campaign, please give them my email address.

I'm praying that the walls of Jericho never go UP, and I have been assured that God has already won the victory, for it says in today's Psalm for Vespers:

May the Lord hear your prayer in the day of tribulation,

  may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

May he send you help from his holy place;

  from Zion, may he extend his protection.

May he remember every one of your sacrifices

  and find merit in your burnt-offerings.

May he deal with you as your heart desires

  and bring all your plans to fulfilment.

We will rejoice in your salvation,

  we will raise our banners in the name of God;

  may the Lord grant all your prayers.

Now I know that the Lord keeps his anointed one safe:

  in his sanctuary in heaven he hears his prayer,

  and lends the support of his strong right hand.

Some put their faith in chariots

  and some in horses,

  but we invoked the name of the Lord our God.

They stumbled and fell,

  but we rose and we stand upright.

Lord, keep the king safe,

  and hear our prayer whenever we call upon you.

Sorrowful day for Auburn Hills

My hometown is about to be washed in the blood of innocents. Please pray for the appeals process:

Press Release

January 10, 2012

Citizens for a Pro-Life Society

www.prolifesociety.com    248 444-9096

 

Judge Gives Planned Parenthood Green Light to Open Abortion Facility Citizens for a Pro-Life Society Vows Continued Opposition

On Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Oakland County Judge James Alexander, in a controversial decision, ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan’s interpretation of a deed restriction held by the Comfort Inn Suites essentially giving the abortion provider the green light to open an clinic in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The court’s ruling comes after a 14 month-long battle that pitted the abortion provider against Citizens for a Pro-life Society and other pro-life groups who worked to keep the Planned Parenthood building at 1625 N. Opdyke Road abortion free. In December 2010 Planned Parenthood purchased the Opdyke Road property that sits directly in front of a Comfort Inn Suites hotel. The hotel owners, in an attempt to prevent the clinic from opening in their front yard, threatened to enforce its 12 year-old deed restriction that limits the use of the Opdyke property to retail store, restaurant or office.

Planned Parenthood sued the hotel owners over the interpretation of the deed restriction language. Citizens for a Pro-Life Society spear-headed opposition to the opening of the clinic and for over a year the Planned Parenthood property has stood empty and silent while parties on both sides of this dispute battled the case in court—a case abortion opponents have been watching closely. See prolifesociety.com

Monica Migliorino Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society states: "We are filled with great sorrow and disappointment today. Judge Alexander’s ruling will lead to the killing of innocent human life when Planned Parenthood opens the doors of this clinic. We worked hard to stop the spread of abortion's injustice and hoped to spare Auburn Hills this place of death, lies and sorrow. We are sorry that the hotels in the direct vicinity of the Planned Parenthood building may have to share their business environment with the sordid practice of abortion. I know that the Comfort Inn hotel will appeal this case. And we remain undaunted. We will continue to fight the opening of this death center—and be a voice for those innocent unborn who cannot speak for themselves."

 

A Short History of this Case:

April 27, 2009:  Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan CEO Lori Lamerand announces in Detroit News that PPMSM plans to open an abortion facility in Oakland County.  

 

November 2010:  Citizens for a Pro-life Society discovers that PPMSM purchased building at 1625 N. Opdyke Road in Auburn Hills, MI.

 

December 2010:  CPLS launches protest against the establishment of the PPMSM abortion clinic in Auburn Hills beginning with 200 Oakland County residents jamming Auburn Hills City Council meeting Dec. 7, 2010. 

 

With help from Dave Theisen of Real Estate for Life, CPLS talks to all business owners in close proximity to the PPMSM Opdyke Road property  and discovers that the Comfort Inn Suites holds a deed restriction on the building purchased by Planned Parenthood. 

 

CPLS learns that PPMSM attorneys at Dykema Gossett sent a letter to the Comfort Inn Suites hotel owners notifying them that they represent a possible purchaser who may want to open a “medical office.”  Dykema Gossett did not disclose that their client was Planned Parenthood and that it  intended to open a surgical treatment center—i.e. an abortion clinic.

 

PPMSM are notified that the Comfort Inn Suites will enforce their deed restriction.

 

PPMSM files lawsuit against the Comfort Inn Suites.

 

In the meantime numerous rallies, demonstrations and prayer vigils organized by Citizens for a Pro-Life Society joined by Central Oakland Right to Life,  Michigan LifeSpan, and several local-area churches take place at the Opdyke Road property.  The most recent CPLS demonstration took place Saturday, January 7, 2012.

 

PPMSM case is assigned to Oakland County Judge James Alexander. The first hearing takes place Sept. 7, 2011 and judge rules for a 60 day extension for discovery.

 

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 court decision to decide future of the Planned Parenthood clinic. Whatever decision is made by Judge Alexander, it is expected that his ruling will be appealed.

 

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Oakland County Judge James Alexander rules against the Comfort Inn hotel’s deed restriction, thus permitting Planned Parenthood to open an Auburn Hills, MI. abortion center.

 

For more information contact: 

Monica Migliorino Miller    248 444-9096     
Attorney James Carey for Comfort Inn Suites  248 605-1103
Barb Yagley—Central Oakland Right to Life  248 703-3577           
Attorney Rebecca Kiessling  248 495-2925
Dave Theisen—Real Estate for Life    248 431-1440

Year in Review

from Students for Life of America

January 2011: A youth organization lead by a former SFLA intern, Lila Rose, took their undercover work exposing Planned Parenthood a step further, releasing 7 videos of Planned Parenthood facilities, some that even receive federal taxpayer funding, aiding actors who were posing as human sex traffickers.

February 2011: The pro-life movement united in the “Expose Planned Parenthood” campaign, calling on Congress to de-fund Planned Parenthood of all taxpayer dollars. On Valentines’ Day, we took a stand and prayed and rallied in-front of hundreds of Planned Parenthood facilities. Then, for the first time in our nation’s history, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to federally de-fund Planned Parenthood. The vote caused so much turmoil in Washington, that the government almost shut down in March as the Senate refused to allow a vote on the issue. Instead of waiting for the federal government to act, numerous states like Indiana, New Hampshire, Texas, and Ohio have now gone on to de-fund Planned Parenthood facilities within their borders.

May 2011: The Gallup organization released a poll showing that for the first-time since they began polling on abortion, America is now pro-life.

August 2011: The Guttmacher Institute reported for the first 6 months of 2011, states enacted a record number of pro-life laws, more than 80, more than triple the 23 enacted in 2010. States like Nebraska, Idaho, and Ohio are three who have already enacted fetal pain laws that protect preborn children from abortion after 20 weeks. Arizona and Virginia have enacted a law to regulate abortion facilities, forcing them to comply with the same set of medical standards that other types of medical facilities must follow. And others like South Carolina and Texas passed ultrasound laws that require abortionists to mothers the opportunity to see her preborn child. All of these laws will reduce abortions, and they enjoy broad support with more than 60% of Americans supporting these laws.

September 2011: For the first timein it’s history, the U.S. House of Representatives launched a formal investigation into Planned Parenthood’s practices.

October 2011: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protect Life Act, a bill voicing the will of the people not to fund any abortions in Obamacare whatsoever.

The innocent still shed their blood

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, all those young boys in and around Bethlehem, two and under, whom Herod had massacred in order to kill Jesus Christ. 

Today we honor their sacrifice. And through our honoring of them, and worship of God, we seek to atone for the many sins against human life, beginning with abortion, and including other forms of murder, and euthanasia, disregard for the safety and dignity of others, mistreatment and indifference to the plight of others, and all other sins against life.

Where does human cruelty come from? Surely it grows in us by stages, for most of us are not born with murderous fear of others. It is “bequeathed” to us by others, and we grow it in our heart. Hatred, rooted in fear, is handed on down through the generations, and the murderous inherit a thinking that there are some who are not worthy of their respect and love. Perhaps they are a threat, perhaps their relatives did something in the past. Perhaps they may do something in the future. Herod was clearly a fearful man, so fearful that he was unmoved by the cries of wailing parents, or of suffering infants. His heart had grow cruel through repeated insensitivity inflicted on others, due to raging and irrational fear.

An Old Latin Hymn says, Crudelis Herodes, Deum Regem venire quid times? Non eripit mortalia, Qui regna dat caelestia (Cruel Herod what do you fear in the King and God to come? He seizes not earthly things who gives heavenly kingdoms). But in the end it IS his fear that drives him.

We know well that Holy Innocents continue to be killed in our world through abortion. And here too, it is most often fear that drives the killing. How will the baby be afforded?! What changes will this baby bring that I cannot take? Perhaps the prenatal tests show a possible defect. I cannot deal with this! What if my parents know that I am pregnant? How will this pregnancy affect my career?! What if my father finds out I got my girl-friend pregnant!? And society says, What of poverty? What of overpopulation? What of deformity? How can we collectively handle all this?

And thus fear drives the current bloodshed. Fear makes us focus on our self, such that we think too little of what we do to others. Abortion thus becomes an “abstraction,” an “issue” that is debated, a “choice.” Abortion, to many, is anything but real. The reality of fetal pain is out of sight and thus less real than the fear. What abortion is doing to our world, that too is less real than the fear. It is the fear that is real, and the fear eclipses everything else. And fear desensitizes, and thus the killing of the innocent becomes plausible, a woman’s “choice,” reproductive “freedom.”

The only solution to fear is trust, faith in God. God alone can set us free from the awful fears that currently drive abortion. We in the Church must be realistic about the fears that many face before the mystery of new life and we must provide reasons for hope and trust. Fear is a cruel task-master and it drives us to do some pretty awful things.

One of the most common lines in the New Testament is “Do not be afraid.” Hope, trust and Faith are important to us on this feast of the Holy Innocents.

There is also this dangerous thought on this Holy Feast.

I’ll explain what I mean by “dangerous” in a moment. But for now consider some biblical facts with me.

1. When God was drawing close to liberating his chosen people from slavery in Egypt there occurred the order to murder of the all the baby boys among the Hebrews. It is almost as though Satan sensed that God was up to something good, and Satan raged, through Pharaoh, in murderous anger driven by fear. Thankfully the actual numbers were reduced since the Egyptian midwives engaged in civil disobedience, refusing to allow the practice to continue.
2. At the time of Jesus, when God was preparing to liberate his people from sin, there also occurred the murder of innocent baby boys. Here too, it is almost as though the Devil sensed that God was up to something good and, he once again raged, this time through Herod, in murderous anger driven by fear. Thankfully too this infanticide also ended at some point.
3. Notice the pattern. When God prepared a great liberation, the Devil, raging in fear, went after the babies. In our time, on a scale as never before, the Devil is going after our babies in murderous anger driven by fear. What is he afraid of? Is God planning something big in the near future? Is there a great liberation at hand? Is there a great advancement of evangelization and conversion in the offing? We can only speculate. But patterns are patterns and Scripture has a way of repeating its patterns and echoing down through the centuries.

Why is this a dangerous reflection? Because I want to make it clear that abortion, the killing of the innocents in our age, is NOT, and never can be, considered something good, or a “positive sign.” Such a speculation might cause some to wrongly conclude that abortion is part of God’s plan or something we should see “positively.” We should not. It must be fought. It is of Satan, it is rooted in fear.

End the Massacre And the Glory follows – I want to conclude by reminding you that the great liberation that followed the past infanticides did not occur until AFTER those murderous rages were stopped. Hence, to follow the pattern established in Scripture, and to see a potentially great and liberating act of God, we must first see an end to the slaughter. Work and pray to end abortion. May the Holy Innocents pray for us!

read the rest of this reflection here.

ArtPeace 2012 coming soon!

To all who participated or will be participating in the ArtPeace Project:


After displaying the ArtPeace Project since Oct 4, 2011 in 6 storefront windows on Fulton Ave, in Grand Rapids, the ArtPeace Project has been taken down.


pictures and videos are on the web
www.facebook.com/40daysGR
www.artsignup.weebly.com


The K of C will be auctioning off the art very soon with the proceeds to go to charity.
If you have any art pieces to submit (or wood to return) please do so soon! Email or call.


Some that I have spoken to plan to participate in this fund-raising, with no renumeration, however, if you do want a percentage, could you let us know? Please choose 10%, 30% or 50%. Which leads me to the next question, can you send a short paragraph about your art piece with your name, city, email, tel. Some of you are professional artists, would you please tell us what to start the pricing at? Also, if you need more than a paragraph to describe your art, please take as much as you need. TEACHERS: Please tell your students we need this. If we do not hear from you, we will wing it.



We are planning for ArtPeace 2012, and are discussing an upright square "temple" with the Heart Sail in the middle, to give the look and feel of Solomon's Temple with the Heart Sail being the "holy of holies" inside the square enclosure. Displaying the art vertically is definitely better. We will need about 5000 art pieces, and will be needing a venue, structure design and the materials to make the structure, which we will handle. We plan to obtain more cedar wood tiles. Please participate again!


Please share any ideas. Please feel free to comment, send suggestions, etc.


Please feel free to call/text me anytime 980-6031


Patrick Keeley
Publicity Coordinator, Fall Campaign 2011
Grand Rapids 40 Days for Life
www.40daysforlife.com/grandrapids/
www.artsignup.weebly.com

Also, Member K of C #7761, life events coordinator for the ArtPeace Project