I Set Before You Life and Death....

The forces of death in our culture become ever bolder. Who can see people like Andrew Cuomo and Ralph Northam and others of their ilk fight for the right to murder children up to and even after birth and not be horrified? And seeing so many echo their evil makes one think of the screaming mobs at the annual Nazi Nuremberg rallies. The victims of our modern culture of death’s satanic human sacrifice may be smaller, but their murders are no less horrifying.

Who Would You Rather Be at the Judgment - Nellie or Helen?

Two women died on Monday. One is a personal hero of mine, Nellie Gray, founder of the March for Life and untiring warrior for babies in the womb. The other, much more famous and an icon of feminism, was Helen Gurley Brown (hat tip to Dymphna). Brown, former editor of Cosmopolitan (one of the most offensive magazines on the checkout rack), wrote Sex and the Single Girl in 1962. An architect of the sexual revolution, she helped "liberate" young women from their morals and urged them to be as sexually promiscuous as men and equally cavalier about murdering their unplanned offspring. Here are the spiritual daughters of Nellie and Helen.

NELLIE"S LEGACY OF LIFE AND LOVE:

HELEN'S LEGACY OF DEATH AND LUST:

Questions for the day: Who would you have rather been on Monday, Nellie or Helen? What do you think Jesus said to the two women at the personal judgment?

Please pray for both of these women. I have no doubt that Nellie spent her entire life interceding for the champions of death. Perhaps her intercession brought Helen to final repentance. Father, forgive the cheerleaders of murder and immorality, they know not what they do!

Gotta love that pro-life flash mob! Honoring Joe Scheidler aka Luke Skywalker!

Apparently when the kids heard that the pro-aborts were going to picket the dinner honoring Joe Scheidler, the Chicago pro-life flash mob decided to strike again. Blaring Star Wars music and carrying their signature yellow balloons blazoned with "LIFE" about 100 young people showed up to cheer and spread out the red carpet for Joe. They put the meager pro-abort crowd to shame as well as stealing their negative thunder and transforming it into a passionate parade of LIFE! Which group would you rather be with? The descendents of the ruthless King Edward who killed all in his path or the modern day Bravehearts! Thank you, Lord, for these survivors of our abortion culture whose love for life is so contagious.  See the complete story here...

Baby Joseph Gets Tracheotomy and Will Be Going Home Soon

According to Cardinal Glennon Hospital, Baby Joseph received a tracheotomy today and is doing well. The baby will stay in the pediatric intensive care unit for 7-10 days then be transferred to another pediatric hospital temporarily before returning to Windsor where the family hopes to have a few more months together with their little son. Priests for Life is paying for the baby's medical care. Read more here...

The Butterfly Circus

You will love this short film featuring Eduardo Verástegui and the man with no limbs Nick Vujicic. Compare the heroes of this short film with the anti-heroes of Twilight. Eduardo Verastegui and Nick Vujicic are men of God who witness to the wonder of life and service of others. If you haven't heard Eduardo's conversion story, it's amazing -- also his testimony of counseling outside abortion mills. Skip the soulless vampires and focus on the real deal! If you haven't seen Eduardo's film, Bella, it's one of the most powerful films I've ever seen about offering real hope to women in crisis. Butterfly Circus is filled with the message of hope and transformation. It's worth the 20 minute investment and what a film to share with children! I'm buying it for all my kids for Christmas (Shh...don't tell.)  Enjoy!

Andrea Bocelli: He's not just against abortion, he's pro-life!

I recently blogged about singer Andrea Bocelli's personal testimony against abortion. Bocelli says he's amazed at the impact his video has had since he recorded it over a year ago. He told an Italian newspaper, “Because of my personal convictions as a devout Catholic, I am not only fighting against something, I am fighting for something - and I am for life.” (Read more here.... )

It used to be that celebrities only paraded anti-life convictions, but more and more frequently well-known men and women are sharing the pro-life message. Why wouldn't they when the only reason they're here is because their moms refused to take the advice of doctors and kill them. Thank God for the Adrea Bocellis and Tim Tebows of this world. They are helping to change hearts. Pray for them and for their mothers who loved them enough to say no to the death peddlars!

The video of Bocelli below stirs my heart. (For the English translation go here, but listen to it first in Italian.)"Miserere, misero me." Translation: Have mercy, wretched me. This song reminds me of Francis Thompson's famous poem, The Hound of Heaven. All of us on this earth are wretched, lost in the world and often running away from God, "From those strong Feet  that followed, followed after."

God loves us and wants us to bask in His light. Light and life and joy: that's a good summary of the Culture of Life. Ah, Lord, that we might learn to live it. Then we can truly say, the Kingdom of God is already in our midst (Luke 17:21).

Celebrate Life: Claire survived the abortion; her twin died

There's a reason that young people are more pro-life than any other group polled. Many among them are survivors (literally) of abortion. Read Claire's story here. She is one more reason to defend life. Every abortion kills a child. Don't let the abortion lobby convince you of their lies. Abortion doesn't remove a "mass of cells...a blob of protoplasm...or a blood clot." Every abortion kills a person. Some are tinier than others, but all each one needs is time, nourishment, and oxygen to be the newborn, the toddler, the adolescent, the teenager, and the adult God called them to be.

He knits us in our mothers' wombs and we are beautifully, wonderfully made.

Why Abortion will Fail!

Every bigoted movement works untiringly to dehumanize its victims. Think of the words used to describe slaves, Jews, Chinese, Hispanics, etc. in order to treat them as second-class citizens. Killer movements like Planned Parenthood and their abortion allies go to great lengths to convince people that the infant in the womb is "just" an embryo, fetus, product of pregnancy, blob of cells, fertilized egg, mass of protoplasm, etc. As Msgr. William Smith often said, social engineering begins with verbal engineering. First use distorted language to butcher the truth, then use the suction machine to butcher the baby. When one points out that the word fetus is Latin for "young one" and that the fertilized egg contains the same genetic makeup as a full grown adult they simply repeat their lies and distortions with a louder voice. And they've had plenty of help from the mainstream media which is filled with liberals who are expert liars and always happy to oblige.

But you can only suppress the truth for so long. Ultrasound technology has put a human face on the "products of pregnancy" in the womb. When a ten week baby appears like a little gymnast rolling and tumbling in the amniotic sac his little arms and legs clearly visible, it's hard to characterize him as a blob of protoplasm. When the twelve week baby is smiling and yawning, she's obviously a little person already dependent on her mommy in a way only slightly different from the newborn. Yes ultrasound has put a human face on the baby.

However, there's another face to the pro-life movement as well: the survivors. Of course every baby conceived after Roe v. Wade is a survivor in one sense. But even more compelling are the actual survivors of attempted abortions. Think of the impact on the conversation of a young woman saying, "I understand what you're saying about a woman's right to choose, but my birth mother tried to kill me by a saline abortion and I survived. I'm grateful to be alive. Was I given a choice?"

Melissa Ohden of Sioux City, Iowa is one such witness. She survived a saline abortion in 1977 and now shares her story around the country.

Melissa's intent with her public speaking is to give a face and a voice to those children who experienced abortion, as she did, but did not survive.

"It's about being able to reflect what the true reality of what abortion is," she said. "We in the pro-life movement,talk about unborn children all the time, but we don't hear them. That's one reason the Lord saved my life, to talk about that, about my unborn brothers and sisters." (Read more here.)

More and more stories of abortion survivors are appearing in the news. Is it any wonder that young people are the most pro-life age group of all? Their peers have run the abortion gauntlet and they are the blessed ones, the chosen, those rescued "from being dragged to the slaughter."

Celebrate life today with a rosary of thanksgiving for all those saved from the abortionist's knife, particularly young people like Gianna Jessen, saline survivor; Melissa Ohden, saline survivor; Pam Stenzel, conceived by a rapist; Tim Tebow, whose mom was advised to abort; and all the others like them who survived a close encounter with the culture of death.

First Catholic Green School

I picked this video up from James Evans' post at Orate Fratres. Now I'm all for composting; I'm a gardener and I think it's great to teach kids to be good stewards of the earth. But I wonder what's going along with this "green" education. The song at the end, "I will save the earth," puts environmental activism above those issues that will really save the planet. The greatest threat to the earth, as Mother Teresa often said, isn't global warming or failure to recycle, it's abortion (and other sins that go along with lust). The planet is drenched in the blood of children. That's not all. Artificial estrogen from chemical birth control pollutes our rivers and ground water feminizing male fish and doing God knows what to humans.

Where is the first Catholic school for life that puts dedication to the culture of life at its center? Consider the impact of teaching our elementary children to spiritually adopt unborn babies. Think of how you would  foster respect for life by explaining each week and month what's happening to the baby growing in the womb. A school-wide baby shower could benefit local crisis pregnancy centers and a baby tea could celebrate all the new mothers at the school and show off the younger siblings of their older children. How about planting a baby garden filled with plants that   remind one of children: baby's breath, lambs ear, miniature roses, dwarf marigolds, etc.  Where is that school that puts first things first?

Studies show that young people who attend Catholic colleges are more likely to lose their faith than those who go to secular universities. What an indictment! But if Catholic elementary schools planted and nurtured the seeds of the culture of life in the hearts of little children, think of the bedrock that would be formed by eighth grade.

In order to be a good steward of the earth, you first have to receive the gift of life.

October is Respect Life Month...What will you do to build the Culture of Life?

Tomorrow is Respect Life Sunday in the Catholic Church and a good time to reflect on what you will do to help end abortion. Prayer and fasting always provide the foundation, but where to go from there?

Here is my quick baker's dozen:

1) Participate in the Life Chain tomorrow.

2) Spend at least one day at a 40 Days for Life prayer vigil.

3) Give a donation to a crisis pregnancy center.

4) Share your pro-life values with someone to whom you've never mentioned it.

5) Wear the little feet pin on your lapel and be prepared to explain why.

6) Spend time with your children or grandchildren reading them a pro-life book like Angel in the Waters.

7) Use pro-life checks. (Note: Don't order from Life Checks whose parent company also prints checks for Planned Parenthood.) Try Heritage House.

8) Write a letter to the editor supporting the right to life of the unborn or the conscience rights of medical personnel not to participate in abortions.

9) Visit a nursing home and make friends with someone who gets no visitors.

10) Vote pro-life. Support for murdering the innocent is a disqualifying issue. No politician who supports killing the weak and helpless should get your vote - EVER.

11) If your state has a Choose Life license plate, get it. If not, put a pro-life bumper sticker on your car.

12) Have Masses said for the intention of ending assaults against life.

13) Encourage parents of big families; they get plenty of criticism from the worldly.

Finally -- practice pro-life all year not just in October. The weak and lowly are close to the heart of God. The only act I can think of that can put you closer to him than defending his little ones is receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion.

Defend Life, America!

St. Juan Diego, Pray for Us

The feast of St. Juan Diego is an instructive one for Americans living in the culture of death because he also lived in a culture of death. Juan may very well have witnessed, as a young teenager, the three-day pagan festival held in 1487 when the Aztec priests offered 80,000 human sacrifices. They cut out the still-beating hearts from the chests of their victims before thrusting their bodies down the stairs of the pyramids.

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs by Cortes in 1521 human sacrifice and devil-worship were banned, but the native population continued to practice its pagan rituals in secret. Although Juan Diego was among the first to convert to Christianity, little progress was being made by the Catholic missionaries. That is until the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan four times on Tepeyac Hill in 1531.

Juan Diego was up early on the morning of the first apparition to walk the 15 miles to daily Mass. As he passed the hill he saw a glow and heard music and a woman's voice calling to him, "Juanito." Juan met the Blessed Mother dressed as an Aztec princess. She told him to go to the bishop and ask him to build a church there. Juan Diego obeyed, but the bishop, although kind, did not believe him. On another visit the bishop asked for a sign. When Juan told the Blessed Mother, she promised to give him one the next morning.

But on that day Juan's uncle was deathly ill so he attempted to avoid Mary by rounding the hill on the other side in order to hurry and fetch the priest. Our Lady, however, met him on the side of hill. "Where are you going, my little son?" she asked. When he told her about his uncle's illness, she replied, "Nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything." She assured him that his uncle would get better and again commissioned him to take her request to the bishop.

Although it was winter, Mary sent Juan Diego to gather roses as the sign the bishop sought. He did and Mary herself arranged them in his tilma before sending him off as her ambassador. When he opened his cloak in the bishop's office and the roses fell to the floor, there embedded in the weave was the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In the next few years millions of natives converted to Catholicism because of the miracle. The symbolism of the image spoke a clear message that God had visited His people through the Holy Virgin.

St. Juan Diego, on your feast day we beg for your intercession to build in America a culture of life. Please ask the Blessed Mother to act as she did in Mexico to end the human sacrifice of abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and all other assaults against human life.

Election Prayer

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy,

at this most critical time,
we entrust the United States of America to your loving care
Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this land

for the glory of your Son.
Overwhelmed with the burden of the sins of our nation,

we cry to you from depths of our hearts

and seek refuge in your motherly protection.

Look down with mercy upon us

and touch the hearts of our people.

Open our minds to the great worth of human life

and to the responsibilities that accompany human freedom.

Free us from the falsehoods that lead to the evil of abortion

and threaten the sanctity of family life.

Grant our country the wisdom to proclaim that God's law

is the foundation on which this nation was founded,

and that He alone is the True Source of our cherished rights

to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

O Merciful Mother,

give us the courage to reject the culture of death

and build a new culture of life.

Men of the Sacred Hearts

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