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Christ said those who follow Him could face persecution.
And He was certainly right about that.

Whether it’s “pledge a picketer” efforts, media
misrepresentations — or something altogether novel —
we’re pretty much seeing it all during this campaign.
The abortion business does not like 40 Days for Life.

What to do about it? Just keep praying! This is, after
all, a spiritual battle. Here are a couple of stories
about campaigns under attack. Please keep ALL of the
258 campaigns in your prayers.

LONDON, ENGLAND

The London 40 Days for Life coordinator, Robert
Colquhoun, said, “We have been totally harangued by
the media with lies and intimidation.”

Indeed, the campaign has been in the middle of a media
firestorm. Newspapers have published stories about
40 Days for Life participants “harassing” women
outside the abortion center where the London vigil
is taking place. Of course, there was no such behavior
in evidence.

Vigil participants were also accused of taking pictures
of women entering the facility. Also not true — they
had cameras to record the people who were directing
their anger at the people praying.

One newspaper had a headline with the word “intimidation”
in it — right above a photo of three people quietly
praying, with their eyes cast down at the pavement. The
photo spoke louder than the abortion center staff’s
trumped-up accusations.

Robert appeared on BBC radio’s morning news along with
Ann Furedi, the CEO of BPAS, which is England’s largest
abortion chain.

Robert fielded a barrage of loaded questions from the
interviewer with an air of calm confidence and outlined
the 40 Days for Life mission — and the necessity of a
peaceful prayer presence outside the abortion facility.

An estimated 4 million listeners heard the interview.

For a link to the BBC radio story, please go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2994

NEW ABORTION CENTER TACTIC

We’ve received reports from several locations that
suggest the abortion centers are trying something
new in their efforts to get 40 Days for Life prayer
vigil participants to go home: fertilizer. And lots
of it.

The idea, apparently, is to spread the stuff along
the public right-of-way and generate a foul odor in
the area where people are praying. In at least one
of the locations, the sidewalk itself has been
covered in awful-smelling fertilizer. A staff member
said they’re just maintaining their landscaping.

Of course, fertilizer does help things grow. What’s
growing on the concrete outside the abortion centers?
The vigil!

“We have dedicated vigil people who will not let this
keep them away from the vigil,” said one of the local
leaders confronted with this tactic. “If they think
this will make us go away, they are very wrong.”

“It did not deter us at all,” reports the coordinator
of another campaign, “and now God has sent the rain
for hours, which washed away the smell.”

TORONTO, ONTARIO

Need a bit of positive encouragement? Then take two
minutes to go watch a short video of the midpoint
event for 40 Days for Life in Toronto and recall the
words of Isaiah: “Here am I; send me.”

To see the video from Toronto, please go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2994

Day 29 - March 21

Intention:

We pray for the grace to be strong when others ridicule or oppose us.

Scripture:

Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

--Luke 14:27

Reflection:

To stand up for what is right means we stand against what is wrong, and that means that those who love what is wrong will oppose us, just as they opposed Christ. Taking up the cross means we continue speaking and standing for the right even when that opposition comes.

We experience this, in particular, when we are out on the streets, where people are not expecting the pro-life message and where they did not go to hear it.

We must remember to never take the opposition personally. When people ridicule or yell at us, we might get a guilty feeling or be tempted to think we did something wrong. We did not. The insults are not being hurled at us personally, but rather at the truth of what we are standing for, and at the demands of the moral law.

There are many who are trying to run away from those demands, or who have managed to tuck the abortion problem away into a distant corner of their minds where it can no longer disturb them. By standing publicly for the cause of life, we have short-circuited that denial and frustrated those efforts to ignore the issue. Therefore, some will be angry, perhaps not fully realizing why.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the grace of being pro-life, and of standing strong when others may ridicule or oppose me. During this 40 Day campaign, may your peace fill my soul, especially when I may endure the opposition of others, and may I become more like your crucified and risen Son. Amen.

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life and President, National Pro-life Religious Council