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Day 41 - November 7

Intention:

Pray that the witness of 40 Days for Life bears abundant fruit, and that we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until God welcomes us into the gates of heaven.

Scripture:

On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

-- Matthew 16:18

Reflection:

When we read this verse, we usually think that the Lord is promising that the church, which is His Body, will withstand all the attacks launched against it. Of course, that is true. But when we think about it more carefully, we realize that in a battle, the gates do not run out into the battlefield to attack the enemy. Rather, they stand still to defend the city from the enemy attacking it. So when the Lord says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, who is doing the attacking? It is the church storming the gates!

The church, all of God's people in Christ, is called to take the offensive, to run into enemy territory, and to gain ground for Jesus Christ. We do not wait for an invitation; we already have a command. We prepare, but we do not wait for circumstances to be perfect; we already have one who has gone before us.

During these 40 days, we have stormed the gates. We have taken the offensive. We have pushed forward the boundaries of the kingdom. And we must keep doing so, in numerous ways. Indeed, the gates of hell will not prevail. The gates of falsehood will flee in the presence of truth. The gates of sin will melt in the presence of grace. The gates of death will fall in the presence of the church, the People of Life!

Prayer:

Father, we praise you. We have heard the voice of your Son, and therefore we can make our voices heard. We have done battle with the power of evil, and therefore we can have compassion on those still within its grip. We have been freed from the kingdom of darkness, and therefore we can bear witness to your Kingdom of Light. May the witness of all your people through these 40 Days for Life bear abundant fruit, and may we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until You welcome us into the gates of heaven. We pray in the victorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

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

If you took part in a 40 Days for Life in any way — fill this out.

The largest 40 Days for Life campaign in history just
wrapped up with an amazing track record of blessings ...
that YOU helped to make happen.

Thank you!!

TOMORROW I’ll be sending you an email with the big news
about what happens on November 14 ... but today I need
your advice, to ensure that our shared mission continues
to grow in the right direction.

Please take a moment to fill out the short survey at:

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Through your prayers and God’s blessings, 40 Days for
Life has accomplished a tremendous amount over the last
four years ...

... but with abortions continuing every day, we know
that much MORE must be done ...

... and we recognize the responsibility God has given
us to aggressively expand these efforts until abortion
finally ends.

The unprecedented growth and impact of 40 Days for Life
to date has come as a direct result of input received
from more than 39,000 people over the past four years.

Now it’s YOUR TURN to help us map out the plan to win.

Regardless of your level of involvement in this 40 Days
for Life campaign, please fill out the short survey at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JDYQRCH

It’s a simple survey of just a few questions with
yes-or-no and multiple choice answers that should
only take you about 3-4 minutes to complete.

I would really appreciate if you could make the time to
complete this survey today — or by this weekend, if at
all possible.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JDYQRCH

———, thanks to you — and more than 450,000
people who have participated in 40 Days for Life —
I am more hopeful and optimistic than ever!

Let’s commit to press on in this vital work until that
day when no more children die, and no more women cry.

May God bless you abundantly!

In Christ,

Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

PS: Thanks in advance for your willingness to fill out
this short survey. Here’s that link one more time:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JDYQRCH