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When I was 19 years old, I heard five courageous women
give testimonies about how their abortions hurt them.

Their testimonies had a HUGE impact on me then — and
they still do today.

Abortion brings emotional and spiritual suffering that
can last for years — decades, even. Through 40 Days
for Life campaigns, we are hearing about many people
who are seeking Christ’s healing after abortion.

LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA

“She was a beautiful woman with large dark eyes that
spoke of deep hurt,” Abigail said, of the woman who
approached her at the 40 Days for Life vigil. “She
had been forced to have an abortion and, though it
was more than 20 years ago, she had never received
help or healing for the pain and void it left in her
heart and body.”

Abigail assured her that in Christ, she could find
peace. “It’s beautiful to watch a woman take the
first step to healing by breaking the silence and
shame of abortion and asking for help,” she said.
“Praise God!”

But that’s not the whole story. The woman told Abigail
that she had become pregnant again and was being
coerced into a second abortion. “But she knew she
couldn’t go through with it.”

She pointed to a young man and said, “That is my son”
— the child she did not abort. With him was his infant
daughter — her grandchild, who would have never been
born if she’d had the second abortion.

“God continues to meet both the physical and spiritual
needs of His people,” Abigail said. “This is what HE
is doing in YOU when you sign up for a prayer slot!”

HOUSTON, TEXAS

A volunteer tells of a man who went to pray at the
40 Days for Life vigil.

He shared a story with this volunteer about something
that had happened in his life many years ago. His
girlfriend had become pregnant — and he’d paid for
the abortion.

“He had kept his secret for years — until this very
day, when God called him to pray,” the volunteer said.
The man prayed at the vigil for several hours.

“Thanks be to God for the mercy and love he shows us
through his forgiveness,” the volunteer said. “The
grief this man poured out from his soul will always
be in my heart.”

HAYWARD, CALIFORNIA

A volunteer offered a “precious feet” pin to a woman
who was leaving Planned Parenthood. Her hands were
shaking, but she took it, asking what it was.

When the volunteer explained it’s what a baby’s feet
look like at 10 weeks into pregnancy, the woman began
to cry.

She has five children, she explained. But she’d also
had an abortion and still suffers emotionally. Yet
here she was at Planned Parenthood, pondering another
abortion.

Volunteers went into action. One offered information
about pro-life pregnancy and post-abortion resources,
while another assured the woman that choosing life for
her baby was God’s will.

“Later that day, she arrived at the pregnancy resource
center and got the help she needed,” said Lori in
Hayward. “We are humbled by the many blessings God has
given us this day. We pray God will continue to give us
the grace to accomplish all He expects of us.”

Day 16 - March 8

Intention:

May the mystery of the Incarnation increase our zeal for defending life.

Scripture:

Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

-- Luke 1:30-33

Reflection:

"God has assumed Humanity, joining it with Divinity, and kindled in men's hearts new love of me." These words were written by a Roman poet in the Fourth Century. He spent his life finding ways to express the greatest mystery of the world: the incarnation, in which God became man.

Often the womb has been referred to as the "first home of the whole human race." It is the place where life begins, where our stories start. In the womb the great men and women of history began their magnificent march through life. In the womb Divinity met humanity, and God the Son was born into the world. As one of the Fathers of the early church, St. Leo the Great, declared, "Within her spotless womb Wisdom built itself a house and the Word became flesh."

Recently, I was at the hospital for the birth of my fourth grandchild. Looking through the nursery window at the rows of newly born babies, I began to think of the great stories that would be written about these tiny lives. During his visitation with the Virgin Mary, the angel prophesied to Mary about the life of her child. Here in this hospital, I pondered, what would he say about each of these? Would they meet the one who also came from His mother's womb to redeem the world and kindle our hearts afresh for God? I thanked God for each baby alive and prayed for each story yet to be written.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you have made the womb of each woman a very special place. Help us to hold fast to the sanctity of this first home of humanity, remembering the wonderful mystery, that God inhabited the womb of a young woman and came forth as the savior and deliverer of the world. We ask this in the Name of the one who came forth, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Randolph Sly
National Pro-life Religious Council