Devotional for Day 11, March 15, 2014
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life
Intention: Pray that people of faith will have their strength renewed even in the face of the violence of abortion.
Scripture: The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent. They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait in silence for the saving help of the Lord. —Lamentations 3:22-26
Reflection: The Book of Lamentations, a short book of only five chapters, contains some of the most poignant expressions of human grief. These verses are used in many church- es on Good Friday, since they can be seen to express a prophecy of the suffering of the Lord and the lamentation of his followers on that dark day. But in the midst of his grief, Jeremiah writes the verses quoted above. “The favors of the Lord are not exhausted.” It is a call to hope that no matter how much violence there is, life will prevail in the end.
Why does he say, however, that God’s mercies are renewed each morning? Because early in the morning, on the first day of the week, the women came to the tomb -- and they found that the events of that morning changed every- thing. Christ’s victory over death came in the morning, and therefore each day we can renew our confidence that life has the final victory.
Prayer: Lord, look kindly on your people who weep and mourn amidst the vast devastation that abortion has brought up- on our land. We cannot even count the children killed, and the mothers and fathers wounded. We cannot measure the devastation and corruption abortion has brought upon the very fabric of our society. But we declare today that your favors have not been exhausted, your mercies have not been spent. They are renewed each morning. Give us new strength today, in the resurrection of Christ your Son, that we may bear effective witness to the victory of life! In His name we pray, amen.
40 Days for Life is coast to coast in Australia! There are seven different cities that are currently conducting vigils.
The campaigns all have an air of familiarity to them, but there’s one slight difference. It’s a lot warmer than it is in many other campaign locations, since the seasons are different in the Southern Hemisphere.
So if you’re still dealing with winter in North America or Europe ... I hope a few reports from Down Under will warm you up!
Perth, Australia
“We had another two turnarounds,” said Brad, the 40 Days for Life coordinator in Perth. “Interestingly, one of them occurred as a direct result of defying the abortionist’s demands to stop handing out flyers offering support to at-risk women.”
About 30 minutes after delivering this ultimatum, the abortion facility lost a customer who took a brochure as she walked through the gate, slowed to the read it while approaching the door, then stopped, turned around and walked out.
Brad was able to talk about 40 Days for Life on a local radio station. You can listen to a clip from that interview here:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=5466
Canberra, Australia
Bev sent a picture from the Canberra campaign – the first to be held in Australia’s national capital. It’s always a powerful statement when the vigil is conducted in a country’s capital city, and there are several currently going around the world.
In addition to Canberra, there are first-time 40 Days for Life campaigns in progress in the national capitals of Wellington, New Zealand and Zagreb, Croatia.
Tweed Heads, Australia
Tweed Heads is a community on Australia’s east coast, about an hour’s drive south from Brisbane, where another 40 Days for Life campaign is taking place.
Irene, the Tweed Heads coordinator, says prayer volunteers are amazed at the number of people who walk by the building every day and have no idea that abortions are done there.
There are signs that the vigil is having an effect. On the first day of the campaign, the abortion staff called the police. “They came, but went away satisfied that we weren’t going to cause problems,” Irene said. “There was the odd drive-by by police over the week, but nothing further has eventuated.”
There is also a physical change to the building itself. “Blinds have been placed at all the second story windows so patients are unable to see the prayers across the road,” Irene said, “and the huge sign that used to say ‘Options Clinic’ now simply says ‘Clinic,’ even though it’s still the Options Clinic.”