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Today’s email is a “WOW!” email:

Here we are, approaching the end of another 40 Days
for Life campaign. But do keep in mind that someone,
somewhere will hear about 40 Days for Life — for the
first time ever — TODAY!

Every day, someone new is inspired to pray for an end
to abortion. Ever day, someone new answers the call to
go the abortion center and join the peaceful vigil.

Until she took part in the current 40 Days for Life
campaign, Rhonda had never done anything like this
before.

“I went to the vigil for the first time this year,”
she said. “We were so nervous trying to find the place
and wondering what it would be like. I kept thinking
how much more scary it would be to be going there for
an abortion.”

Rhonda overcame her fears and answered God’s call.
And so can you!

Sheila knew she was exactly where she was supposed to
be, doing exactly what God wanted her to do, when a
woman stopped at a traffic light and started to yell
at her.

At the time, Sheila was praying outside a Planned
Parenthood abortion center, holding a sign reading
“Pray to end abortion.”

“Keep church and state separated, and leave your
prayers inside your church,” the driver shouted.
“Go home!”

Sheila looked up, and the woman kept yelling.

“She was really angry and I just kept on praying,”
Sheila said. “I was really struck with how important
it is to not go away and just ‘pray in our churches.’
Our Lord always went to where the people were. I was
renewed with energy, strength, courage, and
perseverance.”

“If you don’t think 40 Days for Life works, this
should be proof,” said one of the 40 Days for Life
team members in Fort Pierce, Florida.

This volunteer has been a sidewalk counselor for
eleven years, but can’t remember an instance where,
three Saturdays in a row, women changed their minds
about abortion.

“We’re not doing anything different as sidewalk
counselors,” the vigil participant said, “but during
40 Days for Life, there is more prayer going on, and
this is the fruit of your prayer. Thank you and
keep it up!”

Judy in California tells of a co-worker who learned
she was pregnant. This young woman was separated from
her husband, and this was not his child. Abortion
seemed the only answer.

She was then told that the baby had Down syndrome
and abortion was advised.

But then one morning, she stopped at the fast-food
restaurant next to the abortion center and noticed
people praying — it was Day 1 of this 40 Days for
Life campaign. One of the people praying was Judy.

“She knew right then that there was no way she could
throw this baby away,” Judy said.

Just a few days ago, a specialist told the woman heard
that the baby looks fine. “She’s having a girl,” said
Judy.

“Praise God and thanks to all who are out there day
after day praying,” she said. “You all have a part in
this miracle.”

Day 40 - March 28

Intention:

Let us keep our eyes fixed on the New Jerusalem, where death will be no more.

Scripture:

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"

--Revelation 21:4-5

Reflection:

Every activity we undertake in defense of the sanctity of life is prophetic, inasmuch as it points to the day when "death will be no more." Every victory we have when an act of abortion is prevented is prophetic of that day when death itself will be definitively conquered. Every triumph of grace in this world, whereby someone is brought to see the value of life and given the strength to welcome it, is a breaking into our history of that definitive future in which the old order of things will have passed, and all things will be made new.

As pro-life warriors, we must keep our eyes fixed on heaven, and our hearts secure in the hope that the day is coming when all evil will be conquered. It is the future that shapes the present; it is victory that informs the battle; it is the destination that determines the journey.

Daily, we are called to reflect on heaven. When we weep, we are to think of the day when every tear will be wiped away. When we face the destructive power of death, we are to think of the day when death is swallowed up in victory. When we labor against abortion, we are to think of the day when we will have the rest and peace of the final triumph of life. Heaven is as real as earth, and its joys will be as real as our present sorrows.

Prayer:

Father, you are the God of hope. Your word fills us with the vision of the world to come, when every tear will be wiped away, and death will be no more. Father, how we need that hope, how we are strengthened by that vision! Keep our hearts focused on heaven, and diligent in the labors of earth. As we struggle against the culture of death, root our souls in the assurance of victory. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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