Monday 29 October 2007

Day 33 of 40 Days for Life

Please pray without ceasing regarding this issue. Pray against the "Freedom of Choice Act" and below.

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"40 DAYS FOR LIFE: DAY 33, OCTOBER 28
Daily Devotional by: Fr. Frank Pavone

INTENTION: Pray that we will have faith to realize that even now our Lord can bring an end to abortion.
SCRIPTURE: "On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 'Lord, 'Martha said to Jesus, 'if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.' Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha answered, 'I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.'"-- John 11:17-26
REFLECTION: Imagine going to a wake service for a deceased friend and having someone say to you, "If you had been here sooner, your friend would never have died!" One does not dare say such a thing unless one believes that the person being addressed has the power over life and death. In this case, of course, Martha was right. Jesus is Lord of life and death. She knew that, which is why she was able to make this statement, yet at the same time she had to wrestle with the fact that Lazarus died anyway. Jesus indeed is Lord over life and death, but here the power of death was still displayed right infront of her. Yet in this clash between the conviction of faith and the evidence of human experience, Martha allowed hope to shine through. "Even now, God will give you whatever you ask." Even now. Those words show the power of hope, born of faith. Even now, when death has already done its work, life can be victorious. Even now, when nobody expects to see Lazarus again, the blessed expectation of seeing him can arise out of the dust. Even now, when the last word seems to have been spoken, we can hope that a word will be spoken again to restore life. Even now, when Lazarus has already been laid in the tomb and it seems impossible to do anything about it, things can change. And things did change. The Lord raised Lazarus from the dead. We live in a society where many believe the abortion issue has been settled, and its practice so deeply ingrained in our policies and attitudes that it is unrealistic to think we can stop it. Yet we are the people who say to Jesus, "Even now..." Even after tens of millions of aborted children and wounded mothers and fathers, even after multiple reaffirmations of Roe vs. Wade by the courts, even after decades of slow and frustrating efforts to stop the killing, even now the evil of abortion can bestopped.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, even now, you are master of life and death. I come before you as Martha did after Lazarus had died. I come before you after countless brothers and sisters of mine have died from abortion. And I pray to you: even now, you can stop the forces of death. Even now, you can bring us into a culture of life. Come, Lord Jesus. Speak your word yet again, and free our nation from the shackles of death, for you live and reign forever and ever. AMEN.
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Yours for Life,
David Bereit, National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life "

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