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Monthly Archives: September 2020

LifeNews: Catholic Cardinal Says Joe Biden Shouldn’t Receive Communion Because He’s Pro-Abortion

September 30, 2020

LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Wednesday, September 30, 2020

 To read the news, visit LifeNews.com.

Top Stories
• Joe Biden Says “I am the Democratic Party.” It Supports Killing Babies in Abortions Up to Birth
• Chelsea Clinton Opposes Amy Coney Barrett Because She Supported Pro-Life Laws
• Joe Biden Supports Abortions Up to Birth During Debate: “Roe v. Wade is at Stake”
• Joy Behar Wants Moderator To Hit Trump With Taser Every Time He Interrupts Biden

 

More Pro-Life News
• Joe Biden Wants Abortion Any Time, Anywhere, Under Any Circumstances
• Pro-Abortion Groups Spending Millions Trying to Defeat Amy Coney Barrett
• Amy Coney Barrett Open to Overturning Roe v. Wade Because Precedent Isn’t Forever
• President Trump is Ending Liberal Domination of Federal Courts
• Scroll Down for Several More Pro-Life News Stories

PLEASE HELP! LifeNews.com needs your help during our Fall fundraising campaign. Please click here to support pro-life ministry with a donation.

 

Joe Biden Says “I am the Democratic Party.” It Supports Killing Babies in Abortions Up to Birth

During last night’s first presidential debate, Joe Biden declared that he was the Democratic Party.

Chelsea Clinton Opposes Amy Coney Barrett Because She Supported Pro-Life Laws

Chelsea Clinton slammed Amy Coney Barrett as a potential disaster on the U.S. Supreme Court because she supports laws that would protect unborn babies from abortion.

Joe Biden Supports Abortions Up to Birth During Debate: “Roe v. Wade is at Stake”

During last night’s presidential debate, Democrat nominee Joe Biden supported the Supreme Court decision that allowed virtually unlimited abortions up to birth.

 

Joy Behar said Wednesday that she would like to see the next debate moderator hit President Donald Trump with a taser every time he tried to interrupt Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.


Joe Biden Wants Abortion Any Time, Anywhere, Under Any Circumstances

I have long since given up pretending I understand the long-term impact of presidential debates, particularly the first of three, which took place last night in Cleveland, Ohio.

Pro-abortion groups are spending millions of dollars to try to stop Amy Coney Barrett from being confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Amy Coney Barrett Open to Overturning Roe v. Wade Because Precedent Isn’t Forever

At the forefront of so many Americans’ minds is the question of how Amy Coney Barrett would rule on abortion if confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

 

President Trump is Ending Liberal Domination of Federal Courts

Our system of government and the liberty it provides are compromised when judges decide cases based on their own personal views and political beliefs rather than the law.

MORE PRO-LIFE NEWS FROM TODAY

New York Times Pushes Bogus Poll Falsely Claiming Americans Support Abortion

Feminist Brags About Killing Her Baby in an Abortion to Oppose Amy Coney Barrett

Kamala Harris Refuses to Say if Biden Will Pack Supreme Court With Activist Judges

Female Senators Say Amy Coney Barrett Will “Inspire Our Daughters And Granddaughters”

Satanic Temple Sues Billboard Company That Refused Signs for Abortion Ritual Killing Babies

 

Judge Blocks Tennessee Law That Saves Babies From Abortion

Biden Refuses to Say if He’d Pack Supreme Court With Liberal Judges: “I Won’t Answer the Question”

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Celebrate Respect Life Month

September 30, 2020

 

Cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable
Go out into the world and witness “The Gospel of Life”.
Contact Us:800-307-7685
One More Soul | 1846 North Main Street, Dayton, OH 45405

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Mary TV: October 1, 2020 Reflection – My vocation is Love!

September 30, 2020

 

My vocation is Love!
My Vocation is Love
(c)Mary TV
October 1, 2020
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin, Doctor of the Church
 
Dear Family of Mary!
 

“Dear children! …May the measure of your [way of] living be love…” (September 25, 2020)

 
Our Lady can say so much with so few words! On this wonderful feast day of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, let’s listen to her as she recounts her great discovery of her vocation in the Church. To be love in the heart of the Church, this we can all strive to become!
 
St. Therese wrote these words to her sister, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart:
 
During my meditation, my desires caused me a veritable martyrdom, and I opened the Epistles of St. Paul to find some kind of answer. Chapters 12 and 13 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians fell under my eyes. I read there, in the first of these chapters, that all cannot be apostles, prophets, doctors, etc., that the Church is composed of different members, and that the eye cannot be the hand at one and the same time. The answer was clear, but it did not fulfill my desires and gave me no peace. But just as Mary Magdalene found what she was seeking by always stooping down and looking into the empty tomb, so I, abasing myself to the very depths of my nothingness, raised myself so high that I was able to attain my end. Without becoming discouraged, I continued my reading, and this sentence consoled me: “Yet strive after the better gifts, and I point out to you a yet more excellent way.” (1Cor 12 :31) And the Apostles explains how all the most perfect gifts are nothing without LOVE! That Charity is the excellent way that leads most surely to God.
 
I finally had rest. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by St. Paul, or rather I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church had a body composed of different members, the most necessary and most noble of all could not be lacking to it, and so I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this Heart was Burning with love! I understood it was Love alone that made the Church’s members act, that if Love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel and martyrs would not shed their blood. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places…in a word, that it was eternal!
 
Then, in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out; O Jesus, my Love…my vocation, at last I have found it… My vocation is Love!
 
Yes, I have found my place in the Church and it is You, O my God, who have given me this place; in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be Love! Thus I shall be everything, and thus my dream will be realized!
 
(Story of a Soul – the Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. Trans. John Clarke, O.C.D. p.193-194)
 
Dear St. Therese, please pray for us as we strive to live our vocations through love. We know that only Divine Love can transform the world, but that Love wants to work through each one of us to save souls and bring peace. Our Lady is with us in a very special way to guide us into that love. Pray for us to recognize our call, as you did so well. Pray that we can become love!
 
In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020
Mary TV. Inc. | www.marytv.tv
“Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world.”
St. John Paul II
Be Connected!
Mary TV | P.O. Box 899, Notre Dame, IN 46556

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40 Days For Life: DAY 8: Why they hate her

September 30, 2020

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In a year filled with tension, it seems that the judicial version of Mother Teresa has been nominated to the Supreme Court.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a universally respected jurist, accomplished legal scholar, committed Christian known for her kindness, and mother of seven children (two of whom she adopted from Haiti).

But the abortion industry doesn’t celebrate feminism; it celebrates abortion. It is their sacrament, and, therefore, they’re already waging war on Amy Barrett and her family.

On this week’s episode of The 40 Days for Life Podcast, 40 Days for Life General Counsel Matt Britton joins us to discuss:

  • The outrageous attack abortion supporters have already leveled against Judge Barrett
  • The Harvard law professor who disagrees with Judge Barrett on everything–and still says she deserves to be confirmed
  • What her confirmation would mean for Roe v. Wade

Listen in by visiting:

40daysforlife.com/meet-acb
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Boulder, Colorado

The Boulder team holds vigil in front of one of the most notorious third-trimester abortion facilities in the country.

40 Days for Life participants there honored the memory of children lost to abortion by visiting the Memorial Wall for the Unborn–the final resting place for 5,500 babies who lost their lives to abortion.

Archbishop Samuel Aquila visited the vigil site and told prayer warriors that their presence brings him great hope. “We know that there are women who have previously worked in centers like this…who have had strong conversions,” he said.
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Orange, California

Fr. Alan led a candlelight vigil in front of the massive Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Orange.

While praying for an end to abortion, he also shared his vision that every baby lost to abortion is “prayed for, loved, and not forgotten.”

Local leader Kristina said Fr. Alan is an inspiration. “The love he has for the precious little ones touches the hearts of all who attend the Masses, prayers and vigils he leads.”
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Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So, too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

—Luke 10:30-34

Father, we are moved by the lesson of the Good Samaritan, who allowed compassion to influence him more than fear. Give us the same heart. Grant that we may never count the cost of standing up and speaking out for the unborn.

See today’s full devotional

For life,
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Shawn Carney
President/CEO, 40 Days for Life
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40 Days for Life 4112 E 29th St. Bryan, Texas 77802 United States (888) LIFE-316

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Mary TV: September 30, 2020 Reflection – May the measure of your way of living be love!

September 30, 2020

May the measure of your way of living be love!
Let Love!
(c)Mary TV
 
September 30, 2020
St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church
 
Dear Family of Mary!
 
“May the measure of your [way of] living be love…” (September 25, 2020)
 
LITANY OF LET LOVE
 
Father, good and ever-faithful.
Jesus, Savior ever-merciful.
Holy Spirit, well-spring of true life and love.
I give You permission.
Reign in my heart, mind, soul, and life.
Let Your Love come into my past, present and future.
Let Your Love unfold in me.
 
That I Let Love reveal who I am,
God, in Whose Image I’ve been made, Father me.
That I Let Love define me,
God, in Whose Likeness I’ve been formed, shape me.
That I Let Love with courage and hope,
God, to Whose glory I’ve been called, be my strength.
That I Let Love forgive me,
Save me Lord Jesus.
That I Let Love love me to the depths of my being,
Save me Lord Jesus.
That I Let Love heal and glorify my wounds,
Save me Lord Jesus.
That I Let Love free me from sin,
Save me Lord Jesus.
That I Let Love liberate me from all my fears,
Save me Lord Jesus.
That I Let Love reconcile me to wholeness and peace,
Save me Lord Jesus.
 
That I Let Love awaken me,
Come Holy Spirit.
That I Let Love lead me in every moment,
Come Holy Spirit.
That I Let Love challenge me to live in and for love,
Come Holy Spirit.
That I Let Love grow my mind, heart, and soul,
Come Holy Spirit.
That I Let Love draw me to live in the truth,
Come Holy Spirit.
That I Let Love transform me into the life of Christ,
Come Holy Spirit.
That I Let Love fill me to overflowing,
Come Holy Spirit.
That I Let Love captivate my heart,
Come Holy Spirit.
That I Let Love live in me,
Come Holy Spirit.
That I Let Love inspire me,
Come Holy Spirit.
 
That I Let Love cherish me,
Father, hold me in Your Heart.
That I Let Love receive me,
Jesus, keep me in your wounds.
That I Let Love be my rock and security,
Spirit, keep me in your peace.
 
That I Let Love ask from me,
Let Your will be done Father.
That I Let Love in,
Let Your Will be done Father.
That I Let Love live in me,
Let Your Will be done Father.
That I Let Love go,
Let Your Will be done Father.
That I Let Love give,
Let Your Will be done Father.
That I Let Love speak,
Let Your will be done Father.
That I Let Love call my name,
Let Your will be done Father.
 
That I Let Love bring me somewhere new,
Blessed Trinity, reign over my life.
That I Let Love be the adventure,
Blessed Trinity, reign over my life.
That I Let Love write the score,
Blessed Trinity, reign over my life.
That I Let Love win the victory,
Blessed Trinity, reign over my life.
That I Let Love be the answer,
Blessed Trinity, reign over my life.
Amen.
 
(Written by Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei, SV – the Sisters of Life –
 
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020
 
Mary TV. Inc. | www.marytv.tv
“Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world.”
St. John Paul II
Be Connected!
Mary TV | P.O. Box 899, Notre Dame, IN 46556

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Mary TV: September 29, 2020 Reflection – St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael!

September 29, 2020

 

St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael!
St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael! Protect us!
(c)Mary TV
 
September 29, 2020
St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael, Archangels
 
Dear Family of Mary!
 
“Dear children! I am with you for so long because God is great in His love and in my presence. I am calling you, little children: return to God and to prayer. May the measure of your [way of] living be love and do not forget, little children, that prayer and fasting work miracles in you and around you. May everything you do be for the glory of God, and then Heaven will fill your heart with joy and you will feel that God loves you and is sending me to save you and the earth on which you live. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (September 25, 2020)
 
In this most recent message, Our Lady calls us to return to God and to prayer. We all can feel the need for more determined prayer in these days when the devil is manifesting himself so boldly in our countries. On this Feast Day of the Holy Archangels, let’s add this powerful Chaplet of St. Michael to our daily prayers. St. Michael wishes to do battle for us, as do all the angels. 
 
Let’s ask them to do just that, to come and fight with us and for us against the darkness that wants to blot out the Light. Our Lady is confident that if we return to prayer and fasting, if we love and pray, miracles will happen! St. Michael, come and bring the Heavenly Host with you to defeat the enemy of our souls.
 
The Chaplet of St. Michael
 
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, etc.
[Say one Our Father and three Hail Marys after each of the following nine salutations in honor of the nine Choirs of Angels]
 
1. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Seraphim may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of perfect charity. Amen.
 
2. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Cherubim may the Lord grant us the grace to leave the ways of sin and run in the paths of Christian perfection. Amen.
 
3. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Thrones may the Lord infuse into our hearts a true and sincere spirit of humility. Amen.
 
4. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Dominations may the Lord give us grace to govern our senses and overcome any unruly passions. Amen.
 
5. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Virtues may the Lord preserve us from evil and falling into temptation. Amen.
 
6. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Powers may the Lord protect our souls against the snares and temptations of the devil. Amen.
 
7. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Principalities may God fill our souls with a true spirit of obedience. Amen.
 
8. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Archangels may the Lord give us perseverance in faith and in all good works in order that we may attain the glory of Heaven. Amen.
 
9. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Angels may the Lord grant us to be protected by them in this mortal life and conducted in the life to come to Heaven. Amen.
 
Say one Our Father in honor of each of the following leading Angels: St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and our Guardian Angel.
 
Concluding prayers:
 
O glorious prince St. Michael, chief and commander of the heavenly hosts, guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits, servant in the house of the Divine King and our admirable conductor, you who shine with excellence and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil, who turn to you with confidence and enable us by your gracious protection to serve God more and more faithfully every day.
 
Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ, that we may be made worthy of His promises.
 
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who, by a prodigy of goodness and a merciful desire for the salvation of all men, has appointed the most glorious Archangel St. Michael Prince of Your Church, make us worthy, we ask You, to be delivered from all our enemies, that none of them may harass us at the hour of death, but that we may be conducted by him into Your Presence. This we ask through the merits of Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
 
In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020
 
Mary TV. Inc. | www.marytv.tv
“Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world.”
St. John Paul II
Be Connected!
Mary TV | P.O. Box 899, Notre Dame, IN 46556

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HLI Relaunches St. Michael Prayer Campaign

September 28, 2020

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“The final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan,” said Servant of God, Sister Lucia, “will be about marriage and the family.” This battle will not be easy but Sister Lucia reminds us, “don’t be afraid because anyone who works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue… however, Our Lady has already crushed its head.”

It is an undeniable fact that we are immersed in a great battle, a battle between two diametrically opposed forces with radically different visions about human life and the human person. Our country and world are in moral decline, spinning out of control, and one must be spiritually blind not to see what is so vividly on display. At the heart of the battle are the sacred institutions of marriage and the family because they touch upon the very pillar of creation, which is the truth about the relationship between man and woman, who are made in the likeness and image of God. If these heavenly created institutions are compromised, then the entire building collapses . . .

 

(Click here to continue reading this article.)

 

Sincerely yours in Christ,

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Father Shenan J. Boquet
President, Human Life International

Human Life International
4 Family Life Lane ● Front Royal, VA 22630
www.hli.org ● 540-635-7884 ● hli@hli.org

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LifeNews: Planned Parenthood Opposes Amy Coney Barrett: “It’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Seat”

September 28, 2020


LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Monday, September 28, 2020

To read the news, visit LifeNews.com.

Top Stories
• Planned Parenthood Opposes Amy Coney Barrett: “It’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Seat, We Demand a No Vote”
• Media Attacks Amy Comey Barrett’s Kids: She’s a “White Colonizer” for Adopting Black Children
• Liberals Attack Amy Barrett’s Children, Claim Her Kids Were Illegally Adopted
• Catholic Bishop: “It is Not Possible to be a Catholic in Good Standing and Support Abortion”

 

More Pro-Life News
• Kamala Harris Opposes Judge Amy Coney Barrett: She Will be a Threat to Abortion
• Judge Amy Coney Barrett Blasted Democrats After They Trashed Her Christian Faith
• Liberal Media Calls Joe Biden a “Devout” Catholic, Attacks Amy Coney Barrett’s Christian Faith
• Catholic Archbishop: Vote Pro-Life, Nothing More Important Than the “Basic Right — to Live”
• Scroll Down for Several More Pro-Life News Stories

PLEASE HELP! LifeNews.com needs your help during our Fall fundraising campaign. Please click here to support pro-life ministry with a donation.

 

Planned Parenthood Opposes Amy Coney Barrett: “It’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Seat, We Demand a No Vote”

The political arm of Planned Parenthood is urging supporters to demand that the U.S. Senate oppose the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Media Attacks Amy Comey Barrett’s Kids: She’s a “White Colonizer” for Adopting Black Children

The media’s favorite race hustling professor and author Ibram X. Kendi tweeted out a vile attack against Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and her family this past weekend.

Liberals Attack Amy Barrett’s Children, Claim Her Kids Were Illegally Adopted

If you thought liberals scraped the bottom of the barrel with their attacks on Justice Brett Kavanaugh, I’m very sorry to inform you that you were wrong.

 

Catholic Church leaders across the U.S. are giving a resounding “no” to the idea that Catholics can support abortion.


Kamala Harris Opposes Judge Amy Coney Barrett: She Will be a Threat to Abortion

Sen. Kamala Harris slammed Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as a threat to abortion Monday during a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The last time Amy Coney Barrett was before the United States Senate for a judicial confirmation, it didn’t go well.

 

Liberal Media Calls Joe Biden a “Devout” Catholic, Attacks Amy Coney Barrett’s Christian Faith

Many of the same reporters who are perfectly comfortable calling Joe Biden a ‘devout’ Catholic…

 

 

Catholic Archbishop: Vote Pro-Life, Nothing More Important Than the “Basic Right — to Live”

As Catholics approach the polls, we are asked to weigh many important issues.

MORE PRO-LIFE NEWS FROM TODAY

Pregnant Mom Diagnosed With Cancer Refuses Abortion, She and Her Baby Survive

Abortion Activist Trashes Amy Barrett: She “Hates Your Uterus” Because She’s Pro-Life

Joe Biden Would Only Nominate Pro-Abortion Radicals for the Supreme Court

Feminist Trashes Amy Coney Barrett: “She’s Weaponizing Her White Womanhood to Grab Power”

White House Ready to Defend Amy Barrett: We Will Aggressively “Fight False Attacks” on Her

 

President Trump: It’s “Certainly Possible” Amy Coney Barrett Could Vote to Overturn Roe v. Wade

MSNBC Freaks Out That SCOTUS May Overturn Roe After Amy Coney Barrett is Confirmed

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40 Days For Life: DAY 6: Still pregnant after the abortion

September 28, 2020

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Mondays are good during 40 Days for Life!

Every Monday, we’ll update you on the number of confirmed babies saved from abortion by God’s response to YOUR prayers…

…and after just five days of peaceful vigil, we already know of 43 babies spared!

Abortion only succeeds when it takes the life of an innocent child.

In Bogotá, Colombia, a woman thought she had an abortion. But when she continued to experience symptoms of pregnancy, she returned to the abortion facility.

An abortion worker told the expectant mother that the baby was still there, and she needed a second abortion!

“No,” the woman replied. “Let me go for a walk to think about this.”

As the mom walked around the abortion center, she encountered 40 Days for Life volunteers and began a conversation.

“After two hours of talking, the woman said ‘yes’ to life!” reported Pamela, the coordinator of 40 Days for Life in Colombia.
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College Park, Maryland

A married couple in College Park went for an abortion at one of the dumpiest abortion facilities in the United States. Vigil participants believed the couple opted against abortion…

…and confirmed that a life had been saved when the husband returned alone to get a refund.

When asked whether the abortion facility returned his payment, the man simply held up his receipt, confirming that he got his money back!
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Fargo, North Dakoka

The campaign in Fargo just celebrated its 101st saved baby since 40 Days for Life started in 2007.

An abortion-bound mother exited the only abortion facility in North Dakota and told volunteers she changed her mind. A sidewalk counselor encouraged the mom, comforted her, and reinforced the couple’s decision to choose life.

“It was a great relief and an answer to prayer as we watched them drive away!” said Colleen, the local leader.
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Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

—Ecclesiastes 12:6-7

O God, we too often try to live in ways that ignore our coming death. We forget that our days are numbered by You, that at the end of our days your judgment awaits, that You are the Lord of our destiny. Help us to repent daily, and then to live each day in joyful obedience. Lead us to live in the light and promise of eternity. Prepare us to live fully and sacrificially.

See today’s full devotional

If you haven’t been able to join us yet, don’t forget to look for the 40 Days for Life vigil nearest you:

40daysforlife.com/location

For life,
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Shawn Carney
President/CEO, 40 Days for Life
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Facebook Twitter YouTube Pinterest Instagram

40 Days for Life 4112 E 29th St. Bryan, Texas 77802 United States (888) LIFE-316

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Mary TV: September 28, 2020 Reflection – Two Sons!

September 28, 2020

 

Two Sons!
Fr. Leon!!
(c)Mary TV
 
September 28, 2020
St. Wenceslaus, St. Lawrence Ruiz
 
Dear Family of Mary!
 
Father Leon will not be celebrating Mass in Medjugorje this week because he is ill. But he did write this beautiful homily for the Mass of Sunday, September 27, 2020. He gave us permission to share it with you all. As usual, Fr. Leon does not pull any punches, but speaks the truth plainly. He is always so helpful! Let’s pray for Fr. Leon to recover quickly, as we miss his pastoral guidance!
 
Twenty-sixth Sunday of the Year. Fr Leon Pereira OP preaches on the parable of the man with two sons.
 
Running through the Scriptures is the recurring theme of two sons, rivals before their father. Ishmael and Isaac are pitted against each other for their father Abraham’s legacy. Esau and Jacob squabble for the same from Isaac. Ephraim and Manasseh are not favored in the order desired by Joseph. The twin sons of Judah, Perez and Zerah, struggle in the womb with each other. Adonijah and Solomon compete for their father David’s throne. The prodigal son and his brother are rivals for their father’s property and love. This theme is the struggle to be acceptable to the Father. In the beginning, Abel’s offering was accepted by God, but Cain’s was not. It ended with murder, the first murder. The slain brother’s blood cries out to God for vengeance. All this because both struggled to be the Father’s accepted son.
 
How often in our own families is one child accepted, while the other spends a lifetime trying to win favor? How often is the one who never visits the golden child, and the long-suffering child who does everything for her parents is taken for granted, and endures the endless praises of their selfish sibling? 
 
The need to be the accepted child runs deep within us. Our modern obsession with celebrity, the pressure to be young, fresh, strong, beautiful—what else is it than the unquenchable yearning to be accepted by the Father they do not know yet yearn for? Why else are Christians so frightened of admitting their sins? The fear of being the unacceptable child remains.
 
When the parent in question is the perfect Heavenly Father, how can anyone hope to be the accepted and loved child? One solution is to shift the goalposts. Modern Evangelicals dispute a teaching they call ‘hyper-grace’—an exaggeration which denies the necessity of repentance and confession of sins and considers the moral law as pharisaical legalism. By shifting the parameters of what it means to be the acceptable child of the Father, whose only-begotten Son tells us to ‘Be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (Matt 5:48), we make ourselves perfect and acceptable. 
 
The Catholic equivalent (‘mercy-plus’) is the travesty of divine mercy without repentance. The heresy of Jansenism believed man was totally depraved, and unable to be made anew even by God’s grace. It sinned against hope by giving in to despair. The new Jansenism of mercy-plus sins against hope by giving in to presumption.
 
At first glance it looks positive. Heaven is for everyone, only because there is no Hell. One does not need to be in a state of grace to receive Communion, because it is not even possible. No Christian is called, by God’s grace, to heroism—because the moral life is impossible. This is not raising the prodigals from their grime and muck but rebranding their pigsties ‘palaces’. The new pharisees misuse words like ‘accompaniment’ while stranding people exactly where they’ve been, with their vices christened ‘virtues’. Their presumption is a childish rebellion, and deep down it blames God—it’s His fault for asking us to be perfect, creatures He made imperfect!
 
The fear of honestly and contritely confessing our sins, common to Evangelical hyper-grace and Catholic mercy-plus, is the fear lurking within us all of being the unacceptable child. But since this is somehow God’s fault, we can shift the goal-posts and call evil good, or at least tolerable. To be acceptable, we can’t afford to confess anything substantial or true; certainly nothing which corresponds to actual sins.
 
In the Gospel the son who is truly accepted is the one who is bad. The son who has a superficial perfection is the one who actually resists the Father’s will. But the one who kicked, screamed, and fought—he is the acceptable child, the one who in the end proves his love for the Father. 
 
The perfect child does not exist. We cannot be the perfect, acceptable son or daughter we would like to be. Becoming the acceptable child is a matter of repentance: of letting go of the past in the face of the future we are offered, of accepting that we cannot—by our own efforts—do the Father’s will. Only in the only-begotten perfect Son, by His wounds and His grace, are we made anew. You see, the Gospel tells us the favored ones are not the pharisees who have rebranded perfection, while themselves remaining white-washed sepulchers, but the whores and crooks who desire Jesus not on their own terms, but His. 
 
This Homily was first published by Fr. Leon here:
 
Our Lady once said to us:
 
“Dear children! Today I call all of you to decide for holiness. May for you, little children, always in your thoughts and in each situation, holiness be in the first place, in work and in speech. In this way, you will also put it into practice; little by little, step by step, prayer and a decision for holiness will enter into your family. Be real with yourselves and do not bind yourselves to material things but to God. And do not forget, little children, that your life is as passing as a flower. Thank you for having responded to my call.” August 25, 2001
 
We can be the son who says no at first but eventually does the will of his father…Our Lady will help us get there.
 
In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
Cathy Nolan
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PLEASE DONATE TO KEEP THIS BLOG OPERATING. GOD BLESS+ YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY DAILY PRAYERS! Marianne, my wife, suffered a heart attack on March 13th, 2012. On 7/23/2013, she suffered a stroke and was hospitalized for over 3 weeks. On 8/9/2013, Marianne went to the Lord. Deacon John

I'm Deacon John, age 84, ordained 4/25/87 as a Permanent Deacon for the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Now relocated to Pa. where I serve at the local parish.

PSALM 127: 3-4

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward."

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Psalm 93 [Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition]

1 The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: the God of revenge hath acted freely. 2 Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: render a reward to the proud. 3 How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory? 4 Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: shall all speak who work injustice? 5 Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted thy inheritance. 6 They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have murdered the fatherless. 7 And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand. 8 Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last. 9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider? 10 He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that teacheth man knowledge? 11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain. 12 Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: and shalt teach him out of thy law. 13 That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be dug for the wicked. 14 For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance. 15 Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart. 16 Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity? 17 Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell. 18 If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me. 19 According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul. 20 Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, who framest labour in commandment? 21 They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn innocent blood. 22 But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope. 23 And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them.

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