Are you a Rabbit or a Statue of a Rabbit?

Pro-life

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The fall campaign of “40 Days for Life” has kicked off! Every fall it runs for 40 days encompassing October (Life month) from the last Wednesday in September to the first Sunday of November. Here in the Treasure Valley surrounding Boise Idaho, we held a Pro-life Fair. We had over 30 booths set up representing many different pro-life organizations and projects. There are so many ways to act out your pro-life faith! 40DfL is just one; one that I find particularly powerful, open to anyone that is willing to pray peacefully, and free!

I was honored to be able to give a two minute pep talk to the over 100 people in attendance. As I pondered what little two minute tidbit I could share, I was tempted to use the gist of my “Spirtual Earwax” blog post, asking folks to first pray that they may clearly hear what God is calling them to do. But, I was inspired the week before the event by a song from a children’s CD we got from the library for the kids. The song started like this, “Are you a rabbit, or are you a statue of a rabbit?” That got me thinking!

Personally, I came out of the womb pro-life as perhaps many cradle Catholics do. But, despite my rock solid pro-life stance I had very few things to show for it. There was never any conscious inaction. But I believe my subconscious bought into the myth that there just isn’t much a person like me could do about a problem as big as abortion. Sure you can always pray at home, but looking back to where I was 3 ½ years ago, I was so out of touch with the issue of abortion that my prayers lacked luster. When I first read about 40DfL in my church bulletin back in 2011, there was a spark that this was something I could do. I wanted my actions to speak louder.

All along I thought I was a rabbit, but really I was more like a statue of a rabbit, a statue of a pro-lifer. 40DfL literally brought me to life.  Even when having babies prevented me from keeping vigil on-site, I participated from home with daily prayers and devotionals that invigorated not just my passion for life issues, but my prayer life in general. It has brought me closer to God, and also new friends!

Like the Edmund Burke quote says, “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Consider joining one of the 297 prayer vigils going on right now across the country and the world! If praying outside of an abortion facility isn’t for you, you can still sign up to receive the daily devotionals via email for these 40 days, visit www.40daysforlife.com. Otherwise, there are many other ways to live your pro-life faith! This is not just a political issue! Politics are just one front of this war. Our Pro-life Fair highlighted supporting local pregnancy resource centers, chastity programs, homeless shelters, prison ministry, adoption services, PR campaigns, and pro-life clubs as just a few of the other things you can get involved with.

Wait . . . homeless shelters, prison ministry, how is that pro-life? Father Frank Pavone, had a great reflection in one of the 40DfL daily devotionals last spring. Referencing Luke 16: 19-31, he reflected that the rich man was not condemned because he was rich. He said, “He was condemned because he ignored the other man, he thought that because Lazarus had less he was worth less. He failed to recognize that Lazarus was his brother.” Clearly, we have to recognize the dignity of all life, this includes the unborn the most vulnerable. We cannot in our pride think ourselves above anyone else, not the unborn, not the poor, not the imprisoned, not the woman on the brink of a bad decision is less than our equal in the eyes of Christ.

The kids’ music group, Lunch Money wrote the, “Are You a Rabbit?” song. (They also wrote a song called, “A Cookie As Big As My Head,” but this one didn’t seem so applicable). This is a good question that applies to living out any aspect of one’s faith. Do my actions reflect my beliefs? If you truly believe something, they should.  Sometimes Catholics get criticized for a perceived emphasis on “good works,” but it is really just this concept. Just as James 2:17 says, “Faith without works is dead.” Let 40DfL bring you to life!

Blessed is the Fruit of the Womb

Pro-life

I remember the first time I ever prayed in front of Planned Parenthood as a part of “40 Days for Life.” I had never met Leslie before, but she was just the type of person you couldn’t help but instantly like, sweet yet completely sincere. We introduced ourselves and quickly realized we were both Catholic. So we decided to say a rosary together as we walked along the sidewalk holding our sign, “Praying to End Abortion.” As we prayed out loud I heard the words the Angel Gabriel spoke to Mary resonate in a new way as they are repeated over and over again in the Hail Mary, “Blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

I could clearly see that this message applied not just to Mary, but to the fruit of every womb. Jesus is in each of us. Jesus is in the poor. Jesus is in the unborn babe. Can you hear Matthew 25:34-40 be extended, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink . . . {I was abortion vulnerable and you prayed for me and my situation.} ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? {When did we see you abortion vulnerable and pray for you?} . . . And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Made in God’s image and likeness the fruit of every womb is blessed.

Of course the prayer aptly continues, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.” Who better to understand the situation of an unplanned pregnancy than Mary? She’s been there too and handled it with grace despite the enormous implications of the situation, because her faith in God never wavered. I love that we ask Mary to pray for “us sinners.” Even though I’m not playing a part in the specific sin of abortion I am reminded (53 times) I am a sinner too. And it grounds me, keeps me humble and slow to judge. This unity allows me to petition not only on my own behalf, but also for the abortion clinic workers and the world deceived by the sin of abortion. I pray that the eyes of the clinic workers and everyone with influence in the abortion industry may be opened to the truth. “40 Days for Life” has seen over 100 abortion workers quit and 56 abortion facilities close since their now world wide movement began in 2007. So keep praying! If you’re not Catholic don’t misunderstand the rosary . . just as Jesus came into this world incarnate through Mary, we pray to Jesus through Mary when we pray the rosary.

As I press forward, I think you know where I’m headed with this, “Now and at the hour of our death.” Will this be an hour of death? Inside that building right now . . . is life literally hanging in the balance? If not at this clinic perhaps somewhere else . . . in the next county, the next state, the next country? Ada county where Boise is located loses about 1200 babies per year. In Los Angeles county they lose that many in a month! If you feel like you lack motivation or fervor to pray for the unborn let me suggest that you stand outside an abortion facility as part of one of the “40 Days for Life” prayer vigils. It is a powerful way to ignite your passion for life. The fall campaign is starting soon Sept 24th-Nov 2nd visit www.40daysforlife.com to find one of over 500 locations.

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Blessed is the fruit of the womb! A fitting tagline for a sign I carried during the last local March for Life. The other thing this phrase reminds me of with a smile are the weekly growth and development emails the website BabyCenter would send me every week during my pregnancy. Actually, I’m getting them again as we are expecting again, my little kumquat has grown into a lime in the two weeks it has taken me to write and revise this post! It is kinda fun to check out and read the developmental milestones www.babycenter.com/slideshow-baby-size?
Here are a few highlights estimating the size of the “fruit”:

At 4 weeks the baby is about the size of a poppy seed
5 weeks a sesame seed
6 weeks a lentil
7 weeks a blueberry
9 weeks a grape
10 weeks a kumquat
15 weeks an apple
19 weeks an heirloom tomato
23 weeks a large mango
28 weeks a large eggplant
33 weeks a pineapple
35 weeks a honeydew
39 weeks a “baby” watermelon

Now, I certainly don’t share this to dehumanize life in the womb. We can’t base worth on size or age! Take a lesson from Dr. Seuss’ Horton the Elephant, “A person’s a person, no matter how small!”