40 Days for Life Fall 2010

Reports from opening events at local 40 Days for Life
campaigns are rolling in … WOW!

Not only is this the biggest campaign ever, but more
and more people are getting involved in local efforts
from the very start!

Here are just a few examples …

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA:

One of the speakers at the Indianapolis kickoff
talked about embracing the crosses that come with
praying at an abortion center for 40 days.

The people attending the event had an opportunity
to sacrifice their personal comfort almost
immediately: a two-and-a-half mile walk to the
local Planned Parenthood abortion center — in a
rainstorm!

“The Holy Spirit must have been at work,” said
Joseph, one of the coordinators.

“The best part of the experience was being led by
the high schoolers,” said Mary, who took part in
the walk. “I believe that the sight of our group
marching in the pouring rain with our banner and
signs was quite compelling as thousands of people
drove past us. Let’s pray for the most successful
40 Days for Life ever!”

Click here to see a photo of prayer volunteers in
Indianapolis processing with their umbrellas:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=1024

GLENDALE, ARIZONA:

It didn’t rain in Arizona; it was just HOT! By
the time the candlelight vigil began at the 6 pm
Glendale kickoff event, it had “cooled off” to
108 degrees.

Still, several dozen turned out for the first-ever
40 Days for Life vigil at the Planned Parenthood
center in Glendale.

Click here a photo of the candlelight event:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=1024

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA:

The team in Fairfax decided to try something new
to get the word out about their local campaign.
They set up a booth at a Christian music festival
in their area — an opportunity to reach out to
a huge crowd with the 40 Days for Life message.

It worked! At least 100 people signed up to pray
at the Fairfax 40 Days for Life vigil.

“This project was part of our mission to saturate
our culture with the pro-life message,” said
Jonathan, the Fairfax coordinator.

“It pays to go around and ask people to sign up
for 40 Days for Life,” he said. “It pays to be
bold and tell people the truth.”

Click here to see a photo of the Fairfax 40 Days
for Life booth at the Awakening Festival:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=1024

Those are just a few of the many, many encouraging
stories that are flooding in already. I’ll have more
to share tomorrow.

THANK YOU to everyone who’s answering the call to
pray and fast!

We had a GREAT kickoff event Tuesday in Fayetteville,
Arkansas … and I met a lot of wonderful people on
Wednesday at three stops in Wisconsin. Today, I’ll be
making another Wisconsin visit, as I’m heading to the
40 Days for Life vigil site in Milwaukee.

David Bereit, our national 40 Days for Life director,
reports great turnouts of enthusiastic volunteers at
kickoff events where he’s spoken in Orlando, Florida,
as well as Dallas and Conroe, Texas. Next he’s
heading to Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota where
he’ll visit the local 40 Days for Life site.

Where will you be praying today?

Here’s the link to the list, just in case you haven’t
signed up yet:

http://40daysforlife.com/location.cfm

Here’s today’s devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone,
National Director of Priests for Life…

—————————————————–
DAY 2 INTENTION
—————————————————–

Pray for those who work in the abortion industry, and
for those who have repented of committing abortions
and have resolved to defend life.

—————————————————–
SCRIPTURE
—————————————————–

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said
this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing
what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this
was a righteous man.”

— Luke 23:46-47

—————————————————–
REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
—————————————————–

“Those of us who have participated in the killing of
unborn children are the Centurions of today. We have
dropped our swords against the unborn child. Now we
must recognize the depth of our guilt and deal with
the ramifications… To revitalize our humanity we
need to forgive and be forgiven, to reconcile and be
healed.”

These words come from a brochure of the Society of
Centurions, an organization for former abortion
providers. These words convey in a beautiful and
moving way what is happening across the nation as
hundreds of abortionists and their staff members
experience repentance, conversion, and healing.

How does this conversion begin? Dr. Philip Ney
writes, “The factors that changed their opinion on
performing abortions, in the following order of
frequency, were: evidence of the infant’s humanity, a
spiritual experience, personal distress, evidence of
the mother’s distress, scientific articles, being
accepted as a person, a personal relationship with a
pro-lifer, pro-life pickets.” (The Centurion’s
Pathway, p. 77).

The journey is not easy. But the Jesus who heals us
calls us to face the truth of what we’ve done, make
restitution where possible, and engage in the hard
work of mending relationships. Let’s pray for the
Centurions; may their numbers increase!

—————————————————–
PRAYER
—————————————————–

Lord, we thank you for those who have repented of
committing abortions and have resolved to defend
life. We too repent and resolve.

We repent of every instance in which fear has made us
silent when we should have spoken. We repent of the
ongoing bloodshed in our land, and for thinking that
we can deprive the unborn of protection but keep it
for ourselves.

We resolve that we will advance the cause of
righteous candidates for public office, and that we
will be more afraid of offending you by our silence
than of offending others by our speech. We resolve
that we will proclaim your name to the nations,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.