40 Days for Life: A Time of Many Blessings

Today is the last day of our 40 Days for Life in Alexandria this fall. We have prayed, fasted, and worked together for a culture of life in our community. Today we celebrate the conclusion of our efforts, and rejoice in the victory that Christ has already won over death and sin. Our vigil will end with a simple prayer rally from 12:30-1pm, and we look forward to seeing you at our 3pm potluck celebration at Queen of Apostles church hall in Alexandria.

In one of his Sermons Augustine writes, "Let us sing now, not in order to enjoy a life of leisure, but in order to lighten our labors. You should sing as wayfarers do -- sing, but continue your journey. Do not be lazy, but sing to make your journey more enjoyable. Sing, but keep going."

Indeed we celebrate today, even though much is left to do. We rejoice in so many blessings and signs of God's love, while lamenting the ongoing tragedies of our times. We thank the Lord for His mercy, even as we must continue to seek his favor.

And so our task does not end with Day 40 in the effort to safeguard and develop a culture of life. We will continue to stand vigil, to pray and to spread the word for the unborn. We will seek out new ways to be involved in the pro-life movement. And we will stick together as a team and as Christians, remembering the words of our Lord and Master, "With God, all things are possible."

In Proverbs, Chapter 16, we read, "Entrust your works to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. The Lord has made everything for his own ends, even the wicked for the evil day... When the Lord is pleased with a man's ways, he makes even his enemies be at peace with him... In his mind a man plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps." In this spirit, we commend all our efforts to the Lord. Great things He has done and will continue to do -- to Him be the glory!

Several photos follow of children who attended our vigil with their parents to pray and witness for life. You can see the smiles on their faces as they hold their signs and pray for an end to abortion! Don't they help us to see more clearly the value and dignity of all human life?

Thank you so much for all your prayer and support over the course of this fall's 40 Days for Life in Alexandria! It has been a blessing and inspiration to work with you in our campaign. We look forward to seeing and working with you again soon!

Day 38: Revised List for Pregnancy Center Donations

I had the honor of speaking recently with Tami of the Paul Stefan Home, who sent me a revised wish-list for their organization which provides lodging and personal development assistance to expectant and needy mothers. If you would like to donate some items at our celebration dinner on Sunday, I invite you to take a look at the list below. Our original list, which includes items for MaRiH pregnancy center just a few blocks west from the abortion facilities on Duke Street, can be found by clicking here.

Paul Stefan Home: Needed Items (Revised)

• Walmart or Target gift cards
• Maternity clothes or gift cards
• Towels/wash cloths
• Bassinet/crib sheets and pads
• Window treatment for 3 large windows: 104x50, 120x72, 156x72 (call for details)
• Two irons/ironing boards
• One microwave
• One pair of ladies winter boots or shoes, size 9.5
• One ladies winter coat, size XL
• Food plastic storage containers
• Hand and dish soap
• Kitchen and bathroom cleaners
• Paper towels, tissues, toilet paper
• Ladies sanitary products

In addition, there are some needed Volunteer Activities:

• Transporting ladies to appointments and classes
• Assembling and dismantling baby cribs
• Painting, yard care, and assistance managing and organizing donations

At Sunday's dinner, we will have a table to collect your donations, as well as information about MaRiH and the Paul Stefan Home effort. Thank you for your solidarity and generosity towards local women in need!

Many RSVPs have come in for our victory celebration dinner on Sunday. We're really looking forward to seeing everyone! Please consider signing up for a final prayer time at our vigil, and walking with Paul's outreach team this coming Saturday beginning at 9:30am. Our vigil will conclude Sunday with a simple prayer rally from 12:30-1pm at the vigil site, to which all are invited to attend. Let us intensify our prayer as we reach the end of our campaign!

Day 37: Details for the Continuing Vigil

Let not kindness and fidelity leave you; bind them around your neck;
Then will you win favor and good esteem before God and man. 
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; 
In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths (Pr. 3:3-6).

Good morning, and welcome to Day 37 of our campaign! So far almost 450 children have been reported saved through our world-round efforts, thanks be to God! Here in Alexandria, coordinator Mary Ellen has come up with a continuing vigil plan, which I would like to share with you today:

As you may know, abortions are done at two clinics near our vigil site on Tuesdays, Wednesday afternoons, Thursdays, and Fridays. Last summer we were able to staff a continuing vigil on Fridays. Now we would like to expand our continuing vigil to other days of the week, taking account of clinic hours and the times that abortions are performed. The new projected vigil days and times are as follows:

Tuesday:   8:30am  -  5:30pm
Wednesday:   10:30am  -  5:30pm
Thursday:   8:30am  -  5:30pm
Friday:   8am  -  6pm

Several people have already committed to ten hours of the schedule listed above, leaving 25 additional hours that we would like to cover if possible. If you have been blessed by your participation in the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil and would like to continue this witness, please contact Mary Ellen at maryellen.40days@verizon.net, letting her know the days and times that you prefer. She will be happy to help you find a place in the continuing vigil effort.

We read in Columban's Instruction, "The author of life is the fountain of life; the creator of light is the fountain of spiritual illumination. Therefore, let us seek the fountain of light and life and the living water." We have only a few days left in our 40 Days for Life campaign in Alexandria, but through perseverance in prayer, vigil and outreach, we can help to make them rich in blessings of light and life for others. We look forward to seeing you at our final potluck celebration at Queen of Apostles church this Sunday!

Please RSVP for our Victory Celebration!

"Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven pillars. 
She has slaughtered her beasts, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table" (Proverbs 9:1-2).

Well, our 40 Days of prayer and witness are almost at an end, and we would love to celebrate their conclusion with you at our Potluck Dinner and Victory Celebration this Sunday! After a long period of prayer and fasting, you must be ready for a bit of festivity! Let's come together to celebrate God's blessings, enjoy food and fellowship, and reflect on what God has accomplished in our community this fall.

Please indicate whether you will be attending by clicking on one of the following links:

• Accepts with pleasure
• Declines with regrets

Thank you for your response!

St. Augustine writes in his Sermons on 1 John,

The entire life of a Christian is in fact an exercise of holy desire. You do not yet see what you long for, but the very act of desiring prepares you, so that when he comes you may see and be utterly satisfied... So, my brethren, let us continue to desire, for we shall be filled.

Our prayer and fasting has reminded us of our need and desire for the Lord in our community, particularly in the area of respect for life. There are only a few days remaining in our 40 Days for Life this fall! Come out to our vigil one more time if you can, and we hope to see you in person on Sunday!

Photo: Attendees at last fall's 40 Days for Life Victory Celebration Dinner.

Outreach/Vigil Report: Please Join Us Saturday!

We had a great outreach effort on Saturday despite the rain, the sleet, and the snow. Beginning around 9:30am and ending around 4:30pm, we managed to distribute pro-life literature to around 750 homes. For only 3 all-day walkers and considering the weather, it was pretty good work (see photo below)! We will need lots of people to finish the job on our last day -- please join Paul and Jonathan this final Saturday at 9:30am at the vigil site! Email Paul at paul.40days@gmail.com for more info.

There are two empty vigil hours remaining: Thursday, 2-3pm, and Saturday, 3-4pm. Email Mary Ellen at maryellen.40days@verizon.net if you can help fill these or some other shift needing additional coverage this week. Come and pray for life one last time before the end of our campaign!

We have so many reasons to pray for greater respect for human life these days: poor economic situations, lack of religion and faith in God, immoral attitudes regarding human sexuality and the family, as well as utilitarian ways of life that reduce people to nothing more than objects. So much suffering, and so many problems in the world for people, can cause a loving soul great distress. However, St. Paul reminds us to present all our petitions to the Lord, thereby maintaining a joyful and peaceable spirit.  He writes,

We have our citizenship in heaven; it is from there that we eagerly await the coming of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ... Rejoice in the Lord always! I say it again. Rejoice!... The Lord is near. Dismiss all anxiety from your minds. Present your needs to God in every form of prayer and in petitions full of gratitude. Then God's own peace, which is beyond all understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:20-4:7)

In addition, we must speak about what we have seen and heard, sharing the good news of the Gospel with others. In his Explanation of the Psalms, Ambrose writes,

We must always meditate on God's wisdom, keeping it in our hearts and on our lips... Let us then speak of the Lord Jesus, for he is wisdom, he is the word, the Word indeed of God.

Let's resolve to be very active in pro-life efforts these last few days of our campaign. We are united in prayer with hundreds, even thousands of others around the world, and our witness is a sign for a darkened society of the strength and love of the Lord. Let's continue to share that love for life!

Photo: Joe, Jacinta, and Jonathan on outreach duty Saturday.

Day 32: Press Forward to What Lies Ahead

We enter the last full week of our prayer vigil with excitement and enthusiasm: so far, almost ALL the vigil hours on our last week of the campaign are covered! See the calendar for the few remaining open hours -- today from 4-6pm, Thursday from 2-3pm and next Saturday from 2-4pm -- and let us know when you can come out and join us!

Our outreach team will be walking all day today beginning at 9:30am -- our goal is to hit 3,000 doors! If you can participate at any time during the day call Jacinta at 540-692-0480, and remember to dress warmly!

Don't forget to RSVP for our Victory Celebration Dinner to Sara Dina at jandsdina@cox.net. Let her know how many are in your party as well as the dish you plan on bringing. That will greatly help our preparation efforts!

If you are feeling sad that our vigil is coming to an end, and would like to continue, never fear! We will be coordinating an ongoing prayer vigil during abortion hours (note: this will cover fewer hours than the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil), and you are welcome to participate! Please see a detailed report on this soon!

As we journey on towards Day 40, let us keep in mind the words of St. Paul (Philippians 3:10-14):

I wish to know Christ and the power flowing from his resurrection; likewise to know how to share in his sufferings by being formed into the pattern of his death... It is not that I have reached it yet, or have already finished my course... I give no thought to what lies behind but push on to what is ahead. My entire attention is on the finish line as I run toward the prize to which God calls me -- life on high in Christ Jesus.

Also we read from Gregory of Nyssa, in his Homily on Ecclesiastes:

We shall be blessed with clear vision if we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, for he, as Paul teaches, is our head, and there is in him no shadow of evil.

Keep the faith and let's continue together in faith, hope, and love. We're looking forward to seeing you on Day 40!

Administrative Note

Due to an administrative error your Thursday report wasn't sent out as originally planned -- sorry about that! However, it is now published below so you can catch up with your local campaign news and information.

You will note at the very top of the report there is an appeal for help to fill vigil hours, many of which are still needed. However, prayer volunteers have been so generous and committed that some of these hours have already been filled!

Please consider when YOU would like to come and pray during the last week of our campaign, or join in our door-to-door outreach this Saturday. We're ending strong with a great team of pro-lifers!

Day 29: Vigil Help Needed

We have only ten days left in our journey of prayer and witness for life, and I invite you to sign up now for one or more of the vigil hours that are still available to help fill our schedule and maintain a solid and continuous prayer presence at the site. As of the latest tally, 13.5 hours as yet remain uncovered, and 60 more need one more person. Surely we can fill these as a team! When are you available to come and pray for the unborn during this last week of our campaign?

Photo: Sherri, Jennifer, Kerri, Jacinta, Kelly, and Nancy
last Sunday at the vigil site. Come on out and join us!

Also, we're gearing up for a fun-tastic door-to-door outreach effort this Saturday, from 9:30am to 4:30pm in the city of Alexandria. Our target literature drop total is 3,000, and we are nearing that goal with confirmed walkers already. Let me know when you can join us!

We are in the midst of the Nine Days of Prayer for Clergy (October 22-30), in which Christians are invited to pray the following prayer, which has been adapted for inter-denominational use. For more information visit www.prayercampaign.org.

Father, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to be our High Priest, and you continue his saving work among us to this day. Bless our clergy and ministers, and give us more of them. Make them holy. Strengthen them to proclaim the Gospel of Life, and to defend the rights of all, especially the unborn. Bring us, your ministers and people, to the life that never ends. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The early Church Father Irenaeus wrote in Against Heresies, "The Word of God became man, the Son of God became the Son of Man, in order to unite man with himself and make him, by adoption, a son of God." We are adopted children of God through our Christian Baptism. It is up to us, therefore, to act in accordance with that sonship, and, as St. Paul writes, conduct ourselves "in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ... It is your special privilege to take Christ's part -- not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him... Never act out of rivalry or conceit; rather, let all parties think humbly of others as superior to themselves" (Philippians 1:27-2:3).

As we join in prayer with others including those of different Christian denominations, and place ourselves in positions where we may be ridiculed or criticized, let us remember that we are sons and daughters of the Lord, and humbly view all, including friends and those who disagree with us, as truly superior to ourselves. By doing so we lay the path to true peace and charity which is the foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Day 27: Help Your Local Pregnancy Centers!

As we look ahead to our concluding dinner on November 6, I invite you to take a moment to review the attached Local CPC Wish List, and prayerfully consider whether you would like to bring any of these needed resources for our local crisis pregnancy centers with you to our November 6 celebration. I have also printed the list below for your convenience. Thank you for your support!

Fall 2011 Local CPC Wish List

MaRiH Center – www.marih.org

• Baby clothes in new condition, 0-3 and 3-6 months (especially onesies)
• Baby towels, washcloths & receiving blankets
• Bibs
• Diaper bags
• Baby wash
• Newborn pacifiers, rattles & toys for under 2 years old
• No equipment, please!

Paul Stefan Home – www.paulstefanhome.org
Clinical Director: Martha Spigener – 703-462-9600

• Regular Laundry Soap
• Paper Towels
• Toilet Paper
• Swiffer Sweeper Refills
• Liquid Dish Detergent
• Bottle Brushes
• Diapers, size 2, 3, 4, and 5
• Bankers Boxes (to store donated baby clothes)

Instructions: Bring your donations to the 40 Days for Life Concluding Potluck Dinner and Social on Sunday, November 6 from 3‐5pm at Queen of Apostles Church. For more information contact Sara Dina at jandsdina@cox.net, or visit our website, www.40daysforlife.com/alexandria.

Campaign Update

Photo: Lenieva from Christ Church
of Arlington at the vigil site

So many stories have come in about people at our Alexandria vigil discovering truth, hope, and love through our faithful prayer volunteers that I must admit they are beginning to seem a bit commonplace.

When we reflect on the ease with which Christ works in the hearts of his children through the very imperfect ministry of his disciples, we must give all praise and glory to God, who has won the great victory.

Bonaventure writes, "Take thought now, redeemed man, and consider how great and worthy is he who hangs on the cross for you. His death brings the dead to life" (Opusculum 3, Lignum vitae, 29-30. 47: Opera omnia 8, 79). Saved through Christian hope (cf. Romans 8:24), we confidently expect God to continue bringing the dead to life in our time.

Indeed, as we keep striving, however imperfectly, to work for the Lord, we must put all results in His hands, both perceived failures as well as successes.

We can say with St. Paul, "I firmly trust and anticipate that I shall never be put to shame for my hopes; I have full confidence that now as always Christ will be exalted through me, whether I live or die" (Philippians 1:20).

Let's keep working for the Lord, for life!

Come to our Victory Celebration!

Thank you for all your support this fall as we pray and witness for life! In appreciation for all you have done and to rejoice in God's victories together, I am pleased to invite you to our closing victory celebration:

WHAT: 40 Days for Life Concluding Pot-Luck Dinner and Social
PLACE: Queen of Apostles Church Hall
ADDRESS: 4329 Sano Street, Alexandria
TIME: Arrival, 3pm; Dinner Served, 3:30-4:30pm.
CONTACT: Sara Dina, Event Coordinator (jandsdina@cox.net)
Facebook Event Page (optional RSVP): www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=235570859832514

Feel free to bring friends and family, as well as those who may be new to the campaign. All are invited and welcome to attend! Please email your dinner contributions to Sara at jandsdina@cox.net so that she can coordinate the menu efficiently. We will also be collecting donations for our local pregnancy resource centers (more details to follow), so start saving your baby blankets now!

Fall 2010 Victory Celebration Dinner Attendees

Campaign Update

With 361 reported saves so far during this campaign, as well as many stories of blessings around the world and here in Alexandria, we are truly thankful to the Lord as we continue our prayer, fasting, and witness for life. Let's remember the words of St. Paul as we complete our campaign, mindful of the Lord's guidance through all our efforts, "He who has begun the good work in you will carry it through to completion, right up to the day of Christ Jesus" (Phillipians 1:6).

This good work of prayer, vigil, and witness continues the work of Christ for which He came into the world. St. Thomas Aquinas writes, "When he took our flesh he dedicated the whole of its substance to our salvation. He offered his body to God the Father on the altar of the cross as a sacrifice for our reconciliation. He shed his blood for our ransom and purification, so that we might be redeemed from our wretched state of bondage and cleansed from all sin" (Opusculum 57, in festo Corporis Christi). While we cannot compare ourselves to Christ our Lord, we must fulfill His commandment of love for the weakest among us, by physically helping others to find life and healing despite personal inconvenience and discomfort.

Note to All Vigil Participants: As discussed earlier, we request that you limit yourself to the sidewalk when praying at the vigil, and do not stand or walk on the grass. Also, a reminder that we are a team of peace and prayer, and must respond to all comments with true Christian charity and kindness. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against "spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). Our first and most powerful action is always prayer.