How is your Lent going? If you want to step up your prayer and sacrifice for the remaining two weeks of Lent I encourage you to participate in 40 Days for Life. The 40 Days for Life campaign involves prayer and fasting to end abortion. It began on Ash Wednesday and ends Easter weekend.
According to its website (40daysforlife.com), "The mission of the campaign is to bring together the body of Christ in a spirit of unity during a focused 40 day campaign of prayer, fasting, and peaceful activism, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God’s favor to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life, thus bringing an end to abortion."
Since 2004 when 40 Days for Life started its prayer vigils in one location, it has seen rapid growth. This year prayer vigils are being held in 262 cities in 45 states and 10 countries. In Nebraska, prayer vigils are being held outside the abortion mills in Lincoln, Omaha and Bellevue.
This focused effort of prayer and fasting has bore much life-saving fruit:
- Based on documented reports, 6,749 lives that have been spared from abortion — and those are just the ones we know about.
- 76 abortion workers have quit their jobs and walked away from the abortion industry.
- 27 abortion facilities completely shut down following local 40 Days for Life campaigns.
In Nebraska, there have been numerous "saves" reported from all three abortion mills in the last year alone. These are just the known cases where the mother stops as she’s leaving the abortion mill to let the prayer warriors know that it was their prayers that caused them to reject the abortion.
This is concrete proof that our prayerful presence outside abortion mills does save lives. There aren’t many pro-life activities that receive such immediate and definitive affirmation of their effectiveness in saving lives.
So what do you say? If you live within a reasonable drive from the abortion mills in Lincoln (48th and Old Cheney), Omaha (93rd and Maple) and Bellevue (1002 W. Mission Ave.) would you be willing to spare one hour a week to pray outside one of these abortion mills, especially knowing that your presence could save a life?
The 40 Days for Life campaign during Lent is a good time to make this commitment. But this prayerful presence is needed throughout the year on the abortion days: Tuesday in Lincoln; Wednesday in Omaha; Friday and Saturday in Bellevue.
If you do not live within a reasonable drive to one of the abortion mills you can still join your prayers and sacrifices to those who are able to be physically present. Here are some suggestions:
- On one of the days that abortions are performed, commit yourself to some form of fasting and to one hour (or any amount of time) before the Blessed Sacrament at your local church.
- Pray a Rosary or some other prayer at home, while you are driving to work, or while doing other daily activities.
- If you are confined to your home (or a nursing home) due to illness, age, or frailty your prayers and sacrifices are just as efficacious as those who are physically present at the abortion mills. And if you suffer physically, emotionally or spiritually you can be particularly powerful intercessors by offering your suffering for the conversion of mothers contemplating abortion.
In Matthew’s Gospel (17:19-21), the disciples asked our Lord why he was able to expel the demon from the possessed boy when they were unable to do so. Our Lord told them it was because they had so little trust. "I assure you, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you would be able to say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible for you. This kind [of demon] does not leave but by prayer and fasting."
Prayer and sacrifice can save lives. Do you believe this? Will you commit yourself to this life-saving work?
You can contact Greg at The Nebraska Catholic Conference, 215 Centennial Mall South Suite 310, Lincoln, NE 68508; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
