The Question on Everyone's Mind

The Question on Everyone’s Mind

July 16, 2015 By: Shawn Carney 

The ugliness of this week should push us forward, not paralyze us.

Before news broke that revealed one of the darkest corners of the abortion industry a fellow pro-life leader told me, “This is the most gruesome thing we, even as leaders, will ever come across.” They were right.

I work in the pro-life movement and have been to over 400 abortion centers around the world. I’ve seen and heard some of the most gruesome and gut wrenching testimonies. Yet nothing compares to the not surprising but shocking reality of Planned Parenthood harvesting and selling the parts of babies they kill.

Since the release of this video, everyone has one question:

How can they do this? 

Many have asked that question and here is the answer:

If you have the autonomy and will to kill a baby then you have the stomach to harvest that baby. If you have the stomach to harvest him or her then you will find the greed to sell him or her. If you are so numb as to sell him or her as “medical tissue” for profit, then you can talk about it in terms of “business”.

And if you can get to that point, then chomping on a salad and enjoying a glass of wine as you talk about it is simply a way of life. But talking casually about livers and craniums of aborted children doesn’t happen overnight, it starts with one step — dehumanizing the human person. If we don’t have a right to life then we don’t have a right to anything.

Before being hung to die, one of the most inhumane murderers ever to walk the earth, repented and made these words his last, “A thousand years will pass and the guilt of Germany will not be erased.”

That was Hans Frank who served as Governor General of Poland under Adolf Hitler. His famous words open the classic historical account of what can happen when we strip human beings of their dignity, The Rise & Fall of the Third Reich.

We need sanctity

The human heart is capable of great evil and it is capable of great sanctity. And evil needs to be followed by sanctity.

Last month I wrote a blog post about how our culture needs us to become saints. Like you, this video is hard for me to watch just as abortion is still hard to talk about in our families, churches, and political debates despite 42 years of legalization.

The video reveals what we all know but hate to think about. Abortion is ugly, graphic, and evil. It shocks us because rarely do we get a clear image of its brutality in our daily lives because most of the time we don’t want to deal with it.

But weeks like this one cannot be ignored. We need moments in our lives where we are outraged, disgusted, and motivated. And this video is disgustingly motivating.

We do things we wouldn’t normally do when we’re motivated. We take risks when we are outraged. I challenge you to take a risk and use this video as a point of action. Not to dwell on it and get depressed about the state of our culture, that is paralyzing and doesn’t do anyone any good. Instead, face and mourn the reality of abortion, pray, and then act.

Use your frustration

I know the motivating power of frustration because the first-ever 40 Days for Life campaign came from frustration. That frustration led to prayer and prayer led to a peaceful 40-day campaign that has now been done in 579 cities in 30 countries.

God can use frustration, He can use outrage, He can use heartbreak. He has many examples throughout history of doing so.  He spits out the lukewarm but He fuels those who hand Him just a little of their comfort zone.

When things seem fine it is difficult for us to make resolutions to pray outside an abortion facility, volunteer at a pregnancy center, have mercy on an abortion worker, or write Congress.

We sometimes have to be jolted to engage the culture and this week the culture gave us that opportunity. It wasn’t pretty but it did remind us that our sanctity is needed in the culture. We need to be humbled before God in light of the atrocities that happen to the most vulnerable among us and then we need to act.

God will use you in the pro-life movement to bring His joy, mercy, and love to the darkest corners of our culture if you use this gruesome video as an opportunity to take a small, big, or first step to ending abortion.

There will be investigations, hearings, and media coverage as everything unfolds. But your personal response is the long-term hope for America. I want to close by challenging and asking you and myself the question we should be thinking and praying about over the next few weeks and months:

If this video won’t deepen my resolve to engage the culture, what will?

Here is a link to that video: www.youtube.com/watch

Come to the sidewalk to engage the Culture of Death with your peaceful and prayerful witness to the Gospel of Life!

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Madison's 40 Days for Life fall campaign Volunteer Meeting

Come and See how God can use you to save a life!

What: Vigil for Life's Volunteer Meeting for 40 Days for Life fall campaign

When: Monday, July 27, 6:30pm-8pm

Where: Bishop O'Connor Center, 702 South High Point Road, Madison, WI

Guest Speaker: Steve Karlen, Director of Outreach for 40 Days for Life

For more information, call Gwen Finnegan @ 608-393-8545 or e-mail info@vigilforlife.org

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2015 Awakening Hope Youth Retreat sponsored by Pro-Life Wisconsin - July 24-26- St. Vincent Pallotti Retreat Center, Elkhorn, WI  - for teens aged 13-17.

To register go to:  www.prolifewisconsin.org/events.asp

For more information, contact Emma Scuglik at escuglik@prolifewisconsin.org

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Mark your calendars: Pro-Life Wisconsin's Annual Auction Dinner featuring Abby Johnson at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee on October 17.

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LITANY TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother of the Americas, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Star of Evangelization, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Perfect and Ever-Virgin, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother of the True God, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother worthy of honor and veneration, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother most merciful, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother of those who love thee and have confidence in thee, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother of those who cry to thee and search for thee, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother who cures all our pains, miseries and sorrows, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother who remedies and alleviates our sufferings, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother who keeps us under her compassionate and merciful gaze, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother who shows us help, love and compassion, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother who chooses those who are humble and simple, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother who graciously repays all who serve her, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother who keeps us under her shadow and protection, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother who carries us in her embrace, pray for us.

Holy Mary, Fountain of our joy, pray for us.

Good St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Juan Diego, pray for us. 

All Angels and Saints, pray for us.  

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, 

spare us O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, 

have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, 

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Rose of Heaven, graciously intercede for the Church of God. Protect the Sovereign Pontiff and have pity on all who call upon thee in grief and need. Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, obtain from thy Son the grace that we may preserve our Faith and our Hope amidst life's bitterness and sorrow. Make true charity burn brightly in our hearts, each and every day, until thou dost bring us safely to the vision of thy Most Holy Son, Who is our God and Savior.  Amen.