Defending life, defending the sacred

Via Badger Catholic Blog, Pro-Life Wisconsin has a powerfully rational and moving new animated video on the defense of human personhood from conception to natural death, as “The Final Frontier of the Civil Rights Movement.” Watch and share on facebook or twitter.

I was at the large April 26th Pro-Life Wisconsin event where this video debuted. The photos I tried to take are unusable, but Bishop Morlino was there to open the evening with prayer, and stayed through the program.

Dr Nancy Fredricks, whom, now that I know what she looks like, I see all the time at Mass at the Cathedral Parish, received an award for courageously blowing the whistle on her workplace’s plan to begin providing late-term abortion services in Madison. The Alliance Defense Fund’s magazine had an article that tells Dr Fredricks’ remarkable story. She organized pro life co workers, and made it possible to successfully mobilize a continual prayer vigil outside the UW’s Madison Surgery Center, which finally opted not to go ahead with the plan.

Rep. Andre Jacque, and Green Bay 40 Days for Life leader Jim Ball also received awards. 40 Days for Life founder David Bereit was the headline speaker for the evening, and spoke extremely well and inspiringly of his the conversion he had to undergo and the courage he had to summon, to become the founder of the remarkably successful national prayer vigil movement to end abortion. He spoke of his initial great reluctance to get involved in what was initially a movement to stop a new Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan/College Station TX, to take risks, to persevere even when it seemed futile, and his repeated refrain: “I did it anyway” has stayed with me and other attendees. 40 Days for Life has been remarkably effective in closing abortion clinics and has saved thousands of lives.

I have a shocking confession to make, I personally have not been a 40 Days for Life participant. I encourage people to consider doing so since very one of us is called to do what we can for the defense of human life and dignity, but I haven’t felt called to that particular way. I’m not sure we all are. I don’t pray the Rosary every day either, though it is not hard to find people who say that Catholics “must” do so. I encourage people to do that too though; what is true is that we must pray daily.

One Response to Defending life, defending the sacred

  1. Thanks for sharing this. A nice writeup!

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