A publication by 40 Days for Life International
MAGAZINE ENGLISH VERSION
A publication by 40 Days for Life International
MAGAZINE ENGLISH VERSION
Director Iberoamerica Campaigns
The culture of death and those who participate in it do not really want to kill us, because who are we actually? Deep down what they want to destroy is God and that is why the new evangelization has to take place on the sidewalk. Faith leads us to organize constant prayer vigils, to do our best so that God does the rest.
In Barcelona there has been a profound de-Christianization and it is the region with the highest number of abortions in Spain. But the Holy Spirit is bringing about a hopeful renewal of the faith life of laymen. The prolife movement is growing steadily: 40 days for life has three campaigns in the city and a fourth is on store. Several organizations help pregnant women.
They work in coordination. All this despite the recently approved penal laws. These new rulings make it difficult for volunteers to pray in the street, but won’t be able to put out the fire Christ sparked in our hearts. Barcelona is today an example to follow thanks to the testimony of its volunteers. The secret of its growth is full trust in God, teamwork, the excitement of saving lives for Heaven and putting an end to abortion.
In 40 days for life we decided to face this battle in a spiritual way and, although there are economic and political powers that beset us powerfully day in day out trying to convince us that the lives of our children are a threat to us, those who are praying, aware of their smallness, ask God for his mercy so that He reigns and defeats death!
But Christ is with us and so he proves. In Portugal, the main abortion center in Lisbon is responsible for 80% of the abortions in the country, but the doctors come from abroad. They arrive this country because they are allowed by autorities and local population, to end the lives of the most vulnerable. In front of this place of death there is a small chapel for perpetual adoration, a women's help center and, on the sidewalk, the volunteers of 40 days for life who remain in faith praying for the end of abortion.
When we are praying in front of an abortion center, the sadness and impotence of seeing a single girl enter is terrible, and when you see one after another you lose track. There is no consolation other than the Cross, but what do you feel when you see the executioner enter? When, at the end of the day, you know that many babies have died and their mothers have been deeply hurt, what do you feel when you see him come out?
If you are a committed 40-day-for-life volunteer, you know that despite so much suffering and death, you see him as a child of God. Even if they avoid our gaze or yell at us as we pass. Seeing them with the mercy of Christ is not the only thing possible. I assure you that you can go further. And so they did in Spain when a volunteer intercepted the doctor as he was leaving the abortion facility and said “Hello! I am Fernando!.. What is your name?». Everyone was paralyzed, including the rest of the volunteers who were praying on shift. They were stunned when the doctor responded positively.
We would all like to see the conversions in an instant, and also that they were like those of Bernard Nathanson or Abby Johnson. But we all have a process, a different story and just as God is patient with us, so too the volunteers, reflecting the love of Christ, have formed a friendship with this abortionist now for years, even meeting for coffee.
Let's keep praying that soon we can see what God has prepared for him.
When Christ speaks of the beatitudes, he promises that in the future there will be a reward; those who cry will be comforted, those who seek justice will be satisfied, etc.; but those who are persecuted for their cause already possess the Kingdom of Heaven in the present. In Spain, a law has been approved that prohibits "harassing" women in front of an abortion center. The feminists celebrated the sentence with laughter and shouts and for the last 2 campaigns the police have continuously come to the vigil points to ask the prayers for their identification documents and to try to scare them with the penalties for their “crime”.
In San Sebastian, Elena, the campaign leader, has been accused and sentenced to move 100 meters away from the abortion center, and every time she wants to take a plane, her "criminal" record appears on the screen and she has to go through continuous interrogations. But she knows that she is blessed and her faith has sustained her, from the moment she was sued until now that she has to convey her confidence to each volunteer to continue her prayer vigil for Life and the truth.
In England the sentence is law, but for God there are no obstacles and the volunteers pray at a significant distance from the abortion center. They are not discouraged and every bell continues to stand, praying publicly for an end to abortion.
In Latin America the threat of abortion and persecution are close at hand.
In Paraguay, a country with pro-life laws, believers prepare themselves with 5 prayer vigils in front of each hospital, because they know that abortion is beginning to be socially accepted, we have even already seen two lives saved in the Caaguazú campaign.
The participation of the Church has been fundamental. In addition to being able to live with the local priests, the Bishop of Luque is a 40-day-for-life volunteer, he has his turn to pray in front of the local hospital and every day at the end of each Mass he celebrates, he asks the faithful to bring the babies who are 40 days old to present them to Mary in commemoration of the purification and presentation of the child in the temple.
And so in Ibero-America and the entire world, we pray for Christ to reign, for our countries to be converted, and for abortion to be unthinkable.
