Please Join the 2nd Annual Evangelium Vitae Novena

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Last year, the Feast of the Annunciation, marked the twentieth anniversary of a prolife gift given to the Church and to the world by Saint Pope John Paul II – Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life). In an effort to bring the light of Truth to the darkness of the Culture of Death, a Novena was created and shared in honor of this powerfully prolife encyclical. This worldwide effort reached all corners of the globe and sought a common prayer to restore the respect for life.

This year, the second annual Evangelium Vitae Novena is at hand – beginning on March 16 – and promises to be an even larger success. Prolife people from around the world have already signed up on the Facebook Evangelium Vitae event page. More will be following along on this blog or on the Designs by Birgit fan page, where daily petitions will be published.

Won’t you prayerfully consider not only joining us yourself, but inviting your friends and family to do the same?

"For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."  Matthew 18:20

What Is Evangelium Vitae?

The encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) sought to bring attention to the innocent blood spilled through abortion and other atrocities against life. The Culture of Death had taken a firm grip on the world and the life-affirming message of Humanae Vitae, by Pope Paul VI was being largely ignored. In addition to abortion, the world had embraced other forewarned evils such as contraception, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, and commodification of women as well as children.

We Are Sliding Deeper Into the Abyss

Now, as the depravity continues to build, is a time ripe for a concerted effort of united prayer. Recently it has come to light that Planned Parenthood is selling aborted baby parts, even to the point of harvesting still living preborn to fulfill the ‘orders’ being placed by universities and research labs. Government and surgeons in Great Britain are considering an effort to convince mothers to bring disabled babies to term – not to save their lives, but to use them for spare parts in organ donation.

There Is Much We Can Do

The spilling of innocent blood through abortion and other atrocities can only be reparated by the pure and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. As a plea for healing in our world we share a special Novena here. It was an inspired group effort, initiated by my friend in Australia. Her blog, Light Up the Darkness, shares a treasure trove of prolife information. The meditations were written by her hand and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

  

Each day also brings a relevant excerpt of Evangelium Vitae. The text was approved and foreword written by Father Vincent Edward Mark Bertrand, MA, MDiv, JCL Founder/Director of Marian Advocates for Life.

My part in this endeavor is the creation of the graphics and a bit of publicity.

What Is the Plan?

We will be praying daily for issues relevant to the respect for life. Each day will have a unique intention and excerpt of Evangelium Vitae:

           Petitions (Come back for daily updates):

· Day 1 March 16 - Contraception

· Day 2 March 17 - Abortion

· Day 3 March 18 - Euthanasia

· Day 4 March 19 - Exploitation (embryonic stem cells, cloning, etc.)

· Day 5 March 20 - Sex trafficking

· Legislators

· Clergy

· Laity

· Chastity

For your convenience, I will also be sharing the daily meditations as graphics daily. They will be available both on the Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event and on the Designs by Birgit Facebook fan page, as well as on this blog.

How can you participate?

I'm glad you asked! Here are a few suggestions:

·         Please prayerfully consider joining us, these nine days (March 16 - 24), in praying for the strengthening of respect for all life - from fertilization until natural death.  

·         There is an Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event you may join for daily reminders and the opportunity for interaction with like-minded prolife advocates.  

·         If you'd like a bit of history behind the struggle for the respect of life, check out this column at Catholic Stand.

·         The text of Fr. Bertrand's foreword and the prayer by Pope John Paul II and daily meditations can be found here and here. 

·         Use the hashtag #EV2016 when tweeting about this Novena or any prolife issue during this time.

·         Use your own social media to share and promote this prolife effort.

Please join us from March 16 until the final prayer on the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25. Thank you and God bless you for your advocacy for LIFE!

 In His Name for Life, 

Birgit J

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2nd Annual Evangelium Vitae Novena was also published at 365 Catholic

Sliding Deeper Into the Culture of Death

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Planned Parenthood's Culture of Death

By now most of us have seen or heard about Planned Parenthood committing abortions and using the body parts of these little victims as a commodity. The videos are presented, each one worse than the previous, by The Center for Medical Progress. They incrementally drive home the point until the depravity can only be denied by accusations that the videos were somehow forged.

They were not falsified, however. An outside firm, experienced in such matters, has authenticated that what we are seeing and hearing is indeed the brokering for aborted baby parts. In one video a tiny yet fully formed baby is actually still moving, his heart beating, as he lays in a basin waiting to be butchered.

British Culture of Death

Now enter the British government and a group of transplant surgeons. According the Life News, "British government officials are considering a new program to encourage women to consider giving birth to babies diagnosed with fatal illnesses, rather than have an abortion, so that the babies’ organs can be harvested after they die."

Upon first reading the headline to this story, my mind simply refused to process what the words were portraying. While asking these mothers to reconsider abortion, the plan to use these little ones as spare parts is as inhuman as it is inhumane. Women are being asked to bring their children to term for the express purpose of harvesting their organs.

Of course, the excuse is similar to one often given for abortion in general. The baby falls short of what society calls normal. In some form or fashion, this Child of God is considered less worthy of life because of some physical and/or mental variation.

Let that sink in, because it seems to me that we have become so inundated with the horrors of the Culture of Death, that we no longer want to ponder the issue. It is just too painful. It is just too unbelievable. It is too difficult to comprehend and still go about our normal daily lives.

There's More

As reported in the Daily Mail “In some cases, where donation has been agreed, babies could be certified brain dead but their bodies kept alive by artificial ventilation. Surgeons could then remove organs from these so-called ‘heartbeat babies’ when they are fresh, maximising what can be used and the chance of successful transplant.”

This idea presents yet another problem to the already horrific idea. Declaring someone as brain dead isn't always as clear cut as it may sound. There are many cases of injured people who have been pronounced brain dead or in a vegetative state, who later recovered and lived on to tell about it. We must remember that non-paired organs (the heart, for example) are useless unless there is a supply of oxygen to keep them viable. Brain death, then, isn't necessarily a flawlessly precise call - the reason I'm not designated as an organ donor.

A Doctor Speaks Out 

Via Life News: 

Dr. Trevor Stammers, director of bioethics at St. Mary’s University, called the proposal “a ghoulish suggestion” in an statement to the news media.

“It would be frankly abhorrent if transplant doctors were to ask women whose unborn children have been diagnosed with severe defects to let their baby go to term for the sole reason that its body can be raided for its organs,” Stammers said. “The concept reduces the baby to nothing more than a utilitarian means to an end – a collection of spare parts – rather than respecting life for its own sake.”

“Yes, I know those organs can potentially save the lives of others, but at what cost to our humanity?” he continued.

What Can We Do About the Culture of Death?

God, however, has specific plans for us. His gift of Free Will is being abused in ever increasing ways and depths of depravity. But His promise of grace and strength for those who become His Body, here on earth, remains. If our faith is stalwart and true, we will take up the gauntlet and battle the Culture of Death in His Name. We will fearlessly, armed with Faith and Hope, face the giant as did David.

Where to Start?

• Pray for inspiration

• Listen to God for instruction

• Pray for tjhe courage to act

• Arm yourself with knowledge

• Pray for the grace to act justly

• Act in charity

The entire series of eleven videos of Planned Parenthood and their baby body part commerce can be viewed here. There are also many articles that inform readers about the details of the commodification of aborted babies.

You're Kidding, Right? 5 Outrageous, True News Stories

It really cannot be argued that we live in a perverse society. On an almost daily basis, I find myself saying, "You've got to be kidding", as more and more outrageous stories unfold.

We have the number one abortion provider of our land, Planned Parenthood, spending our tax dollars with abandon - even as they are shown on tape brokering aborted baby parts. The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have lost their way in the new sexual 'norms' of society. Our president pushes abortion here and abroad - even attaching aid to the poor to compliance with his morally repugnant policies.

It is no wonder that I find myself shying away from the news - even from the good sources - and from much of social media. There is an overload of horrifying information that makes being in the know almost unbearable.

Occasionally, though, my eyes come across things that are so outrageous that I feel compelled to read and share, in the interest of meeting life head-on. There is much about which to be prayerful, penitent, and dependent on the hope of Jesus.

The stories below fall under that heading. How can we be faithful witnesses for Him if we are not prepared to warn others of the atrocities being committed right under our noses? How can we be a part of the solution, when we do not reach out to inform and pray?

5 Outrageous But True News Stories

1. You’re Kidding, Right? 11-Year-Olds Can Be Implanted with Birth Control Devices at School without Parental Consent - That's right. In the state (yes, this is a United States of America story) the same little girls who can't be given an aspirin without parental approval, can have an IUD implanted at school. There's more.

2.  Catholic Care Home Sued for Refusing Euthanasia - This one is from Belgium but still qualifies. Who in the world would think that a 'care' home should do anything but care for their patients? Apparently our culture of death does. It's not like we haven't already crossed that bridge here in the United States.

3. Black Lawmakers Call White Congressman Racist Because He Condemned Aborting Black Babies - As if it's not bad enough that minority children are being killed by abortion at a higher rate than white children. Now, black supporters of abortion are pulling the race card on those who want to stop the eugenics.

4. Mom Accidentally DROPS Baby At Home, Rushes Him To Hospital. Now He’s In Foster Care - This is certainly not an isolated incident. We all know that similar things are going on all over the world as well. Parents are similarly penalized for wanting to home educate, medically treat their children (or not), or for wanting to abstain from age-inappropriate sex education. 

5. Obamacare Might Force Doctors to Perform Sex-Reassignment Surgeries - By now we're all familiar with the Obamacare Individual Mandate. It requires everyone to get government-approved health insurance or face punitive IRS penalties. We also know about the Health and Human Services (HHS) contraception mandate - it requires even religious institutions like the Little Sisters of the Poor, to help provide insurance coverage for abortifacient drugs or face millions of dollars of fines. Now the HHS is considering a “Gender Identity Mandate”, which would require doctors and insurers to provide or cover “gender transition” treatments. If they refuse, they will face discrimination charges, potential loss of federal funds, and loss of Medicaid reimbursements.

Reading these stories is not uplifting. Inconceivable as they are, they are a part of our society. As human beings we may sometimes find ourselves wanting to shy away from harsh reality and focus only on the good in life. Yet, as faithful Catholics, we need to make ourselves aware of the evil in the world so that we can combat it - as a part of the Church Militant.

That is not to say that we should focus on evil or get some perverse 'train wreck' pleasure from it. We should simply acknowledge that evil, does indeed, exist and is something with which humanity battles daily.

Let us put on the armor of God, be aware of the world and warn others, and pray with a faith that cannot be cowed to evil.

Saint Michael the Archangel...

8 Things to Share with Members of the Cancer Club

A friend was just given the news that her mother most likely has cancer. As a ten-year cancer survivor, I can certainly commiserate. Being the great-granddaughter, granddaughter, daughter, and mother of others with this diagnosis makes me all too aware of what lies ahead. But aside from the natural fear, a likely bout of pity, and physical/mental struggles it’s important to share the faith, hope, and love of a cancer diagnosis.

While much has been written about the experiences of the five affected generations of women in my family, my collection of posts was found lacking. It seems that only the surface has been scratched. The widespread pandering, betrayal, and exploitation of cancer victims have come across clearly. Yet, there seems to be a great need for comforting, informational words to fellow members of the Cancer Club.

Hopefully the following will help fill that gap.

Cancer Isn’t a Death Sentence

As frightening as it is to hear the words, “you have cancer”, it isn’t a death sentence. The amazing advances in the medical field have made me a ten year survivor while all those sharing the BRCA1 cancer gene before me survived no longer than 5 years.

Aside from morally bankrupt embryonic stem cell research, a vast array of ethical cancer treatments are now common. Even medications for symptoms, as well as surgical techniques have seen amazing advancement. There really is much hope for a full recovery and a long, healthy life.
Fear is a Natural Initial Reaction

Who isn’t afraid of the unknown? Only a handful can claim that type of reaction. Most of us like the security of our comfortable, familiar lives. When an element of the unknown is introduced, the natural reaction is fear. Until we inform ourselves with what’s going on, this feeling may well persist.

Fear can also be a great catalyst to action. When we fear for our physical body, we’re more likely to decidedly seek safety and good will. Use this natural inclination to your advantage by pursuing the best course of action for you.

Feeling Hopeless Can Be Normal

Fear may be followed by hopelessness or a feeling of pity. Perhaps both. When given such a stark reminder of mortality, it’s natural to go through a full range of emotions. Even our animal friends have the instinct to run from danger. As creatures of God with an immortal soul, however, we can bring ourselves back to our gift of reasoning.

A helpful response might be to count your blessings. Do you have a loving family, caring doctors, and experienced medical staff? Is your relationship with God what it should be? If you have the advantage of any or all of these blessings, be sure to bring your focus back to them. If not, pursue others who will help. Encourage friends and family in their efforts to help. Consult a priest or spiritual advisor in an effort to bring your immortal soul back to full health. Grace is a mighty, strong medicine for an ailing body and soul.

Share Your Feelings

Those who love you need to know how you feel in order to be there for you. It’s okay to reserve a bit of panic for only ourselves, but allowing others in will empower them to console you. Lay your fears on the table for yourself as well. Face them, head-on, and become familiar with the details of your fears. Can you rationalize some of the fears by identifying and then diminishing them? Give it a try. Put a name or face on what it is you’re feeling. An unidentified feeling of foreboding may be conquered by bringing your fears to the light of day.
Acknowledge the Fear Others Feel

Acknowledge that your loved ones are frightened too. A cancer diagnosis is shared with everyone with whom you have a relationship. You may be the sole physically affected person but your family and friends are afraid on your behalf – because they love you. Don’t deny them their feelings or the opportunity to offer the balm of comfort.

As you join with others in facing your diagnosis, teamwork can help alleviate some of the negative feelings you may be experiencing. Your common bond of love can make facing the next few months of treatment much more tolerable.

Fiercely Face the Reality of a Cancer Diagnosis

Don’t live in denial. While it’s advisable to refrain from doing your own research on the internet (big no-no), do ask questions from your healthcare professionals. They know your unique case and can offer information based on you as an individual. No cancer patient is the same as another. No cancer diagnosis is either. Let your specialists employ their vast education and rely on them for answers. Who knows, the cancer of diagnosis you’re imagining, might be much more formidable than the reality.

Facing your diagnosis head-on might also diminish the fear of the unknown. There will be power in knowledge, once the details, treatment, and prognosis are known. Facing a known entity removes many doubts and replaces them with firm resolution to do battle.

Be Aggressive

Settling for local, generalized care with a cancer diagnosis can mean the difference between life and death. When dealing with the subtleties of various forms of cancer, relying on aspecialist, especially trained and focused, is the proactive choice. You may even share the experience of hurt feelings from local doctors who have been replaced with out-of-town specialists but remember, you are the patient and when it comes to aggressive treatment, you are in the driver’s seat. Don’t let personalities get in the way of foolish pride or fear of conflict. This is your life!

Rely on God

The most important action is reliance on God. He, Who made you, knows you and what you need. Find peace in knowing He wants what’s best for you. Put yourself at His mercy and allow Him to work through you, to find your best path. When you’re feeling the strain, go to Him for comfort. In need of answers? Petition Him to guide your way to finding them. He will never let you down, even when others (or you, yourself) are less than helpful. No one knows your heart like He does. Pray unceasingly and ask others to do the same. Know that the Communion of Saints is there, kneeling beside you, and interceding on your behalf.

Many faithful, from many corners of the world prayed for me during my cancer journey. Their prayers were felt and heard. As a ten year survivor, I owe my life to Him. The same is true for our daughter. Six years later, she is cancer free and her healthy little girl will turn 6 on Thanksgiving. The prayers of the Passionist nuns in our county even brought a miracle. We three – daughter, granddaughter, and I – are living proof that prayer is the most powerful medicine for the healing of body and mind.



3 generations of survivors at Horses and Hope

Let us pray for one another!

Are you a member of the Cancer Club? It would be great to hear from you – whether these ponderings inspired, found you nodding your head, or fell short. What was your most important survival technique? If you would like to share your experiences or to ask for prayer, please leave a comment. God bless!


* Things to Share with Members of the Cancer Club was first published at Catholic Mom

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 3 - Euthanasia of the Elderly and Disabled

Today we pray for an end to the atrocity of euthanasia of the elderly and the disabled. May Saint John Paul II intercede to almighty God on their behalf. We pray that society will see the beauty and value of each person, as a miracle of God's creation.

Daily prayer: Pope Saint John Paul II's Prayer to our Lady.

O Mary

bright dawn of the new world,

Mother of the living,

to you do we entrust the cause

Look down, O Mother,

upon the vast numbers

of babies not allowed to be born,

of the poor whose lives are made difficult,

of men and women

who are victims of brutal violence,

of the elderly and the sick killed

by indifference or out of misguided mercy.

Grant that all who believe in your Son

may proclaim the Gospel of Life

with honesty and love

to the people of our time.

Obtain for them the grace

to accept that Gospel

as a gift ever new,

the joy of celebrating it with gratitude

throughout their lives

and the courage to bear witness to it

resolutely, in order to build,

together with all people of good will,

the civilisation of truth and love,

to the praise and glory of God,

the Creator and lover of life.

Day 3: March 18 - For an end to euthanasia of the elderly and disabled.

When the prevailing tendency is to value life only to the extent that it brings pleasure and well-being, suffering seems like an unbearable setback, something from which one must be freed at all costs. Death is considered 'senseless' if it suddenly interrupts a life still open to a future of new and interesting experiences. But it becomes a 'rightful liberation' once life is held to be no longer meaningful because it is filled with pain and inexorably doomed to even greater suffering. EV 64.

Heavenly Father, we ask for an end to the utilitarianism that obsesses the world and has led to the devaluation of lives which are no longer deemed to be productive. Please grant Your grace of gratitude for the elderly and the disabled and relieve them of the fear that they are a burden to their families and carers. AMEN

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Evangelium Vitae Meditations:

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 1 - Contraception

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 2 - Abortion

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 3 - Euthanasia of the Elderly and Disabled

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 4 - Commodification of Unborn Children and Mothers

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 5 - Sex Industry

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 6 - Legislators

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 7 - ClergyEvangelium Vitae Novena Day 8 - Laity

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 9 - Chastity

Evangelium Vitae Novena 20th Anniversary - Closing Prayer

All Dogs Do Not Go to Heaven: What the Pope Really Said

Did Pope Francis say animals go to heaven? That's the title of another great explanation offered by Jimmy Akin for our oft-misinterpreted pope - the Holy Father Pope Francis. Evidently this isn't the first pope to have been misquoted on the subject. That there are absolutely no records - other than secular media about the claim - is quite the barometer of the truth. 

What did Pope Francis actually say about animals, Heaven, and Eternity at his public audience?

His words were devoted to the subject of creation and the new heaven and earth. This is what he said:

At the same time, Sacred Scripture teaches us that the fulfillment of this marvelous plan cannot but involve everything that surrounds us and came from the heart and mind of God. 

The Apostle Paul says it explicitly, when he says that “Creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom 8:21). 

Other texts utilize the image of a “new heaven” and a “new earth” (cf. 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1), in the sense that the whole universe will be renewed and will be freed once and for all from every trace of evil and from death itself. 

What lies ahead is the fulfillment of a transformation that in reality is already happening, beginning with the death and resurrection of Christ. 

Hence, it is the new creation; it is not, therefore, the annihilation of the cosmos and of everything around us, but the bringing of all things into the fullness of being, of truth and of beauty. 

This is the design that God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, willed from eternity to realize and is realizing.

It's appalling that there is so much misinformation out there these days. Reporters are actually using opinion blogs as 'sources' when they report on a story. So much for journalistic integrity! This lack of care for the truth is helping the devil undermine the Catholic Church in the eyes of the unwary - after all, if it's on the internet, it's got to be true right?

Hint: no it's not!

So let's just take a breath, pray fervently, and discern the facts before getting all shaky about Holy Mother Church. After all, Jesus and the Church have never let us down before - nor will they. Even humanity, in the form of wolves in sheep's clothing, can't change that!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Reflections on my Cancer-versary

It's been 9 years since my younger sister badgered me into resuming my annual mammograms. I had been in fearful denial for several years. It's also been nine years since my diagnosis with hereditary BRCA-1 breast cancer - the worst possible scenario. A look at my family history tells the grim tale.

My great-grandmother died in her 40's, my grandmother at 42, my mother at 58. I was diagnosed the very year my sis urged me - one more time - to get another mammogram. Even my 28 year old daughter joined the 'party' when she was 20 weeks pregnant. Our prognosis as part of the BRCA-1 'club' is not good. Agressive breast cancer, a propensity for ovarian cancer, and a life expectancy that is far from ideal. Yet life goes on.

I was lucky (blessed) to have learned from my dear departed mother's demise. It's foolish not to go to the best possible cancer treatent center - in my case, MD Anderson Cancer Center, where they're working to 'make cancer history'. The forward-thinking doctors there know better than to fool around. They take this monster at face value - it's a killer. They are on the cutting edge of science, spot on for personal care, and wonderfully spiritual in their support.

All of this inside baseball information brings me to a couple of important points for those reading this.

1) Awareness and vigilance is vital. Go have that annual checkup for whatever may ail you. It may just save your life.

2) No one should die so that another can live! Before you get lost in a filmy cloud of PINK awareness, find out how to best serve those who struggle with breast cancer. Susan G Komen and the American Cancer Society are NOT the answer. Their use and advocating for embryonic stem cell research and acceptance of abortion for pregnant cancer victims, disqualifies them. To find out more, check out Six Things to Consider During the Pink Month for the details and ethical alternatives.

So happy 9th Cancer-versary to me! God has blessed me with another year and a loving sister. May I use my remaining time on earth to His Glory!

A Mito Family - Stuck Between Obamacare and a Hard Place

I first met Pattie through the Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rallies. She was an inspiration and tireless font of knowledge for us, as Owensboro citizens planned their event - all the way from North Carolina. Since then, I've gotten to know her as a fervent Catholic who advocates for LIFE and as a staunch believer in justice. The superhuman effort necessary to maintain some semblance of a 'normal' life for her family is daunting. A lesser woman might be found, in fetal position, wailing 'why me?!' Instead, Patti's two sons, who suffer from not one, but two, 'orphan' conditions play baseball, soccer, and gather with their many friends to enjoy life as teens. Her life can only be described as inspirational - even though, it makes me tired to just read about everything she manages to squeeze into the same 24 hour days so many of us squander.

In the video, 'A Mito Mother's Plight', we are made privy to some heartbreaking facts - both about what her family is facing, health-wise, but also the terrible scourge that implementation of Obamacare is on families like hers. Life-saving medication, vital to their survival, is being denied this family because of Obamacare. She makes perfectly clear that she isn't seeking pity, she just needs for the citizens of this once great nation to be aware and to "stand up and push back against a government that is overreaching".

We need to be aware, we need to be proactive. Pray, yes! But also stand up and do something!

+JMJ+

Please take the time to watch the video below. In an accompanying description we read...

by Nicole Revels - Journalist

This is the story of a North Carolina mother of three sons, two of whom have a rare bone marrow failure syndrome called Shwachman-Diamond syndrome combined with a secondary mitochondrial disease. Pattie says that she has witnessed her family's insurance coverage slip away as premiums, deductibles, and medication co-pays have drastically increased with the implementation of mandates contained within the Affordable Care Act. Pattie has now been notified that her sons' life-saving compounded medications will be dropped from coverage all together as of September 15, though her family's medications and treatments were covered with no denials for years prior to 2011. Pattie fears that her family may soon lose their employer-provided health insurance completely, forcing them onto Obamacare exchanges under which they would be denied access to their current specialists. Having read the Affordable Care Act legislation prior to its passage, Pattie says that it was evident that the mandates would generate exactly the detrimental impacts that she is now experiencing. She asserts that the ultimate goal of the legislators who adopted the Affordable Care Act was the extinction of private health insurance companies, giving rise to a single-payer system of substandard healthcare.

Read the full article, , "Obamacare Has Destroyed My Family" - A Mito Mother's Story,  here.  

http://youtu.be/9RAhCDzs-hY

Cancer While Pregnant? Both Mother and Baby Can (and Should) Live!

Taking a cue from Pope Francis, our family is known to evangelize. His oft repeated message calls us to share the word of God where we are, saying, “The Church must be in the streets”. As a passionate pro-life advocate, my participation in this call often centers on the sanctity of life. As His creatures, God’s first gift to us is our very being. In as much as He is the author of life, we owe Him our utmost effort in preserving it.

Sharing a Personal Story

Our family has had its share of opportunities for ‘walking the talk’ when it comes to the pro-life message. One such story – finding myself to be a pregnant 14-year-old – has been a past topic. Another is the experience our daughter, Erika, lived when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at 20 weeks pregnant. Sharing her story has been a valuable tool for reaching out to those in similar circumstances – a surprisingly significant segment of society. That she was given only two options – abortion followed by treatment or waiting until after birth for treatment – is typical of advice most frequently given across the country. Often we see stories of a virtuous, heroic mother who forgoes treatments in deference to the life of the child she is carrying. What isn’t as commonplace is the medically advanced, morally sound option of treatment while pregnant. This is the alternative I feel a spiritual pull to share. After all, both mother and child deserve the best chance of survival!

Knowledge - a Powerful Ally

Unfortunately there’s much misinformation out there. For this reason, our daughter, a molecular biologist, Howard Hughes research scholar, and former forensic biologist did her share of research when presented with two unacceptable options by local doctors. What she found was that chemotherapy during pregnancy does not raise the risk of miscarriage or other problems. In fact, the oncologists who treated her at M.D. Anderson in Houston had been successfully using this method for over 20 years. Although these children continue to be closely monitored, there have been no incidents of detrimental effects to date. This option is as safe for the unborn child as that of no treatment. Even though our daughter was high risk for miscarriage (4 occurrences prior to her second live birth), her doctor assured her the option of chemotherapy treatment would not increase her risk.

According to Erika, “The maternal-fetal doctor I saw in Houston told me that the biggest ‘risk’ of chemo treatments while pregnant was the increased likelihood of early contractions. However, she again assured me that a) any time a pregnant woman is stressed, she’s likely to have contractions and b) those contractions are rarely productive”.

So what causes all of the misconceptions and why isn’t this scientifically proven method more commonly shared? Perhaps doctors poorly explain or fail to acknowledge the truth. It’s also possible that doctors aren’t as familiar with chemotherapy during pregnancy as they could be. Every woman presented with a cancer diagnosis while pregnant is free to choose what she feels is best, but being armed with the facts – all of them – should be a vital part of that decision-making process.

I tell our story via the pro-life memes I create and share.

Life for Both

As is typical, the outcome proved to be win-win when our healthy, full term granddaughter was born on Thanksgiving Day 2009. She joined all of the other ‘chemo babies’ of the past 25+ years, whose mothers had an increased chance of surviving a cancer diagnosis during pregnancy. Today, Rachel is a precocious 4-year-old who ranks in the 90th percentile in height and weight for her age group. She’s a beginning reader who aspires to out run her rambunctious 6-year-old brother. Whenever we are out and about, her disarming smile is sure to garner comments and begin conversations. In true evangelizing style, we never miss an opportunity to express our gratitude to God for this living miracle of ours. Many a stranger has walked away from a checkout line or gathering, knowing that a cancer diagnosis while pregnant doesn’t have to be a death sentence – for the child or the mother.

Celebrating another year of life at the Horses and Hope Event in KY

Visit the Designs by Birgit fan page on Facebook for hundreds of pro-life and faith memes to share!

NOTE: A similar version of this piece first appeared at Catholic Stand.

Novena to Saint Afra - Martyr for Conversion

As the wife of a convert, I have an affinity for the saints tasked with converting souls for the Church Jesus brought to us in His human role. During our lives, we are all in need of conversion from our sinful ways, as well. Two obvious favorites, Saint Monica and Saint Augustine, quickly come to mind. However, there are other, less commonly known saints to petition as well. One example is Saint Afra whose feast day is August 5th. How fitting, then to pray for the intercession of this former pagan for the next nine days.

This former barmaid and prostitute's character was so nefarious that she was instrumental in the corruption of many youths in her city of Augsburg, in Bavaria. Yet Divine Grace triumphed when this most wretched creature was brought, from the very lowest abyss of disrepute, to the glory of martyrdom.

Tradition holds that Saint Afra and her entire family, as well as her three servants, were converted by the holy bishop, Saint Narcissus. It appears that, for the rest of her life, she recollected and was tortured by her past crimes against God. This lead her to liberally give to the poor, who sometimes refused her charity because they considered it the wages of sin. She would then fervently pray to God for remission of her offenses and beseech them to accept her gifts.

Saint Afra was arrested during the persecution of Diocletian, and brought before a judge, named Gaius, who said to her: “Come now, sacrifice to the gods; it is better to live than to die amid torments.”

Saint Afra replied: “The sins which I have committed before I knew the true God are sufficient; wherefore I cannot now do that which thou commandest. I never will do so: it would be adding a new insult to my God.”

When the judge ordered her to repair the temple, she answered, “My temple is Jesus Christ, whom I have continually before mine eyes, and to whom I every day confess my sins. Since I am unworthy to offer him any other sacrifice, I am anxious to sacrifice myself, in order that this body, with which I have offended him, may be purified by torments; this reflection shall make me suffer most willingly.”

Some accounts relate that Saint Afra was martyred by being burned alive, while others say she was beheaded. Her feast day is August 5th. Read more of her story at Catholic Saints and Catholic Answers.  

Feel free to leave your intentions in the combox. Start on Sunday, July 27. Will you join us in praying this prayer as well as an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for the next 9 days?

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          Prayer to Saint Afra for Conversion - Daily for 9 Days beginning Sunday, July 27

Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful Savior of the World, we humbly beseech you, by your most Sacred Heart, that all the sheep who stray out of your fold may one day be converted to You, Shepherd and Bishop of their souls, Who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.

Saint Afra, pray for the conversion of souls. Saint Afra, we beseech you to intercede on behalf of [mention your intention]. Saint Afra, pray for us! 

Say the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be.

When Fathers Day Isn’t Happy

Sometimes the ideal set forth by a day of celebration doesn't reflect your personal reality. The picture perfect vision of a Dad who has stood by you from the moment of your birth may not be a part of your experience. In this situation, a day set aside for celebrating fond memories might evoke pain and sadness instead. While those of us who suffer from a particular lack in our lives might find ourselves pondering the what if’s of the ideal, we don’t begrudge those whose experience reflects that which has not been gifted to us.

Fathers Day is one such day for me. I've had two fathers in my life. The first, was a painful reminder that not all marriages are made in heaven. His actions toward my mother, his taking of my little brother, and leaving me behind – all of this shaped my life but (thank God) didn't stunt my ability to love and feel loved. The second father came into my life when I was the daughter of a divorced mother who had been deprived of raising her first son – his father had spirited him away and he was not to be found.

Dad came along and adopted me and all seemed right with the world. My childhood, my five siblings, our family life, and adulthood – they all reflected a seamless adaptation to this family, brought together by mutual love and caring.

All that changed when our mother died at the young age of 58. Although we were all adults (the youngest was 21), we had grown up in a vibrant home filled with love and togetherness. We were the family all other families strove to be – lively, loving, and always actively living life to the fullest. What we didn't realize was that Mom had been the sole catalyst. As my youngest brother describes it, May 4, 1994 was the day Mom and Dad died. It changed our lives forever.

Even as adults we seek the comfort of the familiar. If we’re lucky, our family never loses this quality. For those of us who aren't so fortunate, the pain suffered can be almost debilitating. That’s where I stand on a day like today – Fathers Day 2014. While I relish the father my dearest husband has been to our children and am proud of the fathers our sons have become, the little girl in me longs to recover that which has been lost. 

A father, who walks away from his adult children (and their children and grandchildren) to another family may not produce the same type of damage as if had he acted thus at an earlier time, yet his rejection is still felt painfully and fully by his adult children. To have the same man who gave warm hugs, piggy back rides, and solace in times of tragedy walk away, severing all ties, is to have a hole in your heart – a longing of all of those days gone by. Unlike the holding close to fond memories of a parent who has died, this pain is different. Knowing he exists, however out of reach he may be, is to be tormented by the reality of rejection every day.

Scary face from happier times. <3

Happy Fathers Day, Dad. I’m missing you today and pray you are well. Perhaps someday…

Removing Life Support - 8 Reasons the Munoz Decision Was Wrong

By now you've most likely heard about the brain dead Texas mother, whose life support was removed recently - even though her pre-born child was still depending on it for survival. Many have weighed in on this heartbreaking story. The multitude of comments I have read have been provocative, morally based and/or well thought out, while others were heated and emotionally charged. I've read, pondered, debated and discerned. Below I've listed eight conclusions to which I've come.

1. The mother, Marlise Munoz, was irreparably damaged - physically. Her own life would most likely never improve. Removing extraordinary medical measures from her body seems to have been a licit act - had she not been pregnant.

2. Since Mrs. Munoz wasn't the only person to be considered, however, a different set of criteria begged to be used. Almost certainly, she lacked the physical ability to recover but within her womb lived another person. This pre-born child was living and growing. She had her own unique set of God-given rights.

3. Texas law, justly, has called for sustaining the life of the mother if she is pregnant. In the Munoz case, judicial manipulation countermanded this ethically based law.

4. Baby Munoz's life had been maintained, within her mother's womb, for nine weeks already. This wasn't a case of asking for extraordinary means after the fact. The medical intervention, needed to assist the continuing life of the child, was an on-going treatment. Removing this treatment, once implemented, was morally different from not having initially begun it.

5. Whether or not this little baby girl was suffering from physical or mental defects had no licit impact on the morality of this case. Physical or mental perfection has never been an acceptable criterion for the right to life.

At 20 weeks* - the Munoz baby was 23 weeks. 

6. Pre-born children of similar gestational age (23 weeks) have historically been found to be viable. Maintaining life-support on the mother for a few more weeks would have significantly improved the potential outcome for this pre-born little girl.

7. Instead, removing life-sustaining treatment had the direct effect of death - the ceasing of the life of a pre-born person. On the other hand, a Cesarean Section would have given the child an opportunity to live. Had the baby died under this circumstance, it would have not have been morally objectionable.

8. Had baby Munoz been born via C-Section, she would have had the opportunity to receive the sacrament of Baptism. I have found this aspect to be morally incomprehensible.

While I realize this situation was fraught with emotional difficulty for the Munoz family, I contend their decision was the morally wrong one. As understandable as it is that they would want to bury and mourn this loved member of their family, their emotional desires resulted in a morally illicit choice. Had they waited just a while longer, the fruit of their union – a little girl, posthumously named Nicole – could have continued to be a living legacy of their love. Rest well, Marlise and Nicole Munoz. May God, His Mother Mary, and the Angels wrap their loving arms around you.

In a related story, a brain dead mother sustains twins - while on life support - until their birth at 25 weeks. They are slowly improving and her family is grateful for their lives.

NOTE: For a study of mothers on life-support, and the outcome for their babies, see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002294/

* What Does A Fetus Look Like at 20 Weeks?