The Reality of Abortion & Artificial Contraception

I reprint this poem every Christmas.  It's worth some solemn meditation.

Lament of St. Nicholas by Paul Murano

‘Twas the week before Christmas and throughout heaven above

the angels and saints were proclaiming God's love

“Nicholas”, called Jesus, “Faithful servant on earth

it's time for children to celebrate my birth

Go on and inspire the parents of these

to all of their hearts I now give you the keys”

Yes Lord! cried Nicholas with the greatest of joys

I love helping out with their clothes and their toys

But most of all Lord what I work for these days

is leading their minds back to you and your ways

So he started his mission, this jolly ol’ soul,

to the homes of God's children, the young and the old

The trees were in place and the candy canes hung

but he stared at the fireplace as carols were sung

Something's wrong! said the saint, as it paused his delight

Less than half of the stockings are hanging this night!

I see cars, DVR's, home computers, and more

but I hear not the laughter that I heard once before!

So he checked his list twice but it just didn't jive

there were many more children that were meant to be alive

Reality of Contraception & Abortion

Dear Lord, cried St. Nicholas with a voice of surprise

Many children are missing! as the tears filled his eyes

Oh Nicholas my servant, I thought that you knew

in many heart$$ green has replaced pink and blue

And Nicholas, said Jesus with a sad solemn voice

in the past 40 years this is what they've called "choice"

Then He took the saint's list and divided it thrice

and revealed the true meaning of naughty and nice:

This first group has children I could never create

my people used barriers and drugs with their mate

The second are the children that had never been born

from the wombs of their mothers they were taken and torn

And the third group are now all the children on earth

they're the ones that did make it through conception and birth

Oh Jesus I'm sorry! ol' St. Nicholas cried

This shouldn't be happening - they forgot why You died!

Help me to show them how to be brave

like the poor Virgin Mary giving birth in a cave!

I Am the hope many don't know, Jesus said

so go forth dear St. Nicholas – my light you must spread

'Twas the week before Christmas and St. Nicholas did pray:

Merry Christmas to all ... and to all a new day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Photo and color scheme added by me.



image - http://dontbuytheabortionlie.blogspot.com/2011/02/contraception-is-not-solution.html
source -  http://bit.ly/2tzefUV 

Like/Follow a New Facebook Page!

I recently reached a point of frustration with the international denial of what abortion entails. So I started a Facebook Page entitled, "Let's Stop Killing Babies in the Womb." [To reflect a broader ProLife coverage, the name has since been changed to "Let There Be Life."]

It starts in the womb. The only way to abort a pregnancy or abort a baby is by killing the baby. There is just no getting around it. By using vocabulary that reflects what really happens, truth and awareness can permeate our society and eventually lead more people to support Life.

Of course, ProLife isn't only about saving a baby; it's about raising a child. So tangential efforts include developing more efficient and loving adoption alternatives, getting pregnant women groceries and vitamins if they cannot afford them, guiding them in getting driver's licenses, health insurance for all involved. And more. Maybe you can help?

We are called by God and by each other to treat pregnant women in crisis with dignity. Telling them the truth is a good start. I hope you join the conversation. Click here.

Blessings,
Kathleen+

 New Facebook Page

Let's Stop Killing Babies in the Womb 

[To reflect a broader ProLife coverage, the name 
has since been changed to "Let There Be Life."]


 

https://www.facebook.com/lettherebelife1/

image - FB Page

We [two single people] Had Sex. Now What?

I like this article below. It acknowledges our shortcomings and helps us to renew our faith!

So many other articles talk about how to strengthen yourself from ever falling short of the Catholic mark. It is all good information, but the reality is that people do fall short - and then struggle with how to recoup. This article helps.

https://www.catholicmatch.com/institute/2017/05/we-had-sex-now-what/



image - http://blog.seekingmillionaire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/too-picky-when-dating.png

Mourning My Loved Ones Lost to Abortion

Below is a post I wrote back in 2010. I re-post it now because my heart has been actively aching lately, for the aborted children I personally knew in some way before they were taken from us. 

For me, anti-abortion work (which falls under the ProLife umbrella) had deeper meaning when it dawned on me that I knew real-life babies who were involved. As I mention in my original post, a co-worker, two of my friends, and two of my close relatives faced crisis pregnancies and chose to have abortions. More specifically, they chose to end the lives of the babies they themselves helped create. Focusing on my relations with them, they chose to end the lives of children with whom I would have played and taken care of. They were children for whom I would have made and decorated birthday cakes. Our decisions impact others. In this case, I am left to process my grief and mourning rather than my joy and celebration. I know, I am not one of the parents, so my feelings are secondary, but secondary does not mean negligible or worthless.

Here is my original post.

A Repost of September 20, 2010

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I am not talking about mourning my loved ones who had a chance at life on earth.  I am talking about mourning the babies in my life who never had a chance to begin with.  More specifically, I am talking about the never-born babies of my coworker, my two friends, and two of my relatives.  They were all aborted at some point, and today, I miss them.

Why today, I do not know, but I do know my grief is real.  I was overwhelmed with it in Daily Mass this morning.  A vision flashed before me.  My "niece" and "nephew" and the other "children" were playing in a field, laughing.  Tears literally came to my eyes.  I will never get to know them, and they will never get to know me, or anyone else, even their very own parents. 

Abortion is often close to home, as it is with me.  That is because it is so prevalent and cuts across all boundaries in society, e.g. poor, rich, black, white, younger, older.  It is one of the biggest kept secrets.  Of course, the genders are not really known, but they were in my vision.  Girl, girl, boy, girl, boy.  God touched me and I wept because they were not with us.

This is one of the less talked about effects of abortion.  Mourning, I mean.  Mourning.  Mourning like Mary mourned at the foot of the cross when Jesus was taken down dead.  It does not matter that the child was never born and never had a body like we all have.  The mourning still occurs.  I am witness to it, and I am not even closest to these children.  I can only imagine what their parents experience.

I doubt that abortion clinics tell the young women and men that they will mourn the loss of their aborted one some day, or that their relatives will mourn the loss as well.  No.  The aborted babies are not considered people.  They are not considered flesh and blood.  They are inconveniences and money makers to the abortion clinic.  Their loss, no, their murder, is job security for the staff.

I hope God continues to bring these visions to me.  I hope He overwhelms me again and again with grief like this.  It keeps me in touch with the horror of abortion, and it keeps my ProLife conviction alive.  It also brings compassion in my heart for all those involved, directly or indirectly.

If you or someone you know is mourning the loss of an aborted child, consider Project Rachel.  There is hope after an abortion.  "It's normal to grieve a pregnancy loss, including the loss of a child by abortion. It can form a hole in one's heart, a hole so deep that sometimes it seems nothing can fill the emptiness."

Kathleen

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 image - https://thinkingonscripture.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/mourn-tears.jpg

Keep Calm and Stay Catholic

Reprint from May 31, 2013 - It is still valuable and fitting today.

I'm Gay, but I'm Not Switching to a Church That Supports Gay Marriage
With so many options for gay Christians, why stick with the Catholic church?

The article is about Eve Tushnet, the author, consciously choosing to stay within the Catholic Church, even though she is gay. Her insight goes beyond the immediate topic of being gay.  She presents her reasoning in such a way that its effect is universal.  For example, I am a single heterosexual and I am faced with the same teachings on living the celibate life, as gay folks are faced with - and, like Eve Tushnet, the author of the article above, I am sticking around.  Not only am I sticking around, I am joyful to be living by the Church's Teachings. 

A lot of folks are sticking around even though they are faced with tough situations:
- Folks who cannot have children naturally and are tempted by In Vitro Fertilization. 
- Folks who are tired from being a parent and want to get vasectomies or use artificial contraception.
- Folks who are overwhelmed by an unexpected crisis pregnancy and are tempted to abort the baby.

All of these folks choose to remain Catholic and use their Faith to overcome their temptations, instead of abandoning the Faith to avoid them.  That is what love and charity are about.  That is what it means to live the spiritual life.  That is what Eve Tushnet is role modeling for the rest of us.

images - http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-stay-catholic-7/
http://www.stjoeparish.org/youth/YEvents.html

Excerpts from "What I Didn't Know When I Stopped Having Sex"

My original post was on Facebook. Thank you, Tori, for your sharing.

"What I Didn't Know When I Stopped Having Sex"

     "...No one told me that sleeping with that guy from the bar would leave me feeling more empty than I thought possible. No one told me that it would make me feel more unworthy and more alone. No one told me that with each one-night stand, my heart was building up walls that would keep everyone out. No one told me that allowing men access to my body would make it seemingly impossible to receive a hug, hear someone tell me that I ambeautiful, or let myself be loved."

     "I stopped having sex and you have the freedom as well...."

     "... despite what the world was telling me, I could stop having sex. I could save it for the proper context and I could regain the part of me that is so precious."

     "The battle is to claim a new life in Christ and to shed away the masks of false identity."

     "...I learned that while on His cross, the Lord saw all those lonely nights when I lay in bed wondering if this is as good as it gets. He bore the pain of my wounds and today allows me to live in the freedom which He has promised."

                                                                                             ~ Tori Vissat, Shalom Tidings, Oct/Nov 2015

To read Tori's article in its entirety, go to to the full article here.

God Bless,
Kathleen +


image - http://madeinhisimage.org/whatididntknowwhenistoppedhavingsex-2/

Spread the Good News

I have seen a string of articles and blog entries with a positive spin.  It's been refreshing because not too long ago, it seemed like all there was was bad news.  Here are some of the articles I have read lately.  Enjoy!

1) I Am in the Same Week of Pregnancy as My Birthmom, Who Tried to Abort Me  

2) Act of forgiveness: Mom hugs daughter's killer in court

3) Pro-Life Miss USA Contestant Was Conceived in Brutal Rape, Glad She Wasn't Aborted

4) Seven Famous People Who Were Almost Aborted

5) H.S. Salutatorian Defies School Administration, Speaks of His Christian Faith  

6) Supreme Court Rules Pro-Life Group Can Defend Its Free Speech Rights

7) Abortion Survivor Finds Doctor Who Aborted Her Twin Brother – You Won’t Believe What Happened

Let's end with a quote from Saint John Chrysostom:
"Your children will always be sufficiently wealthy if they receive from you a good upbringing that is able to order their moral life and behavior.  Thus, strive not to make them rich, but rather to make them pious masters of their passions - rich in virtues."


image - http://www.upbeatcontemporarychoir.com/resources/upbeat%20logo.JPG

I Am The 51-Year-Old Who Wrote To The 14-Year-Old

Warning:  Graphic language in title of article

I read this article today:

I'm The 14-Year-Old Who Wrote The "Jesus Isn't A Dick So Keep Him Out of My Vagina" Sign In Texas And Was Labeled A "Whore" By Strangers Online

 

Then I wrote to the author:

 

Dear Tuesday,

You write, "I know someone who has had a few abortions. She now says that abortion is bad and she fights against a woman's right to choose." Listen to her. She knows what she's talking about.

As for the mother's right to choose, she has always had the right and always will -- to choose to engage in sex.  That is where the choice begins. She knows the consequences before she engages, and if she wants to be seen as a mature woman, she should either accept the consequences of her decision by giving birth to her baby if she becomes pregnant, or she should not engage in sex at all.

I am praying for you, Tuesday.  I am sure a lot of other people are too. I am hopeful that you will eventually have a conversion (hopefully before you have any abortions yourself) and realize the primary fight of ProLifers is for the baby's right to life.  The woman already has one.

Just remember that someone honored your right to life and brought you to where you are today.  Would you really want to go back in time and ask your mother to consider aborting you? Peace.

image - http://www.mdrtl.org/aboutus.html

Waiting For Marriage

All of Me: 3 Reasons Why I’m Waiting for Marriage

By Jackie Francois | March 19, 2013

A good read.  http://lifeteen.com/all-of-me-reasons-waiting-for-marriage/

I am always encouraged to hear about people developing the virtue of chastity before marriage.  It includes all the wonderful practices of respect, admiration, restraint, patience, honoring the dignity of the other person.  

If people adhere to it before marriage, they will be more likely to adhere to it during marriage.  Yes, chastity is needed during marriage, too.




image - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHU0GRCoZJUd1wvhEuEkz9e-Mg7aiQ9ewGvl7ugbmmREjkhzVJ1B8RsEcmJco2IU9jhqDBux8MO4PUsgkS5IZwloogH-IEoSsUiJ4YEL26jp73OsmLKY9bciU4tp1aAXM6V_PO2HbE4V11/s1600/SEX-BEFORE-MARRIAGE.jpg

Nicki and Tyler

I just watched a refreshing video clip about a young couple, Nicki and Tyler, who talk about their discernment process regarding the nature of their relationship.  It's worth a watch.

Click here



image - http://stpatrickcatholic.org/jblum/projects/projects/