Day Forty - The Victory is Won

Today's Reflection
by Grace Chaffins

Today, we celebrate Palm Sunday and the end of our 40 Days for Life journey. As we enter into Holy Week, we are witness to great suffering and sorrow. Imagine how difficult it must have been for Jesus' followers to experience His passion. All they had worked for seemed to be crumbling around them. They had proclaimed Jesus to be God Himself, and so it seemed impossible to them that He would be handed over and killed. As Jesus was killed, His followers were also engulfed in the darkness and horror of the world.

Sometimes, as pro-lifers we may feel this way too. When we hear of the thousands of innocent lives being taken and the atrocities committed against people around the world, we can feel like we are living in darkness and despair. But we are not faithless people. We have hope because we know the end of the story. As Samwise Gamgee says in The Lord of the Rings:

"It's like in the great stories... The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass.”

This Holy Week, let us suffer with Christ, but let us also remember that the darkness will pass and the joy will be all the greater for it. I encourage each of you to also meditate about the pro-life movement through this lens. As we struggle and strive to protect life, we may often feel that our efforts have no effect. We may want to give up. However, we know that life will have the final victory. On Easter, truth and goodness Itself conquered death.

“The Church that celebrates Easter also lives Easter. The victory has already been won but has not yet fully unfolded. We therefore rejoice and struggle at the same time. We have an unshakeable confidence that the power of life is greater than the forces of death. Yet we must not relax our efforts to protect God's gift of life from the destructive forces all around it. As St. Augustine once said, we sing "Alleluia," but as we sing we must "keep going" on the arduous journey that is ours.”
- Priests for Life

Thank you for joining us on our 40 Days for Life lenten journey. I hope these reflections have helped you to experience Lent more fully and have given you a renewed desire to be involved in defending life. I wish you all a blessed Holy Week and a happy Easter!

Prayer for Holy Week

Eternal and almighty Lord,
We thank you for your tender love towards us. You sent your only Son who is our Savior Christ. He made the greatest possible sacrifice for us. Jesus had to die on the cross to save us from our sins. We pray to follow the example of His humility and patience. Your Son, Christ reigns and lives with you forever. Amen.

Prayer published by The Salvation Garden.