MARCH 2022 NEWSLETTER
Featured Article:
A Pro-Life Lent: by Grace Chaffins
Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
These tasks embody the call the Church has given us during the season of Lent. As we prepare for this period, we recognize that this mission can be fulfilled through our involvement in the pro-life movement.
One way this call is answered by pro-lifers is through 40 Days for Life. This organization relies on people in cities around the world to pray for an end to abortion during Lent. This is done through prayer, fasting, and community outreach. Members of this organization stand vigil outside abortion facilities around the clock, serving as a witness against the tragedy of abortion.
How can we, as a virtual community, join in this mission? For one thing, we can sign up individually to be part of the 40 Days for Life campaign in our city. Our support is needed to be an active presence in our community. Even the simple act of standing outside these clinics has been shown to reduce the numbers of women who enter, and our prayers have real power to cause change.
Additionally, we invite you to join us for daily blog posts on our website. If you would like to receive these daily reflections by email, we ask you to subscribe on our website. For those who are unable to join an in-person 40 Days for Life campaign, we hope you will join us virtually and spiritually. Every day from March 2 to April 10, we will be releasing reflections written by members of our group to help us grow in love, knowledge, and community.
We also ask each of you to pray this Lent. Pray for an end to the silent genocide of abortion. Pray for the women who feel that abortion is their only option and for those who have been involved in abortions. For though we must pass through the desert of Lent to come to the joy of Easter, we hold in our hearts the knowledge that the battle against death is already won. Our battle against abortion is not yet over. While we must never be silent against this injustice, we can find hope in the knowledge that life has already conquered death.
To sign up for a 40 Days for Life campaign in your community, click here: https://www.40daysforlife.com/en/vigil-search.aspx
Prayers:
Prayer for the Protection of Life
O Mary, Bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life:
Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are the 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 civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life. - John Paul II
Lenten Pro-Life Prayer
Father of all mercy,
We thank you for this season of grace and light.
We know that sin has blinded us.
Draw us ever closer to you, in prayer and penance.
Since you, O God, are light itself,
Give all your people a clearer understanding
Of what is sin, and what is virtue.
Grant in particular that we may see, as never before,
The profound dignity of every human life,
Including the vulnerable unborn children.
Give us grace to defend
Our brothers and sisters in the womb
By our prayers, our words,
And our self-sacrificing actions.
We pray through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer published by https://www.priestsforlife.org
Pro-Life Quotes:
“As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst... He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you. ” - Mother Teresa
"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song." - Pope John Paul II
"The best thing I can show you to defend life is my life. It has been a great gift. I have met other survivors of abortion. They are all thankful for their life... when I speak. I speak not only for myself, but for other survivors... and also those who cannot yet speak." - Gianna Jessen (saline abortion survivor)
"We can think of Lent as a time to eradicate evil or cultivate virtue, a time to pull up weeds or plant good seeds. Which is better is clear, for the Christian ideal is always positive rather than negative." - Ven. Fulton Sheen
News:
40 Days for Life to Start on March 2
The 2022 annual 40 Days for Life campaign will begin on March 2, 2022. 40 Days for Life relies on pro-life people around the world to stand vigil outside local abortion centers, praying for an end to abortion and being a witness to those in their community. To sign up for your local 40 Days for Life campaign, click here: https://www.40daysforlife.com/en/vigil-search.aspx
Pills Found to Account for More than 50% of Abortions
According to research done by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, abortion pills now account for about 54% of all abortions in the United States. As these pills become more and more common, we must recognize and speak out against their dangers. Abortion pills force a woman to go through the dangerous and traumatic experience of killing and delivering her unborn child on her own. Data from Medicaid has shown that emergency room visits due to abortion have increased 500% when they involve a chemical abortion. As pro-lifers, we must help educate our community on the dangers of abortion pills and push for laws to be passed making the distribution of these pills illegal.
Upcoming Events:
Saturday, March 5th at 2:00pm EST - Monthly pro-life rosary
Saturday, March 11th at 12:30pm EST - leadership transition training
As we draw closer to the end of the school year, we are beginning to think about the future of our group. Long after our current leadership team graduates, we look ahead to Homeschool Connections Students for Life growing and reaching more people. All on the current leadership team must attend this training meeting to discuss with SFLA staff our leadership transition and the future of the group.
Saturday, March 12th at 6:30pm EST - Abortion survivors event
Join us to hear the powerful video testimony of an abortion survivor as he shares his journey of life, love, and forgiveness. The testimony will be followed by discussion.
RSVP here: https://forms.gle/qNyKj9otWrrpzHcq9
Submit Content:
This newsletter relies heavily on the contributions of group members. There are a number of items we are looking for:
- Creative content: We have implemented a segment of the newsletter dedicated to the topically relevant artistic contributions of group members, regardless of medium. If you have anything to share, please send it in. We'll accept most mediums, including (pictures of) paintings, graphic design pieces, songs, videos, poems, etc.
- Articles: We are accepting topically relevant articles from group members. Please note, however, that the newsletter editors reserve the right to modify articles in order to make them suitable for publication. Such modifications may include grammatical corrections and removal of potentially offensive content.
- Quotes & Literary Passages: We are also looking for any topically relevant quotes or literary passages to fill a segment of the newsletter. Anything from a simple sentence spoken by a saint to a paragraph from a book can be accepted.
If you want to submit anything from the above categories, or you simply want to provide feedback or suggestions, please email us at hscstudentsforlife@gmail.com and we will get in touch with you shortly.