Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade -- Going beyond the humanly possible in the fight against abortion

As we get prepared for the 40th annual March for Life, America Needs Fatima is proud to stand together with legions of Americans nationwide who brave the elements to give public witness to their opposition to abortion.

Our movement has done much to fight this evil. Looking to our past, it would seem that we have done everything humanly possible to oppose the slaughter of innocents that has so scourged our nation since the infamous Roe v. Wade decision first imposed abortion on demand upon the American people in 1973.

We have organized. Our movement has united Americans from every walk of life. Our activists have used every peaceful and legal resource available to us to make the other side retreat. We have met the pro-abortion forces in every field and proven ourselves as a vibrant force that refuses to be silenced.

We have protested. Our movement has taken to the streets making our voices heard in front of abortion clinics, public squares and capitol buildings all over the county. Our protests have seen scores of abortion clinics shut down and thousands of babies saved. Our message is proclaimed on radio waves, Web sites, billboards, license plates and truck panels. Young and old voices join in giving public witness and continuity to our repudiation of this disgraceful shame of our age.

We have prayed. Our most important actions are the prayers that rise up to heaven imploring God’s aid in this vast fight. It is the force of our supplications and Rosaries that have proven so successful in closing clinics and changing hearts. It is in these ardent supplications that we have found strength beyond our own—a supernatural strength that so confounds our adversaries.

We Must Confide

However, the situation has now changed dramatically. Today, the pro-life movement faces new and grave challenges that might seem insurmountable. We are tempted to cry out that we have done the “humanly possible.” We are tempted to think that there is no way to oppose such overwhelming opposition. Many ask, “What can be done?”

We answer that we must hope beyond all hope; we must confide.

Confidence is defined as a fortified hope. It is an extraordinary and heroic hope that does not bear hesitation or admit the slightest doubt. It rests upon an enormous faith in God and His Providence. This can be seen in the words of the psalmist, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” (Ps. 26:1).

In face of the struggles we have ahead, we are called to carry on this cultural battle with an unshakable confidence. Indeed, the more human help becomes improbable, the more certain becomes Divine intervention. In the midst of adversity, the confident soul calmly prays all the more ardently in the darkness of the trial hoping in silence for the hour of God.

A Call to Confident Action

With noble determination, we have carried our cause ahead and achieved impressive victories. However, now is not the time to give up the fight or diminish our activity. On the contrary, we must intensify our efforts but unite them with great confidence, keeping in mind that we look to God alone for the efficacy of our actions. To make it clear that God is the cause of our good actions, it is often from the depths of trials that God grants great victories.

To quote Saint Ignatius of Loyola,

Trust in God, acting nevertheless as if the success of every action depended entirely on you and not at all in God. But employing your efforts to attain this good result, do not count on them, but proceed as if everything were done by God alone and nothing by you.

Reasons for Confidence

Indeed, in our struggle against abortion, we have every reason to practice such confidence. Our very faith demands it of us. We can confide in God’s power since everything is subject to His sovereign domain. There is no power on earth that can keep Him from helping and protecting us.

We can confide in His goodness since Our Lord’s compassion for men is without bounds. He naturally wants to relieve our affliction. His Heart is consumed with an infinite charity that loses no opportunity to aid those who confide in Him.

Above all, we can look to His Holy Mother to whom He refuses nothing. This power and goodness would direct us to God and the Blessed Mother with holy audacity, asking Them to secure the final victory. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself assured us, “[a]sk, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7).

Beyond the Humanly Possible

Such promises should inspire us to go beyond the “humanly possible” and have no doubt that we will see Divine intervention in this great cultural battle. Confident prayer obtains everything. It is with the spirit of confident prayer that we must continue our struggle against abortion. Too often we have confided in the promises of politicians who have failed to fulfill their promises. Now is the time when we must confide all the more in Providence.

As an act of public confidence, America Needs Fatima was proud to coordinate 9,077 Public Square Rosary Rallies on October 13, 2012. Thousands gathered in public places nationwide, recognizing the need for prayer and public reparation. Let us publicly manifest this confidence once again in the 2013 March for Life, confiding in Our Lady’s promises at Fatima for solutions to put an end to abortion and so many other evils.

We are confident that all our pleas are not in vain. God has taken us this far. We are confident that He will complete His work if we only do our part. We must redouble our efforts and prayers since the final victory is assured in the words of the Savior who declared on the eve of His death, “Confidence! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

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