Our family has taken part in the vigil called for in front of a nearby Planned Parenthood abortion facility.   With our six kids, we stand outside to peacefully (OK, so how peaceful can it really  be chasing around a three-year-old?) pray for an end to abortion, help for mothers seeking abortions, healing for mothers and fathers who have already had or assisted abortions, and a change of heart for those who agree with abortion. 

What is needed for a change of heart?  A change of heart is a change that takes place because of love, not fear.  I wouldn’t consider the saving of Niniveh a change of heart, but rather a change that was fear-based.  Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet and Zaccheus’ invitation were responses due to a real change of heart.  It was Pharoh’s hard and unchangeing heart which brought plague and death to his country.  There is a real battle going on out there.  While we stood in prayer, the friends of Planned Parenthood came out to counter-demonstrate in a sort of pary atmosphere with signs saying “Honk if you love Planned Parenthood” or “Planned Parenthood Saves Lives”  (you mean “says lies,” right?).  There is a battle for hard hearts.  The only hope is Jesus himself.  Jesus’ mercy.  Jesus’ suffering.  Jesus’ most humble love (pray for Divine Mercy ).

I am sorry that perhaps the Church has not always portrayed such love, suffering and mercy, but it is the truth she defends; it is the hard hearts that refuse to see how she is faithful to that very Jesus on the crucifix.  Has this bride of Christ become too pampered and not gritty enough in this country?  It is certainly not so in other countries where persecutions are on the rise. 

Please pray for Spain and our Latin American neighbors to the south.  See here what change of heart is needed for women who think that they must grasp at “freedom” by asserting their rights.  Such grasping (cf. Phil. 2:6)would not be necessary if there were real men who would die for their brides (cf. Ephesians 5). 

Pray for good and holy men.  Pray for good and holy women who would trust and receive them with hearts of flesh.

You gotta hear this address from Christopher West called “God, Sex and the Meaning of Life: An Introduction to Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.”  Listen to it from your computer or download it to hear it on a device.  If you are a parent, please hear this before your kids and tell me if it’s something you would share with your kids, if you’re a teen, tell me what you think.

If you like what you hear with Christopher West, he has a series of articles on Humanae Vitae upon it’s 40th anniversary since publication in 1968.  The first article is entitled, “Contraception and Cultural Chaos” that explains the connection between contraception and abortion, divorce and homosexuality.  Here’s a snip:

When Margaret Sanger and her followers started pushing contraception in the early 1900’s, wise men and women – and certainly not just Catholics – predicted that severing sex from procreation would eventually lead to sexual and societal chaos. Today’s culture of adultery, divorce, premarital sex, STD’s, out-of-wedlock births, abortion, fatherless children, homosexuality, poverty, crime, drugs, and violence was all foreseen.
What’s the connection with contraception? While today’s societal chaos is certainly complex, the following demonstrates the “inner logic” of contraception’s contribution. People are often tempted to do things they shouldn’t do. Deterrents within nature itself and within society help to curb these temptations and maintain order.

See for yourself, it is amazing because it is true.  Also, see this illustration from One More Soul: