We have been receiving a lot of emails from listeners and viewers who are troubled by the outcome of our recent presidential election. Concern covers the gamet from outrage to fear -- outrage at what this election means from a pro-life standpoint, and fear that the principles of President-elect Obama will lead to policies radically different from the both the Judeo-Christian ethos and the vision of America's founding fathers.
It is true that the outcome of the election was an abysmal defeat for life. There is no way to caculate the advances toward a culture of death our nation can take in the next four years. And it is also true that the "talk" of the President-elect sounds as radically left as his voting record. But one thing is certain: we, who actively seek to restore a culture of life, must remain steadfast and we must remain firm. And we must continue to safeguard all that is God-honoring in the culture of our day. "Stand fast," says Sacred Scripture, and fast we must stand.
But what do we about the
fear part? How do we quell the growing apprehension and anxiety that underlies the tone of the emails and phone calls we are receiving?
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Last week Father Edmund Sylvia, C.S.C. and I were at EWTN taping the next ten programs for The Abundant Life television program. It was a great week filled with great guests and great program topics.
We explored some new topic selections as well as revisiting some that we have explored in the past. Topics include
Spiritual Warfare: Engaging the Battle; Bread of Life: The Eucharist and You; Working Out: Building, Strength, Exercising Faith; Don't you remember? -- Exercising the Memory the Christian Way; The Rosary and Healing the Heart; The Mystery of Faith in Signs and Symbols; Perinatal Death: A Special Kind of Sadness; Barren and Blessed: The Plight of Infertility; Pope Paul VI: The Man and His Legacy.
These new programs will begin to air in early February. A "thank you" to the crew and staff of EWTN, the staff of LHLA, Father Ed, and our guests for making this a truly smooth and great week!
Visit
www.womenofgrace.com to find out about the weekly program and its resources.
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National Election Day, 2008 is tomorrow. Perhaps at no other time in our national history has the fate of our nation hung in the balance so precipitously. And, perhaps at no other time in our national history has the moral fiber of our culture been so seriously threatened.
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On Saturday, October 25, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Clermont, Florida presented a Women of Grace One-Day Conference in conjunction with Living His Life Abundantly' outreach for women. It was a remarkable day in the Lord as more than 250 women gathered at the parish to hear about the great gift of authentic femininity and God's mission for them in this 21st century.
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Good Day Everyone!
Other than yesterday's post, it has been a number of days since I last blogged. It isn't that I haven't had anything to share, it's just that I have been out of town, back in town, out of town again for the past couple of weeks.
At any rate, I was eager to get out the post yesterday because the topic has been burning in my heart. I have spoken on it at recent speaking engagements as well as on radio, and I wanted to get it out to you. Be sure to read the post,
Are You Concerned?
Today I thought I'd give you a potpourri of thoughts and findings I have been collecting for you over the past few weeks. I am going to post them under a variety of subject headings. As you read, remember me, Living His Life Abundantly, and Women of Grace in your prayers.
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I don't know about you, but I am concerned about the upcoming elections. Opportunity seems to be staring us in the face -- a real chance to move forward to restore a culture of life -- but yet many Catholics just don't seem to get it. And this gets me frustrated -- but not discouraged! God is in control, and He does have a plan. But that plan involves you and me. We have got to do our part.
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It has been an edifying weekend in the Lord. We have had an opportunity to witness the abundant ways in which God is working through the Women's Care Center and the number of babies who have come into this world as a result of their efforts. May God continue to bless all those who make this happen including director Theresa Claybaugh, Terry, Giovanna, Denise, Mary Jo, Ginny, and their valuable team of volunteers who have "mothered" many new lives into the world. And, to the Board of Directors of the Women's Care Center whose advice, counsel, guidance, and leadership have provided much to Rochester community. My prayer is that we might all be encouraged by the witness and the example given to us through this apostolate. Thank you, also, to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Greece who welcomed us to participate in their Life Chain and their prayer service for the unborn. What a grace all of you are to the Kingdom of God! Incidentally, I came to discover that the Life Chain grew out of the Women of Grace Foundational Study -- may God be praised!
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I am in Rochester, New York, this morning eager to be with the young women and their moms who will gather this afternoon at the Diplomat Banquet Center on Lyell to speak at a Tea for Teens about the "Gift of Authentic Femininity." The Tea begins at 1:30 PM and ends at 3:30 PM.
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I just love Catholic radio and feel so privileged and blessed that I can be part of this beautiful "electronic community" that joins people together in unique and sometimes startling ways. Yesterday's
Women of Grace Live program was especially graced and I was awestruck at the movement of the Holy Spirit through the air waves.
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Women of Grace Outreach Coordinator, Joanne Kane, just couldn't throw away the names of the Kalispell, Montana women even though she needed to reuse their lanyards for the participants of the upcoming Women Of Grace National Conference in Sacramento, CA September 19-21. They had attended the Women of Grace One-Day Conference August 2 sponsored by St. Matthew's Catholic Church in Kalispell.
"I just couldn't throw those names away," Joanne said. "They represented the beautiful women, our sisters in the Lord, that we met there." So, heeding an internal nudge, she put the Kalispell names in the lanyards along with the names of the women who would be attending the WOG National Conference.
At the event, Joanne explained her decision to the conference attendees and suggested they pray for the Kalispell woman whose name had been entrusted to her. Thus began "Ribbon of Grace," a new prayer ministry of Women of Grace which "ties" WOGs together in a special bond of prayer and intercession.
This past weekend, the Ribbon of Grace was wrapped around the women attending the Women of Grace One-Day Conference sponsored by the Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend, Office of Spiritual Development and Evangelization. There, WOG attendees received the names of the Sacramento Conference participants, many of whom wrote special prayer requests on the back of their name cards. The idea was met with a standing ovation expressing the women's enthusiastic response.
While all of the women seemed delighted with the idea, for one conference attendee the Ribbon of Grace was particularly poignant. She had unexpectedly received her daughter's name who had attended the Sacramento Conference the weekend before. This delightful surprise amazed Joanne Kane who had given no attention to the Sacramento names she was slipping into the lanyards for the Indiana attendees. "This must be of the Holy Spirit," said Joanne, "I couldn't have come up with this!"
Participants coming to the Women of Grace One-Day Conference in Clermont on October 25th will receive the names of the ladies who attended the Indiana conference. And thus, the Ribbon of Grace will continue to unite Woggers nationally. In '09 those ties will become international ones. A Ribbon of Grace tying the women of the world together in prayer and intercession for each other. What a concept!
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