40 Days For Life (September 24 – November 2)

“This kind does not come out, except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:21)

            Wednesday, September 24^th, starts the 40 Days for Life, a national campaign of prayer and fasting to end abortion in America.  The aim of this campaign is to draw attention to the evil of abortion and other life issues (such as embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, and cloning).  The timing of this Fall’s campaign is especially critical: it ends on November 2^nd, All Souls Day, which is also the Sunday before Election Day.

            The end date is significant, not as an attempt to promote one political party over another, but to draw attention to the fact that the right to life is foundational to all other rights.  As Pope Benedict XVI said, “life is the first good received from God and is fundamental to all others.”  The Holy Father’s words should have special importance to a country founded on the belief that all souls “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Without life, there is no freedom of speech, because there is no speech.  Without life, there is no freedom of religion.  Without life, there is no right to vote; no right to a fair trial; no civil rights at all – because there is no life with which to exercise those rights.

In 1996, when Pope John Paul II found out that his home country had legalized abortion, he prophesied, “A nation that kills its own children has no future.”  This 40 Days for Life campaign is not just about the life of the unborn, the elderly, or the handicapped – it is about the life of our nation.

To participate in the campaign, please pray and fast during these 40 days that God will turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life.  There will also be opportunities to participate in prayer vigils outside local abortion clinics.  For more information, go to http://www.40daysforlife.com/.