THE GOSPEL & THE GOSPEL OF LIFE

 

We have a guest blogger today: Arlene Muller. Arlene is a lector and EM at St. Pancras Church in Glendale, I sing in the choir at St. Margaret's Church in Middle Village, I am the newly elected Formation Director of St. Adalbert's Secular Franciscan fraternity in Elmhurst, and I am a part time itinerant speech/language therapist working with preschool children with delayed language development. I enjoy singing & writing & promoting our faith & the pro-life cause on FACEBOOK.

In striving to live the Gospel, to turn our lives and our society (especially our country) from the culture of death to the Gospel of life, and to make abortion not merely illegal but UNTHINKABLE, we require the necessary tools in the acronym P.L.E.A.: P = PRAYER, L = LEGAL/LEGISLATION/POLITICAL, E = EVANGELIZATION & EDUCATION, & 

A = ADVOCACY.

In my previous articles we covered the topics of Prayer, Legal/Legislation/Political & Evangelization & Education. The final and extremely essential--even crucial--tool is ADVOCACY. Besides prayer, which is necessary to undergird all our efforts, and by which we acknowledge our dependence upon GOD to guide, direct, and give success to our efforts, and trust that with Him all things are possible, it is extremely important that we advocate for the women in crisis pregnancies and their babies so that they will receive all the help, support and resources they need to choose life for their babies, to have healthy and safe pregnancies, labor and delivery, and to care for their babies after they are born. For this we need to support and promote the many faith-based pregnancy resource centers and pro-life organizations, especially those who continue to provide help for as long as needed by the mother and her family.

It would be extremely cruel and heartless if all we did was to preach against abortion and legislate against it without giving desperate women viable alternatives to abortion and surrounding them with compassionate care. Thank the LORD that many Catholics and other Christians have "stepped up to the plate" from the earliest days that abortion became legal. I remember as an 8th grader in 1967 when NY passed a very liberal abortion law, a Catholic organization called BIRTHRIGHT was there to help women in crisis pregnancies to choose life for their babies.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has "lamented" that pregnancy resource centers outnumber abortion clinics by a ratio of 3:1. That is NOT a reason to lament, but a reason to thank GOD that there are more people who are working to save the lives of babies and their mothers than people who are working to kill babies! Because these organizations give women in crisis pregnancies a way to save their babies and have the support and resources at their disposal and don't force anyone to stay or to do anything, people who attack pregnancy resource centers and pro-life organizations should no longer hide behind the euphemistic label "pro-choice" but call themselves "pro-abortion", because the only "choice" these attackers honor & want to allow us abortion!

It is VITAL that as Christians, as Catholics & as Secular Franciscans living the GOSPEL of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST and the GOSPEL OF LIFE we do all that we can to make people aware of the available help for women in crisis pregnancies and to pray for, promote (in person, via social media, etc.), and support by financial and other means of support (e.g., donating material goods, volunteering) these wonderful faith-based pro-life organizations.

One wonderful pro-life organization located here in Queens, NYC is THE BRIDGE TO LIFE. One of the members of our Secular Franciscan fraternity, Cathy W., has been a dedicated volunteer at THE BRIDGE TO LIFE for the past 19 years, and I believe one or more of our other fraternity members has volunteered there as well. THE BRIDGE TO LIFE is a place where women in crisis pregnancies can go not only during their pregnancy but after the child has been born and receive not only counseling but plenty of material resources as well. The available resources include not only baby clothes, layettes, and other supplies (e.g., infant seats, car seats), but also maternity clothes, toddler clothes, children's clothes, non-maternity women's clothes, bedding--all either new or gently used. Cathy and other volunteers meticulously inspect every single donated item to ensure that it is in perfect condition (no stains, no pulls, no holes and not torn in any way). When I moved into my current apartment and when I had to clean out my Mom's house in 2019/2020, I was able to donate MANY bags of my clothing, Mom's clothing, sheets, comforters, baby clothes, shoes and even jewelry. I continue to donate clothing from time to time.

To learn more about THE BRIDGE TO LIFE you can visit their website, www.thebridgetolife.org. I am very happy that our fraternity has agreed to become a regular monthly donor to THE BRIDGE TO LIFE from our common fund.

Another wonderful pro-life organization helping women in crisis pregnancies is GOOD COUNSEL HOMES, founded by Christopher Bell. The late Father Benedict Joseph Groeschel, renown spiritual author and founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, was their first spiritual director. GOOD COUNSEL HOMES first opened its doors at a New Jersey location on Sunday, March 10, 1985, the same evening when I was prayed over for Baptism in the Holy Spirit at my Catholic Charismatic prayer group, so I feel a special spiritual bond with this organization, and I am blessed to be able to give them a recurring automatic monthly donation on my credit card.

GOOD COUNSEL HOMES provides group homes at several locations in the NY/NJ area where women in crisis pregnancies can stay and even bring any other children they already have. GOOD COUNSEL HOMES provides a wonderful loving home--shelter, food, clothing, spirituality, counseling, child care, educational opportunities and job training--not only during pregnancy, labor and delivery, but for as long as needed after the birth of the baby, until the mother can fully support herself and her children in a suitable apartment on her own. They also follow up with the mothers and children and give birthday parties.

To learn more about GOOD COUNSEL HOMES you can visit their website, www.goodcounselhomes.org.

The Sisters of Life, an order of consecrated religious sisters founded by the late John Cardinal O'Connor in the Archdiocese of NY, offers a variety of services and loving and compassionate care.

Women in crisis pregnancies don't need abortion--a seeming "quick fix" that not only kills innocent and helpless human lives, but also devastates the lives of women as well, often resulting in PTSD, depression, addictions, abusive relationships and even suicide. Women in crisis pregnancies need compassionate care, unconditional love, hope, affirmation, encouragement, spiritual guidance, support, and plenty of material resources and opportunities to live with a promising future of hope, love, provision, growth, security, and stability for themselves and their children. This is the type of advocacy that faith based pro-life organizations provide.

Now that our almost 50 years of prayer has been answered, and the heinous Roe v Wade decision has FINALLY been overturned to allow the states to restrict abortion, our pregnancy resource centers and pro-life organizations are needed more than ever and their employers, employees and volunteers are eager to meet the challenge and welcome, love and serve more expectant mothers and their babies. So our faith based pro-life organizations will need our prayers, referrals, publicity, promotion, and financial and material support more than ever.

As Christians, Catholics and Secular Franciscans committed to the GOSPEL of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST and the GOSPEL of LIFE we need to do whatever we can to support, promote and publicize these wonderful organizations as they advocate for women in crisis pregnancies and their children, both before and as long as needed after birth.