40 Days for Life

40 Days for Life begins 34 days and 10 hours from when I am posting this and I'm really jazzed by the fact that I received a newsletter today that indicates that there will be activities in our area related to this awesome national cause. Physical limitations may keep me from participating at the abortion mills, but I definitively plan to be part of this initiative.

If you've never heard of 40 Days for Life, here are some items about it:

• It began in 2004 in Bryan/College Station, Texas
• Participants pray and fast for the end of abortion
• By fall of 2007, people from more than 80 communities in 30+ states
• One community experienced a 28% drop in abortions due to the campaign
• 35,000 people have participated in 40 DfL prayer vigils
• 500 document cases of lives saved because of 40 Days for Life
• Abortion industry workers have left the profession due to 40 DfL
• The next 40 Days for Life will occur September 24 - November 2, 2008
• You don't need to be a Catholic or member of any other Christian denomination
• You may visit the national 40 Days for Life web site by clicking HERE

Everyone can participate.

Let's say you have difficulty getting around so praying at an abortion "clinic" would be out of the question - that just means your part of the campaign could be focused upon prayer and fasting. Even if you have a medical condition that prohibits fasting from food, if you normally enjoy watching TV in the the evening, you can fast from that by only watching the evening news. Plus, that would give you time to focus extra prayers for the 40 Days for Life pro-life cause.

Update for people from the Harrisburg, PA area: Below is a portion of an e-mail from the 40 Days for Life coordinator in this area.

We are going for all three pieces:

1. Prayer, fasting, and alms giving for souls
2. Vigil for bodies
3. Education for minds

Persistent prayer, peaceful protest, and prudent presentations.

We hope to have a 24 hour a day presence at the Hillcrest Abortuary in Harrisburg for the whole 40 days. There will be a Harrisburg website where people can sign-up for the hours they can do vigil (but it is not ready yet). In addition, we will be having a rally in the Capitol rotunda at 10:00 on day 1, as well as a half way rally and a day 40 rally...

There will be info in the Witness and each parish pro-life group will get a poster, plus bulletin inserts.

We will keep you updated.

And when I'm updated, I'll update you.