From Fr Holden

Father Marcus Holden has this image on his Facebook entry.

It's from Catholic Memes (God bless 'em).

It says it all really. One picture is worth ten thousand words.....

Shaking the bucket...for abortions!

A £10 donation to Virgin Money Giving's anti life fund
will support the killing of lots more of these cell type things
some people call babies

Now who would wish to donate money to support organisations such as BPAS, the abortion service that specialises in killing infants in the womb (plus counselling, of course)?

It appears that, some people are willing to throw a bit of cash in that direction even though, BPAS is not apparently short of a pound or two.

A certain James Ball has got the bucket shaking for BPAS because, in his words, women are intimidated by the 40 Days for Life campaigners outside abortuaries.

Let me say this once more....women are intimi....OK, I know you got the message, it was my brain that was struggling to comprehend it.

I have been on a few 40 Day vigils in the past five years and I have never witnessed a woman being terrorised as she enters the 'clinic'.

What I have seen is a lot of women terrorised by those who support the murder of babies and by so called Young Thugs Socialists.
They are not above threatening men also and it grieves me to think that I have signed up to the vigil organiser's protocol that states that all aggro must be met with a smile and Christian charity.

I still believe that Christian charity should be dished out Don Camillo fashion.

But I am, of course, wrong.

A fixed smile hides rising blood pressure but I pray through it all (and for the thugs) and it passes off, like water on a duck's back.

Now, we live, allegedly, in a free country, and it is entirely up to the individual to donate, or not, to whichever charity they wish.

But BPAS is a business, you might just as well give cash to Barclays Bank or Marks and Spencers, I'm sure they would welcome it but the fact is, they don't need it.

And, in the case of BPAS, surely they don't deserve it.

Their CEO, Ann Furredi, naturally enough, welcomes the bung; in fact, such spontaneous generosity often leaves her in tears.

Here is what she says about Mr Ball's enterprise:

"I just want to say a really BIG thanks for your donation page. – and, of course to donors. The comments are just amazing. The whole thing has actually reduced some of us to reaching for tissues! I guess it’s a bit novel for people to be so spontaneously generous to us.  It sends a lovely message to all our staff. We are feeling the love!"


“We are feeling the love”……..aah, isn’t that just so very nice?

Much nicer than “We are feeling the scalpel”

Fundraising has now stopped but will, almost certainly start again when the next vigil commences.

When it does, some people might like to leave a message (a charitable one) on their Facebook page ‘Boycott the 40 Days for Life’

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=boycott40daysforlife

Thanks to GM for this nudge.

Thank you David Bereit, Shawn Carney, Robert Colquhoun....

....and in London, Stuart and Jan....

....and in Cardiff, Clare, Catrin, Rhoslyn, Colleen and all the other 40 Days for Life workers and volunteers, throughout the world.

Thank you on behalf of the unborn, the mothers and fathers, the abortuary workers and, of course, us; all of us.

It is surely an amazing feat to provide the organisation, tenacity and faith with which to mount a gruelling 40 Day vigil outside abortuaries; those death camps where,  they say, abortion is so safe but where, a regular flow of ambulances arrive to transport those women whose abortion did not go to plan and whose life is threatened.

See Stuart McCullough's blog HERE where his wife has a timely post.

Today is the last day of the vigil. If you have time, visit the groups at St Mary's Street, Cardiff, Bedford Square, Whitfield Street or Ealing, London.

See HERE for details.

And a prayer for all involved in the fight to protect unborn life:

Almighty God, our Father

you who have given us life 

and intended us to have it forever,

grant us your blessings.

Enlighten our minds to an awareness

and to a renewed conviction

that all human life is sacred

because it is created

in your image and likeness.

Help us to teach by word

and the example of our lives

that life occupies the first place,

that human life is precious

because it is the gift of God

whose love is infinite.

Give us the strength to defend human life

against every influence

or action that threatens or weakens it,

as well as the strength 

to make every life more human

in all its aspects.

Give us the grace....

When the sacredness of life

before birth is attacked,

to stand up and proclaim

that no one ever has the authority

to destroy unborn life.

When a child is described as a burden

or is looked upon only as a means

to satisfy an emotional need,

to stand up

and insist that every child is a unique

and unrepeatable gift of God,

a gift of God

with a right to a loving

and united family.

When the institution of marriage

is abandoned to human selfishness

or reduced to a temporary conditional arrangement

that can easily be terminated,

to stand up and affirm

the indissolubility of the marriage bond.

When the value of the family is threatened

because of social and economic pressure,

to stand up and reaffirm

that the family is necessary

not only for the private good of every person,

but also for the common good of every society,

nation and state.

When freedom is used to dominate the weak,

to squander natural resources and energy,

to deny basic necessities to people,

to stand up and affirm

the demands of justice and social love.

Almighty Father,

give us courage to proclaim the supreme dignity

of all human life and to demand

that society itself give its protection.

We ask this in your name,

through the redemptive act

of your Son and in the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

"I quite like abortion"

Yesterday's 40 Days for Life Vigil in St Mary's Street, Cardiff was a lively affair (at least from 3pm onwards when we joined the little group who prayed so fervently outside the abortion clinic).

                                  Those against Life.....................

Mrs L and myself had booked in for a one hour slot from 3pm until 4pm. We sang the Salve Regina, prayed the Rosary, recited the Divine Mercy Chaplet and, in between, chatted and laughed among ourselves; after all, for the general public to see Christians keeping vigil with smiling faces, must be almost as good as praying.
We also got soaking wet from the incessant rain.

Being an inveterate people watcher I found the response of passers by fascinating.

Most expressed a look of disgust or even anger, a few gawped vacantly, some were obviously in mental tutting mode and one young man called out as he went past at pace: "God bless you all".
That was a most welcome blessing and may God bless him also.

And then, on the stroke of four, just as a sit down and a cup of hot coffee beckoned, a young woman appeared and entered into debate with Colleen the local organiser present and Mrs Linen. Due to traffice noise I could not hear all of what the young woman was saying but, apparently the gist was:

 " This is only the concern of the woman herself and it is her perfect right to choose abortion if she so wishes, and, what is more, she is only getting rid of a parasite"

A Parasite? - I have never heard that word used to describe an unborn child. In truth it shocked me.

Meanwhile, Mark from Perth came under fire from a couple of young men who then transferred their attention to me. They took a theological approach claiming that there was no such thing as a soul and then they went on to why the Holy Father was retiring ("because of his links to child abuse").

I try to avoid such debates because I have a very short fuse that becomes even shorter when faced with banal arguments. I tried hard to hold on to the fact that these young men were much loved by God, and it seemed to work as we entered into a bantering sort of debate with a great deal of smiling and laughter.

Finally, thet set up an impromptu counter vigil opposite proclaiming: "I quite like abortion" - but they lasted less than ten minutes before they moved on.

By then it was around 3.45pm but before we could take our leave an uproar broke out as gangs of homeless young men, with cans of extra strong lager in their hands, clashed violently and bloodily opposite.
An event unconnected with the vigil but somewhat unnerving nonetheless.

                                     .........and those for Life

How could we walk away with so much action taking place?
 By now, our numbers were down to four in total.
We held on until Mary arrived but then a middle aged woman began to harangue us in a most unpleasant fashion. As always, the organising representatives, were cool and, to all appearances, unconcerned, the prayers continued without pause; there are some that are beyond reason and this woman was one of them, please pray for her and the others who opposed the vigil and the cause.

Finally, at 5.40pm we broke off and limped away, determined to return to fight another day.

The Cardiff organisers have put out a call for male volunteers to register for the 4pm to 8pm slot on Saturday night - at present they only have women signed up and it looks like being a rough slot.

It would be a wonderful thing if a parish group could respond so that the numbers were into double figures, please pray that this will happen.

A "parasite"

                           

           

A prayer and a poem.....

....off today to pray outside an abortuary with the 40 Days for Life Cardiff group, please remember the cause in your prayers.

And, following yesterday's poem on the aborted child crying out, Ben Trovato has posted on GKC's poem, you may see it at Countercultural Father.

Ben has suggested that a series of pro-life poetry should be developed and featured on the web, an excellent idea......any contributions?

Please post them or pass them on to Ben or myself.