Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children — “Only love fills the empty spaces caused by evil.”

Now that Roe v. Wade  has been struck down it is easy to think that our job is done. However, the issue is not gone, but merely moved into more local arenas for decisions. And so our job is to pray and work that the innocent are spared and that we support and care for the women who suffer from the way our culture thinks about unseen life — as something inhuman to be easily discarded.

With that in mind, I share two readings for today. The first I got from Word Among Us in 2023.

And best of all, Jesus continues to pray for us in heaven, where he constantly makes intercession “before God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24).

On this day when many of us pray for the protection of unborn children, we can draw hope from this passage. Jesus, our compassionate high priest, offered himself for every sin, including abortion. How he must suffer over every lost child! How he must grieve for every woman who feels alone or thinks she has no other option but to end her pregnancy! That’s why he endured the shame of the cross: to win forgiveness for every sin, no matter how grievous.

Even now, Jesus stands before his heavenly Father interceding for us. He is offering mercy and healing to every family wounded by abortion. He is pouring out grace for every man or woman who feels alone as they consider the future of their unborn child. And he is interceding for each of us, that we might meet the needs of every child and every parent. Let’s join him in praying that God’s kingdom would come—so that there will be no more abortion or poverty or hunger or violence. May God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven!

The second is from Bishop Burbidge's homily at the 2023 National Prayer Vigil in Washington, D.C. The whole thing is excellent. There is an excerpt to give you a flavor.

Dear friends, today we have so much to celebrate. For the first time in the 49-year-history of the March for Life, we can say that Roe vs. Wade, a blight on our nation, our system of justice, and our culture, is no more. This is a moment for joy, and for gratitude; a moment to recall the countless souls who have dedicated themselves to political and social action, to prayer, and to service in the name of this cause. It is a moment to gather before our God to offer praise and thanksgiving for this great, longed for blessing. Today we make the gratitude of today’s Psalm our own: “O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!”

But even as we celebrate, we must remember: this is the beginning, not the end. A new important phase of work in the pro-life movement begins now! ...

While we hold public officials accountable, we must remember that each of us is accountable also. “The secret of Christian living is love,” Pope Francis has said. “Only love fills the empty spaces caused by evil.” That is our task. That is where our words must be matched by our actions. Our work will not be complete until God’s love is felt in every empty space created by abortion.

As we look to the future of the pro-life movement, may we turn our attention to those empty spaces. Into the empty spaces of public discourse on abortion, may we bring clarity and charity in communicating with our opponents. Into the empty space of our wounded politics, may we communicate the need to let go of partisanship and to do what is right and just. Into the empty spaces of culture, may we celebrate truth, beauty, and God’s goodness. Into the empty space of fear and loneliness experienced by women facing an unplanned pregnancy, may we offer God’s peace and hope and our untiring commitment to walk with them at every moment. Into the empty spaces within the lives of mothers and fathers who mourn from children lost to abortion, may we gently voice God’s endless comfort and mercy.

We can accomplish none of this on our own. Indeed, it is only in letting God fill the empty spaces in our own hearts with the warmth of his love that we may begin to fill the spaces around us. ...

My letter to the Wall Street Journal - published today

 Last week there was an opinion piece "The Human Cost of Restricting Abortion" in which the author asserted that unwanted children  are "prone to" social and emotional disorders. Therefore, they are better off never having been born because of the difficulties they will face in life. 

Her final summary of the cost of abortion took into account only one of the two people actively involved:

None of this is to suggest that abortion should be taken lightly. It can pose its own emotional burden on women, and I recommend that women considering it take the time to process their feelings and conflicts before making a decision.

This attitude haunted me and the lapse in considering both sides of the story was upsetting. Therefore, I wrote a letter and was surprised and happy when it was published today.

All the other letters make great points. I liked that mine appears at the end, as a sort of overall punctuation point.

 

Here's the text:

Whether children are wanted or unwanted, we cannot predict their future for good or ill. Each of us experiences pain, suffering and darkness at some time in our lives. Likewise, all of us experience wonder, joy, friendship and love. We all deserve the chance to see how to overcome our challenges and exult in life’s wonders.

Julie Davis
Dallas, Texas

Note: the links above give access to all the letters and the entire op-ed. You just have to wait a minute or two or swat away a "subscribe" offer before they show the whole thing.

The Obsolete Science Behind Roe v. Wade

Grazie Pozo Christie's editorial for the Wall Street Journal brought up a point that I'd never thought about — ultrasound technology in the 1970s was a dinosaur compared to what we have today. The question of a 15-week-old fetus's humanity is very apparent today compared to when Roe v. Wade was originally considered. 

Here's the part that inspired me in case you don't have a WSJ subscription (they have a firewall) but do go read the whole thing if you are a subscriber and missed it.

Nestled within their mothers, these fetuses on average are 6.4 inches long and weigh 4.1 ounces. They have the proportions of a newborn—seemingly all head and rounded belly. The major organs are formed and functioning, and although the child receives nutrients and oxygen through the mother’s umbilical cord, the fetal digestive, urinary and respiratory systems are practicing for life outside the womb. The sex of the child is easy to discern by this point. The baby swallows and even breathes, filling the lungs with amniotic fluid and expelling it. The heart is fully formed, its four chambers working hard, with the delicate valves opening and closing.

A healthy baby at 15 weeks is an active baby. Unless the child is asleep, kicking and arm-waving are commonly seen during ultrasound evaluations. The fetal spine is a marvel of intricacy, and it is most often gently curved as the fetus rests against the mother’s uterine wall. Often, I watch as babies plant their feet against the uterine wall and stretch vigorously. Sometimes a delicate hand—with all five fingers—approaches the face and appears to scratch an itch. Fingernails aren’t visible, but they are present. We can see how the bones of the leg meet the tiny ankles and the many-boned feet.

At 15 weeks, the brain’s frontal lobes, ventricles, and thalamus fill the oval-shaped skull. The baby’s profile is endearing in its petite perfection: gently sloping nose, distinct upper and lower lips, eyes that open and close. With the advent of 3D ultrasound, we can now see the fetal face in all its detail.

These are the patients I encounter daily in my work as a radiologist. Clearly human, clearly alive, no longer mysteriously hidden from the eyes and knowledge of man, they ask us to consider them not disposable nonhumans but valuable members of our human family.

Give 2 Hours, Once a Year, for Life

If your area has a local March for Life, please consider going.

It doesn't take much time, especially when you consider that this may be the only physical action you take against abortion all year. (Not counting kneeling in prayer, that is.)

In Dallas, there are a variety of events for you to attend.

You will be participating in the one thing that the general public, the media, and government understand.

Numbers.

Your mere presence will help show that more people care about all phases of life than most people realize.

If everyone in Dallas/Fort Worth attended who really believed killing the unborn is wrong, I think the streets would be clogged for hours. The media, who generally ignores the thousands who attend here each year, would be unable to ignore those numbers.

We all have our reasons to stay home.

I understand. Every single year I battle the reasonable rationalizations that spring to mind. But those rationalizations are not really true a lot of the time. In my case, they always boil down to:

• It's inconvenient.
• I might get embarrassed.
• I don't like that music (now I'm clutching at straws).
• I'd rather be doing something else (anything else).

So, I'll just say it. I'm lazy, easily embarrassed, snobbish, and selfish. Welcome to my inner life.

But I can't get away from the truth of what Jesus tells me about how I'm being judged in the end.

‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40)

Considering Mary's situation when she said, "Yes" to bearing Christ for us, I feel as if I can't ignore these littlest ones among us and their parents who are being lied to by everyone else in our society. Who need someone to stand up for them and tell the truth.

One of the things I like about the march is that this is my chance to simply "be there." Simply taking this walk lets my presence count without having to achieve another thing. There's a symbolism about that I like. A connection with the unborn whose value is in "being."

That's worth two hours, once a year.

==============

Here is the schedule for the North Texas March for Life  which is this Saturday, January 18.

Thank you, Bishop Paprocki

This week, Illinois passed the most extreme pro-abortion state legislation in America — with some Catholic lawmakers taking the lead in pushing forward this anti-life bill.

In response, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, today issued a public decree communicating to his priests that all Illinois Catholic lawmakers who voted for the state’s new Reproductive Health Act, or for an earlier 2017 bill that legalized taxpayer funding of abortions, should not present themselves to receive Holy Communion in the Diocese of Springfield “without first being reconciled to Christ and the Church.” The decree, and an accompanying letter, were mailed earlier in the week to all of the Catholic lawmakers who voted in favor of the bills.

Read the whole story here along with an indepth interview.

There will surely be public outrage over this decision but there should be public outrage over the actions of these Catholics who are leading so many into un-Catholic actions. Not only innocent lives are at stake but these politicians' souls. The Bishop is on the watchtower and it's his job to warn of danger. Good job!

Alfie Evans and Legitimate Parental Authority

I’ve held back from commenting on the Alfie Evans case so far because everybody else and his brother seem to be weighing in, and to be truthful, these cases are extraordinarily complex and I’m not a medical professional.

Father Dwight Longenecker

Me too. Of course, the complex issues involved go beyond medical care to parental versus governmental rights, money, and how we treat the most vulnerable human life.

I already knew about little Alfie Evans and his parents' legal battle with the British hospital which will not release him into his parents' care. I'm not ok with how the authorities have been handling this, both as a Catholic and as a parent. Ok, also as an American.

So many people have articulated my feelings and thoughts on this case much better than I could. Also many of them have additional insights which deepened my understanding. So, here you go!

• Jennifer Fitz has a good, short summary of the issues surrounding Alfie Evans from a Catholic point of view. She brilliantly connects it to subsidiarity, the idea that things should be handled by the lowest level of authority competent to do so. I love her examples. As she points out: Where the UK has gone terribly wrong is in usurping legitimate parental authority.
  
  
• The Curt Jester mentions how much this reminds him of the Terri Schiavo case. Up to and including a Catholic archbishop approval of the hospital's methods. Yep, I haven't been able to shake that comparison either.
  
  
• Father Dwight Longenecker has more to say about the archbishop.

  The fact that the Archbishop of Liverpool has taken the side of the hospital in this case is shocking. Does he not know the Catholic principles for end of life matters? Does he not stand up for them? Why on earth hasn’t Archbishop McMahon spoken clearly about the Catholic principles on end of life issues? This is not only for the sake of Alfie and his family, but it is a powerful teaching opportunity while the world’s media is watching.

• GetReligion points out that there has been very little press coverage here of Alfie's story while the press has fixated on the newest royal baby. As one of the pieces they quote says:

  What if Prince George or Princess Charlotte find themselves in the hospital with their own mysterious brain condition? It would be a very sad thing, indeed. No sadder than it would be for any other child, but still sad.
  
  Do we have any doubts about how the situation would unfold with a royal baby in Alfie's shoes? Need we even debate the subject?

• National Catholic Register launches a new series, Difficult Moral Questions, with a look at Alfie Evans' case. It digs deeper into Catholic teachings under such circumstances. If you have further questions after reading Jennifer Fitz's piece, then this is a good follow-up.

NOTE
In thinking about subsidiarity, I'd also like to point you to this National Catholic Register piece about Paul Ryan's plan to alleviate poverty by following the model used by Catholic Charities of Fort Worth. It makes so much sense.

Litany: To Jesus in the Womb of Mary

This litany seems a good one to remind us that all life, whether or not we can see it in front of our eyes at the moment, is precious.

Today is the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal. Let's take a few moments to reflect on Jesus in the womb of Mary. It is a reality of the Incarnation that we don't often consider, but he was the unborn baby of a single mother.

Jesus, knit so wonderfully in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, uniquely human from the moment of conception in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, present at creation, created in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, word made flesh, taking on a human body in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, subject to human development in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, whose Precious Blood first flowed through tiny arteries and veins in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, hidden nine months in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, begotten by God, nourished by the substance and blood of His Most Holy Mother in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, leaping from eternity into time, in the womb of Mary
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, revealing with His Father and the Holy Spirit all wisdom and knowledge to His Most Holy Mother, in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, aware of His role as Redeemer in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, Sanctifier of His Precursor from the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, Eternal Word, Divine Child, embraced by the Father, in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, raising His Mother to the heights of sanctification, in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, everlasting delight of heaven, in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, manifesting His Incarnation to His Holy Mother, in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, adored and contemplated by His Mother in the sanctuary of her womb Jesus,
before whom the angels prostrated themselves, in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, in whom the very angels beheld the humanity of the Infant God and the union of the two natures of the Word in the virginal womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, whose Holy Limbs first budded in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, whose Godhead the world cannot contain, weighing only a few grams in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, Divine Immensity, once meaning only tenths of an inch in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, Sacrificial Lamb, Docile Infant in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, who was to suffer the agony and passion of death, accepting the human capacity for pain ad grief, in the womb of Mary,
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, Lamb of God in the womb of Mary Spare us, O Lord.
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, Holy Innocent in the womb of Mary Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Have mercy on us.

Jesus, Son of God and Messiah in the womb of Mary Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Have mercy on us.

LET US PRAY:

God, our creator, You formed us as women and men,
equal partners in the stewardship of Your world:
joined forever as sisters and brothers,
yet within each of us lives a rich diversity of different gifts,
different hopes and different limitations.
In Jesus, Your word born fully in our flesh,
You have seen and loved in us all that You have made us to be.
Though graced, we are limited and often weak.
But our weaknesses themselves are no obstacle to Your passion for us.
Teach us to see in ourselves what you have seen in each of us from birth.
Teach us to know our gifts and limits.
Keep us confidently on the path of self-knowledge,
fullness of wisdom, and joy in being Your children.
We ask this through Christ and the Holy Spirit, with You,
One God, forever and ever.

Amen

A Day of Prayer and Penance for Life

In February 2002, the Catholic Church established that throughout the United States,
January 22nd would be observed as a day of prayer and penance against abortion:
“In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass 'For Peace and Justice' (no. 22 of the 'Masses for Various Needs') should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day.”

– General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373

Read more at Aquinas and More where they have a good explanation and also some ideas if you are not sure what you want to do.

I'm posting this a day early so it won't be a complete surprise.

The March for Life in Canada, Ireland, Italy, England, Peru, Mexico ...

The March for Life in Washington, D.C. has inspired a worldwide March for Life movement.

I had no idea. We are not alone. Take a look.

Pro-Life March in Dallas: Saturday, Jan. 16

Everything seems to be coming fast this year. Lent begins in a month. Our goddaughter's birthday is in a couple of weeks.

And the Dallas Pro-Life March is this Saturday.

To be fair, the March always takes me by surprise. I think it's because I've just managed to get back out of the holiday calendar and back into regular schedules so I'm not thinking about anything "extra."

This is an "extra" that should just be a matter of course. We've been thrilled to watch attendance grow steadily from 1,000 when we began attending in 2008, to close to 10,000 last year.

The politicians and media only seem to understand numbers. If everyone who believed abortion is wrong took part of a Saturday to stand in person for what they believe, they would have to sit up and take notice.

Here's the website with the Dallas schedule and information.

Join us!

Movie Review: The Drop Box

They’re not the unnecessary ones in the world. God sent them to the earth to use them.

Pastor Lee Jong-rak

Many years ago Pastor Lee's son, Eun-man, was born with crippling cerebral palsy. He and his wife cared for their baby at home, which is so unusual in Seoul, South Korea, that it led a frightened mother to abandon her disabled infant on his doorstep one cold night. Luckily he found the baby before it froze but this prompted him to build The Drop Box. On any given night the "doorbell" may sound in the Lee home signaling that another desperate, anonymous mother has chosen to surrender her baby.

Too often, in a society like South Korea there is only one answer to the social stigma attached to unwed motherhood and aversion to any child born with disabilities. Babies are abandoned and often die before they are discovered. Pastor Lee and his wife and their Christian community care for about 18 disabled children. He has rescued hundreds of babies thanks to the drop box.

The Drop Box is told in a straight forward way but it is not a simple film.

Not only do we see Pastor Lee's ministry but the value of life becomes the central theme of the film. This is only to be expected but what I didn't expect was that the drop box ministry has opponents. Here is where the director's patient story telling pays off. The presentation of both sides of the arguments is handled delicately but compellingly.

Perhaps the most powerful statement about the film is that it changed the film director's own life.

Ivie said, "These kids are not mistakes. They are important." He went on to say, "I became a Christian while making this movie. When I started to make it and I saw all these kids come through the drop box – it was like a flash from heaven, just like these kids with disabilities had crooked bodies, I have a crooked soul. And God loves me still. When it comes to this sanctity of life issue, we must realize that that faith in God is the only refuge for people who are deemed unnecessary. This world is so much about self-reliance, self-worth, and self-esteem. It's a total illusion that we can be self-sufficient. Christ is the only thing that enables us."

This documentary is a wonderful look at a Christian who is changing the world the only way he knows how: through actively loving those around him. Pastor Lee lives in the best tradition of the first-century Christians who bore witness to the pagans around them by taking in abandoned infants, caring for widows, and staying with the sick when everyone else was fleeing.

It's a movie that stuck with me long afterward and had me reexamining parts of my own life.

This film will be in theaters March 3-5.

Don't miss it.

When Choosing Life ... or Death ... is in the Palm of Your Hand

The nurse told me the antibiotics she'd administered, that we'd need to wait some time for HIV testing, and then handed me a box - Plan B, and told me we had 24 hours to use it.

So there it was. The whole moral conundrum of abortion in a little green box in my hand.

You must go read this story at Kissing the Leper.

It is about letting God work when evil visits you. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it, but this story deserves to be read by many.

March for Life - UPDATED

We were at the March on Saturday. It was a sunny but cold day and there were thousands of people marching, which is always heartwarming. Part of the point is to show through physical presence that we are standing up for life, but part of the point is to feel that solidarity. To know that we aren't alone. It is something you can know intellectually, but there is a difference in seeing, hearing, and (occasionally) bumping into all the others who feel the same.

The media has gotten good at ignoring this event, although I notice that we can have ten protesters outside our office building (we are next to Jeb Hensarling's office) and several news cameras will descend upon them.

This year, the media continued ignoring us ... except for WFAA, Channel 8, who we were pleased to see did a very nice piece.




UPDATE
I didn't see until now that President Obama spoke about Roe v. Wade.

As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman’s health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and this fundamental constitutional right. While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue- no matter what our views, we must stay united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant woman and mothers, reduce the need for abortion, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption. And as we remember this historic anniversary, we must also continue our efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.

I have to pray for that man more than I do.

I can't ever think of President Obama and abortion without remembering that he, tellingly, in speaking of his daughters, said, “I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

Nice, right?

I have other thoughts that sprang to mind but I see that The Anchoress has comprehensively communicated them already. (Sometimes it is scary how much we think alike.)

How could people do this?

The Deacon's Bench tells about the shocking practice of aborting one twin. I am not kidding when I say that I am struggling to keep from crying right now.

How could you look at your child for his or her entire life, knowing that you deliberately killed their twin? That but for the choice before birth, you would have murdered that very person who you love so much?

It absolutely breaks my heart.

Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?

Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.

Isaiah 49:15

Our nation has so much innocent blood on its hands. God help us.

Fasting for an End to Abortion: First Friday (April)

I am thrilled to see that there are others fasting for an end to abortion. These ladies are ramping it up. Once a month? Pah! They are making it personal with once a week fasting. (Once a week? I must think about this ... it is the sort of sacrifice that really puts it out there with constancy and immediacy.) Check out Garden of Holiness.

(Much thanks to Adoro te Devote for pointing me this way and also for reminding me that today is the first day of April ... no April Fool's about it, either!)

Now, on to my regular monthly fast for an end to abortion.  Here's the background info.

If you're not already fully involved in working toward this goal, I invite you to join me in a monthly day of sacrificial fasting and prayer for the unborn, the mothers and fathers who are tempted to make the mistake of abortion, those who work to end abortion and for the souls of those who have been so lied to that they work for abortion.

Here is something that I ran in 2008 which I found inspiring and am sharing again to remind us that a "less than perfect" baby is a blessing we simply don't have the capability of imagining ... until they are right there in front of us.

On the ninth day, she came home, and I began to realize that my feelings of fear and anxiety had changed in a way that no prenatal screening could ever have predicted.


I now believe Genevieve is here for everyone. I believe Genevieve is taking over the world, one heart at a time — beginning with mine. I believe that what was once our perceived damnation has now become our unexpected salvation.

When Gregg Rogers heard that their baby would have Down syndrome, he was terrified. Until she was born. A life-affirming story that reminds us that what we often fear turns out to be a great blessing. Read or listen to this short essay here at This I Believe.

First Friday Fast for an End to Abortion: March

Here's the background info.

If you're not already fully involved in working toward this goal, I invite you to join me in a monthly day of sacrificial fasting and prayer for the unborn, the mothers and fathers who are tempted to make the mistake of abortion, those who work to end abortion and for the souls of those who have been so lied to that they work for abortion.

Here is something that I ran in 2008 which I found inspiring and am sharing again to remind us that a "less than perfect" baby is a blessing we simply don't have the capability of imagining ... until they are right there in front of us.

On the ninth day, she came home, and I began to realize that my feelings of fear and anxiety had changed in a way that no prenatal screening could ever have predicted.


I now believe Genevieve is here for everyone. I believe Genevieve is taking over the world, one heart at a time — beginning with mine. I believe that what was once our perceived damnation has now become our unexpected salvation.

When Gregg Rogers heard that their baby would have Down syndrome, he was terrified. Until she was born. A life-affirming story that reminds us that what we often fear turns out to be a great blessing. Read or listen to this short essay here at This I Believe.

First Friday Fast for an End to Abortion: February

Here's the background info and I see that I've been doing this since February 2007 which makes this my 4 year anniversary of this practice.

I had been slackening up in the last couple of months but the March for Life, as always, reminded me of just how urgent all our actions are on behalf of the unborn. There is nothing like that community, the solidarity, the common action of the body of Christ who works to save those among us who have no voices to cry out.

If you're not already fully involved in working toward this goal, I invite you to join me in a monthly day of sacrificial fasting and prayer for the unborn, the mothers and fathers who are tempted to make the mistake of abortion, those who work to end abortion and for the souls of those who have been so lied to that they work for abortion.

Rep. James Lankford: "The Right to Life is Self-Evident"

I found this moving and true. May we hear many more who will speak as clearly and honestly about what they really believe. It is only when we are really honest with each other in debate that we will get anywhere in changing hearts and lives ... and that is what, in the end, changes laws. When we believe in and act for life, the law will not matter any more because there will be no one who will want to use it.

(Thanks to JP for bringing it to my attention.)

January 22 - National Day of Penance and Prayer for Life

Per the U.S. Bishops today is a day of penance and prayer for life

In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass "For Peace and Justice" (no. 22 of the "Masses for Various Needs") should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day.

General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373

Tom and I are marching in the Dallas March for Life today. If you happen to see this and be there ... we will be near the blue balloons (for our St. Thomas Aquinas parish). I will be wearing a purple parka. Please come and say hello and walk with us!

Hello Baby!

Hello Baby from StrawberryFrog on Vimeo.

The app that lets you ... experience baby development like never before—at simulated life-size, right on your iPad ... from week 4 to week 40.

I've gotta love an app that talks about a 4-week-old as if it is a real baby. In other words, says what everyone knows.

Via Eric Sammons.