BEFORE YOU VOTE:

I know everyone is getting in over there head with political posts...but:

I have a bunch of really great info in this POST...if necessary...read it in parts!!! I know the woman in the story below!!! She and her family are about the sweetest things created!!! I too am blessed to be alive!!! Born in 1968 and adopted by the best family I could ever had...it scares me to think about Obama's extreme feelings about abortion. I know many plan on voting for him...but, please take time to read this information and pass it on to those who need to read it before they make a decision.

This is just a touch in Obama's extremism. He has promised that "the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act" (known as FOCA). This proposed legislation would create a federally guaranteed "fundamental right" to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, including, as Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia has noted in a statement condemning the proposed Act, "a right to abort a fully developed child in the final weeks for undefined 'health' reasons." (see Susan's story below...) To read the rest of the article above click here.

"I have called you by name, and you are Mine..." Jesus tells us...let's listen to a true story of the difference one decision can make in the lives of many.
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“You are my servant, through whom I show my glory… the Lord… formed me as his servant from the womb… I will make you a light to the nations that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.” These are the words of the Lord to the prophet Isaiah… and as they are proclaimed through the Liturgy of the Word, they also are in some way meant for us, too. They remind us that as Christians, and as humanity, beings created in the image and likeness of God, we have all have a purpose in life… that life indeed is such a gift.

***This is from a prolife homily:

This week you will read and hear in the media (if you so choose) about the 36th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in our nation. One of the many beautiful things about the Catholic Church is that she has always stood firm in proclaiming that life is a gift – a sacred and precious gift from God – and that all life – from life in the womb to the life of the elderly, no matter what race or culture – is sacred and holy, and demands our love.

I want to segue from this point into a true story that brings this point home. This story (it’s true!) is about a woman named Susan, who at the age of twenty was a self-described “hippie-on-the-run.” She had ran away from home in her late teens, and at 20, became pregnant from her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was abusive toward her, and so she ended up fleeing from him and found herself homeless and alone. The people that Susan did end up “hanging with in the next few months all told her that the “best thing” for her to do was to have an abortion. So finally she became persuaded, and around the end of the first trimester, 3 to 4 months, Susan decided to go to an abortion clinic. So she went… and while she waited in the waiting room for her turn, at some point she said for seemingly no reason that she could remember, she felt an urge to just get up and walk out. And so she left, and later resolved that she was going to bear the child, and bring this child to birth, to life. Well, she remained homeless with nowhere to live, and sometimes went for days without food… and had no pre-natal care during all of this time. Finally at seven months, she had labor pains and went into the hospital one September evening and gave birth to a beautiful, tiny child, James or “Jimmy” born at 10:24 pm, weighing exactly 2 pounds 13 oz.

Well, the story continues… after her child birth, Susan was being wheeled in her bed into another room to be cared for, and an intern was examining her, and found her to be bleeding… and, as he felt her belly, his face turned an ashen gray, and he said “You have another baby… there’s another baby in there!” Susan laughed. “Impossible!” she insisted.

So… Susan was rushed back to the delivery room, and it was determined that the second child in womb was coming out shoulder first, which of course is dangerous… and it got to a point of crisis where the doctor after whom the hospital was named – Dr. Hadley – was called in. After about an hour of the doctor’s work of turning the child… at 12:09 am on September 11, 1965, a beautiful little red-haired, blue-eyed girl was born, 2 pounds 4 ounces. But there was one problem: her lungs weren’t working… she wasn’t breathing.

So Dr. Hadley immediately began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the child. He went for fifteen minutes, a half-hour… still no breathing… and keep in mind that even after mere minutes without breath and life, brain damage and all kinds of problems can set in. Well, he went on… 45 minutes – no breath. Meanwhile, Susan, the mother, is mere feet away, watching all of this in great pain as she is nearly bleeding to death. Dr. Hadley continued for an hour… still no breath. But… he didn’t give up!

He went for an hour and a half… and finally little “Nancy Susan” started to breath. She had life! Susan, her mother, survived the bleeding and was healed – and, thanks to a persistent doctor who breathed life into her little girl and wouldn’t settle for anything less than life, she was suddenly the mother of two brand new twins [both of whom were very tiny but perfectly healthy – even little “Nancy Susan”!] *

The epilogue to this story is that little Jimmy and little Susan were given up by their mother for adoption, and they both grew up in Maryland, out in Frederick County. Jimmy is married and lives in West Virginia now. Little Susan is very happily married and is the mother of nine children. A few years ago, after some reflection, she felt a need to contact her birth mother. When I asked her why, she simply said that she felt that her mother “needed to know… and to be healed.” So with the help of an adoption organization called, ALMA, she was able to find where her grandmother was – she was in California – and call for her. So after some time and taking many deep breaths, she got up the nerve and picked up the phone and called out to her.

Well, her grandmother answered the phone and they chatted but a few minutes. The Grandmother had the best voice ever and it was so easy to talk to her, smiling the whole time – so she left a message for her to give her number to Susan, whom she spoke to each Sunday. (Susan did not tell her who she was…the grandma may not even know she existed?) But after she hung up, she realized that when the woman had asked her name, she had simply told her “Susan” – she went by her middle name – and so she called her back about ten minutes later and told her “My name is Nancy Susan.”

And then there was a pause, and a gasp on the other end of the line… and then her grandmother replied, “I knew it was you! When you called and I heard your voice, I just knew it was you…!” She remembered that her daughter had named her “Nancy Susan… and they talked for quite some time… and then her grandmother told her that she would gladly tell her daughter that she called and she would ask her to call back that weekend.

So that weekend, the grandmother called little Susan and told her that she had given the news to Susan… and that she was “getting herself together” and that she would call her in a few minutes once that happened. And so about ten minutes later, little Nancy Susan’s phone rang. “Hello” she answered…

There was a short pause, and then the voice on the other end of the line said “Susan? It’s your mom…”

And just a few weeks later, they were joyfully reunited at BWI airport when her mother came to the East Coast to visit her.

I shared that story not only because it is a touching one but also because it teaches us a lot. There are a lot of “What if’s?” in this story. For example, what if Susan, the mother, had not left that abortion clinic that day?

What if the intern had not quickly discovered that little Susan was also in the womb and hadn’t called the doctor for help? And… what if Dr. Hadley – who, by the way, himself died less than a month later – what if Dr. Hadley had chosen after about a half an hour or so to just give up? But in each of these instances – they chose life!

And the fruits of their decisions are that Jimmy and little Susan have life, the mother Susan has been healed, (as well as her whole family) and Susan has a husband and a family of nine beautiful children who are brightening up our world. And… this is how all of this has impacted me personally: Susan and her husband were the ones who introduced me to the Catholic faith, the instruments God used to bring me here, and the fruit of it is that now… the Church has gained a priest because of it!

This true story illustrates some very important points:

· Abortion is never the right choice – it is always wrong – and life always is – no matter what the circumstances. We need to take a stand for this truth!

· We are wise to learn what the Church teaches on all life issues – to learn and to live them.

· We need to be like Dr. Hadley – to be persistent, and when the temptations may come to give up, to hang in there – and to not settle for anything less than life.

· Prayer is the first necessary task. Who knows how many “Susan’s” may walk out of an abortion office because of our prayers.

· And lastly, we need to be agents of Christ’s mercy. If you know someone who has had an abortion, this person needs to know: God forgives. He is so willing to forgive and give you healing, of hearts and consciences. He wants to heal you. So come… come to the Church, talk to a priest, don’t be afraid, he is here for you and wants you to embrace the mercy of Christ.


As we go forth today, may we remember these beautiful words of Pope John Paul II:

“All human life is precious because it is the gift of a God whose love is infinite – and when God gives life, it is forever!”