01 Mar Mt 7:12 (Value of Life) by Dr. Kevin Vost
Welcome God now with this LIFE Group Devotion (FB), provided by LIFE Runners (FB). Upcoming Guest Authors.
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“So, whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” ~ Mt 7:12 (full readings).
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Kevin’s Reflections: Many in our modern world have come to deny the truth of the fundamental value and rights of every single human person, from conception until natural death. The mother’s womb, for example, that most special and safest of all places, crafted to nourish and nurture new human life, has now become one of the most dangerous locations on earth, and most often with the willful consent of the would-be mother and father, though they most likely do not perceive the truth of the evil they are committing. In a “culture of death,” they have been acculturated to perceive abortion as a morally neutral, medical decision. We are not the first culture of death, of course. In primitive Greece undesired babies could be exposed on the hillside, like the baby Oedipus made so famous by Sophocles and later by Sigmund Freud. And as the ancient Roman father had the legal right over the life or death of his children, and the Emperor could place his thumb up or down to decide the fate of the gladiators, so too the modern would-be mother now possesses a similar power over the life or death of the boy or girl inside her. Should we then feel any moral superiority over those who came before us and before the message of Christ? Jesus sure had a way of summing things up. Who among the “pro-choice” (i.e., pro-abortion) movement would have chosen that their own parents had done so to them? All of us whose parents chose life can choose today whether or not we will choose the path that Christ has laid out before us. Those innocent babies who have suffered the human sacrifice of the “choice” of abortion get to make no choices of their own. Let’s be sure then to hate and fight against the sin of abortion, even while we love and fight for those who have been seduced by the wickedness and snares of the culture of death.
* Dr. Kevin Vost is honored to run the Springfield-IL LIFE Runners Chapter. His next book (due this month) is Three Irish Saints: Finding Your Spiritual Style (TAN Books.) www.drvost.com.
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Faith Challenge: Reflect today on how you can apply Christ’s Golden Rule in your work for life. If you had been persuaded by your culture that abortion was a justifiable option for dealing with an unexpected pregnancy, (perhaps maybe you even were), what would you want someone else to say to you or do for you to help you see the light of the culture of life, to see that every single human life is good, valuable, and to be loved, not destroyed? Think about it – and find some way to put it into action.
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Counter-Culture News: LSN, LifeNews, Priests for Life,Vatican, Project Rachel.
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Our Prayers: Prayer to end abortion. LIFE Runners Creed. Add Prayers. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, etc. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.
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Feast Day: St. David of Wales.
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Faith Quote: “Every being that is not God, is God’s creature. Now every creature of God is good (1 Timothy 4:4); and God is the greatest good. Therefore, every being is good.” ~ St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part I, Question 5, Article 3.
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Through Christ our Lord,
Kevin
1 Jn 3:18
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* Pray/Fast: Prayer connects us with God’s will & His miracles, changing us & helping others. Fast from things that take your eyes off Jesus. Those who pray together stay together, and close to God!
* Save Unborn (& family): Abortion reality (images)…#1 death cause (22% pregnancies).Prov 24:11 & Jer 1:5. “A great poverty that a child must die that you might live as you wish.” Mother Teresa.
* Evangelize: Make room for unbelievers & re-evangelization of self, by way of prayer (relationship) and following Christ’s example of love (service/sacrifice/mercy). Mt 28:19.