Harden Not Your Hearts (Ps 95:7-8) by Tonchi Weaver

26 Sep Harden Not Your Hearts (Ps 95:7-8) by Tonchi Weaver

Welcome God now with this LIFE Group Devotion (FB), provided by LIFE Runners (FB).  Leaders.  Guest Authors.
.
“For he is our God, we are the people he shepherds, the sheep in his hands.  Oh that today you would hear his voice:  Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the desert.” ~ (Ps 95:7-8) (full readings)
.
Tonchi’s Reflections:  Among my favorite Responsorial Psalms that we sing at Mass is this one:  “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” from Ps. 95:7-8.  It reminds me of all the years I hardened my heart to the truth about abortion.  But God’s Law is written on our hearts, and the seeds of truth take root.  Those seeds were planted there years ago during a discussion with my mother who gave birth to six children and also suffered six miscarriages.  She mourned each of them deeply.  My brother John and I were arguing that abortion would make women much healthier; Mom was disgusted at the thought.  John noted our mother’s many health problems and drove home his point, saying:  “You know, Mom, you would be SO much healthier if you didn’t give birth to so many babies. You really should have had only TWO children. Taking this in was our 5-year-old sister, who looked up at John in horror and asked him, “Who, John? You and me?”  The profundity of her question still echoes in my mind.  Because it’s easy to disregard what cannot be seen, it’s easy to deny the humanity of what we imagine is just “tissue” in a parasitic state.  But gestation is simply the first phase of human development.  The miraculous blending of male and female at the point of conception is pure creation; a genetic recipe that cannot be added to, subtracted from, or duplicated.  The child formed in that moment is as complete at nine minutes as he or she is at nine months or nine years.  My mother knew that life could not be valued if it was not recognized.  She did not listen to the popular slogans designed to make people comfortable with the new cultural norm, such as “you can’t legislate morality”, or “if you don’t approve of abortion, don’t have one”.  I’m sure it wounded her profoundly to see her children fall prey to such thinking.  That day in her kitchen a hardened heart began to melt, and truth has prevailed.  The greatest regret in my life is having put my will before God’s will.  Perhaps I should have had more children than I was willing to bear – now only God knows.
* Tonchi was one of six children born in Deadwood and raised in Lead, SD. She married her high school sweetheart, Joel Weaver and they have two daughters, two sons-in-law, three+ grandsons, and one granddaughter. She returned to the Catholic Church after drifting away in 1995. She concerns herself with social and political issues that affect freedom, family, and faith.
.
Faith Challenge:  If you are guilty of putting your will above God’s will through sterilization or contraception, admit your error, seek God’s forgiveness, and sin no more.
.
Counter-Culture News:  LifeSiteNews, LifeNews, American Family, Vatican, Project Rachel.
.
Our Prayers:  Pray LIFE Runners Creed to end abortion.  Add Prayers. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, unceasingly. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.
.
Feast Day:  Saints Cosmas and Damian.  Today is the feast day of Saints Cosmas and Damian, twin brothers skilled in the science of medicine who were martyred under Diocletian rather than recant their Faith.  Their three younger brothers shared in their martyrdom, demonstrating the strength of the bond between siblings.  The greatest gift that parents can give their child is a sibling. The love in a home is not divided when a child is added – it is multiplied.
.
Faith Quote:  “Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'” ~ Luke 23:42
.
Through Christ Our Lord,
Tonchi