Issue 43  Winter 2009, 2010

through education and mutual support
to peacefully proclaim the pro-life message

 In Joyful Hope

Our awesome God has some great gifts  for us in our pro-life spiritual journey!! 

Humility:

“It is not thinking less of ourselves; it is thinking of ourselves less.”

1)  by admitting our weaknesses (*and loving them)

2)  by being patient with others’ weaknesses

3)  by being open to correction

4)  by pointing the spotlight (honor) on others.

       (the Purpose Driven Life — Rick Warren, P.148)

   *(from Project Rachel’s Spiritual Advisor)

Prayer:

“I pray by telling  God who I am and by listening to him as he reveals to me not only who he is, but also who I am, and what my life and this world mean to him.” (He Touched Me — John Powell, S.J., P.74)

Forgiveness:

    “...forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..”

In the Our Father we come face to face with the fact that we limit God’s forgiveness! God cannot enter into my heart to fill it with His forgiveness if it is still full of my unforgiveness. In Project Rachel we discuss:  Who have we asked God not to forgive?               

Truth:

Until we anchor God’s unconditional forgiveness and mercy to abortion, and to any of our sins for that matter, there is no Fullness of Truth.  

As God asked Adam in the Garden of Eden “Where are you?”, so He does with each one of us.  He is constantly seeking us. He wants us back in union with Him.  He will not throw our sin in our face, but rather He will pour over us his pure love. Then we can say with conviction “I am God’s beloved.” Standing in this profound Truth we are free to joyfully proclaim that each person, whether they are good or bad in our limited human sight, is God’s beloved too.

Serving in Joyful Hope

June 23 — Fr. Johni Mathew invited us to speak about Project Rachel to those attending the Deanery Meeting at St. Benedicts in Enfield. Three of our Project Rachel team shared our experiences of healing and hope with this group. Our shared experiences were well received.

Sept. 17—Dec 3 — We hosted 3 post-abortion healing support groups with 7 women and 1 man in attendance. Each group met separately, with one on Tuesday morning, another on Wednesday evening and the third on Thursday morning. Due to starting the Tuesday group later than the others, we did not complete all 10 Sessions with them, so after the Christmas holidays, we will continue to meet.
We have been so blessed to meet these beautiful new babies and call them by name! For those on this healing journey, they have come to realize, with great joy, that their child is alive in the Lord and will fulfill the purpose for which God created their darling baby! One of our Project Rachel women said after Session 8: I have never been forgiven before!

Sept. 23 — Saint Mary’s University invited us to their ’Volunteer Fair’ event. Our topic was “Volunteering on the Spot” — for instance what do you say to someone who comes up to you out of the blue and tells you they are pregnant and thinking of having an abortion?; or that they are suffering because they had an abortion. The students with whom we spoke were really interested in this ‘volunteering on the spot’ approach they could use—for life!

Nov. 3 — Project Rachel spoke to Saint Anne’s Grandmothers, a group of grandmothers who meet at St. Vincent de Paul parish. Their warm and genuine response to our presentation grew into their wish to provide ‘empathy bears’ to those who attend our post-abortion support groups. So for the first time in our 10 year PR journey, the healing women have received teddy bears during Session 9 which focuses on each woman sharing the letter she has written to her baby. We want to express our most sincere gratitude to the Saint Anne’s Grandmothers for adding such a tender touch to Project Rachel’s post-abortion healing journey. The Holy Spirit is so at work!!
.

Nov. 7, 8, 15, 22 — Thanks to Dan Bowden, and the youth team of the Holy Trinity Pastoral Unit for inviting Project Rachel to be part of their youth ministry presentation on Social Justice. The booths were set up over 3 weekends at the 3 churches, St. John Vianney, St. Elizabeth Seton and St. Francis of Assisi.

Since our ministry offers HOPE we decided that would be our ‘just offering’.

The students painted rocks with the word HOPE on them. These rocks were placed around the Christ Child in a manger. We then invited parishioners to take a rock of hope and place it in their manger scene at home to remind them of Christ’s gift to them this Christmas and well into the New Year. We also offered precious feet, our colorful Project Rachel rosaries and some suckers!

Special thanks to 4 delightful teen girls who added youth and vitality to our “booth”! Our ‘Hope offering’ was well received by the parishioners with comments like “I really need some hope” and “So glad to see Project Rachel in our parish” and “I hope I do well in hockey this year.”

Dec. 12 — “With my Angel at the Manger”. On the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, once again we held this morning of reflection for those who have lost a child before birth, either by miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or abortion.

Margaret Ann Ashfield presented the “Stations of Mary”. As we recalled the Christmas story, each person was invited to reflect on ‘thanking God for the people who carried me through my grief,’ ‘even in sorrow, seeing how trusting in God has given me new life’, ‘finding how to use my loss to give glory to God.’ She invited each person to take a piece of straw from the manger scene and their precious ‘angel’s feet’ and to place these in our manger at home.
Brother Grant spoke about the Gift of Mary as a model for our lives. Mary listens to the Word with an attentive heart, Mary interiorizes God's word, Mary lives thanksgiving for God's word, and Mary shares God's word with others. We have been given gifts. How excited we are to receive gifts. He then had us take a ’gift’ and consider what we would put in this gift for our dear baby, who would be delighted to receive it from us. We then attached the gift to a name tag and placed both on a wreath which was put in the Healing Rock Garden.

Reflecting Jesus’ Words  -   ( by Brother Grant)

We have heard “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. This is a familiar refrain for anyone dealing with unkind words from peers or bullies. Those who suffer could agree in reality that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words are breaking my heart.” Does the woman who has made an abortion choice dare utter this refrain to a passionate pro-life advocate who exclaims “baby killer” or “you are the worst child abuser.”

Have you ever experienced an abortion? Have you ever encouraged a friend or family member to have an abortion? Do you know what the reality is of living with the consequences for relationships following an abortion?

Do our pro-life words cultivate consolation and life or desolation and death?     Where do I find justice, truth and love? In Jesus Christ!

Let’s enter John's Gospel. The Pharisees (the accusers) draw Jesus (soon to be accused) into the controversy to allow justice to be served by stoning the adulteress woman (the accused) according to the Mosaic law. Jesus knows their hearts and challenges the accusers to examine their conscience saying “let the person among you who has no sin be the first to cast a stone at her.”( John 8:7) Then to the accused he says “Nor do I condemn you. You may go. But from now on, avoid this sin.”(John 8:11) This is a vigorous reaffirmation of the value of human life!   Do our words reflect the image and likeness that we were created in? Jesus affirms our responses and our indecision to love saying; “as you neglected to do it to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.”(Mt. 25:45).

Lord help us to see Christ in our sisters and brothers,

and renew our hearts and minds so that they may see

    and hear your compassionate words of faith, hope and charity.

Palliative Care Ministry

Palliative Care is not the alternative to Euthanasia.  It is the norm.  As members of the family of God, we are called to care for people in their suffering and especially in their dying. Death is not the end. There is a grace in the dying process. Grace in dying is not a term we are very familiar with, yet it is a grace.

25 years ago when Dianne Bulger’s uncle was dying she realized she did not know how to talk to someone who is dying. So she took a palliative care course and became part of the palliative care volunteer program at the hospital. Diane grew to believe “many people leave church because they do not have the support from the church community when they are going through the most difficult time of their life.” A few years ago, she brought her concerns to the attention of her pastor. In Nov. 2008, 14 certified palliative care volunteers were commissioned from the parishes of  St. Vincent de Paul and Blessed  Pope John  XXIII. 

“The person we visit often wants to tell you about their life, past, present and future.” (more about this ministry in our next newsletter)

In Loving Memory of: John Palmer ; Joseph Comeau ; Grace Turner;  Ed O’Brien .