Faith Without Pro-Life Works

Day 13's Daily Devotional for 40 Days for Life was written by Clare McCullough of Good Counsel. This is it.

That Crisis Pregnancy Centres that will serve Our Blessed Lord faithfully will spring up around the UK, be supported by Christians and be found by all those in need.

Scripture:
"And if a brother or sister be naked, and want daily food: And one of you say to them: Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; yet give them not those things that are necessary for the body, what shall it profit? So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself." (James 2:15-17)

Reflection:
The hardening of the heart and the slaughter of the innocent, both prevalent in our time are also the two signs, repeated throughout biblical history, of the imminent coming of God to man.

Therefore in these times of spiritual darkness and depravity we should have hope.

Hope is exactly the thing which we need to communicate to women outside abortuaries and in our Crisis Pregnancy Centres (CPCs), because abortion is the absolute depth of despair, or the total absence of hope. Not only must we communicate hope to this woman for her and her child's future, but we must live Christ's message of hope and help her to live it too. If we have no hope for her future, we have nothing to give her.

In the CPC apostolate it can be very tempting to lose hope when we are short of funds, using second rate office equipment, failing to meet deadlines due to shortage of staff, struggling to keep a roof over our own heads, let alone those of the mothers we serve. Still, in our struggles we have to stay full of hope if we want to help expectant mums in crisis. The support of the Christian community is vital to the mission of CPCs and their mission is vital to the pro-life movement. If we cannot witness concretely to the care we have for the mother and child, we become the hypocrites described by the apostle James. If we - who know that in welcoming a child we welcome Christ Himself - cannot give sacrificially to help a woman, how can we expect her to sacrifice to let her child live? It is not only to the child's mother that Blessed Mother Theresa's comment can refer, but to each of us, when she says: "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

Prayer:
O Lord we pray that Your people will support their local Crisis Pregnancy Centre financially and however they can. We pray for the growth of a Godly CPC movement in our land. May these centres be a beacon of light to those in darkness and a source of strength to the weak, the vulnerable and those under pressure from loved ones and from difficult circumstances. Through Your mercy we pray that all of those in need will be reached by these centres, and given the help and support, as well as the hope that they need, to welcome their little children into their lives. In Jesus' name. Amen. Clare McCullough Good Counsel Network