Shoes

Some of you may wonder, "what do shoes have to do with pro-life?" Well, what if someone is not looking at your face but is looking at your shoes? Then they can still see that you are pro-life. ;)

March for Life in Washington DC, essay contest

Hello all, sorry that I have not posted recently.  I have some big news! I won an essay contest and I get to go to the March for Life in Washington DC!!! every year the Youth for Life group in the Fort Worth Diocese sponsors scholarships for 10-15 teens to go to the March. I was one of the winners!  Below is the essay that I wrote.

March for Life
Essay contest
2013

In the Bible there are many stories regarding marriage.  In Biblical times, the father would hand over his daughter in marriage to whom he saw fit (1 Samuel 18:19).  It seemed as if the father was handing his daughter over in marriage as a reward (Joshua 15:16).  However marriage has changed since Adam and Eve: and even more so since the time of our great-grandparents.  It used to be that once you married to someone, you were married to them until death.  Divorce was highly frowned upon, and was very rare.  Now, 41% of first, 60% of second, and 75% of third marriages end in divorce (statistics are from: http://www.mckinleyirvin.com/blog/divorce/32-shocking-divorce-statistics/).  Not only has the length of marriage changed but also the definition.  The original definition of marriage, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is, “The state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband and wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law.”  The new definition of “marriage”, also according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is, “The state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage; also known as same-sex “marriage”.”

When a married and financially stable couple announces a pregnancy, friends and family are normally eager to congratulate.  It is when the mother and father are not married and/or do not have a way to support both themselves and a new baby that friends and family can push them in the direction of abortion, and even when the couple has more than two children.  They justify the abortion by placing the parents’ needs above the child’s rights. They may not even believe that the baby is alive.   Life is an interesting thing, but what is the definition of life?  When does life begin?  “Life is the ability to grow, change, etc., that which separates plants and animals [and humans] from things like water or rocks; it is the period of the time when a person is alive.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).  Human life, for a fact, begins at conception, or fertilization.  Of course not everyone understands or knows this; and their definitions of when life begins change from person to person, argument to argument to fits what they want it to.  If the parents cannot care for a baby, their definition might be that life begins when the baby can survive outside the womb. 

Because of this “definition,” the lives of many humans have been terminated and disposed of.  One of the main, popular, and obvious ways that this is done is by abortion; which put simply is the killing of a human being.  However, abortion is not the only way that babies are being killed.  Contraceptives like the Pill and Plan B are abortifacients.  An abortifacient is a drug that causes and abortion.  Contraception is often use by woman and girls who want to avoid pregnancy.  The Pill works in three ways: first it tries to prevent ovulation, though some woman have breakthrough ovulation and can conceive.  Second, the pill tries to prevent sperm from reaching the ovaries by thickening the cervical mucus.  However, it is possible for sperm to break through and fertilize the egg.  If and when this happens, the hormones in the pill change the lining of the uterus, causing it to be thin and have holes in it; thus making it hard for the baby to implant, causing a chemical abortion.  Some women use the pill for “health” reasons.  Little do they know, most of the time the contraception can cause infertility in the future as well as cause other health problems.  For example the pill has many health endangering side effects such as: cerebral hemorrhage and thrombosis, Melasma, migraine, dizziness, loss of hair, cataracts, hypertension, mental depression, Edema, weight change, rash, pre-menstrual syndrome, bone loss, cancer, nausea, vomiting, etc.  Along with the above listed side effects, the pill has a large impact on reproductive organs; a few things that it can cause are: breakthrough bleeding, change in menstrual flow, breast changes, Vaginitis, Endometriosis, and so much more (side effects found on thepillkills.org).  Almost all of these side effects are serious; some of them may even cause death to woman.  All of these effects are in addition to the abortion that may occur. 

In these ways, life is not protected and cherished as it should be.  How can we protect and cherish life if abortion and contraception are readily available just about everywhere?  The biggest and most important thing that we can do is pray; we can and should pray for the mothers, fathers, babies, and families.  We should also pray for those who act against abortion and those who perform and defend abortion, contraception, euthanasia, etc.  Another thing that we can do is to spread the truth.  In order to spread the truth we have to stay calm.  But why do we need to stay calm?  It is important to stay calm because calmness invites deeper discussion and allows the opportunity to connect with people at a personal level.  We need to see each person as an individual and listen to his/her story.  Only once we understand their point of view can we speak truth with charity and hope to change hearts.  Personal attacks or emotional outbursts serve only to put distance between hearts, whereas calm responses will gain respect and trust.  A prayerful presence will also help us to remain calm.  With prayer we can ask for wisdom, peace, and the conversion of hearts.  It is also important to remain calm in order to be a model citizen and representative of the pro-life movement.  After all, to be pro-life is to respect life at all stages, never seeking violence as it is an assault on human dignity and the very essence of the culture of death which we are trying to overcome.  All in all we can help save people of all ages and the true definition of marriage by living and speaking the truth.

I am excited to be able to update you on what it is like to go to the March!!!

Pro-Life Boot Camp

Hello, I recently went to a pro-life boot camp. It lasted 5 days and was amazing! The camp started on a Friday and lasted until Tuesday. On Friday we arrived around 5:30pm for check-in at UD, after moving all of my stuff into my dorm room and meeting my room mates we all headed to the common room for the information on the week and to meet our groups, I was part of the Life-savers group. After organizing ourselves into six different groups we started on a scavenger hunt around the campus, my group finished first and got a prize of tootsie pops :). When all of the groups finished we did praise and worship in the chapel. By the time we ate pizza, as a late night snack, it was 9:00pm. When everyone had eaten their pizza (and popsicles) we lined up (girls on the right, guys on the left) with candles and processed back to the chapel for adoration and confession. Around 11:00pm we went back to the dorms for night prayer and lights out. On Saturday morning we had mass at 7:00am and then breakfast then we watched a movie on the truth to abortion, there were some graphic images but they were necessary for the video and for us to see. After seeing what really goes on in abortion mills like planned parenthood, we went to Southwestern, an abortion mill is Dallas, and prayed the rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet in front of the building. On the way back to UD we talked about how it affected us to be praying in front of an abortion mill and knowing what is going on inside. Many of us commented that it felt like we were actually doing something for the families affected by abortion rather than just talking about it. When we got back we had lunch and free time then our groups gathered for skit prep. At 3:30pm our groups gathered together and said the Divine Mercy Chaplet. After the Divine Mercy Chaplet we listened to a talk given by Dave Pomerantz, the founder of Save the Storks. After a dinner break we listened to Alison M.* (Not me) speak. After her talk we watched a movie on the Demographic Winter and then our small groups discussed what we thought. On Sunday morning the girls were awakened (not really most of us were already awake and getting ready) by the sound of the guys singing songs. The only one that I caught the words to was "you don't know your beautiful  by One Direction. After morning prayer in the common room we went to breakfast then we had a 'mom and baby bags' activity. During this activity you could make little diaper babies, sort through the items that all of the campers brought, assemble the baskets to give to the moms, or color crosses (There was a huge wall filled with crosses that needed to be colored, there were 13,744 crosses on the wall, I will explain them in farther detail in the next post). After we finished the activity we went to mass and then to lunch. After lunch we headed quickly back to the dorms to change into comfortable clothes. After we had changed we listened to a talk by Kristan H. from Students for Life America. After dinner and a talk by Rebecca we watched the film Crescendo then had a pro-life game night. We had Free time then night prayer and then the guys we singing along with a few of the girls. On Monday morning my group along with two others went to Fort Worth to pray at an abortion mill and then we went to a pregnancy help center and helped them to sort through some donations to give to the people who came for help. We then went to St. Patrick's Cathedral for noon mass  and then to CiCi's pizza for lunch. After lunch we went to St. Michael's church and the guys pulled weeds on the sand volleyball quart and the girls sorted through maternity clothes. When we got back to UD we had skit practice and then dinner. After dinner one of the chaperons, Hali N. gave a talk then we had a sports tournament (really we just did different sports there was not really a winner or even real teams for some of the games). After night prayer a few of the guys along with some of the girls started singing the Chaplet of Divine Mercy after a few minuets all of the guys, most of the girls and a few of the chaperons we singing, it was AWESOME!! then we sang a few other songs that everyone knew, "Don't stop believing" and "You don't know you beautiful". Tuesday morning we had morning prayer and breakfast then we got on the buses and went to pray at an abortion mill then we went to Calvary hill cemetery (the place where over a thousand aborted babies are buried) and prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet, it was a very touching and emotional moment. Upon returning to Ud we had mass and then lunch. Then we listened to a TOBET talk (theology of the body). After Ms. Monica finished talking to us Jacquelyn S. gave us a Pro-Life challenge and then we had dinner with our families. After diner our parents listened to a talk and the campers had final skit prep. after all of the skits we had night prayer and we gathered all of our stuff and checked out to go home. It was a fun and amazing experience and I plan on going again next year!

*names are not used for personal reasons. :)