Lumina - a ray of light after abortion

A Message from Ashli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNJd-5_EmF4
Keep praying....

Camp

As usual, our closing retreat until September at Camp St Joseph was beautiful and relaxing, and as usual, The Sisters of Life spoiled us all to death!

This year we had 2 wonderful priests, Fr Justin and Msgr Torro, but neither of them were there for our campfire Saturday night so we were on our own..I must say, one of the women got a great fire started for our smors and our guitar playing and singing around the campfire...it was a wonderful, blessed weekend for us all and such a joy for me to see the transformation in the lives of these women since coming for healing from their abortions...God is good!

here are some pictures of the beautiful work of God in upstate NY:



and the 3 sisters who work in the ministry with me, Sr Loretto, Sr Mary Theresa & Sr Maria Joseph

here's lookin' at you....

To everything, there is a season

when I speak about doing things in Gods time in our healing, not ours, it applies to me too.

One aspect of my own abortion I never really dealt with was the father of my aborted son Joshua.

Recently one of my sisters had asked me if we ever spoke with a follow up of," maybe it is time".
Hmmm. To be honest I never even really thought about him much and here it was over 30 years later. Did it even matter? It s not like we had a major relationship or anything. But in my heart I knew it did matter because I consented to an abortion that took the life of his child too. I only had to think of the men we serve to know that...

So, I found and contacted him. He responded, and it has been good. We were both a mess in those days..peer pressure, the 60's all that crazy stuff. His life, like mine has changed completely and he is doing well. Praise God.

It was good to tell him about the work and how our son has impacted so many in this world to healing.

I think if this had happened years ago it may not have turned out so well...for whatever reason, we probably were not ready, but God in His wisdom prompted it to happen now and I trust He is working in His way.

So, when I go down the list of my people "connectors" I have pretty much checked them all off now...amends are made...peace is there, and as always I am so grateful to God who is Mercy!

Off to  beautiful Camp St Joseph for the weekend so no posts until Monday!

Have a good weekend!

Nixon and Abortion

Seems like President Nixon was not so far off from the thinking of MArgaret Sanger when it came to abortion.

Nixon worried that greater access to abortions would foster “permissiveness,” and said that “it breaks the family.” But he also saw a need for abortion in some cases — like interracial pregnancies, he said.

“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white,” he told an aide, before adding, “Or a rape.”

read the rest here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/us/politics/24nixon.html?bl&ex=1245988800&en=948520d3f4de6dd5&ei=5087

Like Margaret Sanger who targeted African American people in her "Negro Project"

It is distressing to learn this of Nixon and even more distressing that people support Planned Parenthood today, whose goals are not much different then they were in Sangers day...they just cover them up better.

Kind of weird too, that our president , the most pro abortion president we have ever had, would be a person of target for both Nixon and MArgaret Sanger...he should think about that...

Pope Benedict speaks to Pelosi

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, underscoring the Vatican's ruling on an issue that divides Americans, told U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday that Catholic politicians and legislators cannot back abortion rights.

Pelosi, a powerful U.S. politician who is Catholic and pro-choice, has been accused by U.S. bishops in the past of misrepresenting Church teachings on abortion.

"His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural and moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death ..." a Vatican statement said.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Pope+Pelosi+Catholics+cannot+back+abortion/1307652/story.html

I am so glad she cannot hide behind her rationalizations anymore. It is so important, not just for her own soul, but those of the countless people her policies and words touch. Thank you Pope Benedict!

women shouldn't have to ask for forgiveness for aborting a child

Episcopalian Priest, the Rev. Nina Churchman wrote a letter to Episcopal Life Online saying that women shouldn't have to ask for forgiveness for aborting a child. In fact, Rev. Churchman then goes one step further and says God rejoices in the woman's choice to abort.....
"The wording of this liturgy focuses solely on guilt and sin instead of the grief and healing that may accompany a very difficult but appropriate decision to terminate a pregnancy. If anyone is paying attention at the General Convention, this rite should not be approved."
read the rest here:
http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2009/06/episcopal-priestess-god-rejoices-in.html

Rev Churchman obviously knows nothing about post abortion healing.Once again, they try deny the feelings countless women have by telling them they should not feel guilty but rejoice!
It seems to me that many people who supposedly practice religion have made religions to support their sins, not to honor God. Hopefully the Episcopalian church will not listen to her.....

Better late than Never

Bishops Approve Mass for Life at Their Spring Meeting By CLAUDIA McDONNELL Nearly 20 years after Cardinal O'Connor suggested it, the U.S. bishops approved a Mass in Thanksgiving for the Gift of Human Life June 18 during their spring meeting in San Antonio. The Mass was approved 183-2, with three abstentions. A second vote to add the text to the missal was 179-1, with one abstention. It now goes to the Vatican for "recognitio," or confirmation. The Mass requested by Cardinal O'Connor, who died in 2000, was first prepared in 1990 to be included in the Roman Missal. The text was approved by the Committee on the Liturgy and the bishops as a whole in 1992 and sent on to the Vatican for review the following year. The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments soon after expressed interest in the subject matter but said it was "a matter of universal concern" that required further study. As Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., noted in his June 17 presentation of the text of the Mass, "no further response on the subject was ever received" from the congregation and there is no such text in the Latin version of the Roman Missal. In response to a request by Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, N.M., in January 2008, the idea was resurrected and the original material was retrieved from the Congregation for Divine Worship. In one comment before the vote Archbishop Sheehan noted that various Masses exist for various purposes and "the peace and justice Mass we presently have just doesn't do it" for the life issue. He urged the bishops' conference to zealously pursue "recognitio" from the Vatican, because "last time it sat on someone's desk or in someone's drawer."-CNS

update on Ashli

wow I have no idea why this is posting from the right!
Hello All,

 

Just a real quick email to let you know that we just spoke to the surgeon and Ashli is out of surgery.  He said that everything went really well.  They took out half of the pancreas and also the spleen (as expected).  The pathology report to identify the tumor will take up to a week, but the doctor said he believed it to be a solid pseudopapillary (which has a better prognosis than the one she was scared of).  They also removed some of the lymph nodes in the area, but said that they didn't look abnormal.

 

So far she hasn't had to get any blood transfusions.

 

Ashli should be out of the recovery room in a couple of hours and we should get to see her then.  Please keep her in your prayers.
Shane

 

Don't forget

to pray for Ashli, who undergoes surgery today....

Lumina & Divine Mercy

There is a beautiful Eucharistic prayer in our faith that goes like this, ‘When we were sinners and could not find our way to you, you loved us more than ever.” How beautiful, that when we were lost, He loved us more than ever. Not when we became what we saw as “ok”, but when we were sinners & lost. What love. I think there are few as “lost” as those suffering from a past abortion. They feel as though there is no forgiveness for their sin; they feel condemned forever. It is only God’s love and mercy that can free them.

 

Saint Faustina Kowalska's diary, “Divine Mercy in My Soul”, tells of words spoken to her by Christ: 

Years ago the NCCB asked me to put my testimony into words for them so that they could include it in their yearly Respect Life Month packet to be distributed across the United States. Once printed, I was sent a copy of the witness. I always end my witness talk with the quote from St Faustina’s diary above. I know it is the mercy of God that has healed me from my abortion and it is this same mercy that heals each one of those who come to us, but, I will never forget my mortification when I opened my witness up. There before me it was, with the title “Divine Mercy in My Soul”. The same title of the autobiography of St Faustina!

 I loved the book of St Faustina’s diary and have read it often. This saint of mercy so pure and holy! And they had given the witness of my life, so different from St Faustina’s, the same name as her diary! I was completely mortified and began panicking. This was going to be all over the country…what would people thinking! I quickly called my   spiritual director not knowing what to do. Thinking he would advise me on a way to fix this, I proceeded to make an appointment to see him. However, I got a completely different response than the one I had hoped for.

 ”Theresa, It is Divine Mercy In Your Soul. Accept the title in humility, for your story is not about you, but about the love and mercy of God. ” 

 How true…God works in each of us in different ways according to our needs…but it is His mercy in each one of our souls that brings us all to HIM no matter what our experiences.

The tag for Lumina says “Lumina-a ray of light in abortions darkness”. Christ and His  Divine Mercy is that light. One of my favorite books, “In the Arms of Mary” by S.C. Beila, has a line that says, “Only when you believe that you are loved will you adapt, in the face of overwhelming difficulties, the attitude of a child, who with trust, presents oneself before its Father. You will then find the courage to learn in a deeper way about the abyss of your own wretchedness.”

 By leading those who come to us to the love and mercy of God and helping them to develop a personal relationship with Him, they are then able to look at the “wretchedness” of their abortion. Safely encompassed in His mercy, they are able to see the truth about themselves without despairing, because they know in their hearts what He has done for them. It it this shelter of Divine Mercy that I believe, as Pope JohnPaul II speaks about in the Gospel of Life when he addresses those post abortive.

 “I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone's right to life. Through your commitment to life, whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life.”

 And so, I dare to say DIVINE MERCY HIMSELF brings those post abortive out of themselves and to Him and we at Lumina are called to be a sign of His Divine Mercy in all we say and do with those we serve.