Sometimes I’m very sad inside. People around me smile and laugh, carry on with everyday talk about weather, sports, TV, diets and the job. I often feel like a stranger trapped in fantasyland. People are oblivious, escapist, apathetic, materialist, wounded, scared, frustrated, lost and blind. Even dead. I’m filled with compassion, real pity for men, for women for our human family. We are so ill, so very sick. We are sick of life. We are sick of death. We are killing our own offspring.
She didn’t know people cared
Bob Pearson, a good man I work with, told me a story recently. He was visiting Fr. Joseph in Oklahoma City. Fr. told of a young Laotian girl who had come to one of our emergency pregnancy centers looking for an abortion. She’d seen and ad that said “Abortion?” with a telephone number. She called and came for an abortion. She didn’t know it was a place of life, of love for her and her baby. After she’d seen and heard our audiovisual material, received some counseling and was shown some real care and concern, she changed her mind. She didn’t know people cared.
The whole family ate the baby
She said her sister had gotten pregnant but out of wedlock in Laos before she’d escaped to America. The family upon discovering this called a meeting in the kitchen. The father dragged the sister into the room beat her skull with a club and killed her. The whole family then lifted her body to the table. The father cut open the girls abdomen, pulled out the dead infant and set it before the family. Then the whole family, each one, ate the baby. Yes, they ate the baby. In all my life I’d never heard more shocking story.
The girl Fr. Joseph her sister had violated the religious taboo and had suffered a very common punishment. Apparently when the shame of an unwed pregnancy becomes known in thus pagan area the only way to exorcise the evil is to kill the mother and eat the baby. I couldn’t believe my ears. I thought, “My God, my God what incredible evil!” Eat the baby?! Eat the baby?!
When I recovered (can one ever recovered from hearing such a story?), Bob told me that Fr. Joseph spent many long hours with this Loatian girl whose sister was killed and her baby consumed. She suffered an agony when she realized how horribly she’d been deceived about pregnancy, human life, and a kind of demonic paganism.
I don’t know the rest of the story. I know only that the Leotian girl is going is going to have the baby. But will she ever be whole again? Can she ever forget the devil in Laos? I spent a long time by my bed on my knees that night. Pray for her too, please. It’s the only answer.
To believe a horrible lie
I’ve thought and prayed about this story for many months now. And I know now how much worse we are here in our “Christian” country. The Laotian family killed their daughter and child believing a horrible lie, that it would exorcise a demon. We kill our babies fully knowing what we do. We know medically and scientifically it’s baby. We know as Christians that we are committing murder. We know the truth. We see with our eyes. We are not blind.
Jesus said, ‘It is for judgment that I have come unto this world, so that those without sight may see and those with sight turn blind.’ Hearing this, some Pharisees who were present said to him. ‘We are not blind surely?’ Jesus replied: ‘Blind? If you were, you would not be guilty, but since you say, “We see”, your guilt remains. (John 9:38-41J.B.)
We see. We know. I talked to a nice lady today at Statistics Canada in Halifax. She told me that we killed 658,405 unborn babies in Canada between 1970 and 1982. I said, ” My God why are we killing our children?” she said, “That’s very, very good question. I wish I had a very right answer.”
We know the right answer we are killing our children for convenience, for money, for a new house, car, stereo, the rent, for embarrassment, pleasure, lust, pride, envy, sloth, anger, gluttony, ‘socio-economic’ reasons, mental health and because quite simply we just don’t want the baby. So we shut our eyes to the truth, our ears to our conscience and we become – spiritually blind.
Real Christians are not blind. Being in full friendship with Jesus we are then to be a part of “the Light of the world.”
Our clear duty is to help Him “make the blind see.” But we are of course speaking in the most important way here. A spiritual way. So we are first and foremost fighting a spiritual battle. Between sight and blindness, light and darkness, life and death of our souls and those of all our brothers and sisters in the human family. Abortion is a religious question. It is a Christian Catholic issue. It is not only a Christian issue, but a Christian & Catholic issue it is. How do we heal such blindness? Like the Divine Physician we must first attack the disease, drive out the demon. Remember Mar 9:29 Jesus drives out a demon of deafness and dumbness, after the disciples tried and failed. ‘This is the kind’ he said ‘ that can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.’
People are killing their own offspring. Is there any demon more evil? Is there any stronger? Is this not a case for ‘prayer and fasting?’
When I’m so sad inside over people’s blindness and apathy, it is a good thing, because it drives me to prayer. And that leads me to fast, and that leads me to offer the money saved in fasting – alms. This is the whole entire core of the Catholic Foundation for Human Life. As Catholics we believe in prayer, especially the Mass, the Sacraments, the Rosary, and personal prayer in private. It can and does work miracles. Let me share an experience of prayer of a personal kind. One of many miracles in our lives, but a recent one.
A hermit and Joe Borowski
After a very painful period ending my work as Asst. Executive Director of the New Brunswick Right to Life Assoc. (work which, by the judgment of all, was enormously successful) I was very disheartened and discouraged. My work had ended in controversy and contention and when I anticipated a garland of gratitude, I got a cross of grief and humiliation. It was what I needed. But, may God forgive me, how I hated that cross for three months! Then some holy people helped me pick it up again. Even embrace it. With gratitude. My wife, Fr. Bernard Mac Donald, Larry Henderson, Joe Borowski, Peter Ryan and a holy hermit named Anthony all helped me pick it up again. Late in the third month of the trial, my wife and I were out one evening eating in the car at ‘McDonalds’, I said, “I can’t stand it any longer. I know what I must do. I’ve got to do it and do it now!” Gisele said, “What do you have to do. She knew precisely. She’d been there before. I said, “I’ve got to find out what God wants of me. He knows how fulfilled I was working full-time for the babies. I want to continue. I’m much stronger now. I’ve got to find out if He wants me to go on working full time for life and the Church.” Gisele said. “how?”
She knew the answer. “I’ve got to make a 9-day fasting Novena,” I said. Many times before in our 17 years of marriage we had experienced this miracle. So we did it together. What a wife, this woman of mine! We fasted totally from all solid food for nine days, drinking only a special lemonade given us by Joe Borowski; we prayed a special Novena prayer fostered by the holy stigmatic priest, Padre Pio; I continued attending daily Mass, offering my Novena prayers before the Blessed Sacrament every day, and we continued our family Rosary. We did this in faith and trust for nine days. On the tenth day came the miracle.
Robert J. Pearson, founder of the Pearson Foundation, an important American Pro-Life organization, called me long distance from Arkansas, 2,000 miles away. He had no idea I was no longer working full-time in the movement. He had called to invite me to a training seminar for persons interested in opening Pregnancy Problem Centres. When I told of my situation, he immediately offered me a full-time position as Executive Director of the Pearson Foundation.
When the phone call came Gisele and I were quietly reading in bed. But we both knew, at the same moment, when the phone rang that God was about to answer, incredibly beautiful, wonderfully all-fulfilling; in short, a miracle.
I am now home establishing the Catholic Foundation for Human Life. Things have come full circle. I am still working with the Pearson Foundation. We are striving to open 1,000 pregnancy centres within 5 years or sooner. The C.F.H.L. is entirely autonomous but of course we will use the Pearson methods for our centres. But more importantly, I’ve found the courage to do what I know ought to have been done from the beginning. You fight great evil with greater spiritual weapons. Prayer. Fasting. Almsgiving. Apostolic action.
We will storm heaven with prayer and sacrifice. We will raise millions of dollars for human life. We will stop abortion by helping the mothers with our centres. We will heal the blindness, apathy and ignorance by a massive first class media campaign, on T.V., radio, newspaper and magazines.
Spiritual battle
I pray for you Catholics, loyal to orthodox Church teaching, obedient to the Holy Father and the faithful magisterium, to join us. I pray that all good Christians of whatever denomination join us as brothers and sisters in praying, fasting and almsgiving in a serious committed way. Together, though we be a small remnant, we will be shown His victory for life.
I’m fully aware of all the hesitation – even hostility – that some in the pro-life movement have about religious implication or emphasis. That’s truly unfortunate. You must do your best according to your lights and convictions.
But you see, I’m convinced – and I’m certainly not alone here – that this is primarily a spiritual battle between good and evil. God and Devil. Life and death. So, let us do our thing, Encourage us. Support us. Don’t interfere with or berate us. Because then you are not part of the solution, you are a big part of the problem.
We have a huge battle in front of us. With the spiritual weapons mentioned above, we must convert Catholics, Protestants, Bishops, Priests, Ministers, Rabbis, doctors, politicians, lawyers, judges, mothers and even us pro-lifers. Then abortionists. Together we can do it. It can be done. It will be done. God wills it.
You can help if you wish by writing to us. The Catholic Foundation for Human Life
BOX 845, Moncton, N.B.
E1C 8N6
c/o David T. Little, President
