‘Who is Missing and what have we lost?’

The stalwarts of the prolife movement continue the fight for life on many frontlines these days and yet we still don’t see the big picture.

I heard a discussion the other day which made me jump; it was not focussed on the numbers aborted or the horrifying array of methods or the blindness and callous hearts of the people involved. It asked the question ‘who is missing from our world?’ 

In every age and nation, God has always provided what (and who) was needed at any given moment in history. Whilst everyone has their own unique role, the destiny of some is far reaching in their impact. Scientists like Alexander Fleming who discovered Penicillin, social reformers like Florence Nightingale who formalised the nursing profession, or statesmen like Churchill holding back the tide of Nazism and of course our own Saviour.

There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that during a discussion between Hilary Clinton and Mother Teresa, the former asked why she thought there had been no female President of the United States; to which Mother Teresa responded “she was probably aborted”.  

Perhaps many of today’s problems remain unsolved, like cancer, AIDS, wars, etc. not because the solutions were not sent to earth but because the ones to provide them ended up in a bucket in an abortion clinic instead of fulfilling their destiny.

Whether we realise it or not, our societies are impoverished to an ever increasing extent; we have no way of evaluating it but we are all unknowingly suffering the consequences of it.

As Ireland stands on the precipice, with its abortion referendum looming, I hope the people will remember those who gave them the gift of life, the sacrifices they made for them, the love extended to them and vote to 'protect' the next generation, many of whom may otherwise not see the light of day.

Dying Embers

St Patrick had a vision of Ireland where he was shown the state of the Church in Ireland. At first he saw the whole land like a great furnace whose flames reached to the sky and he heard the voice of an Angel declare “such is now – the state of Ireland in the eyes of the Lord’ As the vision continued he saw it change as the centuries rolled by until eventually all that remained were a few live coals buried and burning deep in the earth. Patrick wept at the sight.

I am told that my maternal grandfather, at the end of each day, assembled his family in the living room of their farmhouse in Leitrim and they all knelt down and prayed the rosary together.

Whilst it is likely that this devotion was alloyed to some degree with obligation and perhaps fear; the discipline of that daily prayer, together as a family, kept them at peace with one another and on the straight and narrow. The house and each one in it was bathed in prayer and returning grace. Somehow, in those days this was enough to carry that generation through life and to eternity. 

The effect of that daily family prayer may not have been obvious as to its effect ; it only becomes obvious when it’s gone as in our day where families are splintered with misunderstanding, argument, separation, and divorce. Correlation between decline in family prayer and the faith underpinning it and an increase in broken families is clear enough. As most of the First World is in a similar condition perhaps we have seen enough to know it’s time to return to God and to prayer.

St Patrick’s vision did not end in unhappy defeat, in his vision after the darkness; a light arose and began to grow again until Ireland returned to its ‘first state of all-pervading fire’

Make a Believer Out of Me !

Jim Caviezel, 33, is one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Caviezel recently starred as Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo, following his screen breakthrough in 1998 as Private Witt in The Thin Red Line. He recently gave an interview where he spoke about what Medjugorje means for his life.

"The Count of Monte Cristo was a very difficult script to do, and we were working 18-hour days, seven days a week. My wife was in Medjugorje at the time; she called me during the filming in Ireland. She said that Ivan Dragicevic, one of the visionaries, was going to be in Ireland and she wanted me to meet him. I told her it would take a miracle for me to have time.

"Sure enough, a miracle happened: we had problems on the set, and I found myself in a car on the way to hear this visionary speak. I was sceptical, but Ivan looked over to me and in his Croatian accent he said, 'I want to meet with you on Sunday'. I was thinking, I have too many things to do. But I went and said, 'I don't think I can believe this, but I'm going to ask you questions that most people wouldn't ask.' I said, 'Make a believer out of me.'

"So we talked, and later when we were praying the rosary Ivan said Mary came in the room and I felt something wonderful happening to me. When the apparition was over, I got up and told Ivan I wanted them (Mary and Jesus) in my heart. He said to ask them myself and so I said, 'I want you in my heart now; you probably won't, but come on.'

"The next day was a day I will never forget. I believe I went through my own personal purgatory. But the following morning I felt wonderful. I saw a book called something like Messages from Mary in Medjugorje. One of the messages was 'You will never know happiness living a sinful life.' And I knew exactly what that was for me. And I grabbed a rosary. Ivan had told me, 'God is calling you to pray from your heart.' And I was never able to do that before; that was the first time I had ever been able to pray from my heart."

Author: Jim Caviezel

(interview before the Passion of Christ movie)