1 Cor 1:18 (embracing The Cross)

* Welcome God every morning before work by taking ~5 min to read this Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group devotion (life-devotions.blogspot.com), which has snippets from Living Faith (livingfaith.com). All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Col. 3:17

The message of the cross...is the power of God. 1 Cor 1:18

Living Faith snippets: "It is difficult coming to terms with the reality of suffering. We know innocent people who have suffered greatly or loved ones who have undergone long agonizing illnesses. Such sufferings, as well as our own, can seem senseless, if not cruel. It was just as hard to make sense of the cross in Jesus' day. When the Apostles preached the cross, and embraced it in their own lives, it seemed to others to be "absurdity" and a "stumbling block." Most of Jesus' first followers, like their master, died at the hands of persecutors. [All but one of the apostles were martyred for their faith.] The cross is the mysterious wisdom of God...the "power of God." As we embrace the crosses of our lives, we find the hidden life of God buried within." by Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti

Sr. Francelle devotion: Read her devotion about the Rosary at http://sisterfrancelle.blogspot.com/. Here is the intro..."In a small dark room, the man tied to the bed prayed for his life. He felt the cord tighten around his wrists as his thumb counted out the prayers on the tiny beads of the Rosary, while a guard sat with a gun pointed at him. Antonia de Oriol had been snatched from his office by terrorists in Madrid, Spain in 1976..."

Pat nuggets:

* While reading the Chemical & Engineering News, I found a ProLife line in an article by Britt E. Erickson..."an interagency effort [federal] to examine environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 U.S. children from before birth until age 21."

* Barack Obama stated in a recent interview that "it's above my pay grade" for him to determine when a developing child in the womb becomes a human. Joel Cain pointed out that in one respect Obama is right...this is God's pay grade, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" (Jer 1:5). On the other hand, I placed a 12 wk baby model in my 5 yr old daughter Grace's hand, and she said, "oh, the baby is sleeping, Daddy." Obama is certainly above Grace's pay grade...

* "Vote your values on Election Day. The stakes have never been higher! Our next president will likely replace one or more Supreme Court justices. We are perhaps one Supreme Court vote away from being able to overturn Roe v. Wade. A more common sense Court might finally uphold reasonable limits on Internet pornography. Such a Supreme Court could also protect traditional values, including the definition of marriage." Focus on the Family

ProLife news: http://www.lifenews.com/.

* 40 Days for Life campaign (24 Sep to 2 Nov): Sign up for updates at http://www.40daysforlife.com/about.cfm.

* Ross Paulick shared this article: "[Obama] goes further than any U.S. senator has dared go in defending what John Paul II called the "culture of death." He supports the late-term procedure known as partial-birth abortion, where the baby's skull is stabbed with scissors in the birth canal and the brains are sucked out to end its life swiftly and ease passage of the corpse into the pan. When Congress was voting to ban this terrible form of death for a mature fetus, Michelle Obama was signing fundraising letters pledging that, if elected, Barack would be "tireless" in keeping legal this "legitimate medical procedure." When the Supreme Court upheld the congressional ban on this barbaric procedure, Barack denounced the court for denying "equal rights for women." Thrice in the Illinois legislature, Obama helped block a bill that was designed solely to protect the life of infants already born, and outside the womb, who had miraculously survived the attempt to kill them during an abortion. Thrice, Obama voted to let doctors and nurses allow these tiny human beings die of neglect and be tossed out with the medical waste." See entire article at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27992.

Feast Day (Martyrdom of John the Baptist): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Baptist

Our Prayers: Abortion, chastity, our enemies/our troops, natural disasters, depression/ despair, dementia, cancer, prisoners, integrity of our leaders

* New: Robert Cox (discerning his career path)

Faith Quote: "What is needed above all, at this time in the history of the Church in America, is a renewal of that apostolic zeal which inspires her shepherds actively to seek out the lost, to bind up those who have been wounded, and to bring strength to those who are languishing (Ez 34:16)." by Pope Benedict (Apr visit to USA)

Through Christ Our Lord,
Pat
Phil 4:13

* Today's Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml. Reflection on readings at http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
* Prayer: Prayer connects us with God's will & His miracles, thereby changing us & helping others. Wayne Watson lyrics, “When God's people pray, there is hope reborn, there is sin forgiven, and miracles you can't explain await!” "If you pray that God will move a mountain and He doesn’t, assume Christ wants you to climb it instead & see Him."
* Defend the unborn: 'Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die' (Prov 24:11). 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you' (Jer 1:5). 'It is a great poverty that a child must die that you might live as you wish' Blessed Mother Teresa. Prayer to End Abortion. Ask Blessed Margaret of Castello for her prayers to end abortion.
* Evangelization: Let's make room for non-believers (be a friend, make a friend, lead friend to Christ) and perpetual re-evangelization of self and those near us, by way of daily prayer (relationship) and following Christ's example of selfless love, mercy, and service.
Let's joyfully live out the Good News and gladly tell others about it (Mark 16:15)!