"We are the sign."

So, most of you know, I'm a Programs Coordinator for the Houston Coalition for Life. Our mission is "Ending Abortion in Houston, Peacefully & Prayerfully." What that means in practice is building a presence of prayer outside Planned Parenthood's mega-abortion-facility, training sidewalk counselors, raising community awareness...and offering free ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, counseling, and referrals inside of a mobile Crisis Pregnancy Center (known formally as "The Mobile CPC" or with more casual affection as "The Big Blue Bus"). Whatever you want to call the thing, we gleefully park it right outside Planned Parenthood.

Every. Single. Working. Day.

So, in addition to plotting all kinds of exciting pro-life events, I sometimes work on that bus.

I guess sometimes when you're around something every day, it can be easy to forget how special it is.

I know occasionally I let that happen about our bus. Since I'm there so often, I forget what an incredible thing it really is.

God has a way of reminding me though...

One day I was counseling on the bus, talking to a young girl who was pregnant. She sat in front of me, her baby inside her and her own mother next to her, and she was scared. Her mom seemed afraid too, but shared with me that they had prayed the night before that God would show them what to do. That if God had a different plan than abortion, He would give them a sign.

"And then," her mom said, "We saw this bus..."

Let me tell you, I got goosebumps. There was a little pause, and then words came out of my mouth and I knew, with all my heart and soul, that God had put those words there:

"You know what? I'm the sign. He wants you to have your baby. He can make good out of all of this, He can give you everything you need. It's only Him that gives life, and He has a plan for you and your baby. So I can promise you, that right now, today, we are the sign. This bus? It's the sign. He wants you to choose Life."

I know in my head what the numbers are: 9 of 10 pregnant women going in to Planned Parenthood are getting abortions.

But out on the street, in our big blue bus, the ability to view free ultrasounds inspires 9 out of 10 pregnant women to choose LIFE. And the real help offered gives them the ability to follow through with it.

I sometimes lose sight of how amazing it is: hundreds of people believing in something so much, they'll give their money, their time, their efforts, and their enthusiasm to keep it going.

That's what the bus is: it's the product of the unflagging commitment of people who KNOW what happens when you offer help to a woman in crisis. It's the outcome of a dedication to the truth being told, freedom being offered, and hearts being open. Even for one baby, every day on the street would be worth it.

But God blesses the efforts of the Houston Coalition for Life and the selflessness of our supporters with this encouragement: not one baby, but 231 abortion-vulnerable moms confirming they have chosen LIFE!

Which actually is 232 kids, because one of our moms is expecting TWINS.

232 kids...

That's about ten kindergarten classes.

Twenty-one soccer teams.

Over a quarter of Clear Creek's graduating class.

Or,

232 new ways of seeing the world.

232 new sets of ideas on how to make it a better place.

232 hearts to love in ways that no-one else would ever be able to duplicate.

232 families...SPARED the horror of abortion, the loss of a child, and the pain of that trauma.

Having the bus on the street is a powerful and concrete way to be present for these women. The bus is truly a tool God uses to change minds, touch hearts, and save lives. And all those good things for only $250 a day.

On the other hand: $250 a day, six days a week - you can see why we need help, why fundraisers are necessary, why generosity is crucial.

We always have a chance to "be a sign" to let people know that the desire of God's heart for them is LIFE.

And sometimes, we even get a chance to SAY it. Helping keep the bus on the road is a real way for you to "be a sign," and your gift truly will save lives.

If you're interested, we have a Walk for Life going on right now, and you can either become a Walker or help sponsor me.

Please pray...money keeps us on the street, but prayers keep us going.

"Prisoner of Love"

My dad has this quote he heard from a priest once which he absolutely loves. He brings it up regularly, and says it's the simplest explanation of the difference between Catholics and Protestants he's ever heard. It's actually one of my favorite quotes, too (my dad liking it just makes it that much better), and I've been thinking of it a lot lately:

"The difference between Catholics and Protestants is that in Protestantism you're told to ask Jesus into your heart, and in Catholicism, you're told that Jesus is asking you into His Heart."

Don't read on just yet, go read that again and let it sink in for a while.

In fact, that's kind of what the blog today is about. I have so many quotes from saints that I love, and sometimes I like to go back and just mull them over a little. There were some I wanted to share today, and hopefully you have some time to savor them. Words like these can be for our souls like a good, steady soaking rain can be for a Texas summer. Take your time, come back if you need to.

.....

St. Catherine of Siena, a woman whose life bespoke a soul consumed in a lavish love affair with her God, would describe this love as a limitless ocean or fire: 

"O unfathomable depth! O Deity eternal! O deep ocean! 

What more could You give me than to give me Yourself? 

You are an ever-burning Fire; 

You consume and are not consumed. 

By Your fire, You consume every trace of self-love in the soul. 

You are a Fire which drives away all coldness 

and illumines minds with its light, 

and with this light You have made known Your truth. 

Truly this light is a sea which feeds the soul 

until it is all immersed in You, 

O peaceful Sea, eternal Trinity! 

The water of this sea is never turbid; 

it never causes fear, but gives knowledge of the truth. 

This water is transparent and discloses hidden things; 

and a living faith gives such abundance of light that 

the soul almost attains to certitude in what it believes."

I think the priest's explanation is so good because it gives us Catholics a chance to consider the Eucharist a little. There's one song I heard at Mass that describes the moment we receive the Eucharist as the moment when the One "Whom all the world cannot contain comes in our hearts to dwell." 

He lives there in you, and since He holds all created things in existence, you are living in Him. It's an intimacy that goes beyond human comprehension. A thought beyond understanding, but we are meant to dwell in the reality of it. The Catechism tells us that even though we can "never fully express the infinite mystery of God," we must always strive to "purify our language" in order to speak about Him with others. To speak of God is to speak of the love which enfolds us at every moment, so it seems we should strive to purify the understanding we CAN have of His love. Our understanding will always be limited, but He invites us to dwell in the knowledge of it, to live from the reality of it, to act in freedom of it. How do we purify that understanding?

Have you ever read St. Thomas Aquinas' Sequence for Corpus Christi? I had a hard time finding a good translation, but I like this one fairly well. Here's a little of it. If you take your time reading it you'll have a chance to realize how good the words taste in your soul:

Here in outward signs are hidden
Priceless things, to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things, are all we see:
Flesh from bread, and Blood from wine;
Yet is Christ, in either sign,
All entire confessed to be.

They too who of Him partake
Sever not, nor rend, nor break,
But entire their Lord receive.
Whether one or thousands eat,
All receive the selfsame meat,
Nor the less for others leave. 

St. Josemaria Escriva moves from the reality described by St. Thomas to answer the question about how to purify our understanding. By noting the devotion expressed in some human loves, he explains simply: we learn of Christ by spending time with Him.

"Jesus has remained in the Eucharist for love...for you.

He has remained, knowing how men would treat Him...and how you would treat Him. 

He has remained so that you could eat Him, and visit Him and tell Him your concerns; and so that by your prayer beside the tabernacle and by receiving Him sacramentally, you could fall more in love each day, and help other souls, many souls, to follow the same path.

Good child: see how lovers on earth kiss the flowers, the letters, the mementos of those they love...Then you, how could you ever forget that you have Him always at your side...Yes, Him?"

I'm not always good at spending time with Our Lord just to spend time with Him. I've gone because I feel like I should, or because I notice I'm able to deal with tough times better after I've gone, or because I'm at the end of my rope...but He is always there to spend time with me just to spend time with me. Just because He wants to see me. Many saints call Him the "Prisoner of Love," shutting Himself up in every tabernacle just so we could find Him easily, just so we might stop by and satisfy the longing of His Heart to be loved and to give love. St. Josemaria again reminds us: "When you approach the Blessed Sacrament, remember that He has been waiting for you for twenty centuries."

He wants us to come to dwell in His Heart. He wants us to learn the freedom of living in intimacy with Him. He wants to give us the joy of sinking into the "unfathomable depth" of the ocean that is His love. His Presence changes life from a thing incomprehensible to a thing meant to be lived as a gift...a gift returning to the Creator who gave it.

I'm praying this week you have a chance to spend some time with Him, to stop by one of those tabernacles where He's been waiting for so many hundreds of years. Maybe you do as one priest expressed it and "have a good chat with Our Lord." Maybe you sit in silence, out of words but needing to be warmed by the radiance of His love. 

-------------

P.S. The blue words are hyperlinks - if you click on them it will take you to certain sites with more wondrous saint words. God bless your week, and renew your heart in the knowledge of His love!