It is easy to get discouraged these days for a whole host of reasons but on this day, Holy Saturday, let us rejoice! The Lord’s Resurrection is at hand!
Earlier this week the news was not good. One of the headlines that was particularly depressing was the fight in Colorado over an abortion bill that would have effectively killed pro-life activities for a good long time.
Colorado Family Action said the legislation could have eliminated a broad range of laws including: parental notification laws, laws promoting maternal health, government programs and facilities that pay for or promote childbirth and other health care without subsidizing abortion, conscience protections laws, laws requiring that abortion only be performed by a licensed physician, laws regulating school health clinics, laws concerning abstinence education, laws affecting pregnancy centers, etc.
But the faithful rallied around their archbishop, Most Rev. Samuel Aquila of Denver, an IRL Episcopal Advisor. He and Greek Orthodox Father Ambrose Omayas and almost 1000 supporters stood on the steps of the Capitol at 3:00 pm on April 15th and prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. On April 12th, the archbishop had issued a letter explaining the dire consequences of the law and what we as Catholics should do about it.
I am prayerfully asking every person of good will to spend 10 minutes this weekend in prayer. Plead to Our Lord for His intercession on behalf of life in Colorado. Also, pray for our politicians on both sides of this issue, particularly for those who work tirelessly and often without recognition to promote life-affirming legislation in our State Capitol. Pray for the conversion of the heart and mind of those who support such irrational, unscientific, and a denial of conscience legislation. (Read the entire letter here.)
“Many of you have lost faith in politics,” he said, “but remember that attitude is not of God and is of the evil one. The devil confuses people and discourages them.” He quoted Pope Francis who said, “The devil is here…even in the 21st century! And we mustn’t be naïve, right? We must learn from the Gospel how to fight against Satan.”
And on April 16th, the bill died.
“Some of the senators have said they have shut off their phones, some of them said they have never been contacted by so many,” the archbishop said during the gathering. “And you can make a difference. Too many times we have taken a backseat, and Catholics, Christians, and people of good will can no longer take a back seat.”
Jenny Kraska of the Colorado Catholic Conference praised everyone who helped, saying, “I cannot thank you all enough for what you did to make this possible—this is truly a miracle.”