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[00:00:20]His grace sustains through bar and land.

[00:00:45]He breaks the chain.

[00:00:51]And good morning friends. We are live here from the Priest for Life studios.

[00:00:55]Prolife leader Frank Pavone here continuing our Easter journey. Our Easter pro-life journey, excuse me, the journey through the Easter season with the help of these readings. Let me start with my book pro-life reflections for every day.

[00:01:13]Genesis 9:5.

[00:01:16]And from each man I too will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Reflection. We are accountable to God for many things. The first is life itself.

[00:01:29]God does not say here that we are simply accountable for our own life as if we were each an island. He says we're responsible for the lives of others.

[00:01:38]From the beginning, God makes us a community of persons, not simply a collection of persons. and nobody is to be excluded.

[00:01:49]Let us pray. Father, turn our minds and hearts outward rather than inward toward a ceaseless care for others.

[00:01:57]Amen. Prolife Reflections for everyday.com is the website. It'll be available on our app soon as a daily fed fed into those who subscribe to the app very soon.

[00:02:14]And that reflection ties very much into the first reading that's being proclaimed today throughout the world.

[00:02:22]A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

[00:02:25]Paul reached also Derby and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him, and Paul wanted him to come along with him. On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from city to city, they handed on to the people for observance, the decisions reached by the apostles and presbytors in Jerusalem.

[00:02:59]Day after day, the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number. They traveled through the frigian and Galatian territory because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they came to Messia, they tried to go into Bethnia, but the spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So they crossed through Messiah and came down to Trrowaz.

[00:03:26]During the night, Paul had a vision.

[00:03:29]A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, "Come over to Macedonia to help us." When he had seen the vision, we saw passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

[00:03:49]The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

[00:03:56]I pointed out in recent days that the gospel of Mark concludes with the declaration that the Lord worked with them that is the apostles and other disciples as they proclaimed the resurrection.

[00:04:11]He worked with them through signs through wonders but also as we see in this reading he worked with them through navigation.

[00:04:22]God gives all of us the command to proclaim the gospel.

[00:04:29]But he will guide us to the certain people and places where he wants us to proclaim it. Sometimes with clear guidance as we see here through a vision in the night and sometimes by blocking off other ways. It's the old adage about God closes one door and opens another. This is a biblical passage that shows that specifically happening. It's an interesting couple of phrases here.

[00:04:58]The Holy Spirit prevented them. I wonder how. It doesn't say how, but the Holy Spirit prevented them from preaching the message in Asia and Bethnia, but he wanted them to go to Macedonia.

[00:05:13]And we need to be willing, of course, at the Lord's disposal to preach the the good news, go to the me to proclaim the message wherever he wants us to to proclaim it. You know, we see this very often in the pro-life effort to save lives. I just spoke at the National Pregnancy Center Conference of NIFla, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates. And you know, you hear all kinds of stories about how these various pregnancy centers started. And a lot of times people start with an idea. Oh, we want to establish a center in this town, in this city, and this place. And they run into all various obstacles.

[00:05:47]So, we go where we're able to go. And lo and behold, in the end, when we have a success, we say, "Well, God wanted me here right from the start. He just had to close off those other opportunities." Same thing sometimes when we go to pray at abortion mills, maybe because of local ordinances or other problems, it's it's more restrictive to get near one facility than it is to get to the other. And so I'll be joining with the 40 days for life, by the way, in the fall campaign on a tour of various sites. Uh some of you I'll probably encounter on the road when I do that. And um very often when a group is trying to start a prayer vigil at a particular place, there'll be some obstacle.

[00:06:36]There'll be some problem in the way and they will therefore go to a place where there are fewer obstacles and still saving lives. In fact, if there are fewer obstacles to getting close to the facility, be able to save more lives.

[00:06:52]And then the the ma what has been come to be known as the Macedonian cry. Come over to Macedonia and help us. You know, Christian leaders down through the ages and right to this day will refer to this as they appeal to one another. Come and help us. This week I'll be going to among the different things I'll be doing and places I'll be going. I'll be in Washington DC or just outside of DC actually for three days of meetings with conservative leaders. We're going to update each other, plot and plan and strategize and we often give the Macedonian cry to one another. come over and help us in this place with this project to start this initiative to elect this candidate to stop this ballot measure to confirm this judge whatever it might be come over to Macedonia and help us. This actually expresses not just one thing that happened that day to Paul to guide his journeys. This expresses a beautiful ongoing spirit among Christian leaders that I'm privileged to experience every day when we have our meetings of pro-life leaders. The Macedonian cry is put forth regularly.

[00:08:20]Come over and here and help us with this and help us with that. I do want to say to my Catholic brothers and sisters, we are often hindering the Macedonian cry by the way that we conduct our pastoral business. And what I mean is if we're so concerned about what parish or what bishop or what pastor has jurisdiction, there's the word there, jurisdiction, very legal legal terminology over a certain particular area. I'm not saying we don't respect that. I'm not saying there isn't a reason for it. I'm not saying it doesn't serve a good purpose or that we can just throw it out the window, but I'm saying there's another dynamic at work, the Macedonian cry. And I've seen time and time again that this gets thrown out the window. Oh, no, we don't have time to help that other person. Oh, we got business enough of our own or we we don't want to step on the pastor's toes over there or the bishop's toes over here. Let me tell you an example of uh where where this did some damage.

[00:09:22]The Macedonian cry could have gone out from uh the bishop of u St. Petersburg, Florida years ago, though not the current bishop in the case of Terry Shyo. You remember some of you met me as a result of the case of Terry Shival got to know of me back then when the family had asked me to get involved and speak out in defense of Terry's life who was ultimately killed by starvation and dehydration by court order thanks to the murderer ex-husband of hers Michael Sho.

[00:09:57]Hey Michael, if you're out there you're still a murderer, Michael, time to repent.

[00:10:03]Michael had her murdered.

[00:10:07]You remember the story of uh Terry being dehydrated to death and the vase of flowers filled with water was inches away from her parched lips.

[00:10:19]I bring this up because she was in that hospice in Penllis Park, Florida, and there were pro-life activists, myself included, gathered outside that hospice. There were masses offered at the time. I remember Father uh Dennis Cooney, he was one of our members of our board of directors. He passed away since.

[00:10:43]Father Dennis Wild still with us.

[00:10:45]Augustinian priest who has served as our associate director.

[00:10:52]Other members of our team, Janet Morirana had come with me.

[00:10:57]I was on the visitors list visited Terry's room. But the point I'm making is we've we could have issued a Macedonian cry.

[00:11:07]Well, we issued a Macedonian cry. There were people who did come but the bishop of that dascese actually said don't come.

[00:11:22]He told his brother bishops don't come. Don't be coming in here yourselves or sending your priests or sending other people. Well, why not?

[00:11:34]What in the world are we afraid of?

[00:11:38]come over to Macedonia and help us.

[00:11:41]Sometimes something happens.

[00:11:44]A tremendous injustice at a particular turning point of history rears its head and requires a response bigger than what the local community alone can give.

[00:11:58]That's why you have to sometimes say, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

[00:12:04]What if that place where Terry Shy was being killed, and again, Michael, you're responsible.

[00:12:11]Let's not blame the courts, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the president, the governor of Florida. They all got involved.

[00:12:19]But the weight of guilt is on Michael, one Michael Shyo.

[00:12:25]What if there were thousands of people gathered around there? What if we block the streets until such time as Terry was taken out of there and brought to a place where she would be cared for. We could have done it.

[00:12:40]Come over to Macedonia and help us. We don't need spiritual leaders putting the kibos on the Macedonian cry. We don't need that. And let's all examine our consciences as we do our pastoral planning, as we allocate pastoral resources, as we plan our own time and scheduling and resources. I'm always responding to Macedonian cry. That's what I'm out there doing all the time and many of you are as well. Leaders need to have that mindset. I'm not just, you know, caring for my own organization.

[00:13:12]I'm out helping anybody that needs help is the spirit we need to have. And we need to have that spirit among parishes, between dasceses.

[00:13:22]So many good things, you know, that projects that happen nationally, sometimes we're initiating them, meet with local resistance either with the mindset of self-sufficiency. Oh, we don't need, you know, the projects, ideas, and resources that these other groups are giving us or, oh no, we don't want to get involved in that. We can't allow that here.

[00:13:45]Either we can't help or we don't want your help. That's not the biblical attitude. That's not the spirit of God.

[00:13:53]So, let's pray for an increase in the Macedonian cry and an increase in the response. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the unity that your people do have for the generosity, the collaboration that we do see because after all, we are one body. Yes, there are local jurisdictions, but we are one body.

[00:14:19]One living vine, one living temple, one body of Christ, one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God who is father. And since you are father, we are brothers and sisters called to help each other. Strengthen us Lord in this conviction. And as we pray this morning, bless all our needs.

[00:14:40]Continue to advance peace in the world.

[00:14:45]continue to advance the defense of life.

[00:14:49]Continue to bless our economy as it we get more and more news of how it is thriving and turning around. Bless Lord God the individual needs that we all have whether it's financial needs or consolation or guidance.

[00:15:10]Help us.

[00:15:12]And as we worship you, as we experience your love in the answering of our prayers, we invoke you as Jesus taught us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[00:15:30]Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace.

[00:15:48]The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen. Well, thanks very much, friends. And uh we'll be alive again tomorrow, Sunday, day of the Lord, day of resurrection with some more scripture reflections as we go through this Easter season. Thanks so much for taking the time this morning. We'll talk to you soon.

[00:16:34]>> Hi everyone, I'm Father Donald Callaway and I want to really encourage you to find out about priest for life. You know, I'm a convertible. Many people know my story of being a really bad guy in my youth and causing a lot of problems and living for the world. But then God came into my life and got me with the divine 2x4 with the truth. And one of those aspects was the sanctity of human. And I have to say when I got my conversion, received my call and went to seminary, there was one person in particular that I looked to and still this day still look to him for guidance because he's such an authority. He speak such conviction and love and that is father Frank was so inspired by him in my days in seminary. went to some of his talks, especially the March for Life in Washington DC where I lived for about six years and now is a priest. Uh this is a true brother for me, a man who is truly a prophet in many ways in our times right there on the cutting edge of this cause for life. And in you know there really is no greater cause because if we're not defending babies, what are we doing? This is human life. This is God's gift to humanity, the life of a child. And so I cannot encourage you enough to find out about Priest for Life. Get involved. Support them by your prayers financially and pray for Father Colon. He's in the crosshairs, of course, because of what he's doing. The devil is not going to get happy about what he's doing. And I I pray for my brothers. Uh he is a good man. He is doing great work. And so my friends, please, please, please support this wonderful organization because we need to champion human life. God bless you all.