Sanctity of Life is a big, important topic for me.
I am Pro-Life because God alone is the Giver of Life.
I am Pro-Life because human beings are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), therefore life is sacred from conception to natural death.
I am Pro-Life because Jesus Christ took on human nature, was conceived in a womb and born of a woman.
I am Pro-Life because I am a Christ-Follower.
I am Pro-Life because as a cancer sufferer, I faced death and have chosen life.
I am Pro-Life because as a cancer care minister, I stand alongside those who choose life every day.
I am Pro-Life because as a pastor, I am privileged to help people live well and I carry the responsibility to help people die well.
Sunday, January 24 was “Sanctity of Life Sunday” at my church. We had a representative from Students for Life visit us and give her testimony at our morning worship services. We held a diaper drive for both babies and adults to benefit the needy. We hosted an afternoon Memorial Service for Children Lost to Early Death where 19 babies were lifted up to the Lord’s care — those lost to miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, SIDS, illness or accident.
And I preached in three morning services on life from conception to natural death.
To listen to a podcast of my sermon Value of One: The Sanctity of Life, go to http://www.stjamesnb.org/sermons-media/and click on the sermon by that title dated January 24.
To read a manuscript of the sermon, please email me at cyoung@stjamesnb.org and I will send you a copy of the text.
Blesings to you!
Rev. Cathie+
For more information on Life, go to Anglicans for Life the pro-life ministry of the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), an organization I am honored to serve as a member of their national board of directors.
Written in chalk on sidewalk outside Planned Parenthood in Orange, CA by a 6-year old girl.
Last week I offered a post which spoke to the recent revelations of undercover videos displaying Planned Parenthood officials as they trafficked aborted baby parts. Since that post, there have been yet more videos. One of the recent is a most disturbing video with a fully intact baby boy, freshly aborted in the third trimester and still moving with heart beating. That defenseless little boy was laid on a cold, hard table and cut open in order to harvest his brain to be sold to the highest bidder.
Oh, I know this language is harsh and raw. But I have viewed all of these videos displaying the barbaric methods of Planned Parenthood, and trust me, they are more brutal, more harsh, more raw than I could ever express. There is nothing ambiguous about them. The truth is laid bare like that little aborted baby boy.
I can’t help but think about the merciless beheading of men, women and children by ISIS. Our response is revulsion at these horrible acts. As well, I think about the heart-wrenching commercials by ASPCA, showing abused dogs and cats. Again, our response is outrage and even willingness to take action!
How can we react to these acts of barbarism and not care with equal and greater passion about the nearly 60 million children who have been slaughtered in our nation by legalized abortion since 1973? With the release of these videos, gone is the notion that what is being discarded in abortion is just a worthless bunch of cells! The words and actions of Planned Parenthood officials in these videos demonstrate most excellently that these are human body parts indeed! And those human body parts even in the eyes of Planned Parenthood have indubitable, even monetary value. By their own words, $75 for this body part, $100 for this one, even $200 for another like that little baby boy.
Why do I care so much about this issue? It is of course because I believe that God is the Creator of all life and He loves all whom He has made. I believe that life from conception to natural death is sacred to God and should be sacred to us as well. It is because God hates murder, especially murder of the weak and defenseless.
As well, I have lost three nephews who died before birth — two in miscarriage and one in abortion. Though I have not seen or held them, I know they are alive in the presence of God and I will be reunited with them one day. The two who were miscarried are of no greater value than the little one lost to abortion. They have equal value to God and so equal value in my eyes as well. Aborted children have inestimable value!
And for me, life is personal. Death has come near me in the threat of cancer. I realize how precious life is. And how fragile. I have fought to save life. Life must be protected and defended. Why would I protect and defend my own life from cancer and not work to protect and defend life from abortion? Yes, life is a beautiful gift. It should be cherished and treasured. To do anything less is not Christian. To do anything less in my opinion is not human. To be fully human is to love life and to regard it as sacred.
And so I gathered with 1000 others last Saturday on the streets surrounding the Planned Parenthood location in my region. By our bold witness we protested the actions of Planned Parenthood and shouted for its defunding! We prayed. We worshiped God and lifted high the gift of life He has given us. By our witness in the public arena, we said to God, to one another and to all who drove by us on the street that day that we will stand for life and pray for the end to abortion.
You have no doubt heard something in recent days about the six video revelations demonstrating how Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the United States, is selling the body parts of aborted babies to the highest bidder. Among others, these videos portrayed Planned Parenthood’s Senior Director of Medical Services describing how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted children and admitting she uses partial-birth abortions to supply intact body parts.
So far, 5 states have taken steps to de-fund the abortion giant with 12 states having launched investigations into Planned Parenthood’s abortion and organ harvesting and trafficking business. This is a very significant time in our nation’s history surrounding abortion! We should be praying that congress expand their investigation since Federal law prohibits the sale of body parts of aborted babies. In fact, the sale or purchase of human fetal tissue is a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 (42 U.S.C. 289g-2).
For those who follow Jesus Christ and honor the Word of God, we should be deeply disturbed by these videos. All human life is sacred and our Creator loves all whom He has made. We are grateful that the evil which has been held in darkness has now been exposed to the light! Yet, we must avoid any triumphalism and pause to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), namely the mothers and fathers whose wounds of regret over their abortions have been re-opened by these latest revelations. The sorrow of taking the life of their unborn child has now been made even more grievous by the possibility of that innocent child’s body being sold for money. The Church should be extremely sensitive to those who have regretted their abortion and repented of their sin.
As well, it is a time when it matters more than ever before that the Church stand up against the heinous acts of barbarism by Planned Parenthood. On the momentum created by these six undercover videos, more than 300 cities are gearing up to launch the 40 Days for Life campaign beginning September 23. My congregation will actively participate in this campaign.
More immediately, I invite any Orange County, California folks to join Philip and me along with others from our community as we stand for life in public witness this coming Saturday, August 22 from 9 to 11 am outside the Planned Parenthood located at 700 South Tustin Street in Orange, California. This will be a time of prayer and witness. Planned Parenthood has taken the lives of God’s children and heartlessly trafficked their body parts for financial gain. As surely as we stand to pray for the sanctity of life in our churches, let us now stand to pray for the sanctity of human life in the public square. It matters more than ever before!
“Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all
who are appointed to die.”
— Proverbs 31:8
To listen to a podcast of my sermon Value of One: The Sanctity of Life, go to http://www.stjamesnb.org/sermons-media/and click on the sermon by that title dated January 24.
Gold in the Road 