Volunteers are the heart of the pro-life movement. Every day people using their skills, talents and passion to end abortion along with the many other assaults on life and family.
Each day countless people give of themselves in a variety of ways to help further the cause of life and family. These are the heroes of the pro-life movement. Volunteers are motivated always by love and a desire to be a light, even if it be in just one person’s life.
Saint John Paul II points out that volunteers “make a valuable contribution to the service of life when they combine professional ability and generous, selfless love.”
There is a place for every single person in the pro-life movement. Together we can and will build a culture of life and a civilization of love.
Reflection
Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, past President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, once gave an inspiring speech in the UK, calling pro-life movement to reaffirm the truth. The following is a small excerpt from that speech.
Many fine young people are involved in the pro-life movement. More young people need to be involved, with their energies, their enthusiasm and their imagination. Pro-life education for children and young people must become a priority, as the Holy Father stresses in Evangelium Vitae, 97.
Young people and their energies lead me to conclude with a reflection about a brave young man. Outside my study, in the offices of the Pontifical Council for the Family in the Vatican, I have set up a bronze statuette of the shepherd boy who became King David. He is putting the sword back into its sheath having cut off the head of Goliath the Philistine. The head rests beneath his feet. I deliberately chose that statue to be a sign to all who work in and with our pontifical Council for the Family. The message is clear. In fighting for life, for the family, we face a giant Goliath, that Philistine culture of death, with all its wealthy foundations, its powerful political and business connections and its propaganda agents.
Like David, we have a few small stones and a slingshot, or so our limited resources often seem to us when we face such powerful forces. But we have God with us, the same God who guided David’s smooth stone to its mark. Like David the shepherd boy, we are not afraid, because we know that the Lord of Life is with us. We know that we can bring down that evil Goliath! We must bring him down and we will!
What is most important for the pro-life movements is to work for a civilization of life—in the family, in the schools, in the Parliaments. Life, the precious gift of God is a Gospel, good news! There is a unity between the Gospel of Life and the Gospel of the Family.
We must—love life, defend life, proclaim life!
At the heart of this proclamation is the Lord of Life, who died and who now lives and reigns for ever!
Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, March 23 1996.
Action
Volunteer your time and talents to further promote the cause of life. Anything you can do is helpful – from cleaning the bathrooms in the Pregnancy Centre, to promoting events and even graphic design work. Here are some ideas:
Gianna’s Choice Pregnancy Options and Support
- train as a pregnancy advocate
- sort donated nappies, clothes and goods
- provide transport for mothers and babies to appointments
- deliver goods to mums
- help deliver promotional materials in your area
- lend your professional skills, we love to partner with pro-life midwives, sonographers, doctors, nurses, and other professionals.
Next Generation Youth
Get involved in reaching out to other young people through:
- assisting with talks at schools and youth groups
- lending your tech skills for videos and social media
- assisting with large youth events like “LifeFest”
Prayer
- become an on call prayer volunteer for particular needs within FLI, and for those whom we help
- participate in prayer vigils throughout the year including weekly and special prayer vigils
- get involved with 40 Days for Life through participating in the prayer vigils, taking on roles of responsibility, or by joining the organising team.
Contact the team at Family Life International if you would like to volunteer in any capacity, or to find out more about how your particular talents may serve life and family.
Prayer
Prayer to End Abortion
Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,
Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death
by the Resurrection of Your Son.
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.
Today I commit myself
Never to be silent,
Never to be passive,
Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,
And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice
Not just for some, but for all,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!
