Bryan Kemper, a long-time pro-life leader who founded both Rock for Life and Stand True Ministries, recently announced on his website that he has decided to join the Catholic Church:

My Journey Home To The Catholic Church – Why I Am Converting To Catholicism

Dear friends,

I know this may come as a shock to many of you; I am in shock in a way my self. I have spent the past 23 years living my life for Christ always wanting to serve Him and know His truth.

I have been a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for almost 10 years as I was so inspired by the liturgy and reverence I found there. I have also been in a constant journey for God’s truth, studying His Word as well as church history. After many, many years of resisting a calling that I tried to suppress I have finally felt the peace of God with my decision to join the Catholic Church.

I know that many of you will be confused, even concerned for me. I know that you will have many questions and even be tempted to try and dissuade me from this decision. While I will most certainly talk to you about what God is doing here, I will not be entering into any debates about this right now.

I want to let you know this is not made lightly; I fought against this for years. There are several things that led me to search and finally choose to go back to the Church. I will share a few things in brief here and would love to sit down in person some time with you if you want to peacefully discuss them in more detail.

Continue reading…

As a fellow pro-life Protestant Christian who came home to Rome, I can’t be happier for Bryan. Welcome home!

One of the great things about going out and publicly practicing your faith is that you never know who you will meet. I received the following report from someone who was participating in our local 40 Days for Life campaign:

There were the five of us [there] from our church. Poured rain, cold but well worth it. Father led us in 3 complete rosary’s.

Lots of folks honked as they went by, not sure if that was in agreement or since it was dark we did not see the universal hand gesture.

Another car pulled over and dropped off eight cups of coffee from McDonalds. Thanked us for what we were doing.

Another guy pulled over and asked if we were collecting money, said he agreed with us, asked how long we were doing this for, so I told him 40 days. Then he proceeded to tell me that he has given up smoking pot for lent. That made my day.

I love this story. Many people disparage Lent, saying it is a relic of an earlier era when Catholics beat themselves up and were too negative. Or it is a “tradition of men” that is too ritualistic. But Lent is a time the Church gives us for purging ourselves from those bad habits which keep us from God. This man who gave up smoking pot for Lent has made a real step in the direction of our Lord, and we know from the Parable of the Prodigal Son that whenever we take a small step to the Father, He runs towards us to embrace us in love. I’m sure that this man’s sacrifice will be honored by the Lord.

Let us be sure to pray for all those who are trying to draw closer to God in some way this Lent.

Last week there was a firestorm of controversy in New York over the following pro-life ad:

Eventually the ad was removed for being “tasteless” and “offensive”. I have a suggestion for a replacement, which just takes the words right out of the mouth of the founder of Planned Parenthood:

Something tells me that my idea wouldn’t go over any better…

Warning: if you don’t want to be inspired, please skip this post and definitely don’t watch the video below.

An amazing thing is happening here in Maryland. In response to the arrival of late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart, Christians have mobilized to protest his barbaric practice and to let him know that he is not welcome here. Since Mr. Carhart first arrived, there have been three 600+ person prayer rallies to oppose his practice. Mr. Carhart has remarked, however, that the opposition won’t last and soon nobody will be protesting at his clinic.

Instead, there are now 80+ people praying every Monday morning in front of Germantown Reproductive Health Services. This has already resulted in at least one life being saved, and there is reason to believe that other women have chosen life because of this peaceful, prayerful presence.

High School Student Jamie Morrison

What is even more amazing about this weekly gathering is that it has been primarily organized and promoted by a 17-year-old high school student! Instead of waiting to see what his elders would do, young Jamie Morrison has taken it upon himself to confront this evil directly and to work to put it to an end. A committed abortionist with the backing of the entire pro-abortion industry is being confronted by a young man who is simply responding to God’s call. If the story of David and Goliath is any indication, I like Jamie’s chances!

Jamie and his younger brother Nicky (good news: Jamie is the oldest of six children, so there is more where he came from!) put together an inspiring video that documents their work at this clinic and urges anyone who can to join them. Witness all these young people standing for the Gospel of Life – this is the future of the Church!

One of the people in the video actually works in the same office complex as this clinic, and I think his quote is a powerful one: “I don’t know why [Carhart] chose our place to do it, but if he chose our place to do it, then it’s our job to get out and protest against it.” If only every pro-lifer in this country had such an attitude.

Please pray for all involved in this important apostolate – and please consider being a prayerful presence in front of an abortion clinic in your area. Join the Voice!

I’ve mentioned before that the notorious late-term abortionist Leroy Carhart has set up his practice in Germantown, Maryland, only a few minutes from where I live. The local Christian community here has strongly responded to his presence – in the two months since his arrival, we have had three separate prayer events at his clinic with over 600 people at each, and now there is a regular prayer gathering of over 80 people in front of the clinic every Monday morning. Yesterday I got the following email from one of the pro-life leaders:

A young woman with her mother arrived to have a scheduled abortion with Carhart. We cried out to her not to go in and that we were there because we loved her. We watched her enter the mill and we all turned and bombarded the mill with prayer!  She later came out of the mill and over to us.  She told us, “I knew the love was out here and not in there!”  After talking with her, we drove her to [the local pro-life] Pregnancy Center.  She plans to give birth to her baby and is considering adoption.

Praise God! Please pray for this mother and her precious baby – the devil is sure to attack her now that she has rejected his ways.

This is a reminder that God does hear our prayers. Over the past twenty years I have been primarily involved in two types of apostolate: pro-life and evangelization. Both can be very frustrating, as they do not often show immediate results. You can pray in front of an abortion clinic for years with no (visible) results, and you can share your faith with hundreds of people without any known conversions. But, as Mother Teresa liked to say, “we are called to be faithful, not successful.” We must persevere, knowing that the Lord always hears our prayers – we just might not always see the results. But praise God when He allows us to see them!

Yesterday I went to the March for Life, but before that, I attended the Youth Rally & Mass for Life at the Verizon Center (yes, I know I’m not a “youth”, but I brought my kids so they’d let me in!). The Rally & Mass are incredible, as 20,000 young Catholics (and their chaperons) enthusiastically stand for life and beseech the Lord to help us in our struggle to defend unborn lives. This event is unabashedly Catholic (the M.C. jokingly called any non-Catholics at the event “the bravest people on earth”), and it was wonderful to sing and pray with so many young people who love the Lord and love the Catholic Church.

One of the most impressive moments of the event is during the opening procession, when hundreds of deacons and priests, and dozens of bishops, process in. The procession alone takes 20 minutes and is quite impressive. Here is a picture taken with my phone camera (click to enlarge):

I’m attending the March for Life today, so I thought I’d link to the post I wrote for last year’s March:

Why I march

Reminder: tomorrow, January 22nd, is a day of penance in the United States for violations against the dignity of the human person. Please consider making some sacrifice, in union with our Lord’s ultimate sacrifice on the Cross, for the end of abortion, euthanasia and all sins against life.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Most people by now have heard the tragic story of the abortionist in Philadelphia who has been arrested and charged with eight counts of murder – one for a pregnant women who allegedly died from an abortion at his hands and seven others for born children he allegedly killed by poking scissors in the back of their necks and severing their spinal cords. It appears that there have been complaints for years regarding this clinic, but government health officials did nothing to intervene:

Time and time again, authorities alerted to Kermit Gosnell’s filthy and macabre abortion clinic – and to the injured, diseased or dead women he left in his wake – failed to rattle the alarm bells loudly enough to shut his house of horrors, the district attorney’s grand-jury report found.

“The Department of State literally licensed Gosnell’s criminally dangerous behavior,” the report concluded, and the state Department of Health “gave its stamp of approval to his facility.”

The “callous killing of babies outside the womb” persisted “for years” because officials looked the other way, the report said.

The grand jury also found that people at the city’s Department of Public Health and city hospitals also learned of warning signals, but failed to act.

According to the grand jury’s report:

* The State Department, whose Board of Medicine licenses and oversees physicians, “could have stopped Gosnell single-handedly.” About a decade ago, a former Gosnell employee filed a complaint detailing the clinic’s unsterile conditions and unlicensed workers. But the department dismissed the complaint after an investigation, which did not include an inspection.

Shortly after, the department received a report of the death of Semika Shaw, 22, and closed the case without investigation, concluding that her death was an “inherent” risk that did not warrant suspending Gosnell’s license.

* As for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the grand jury found it “deliberately” chose not to enforce laws that would have protected Gosnell’s patients.

After it approved the opening of Gosnell’s clinic in 1979, the department failed to conduct a site review until 10 years later, when violations were apparent.

Then, after 1993, the Health Department “abruptly decided, for political reasons, to stop inspecting abortion clinics at all,” the grand-jury report found, leaving “clinics to do as they pleased.” (Emphasis Added)

Note especially that last line: the Health Department has not inspected abortion clinics – where major surgeries are performed – for over 17 years. Yet consider this quote from the city’s health commissioner:

[Donald] Schwarz, the city’s health commissioner since 2008, said yesterday that his department would work better to report complaints to state officials. He stressed that the public should know that Gosnell’s clinic was “abnormal” and “not the norm for abortion care.”

How would Schwarz know this? They don’t inspect abortion clinics!

For those who have been involved in pro-life activism, Schwarz’s claim rings hollow. Time and time again abortion clinics have been found to be unsanitary, unsafe and medically dangerous (always for the child and usually for the mother as well). Yet because of pressure from the pro-abortion lobby, abortion clinics are completely unregulated.

Many people are familiar with Operation Rescue and know of the clinic blockades they organized in the late 1980′s/early 1990′s. However, with the advent of more draconian laws against such activities, Operation Rescue changed their tactics and they now work to shut down abortion clinics through legal means by exposing the health violations of these clinics. Troy Newman, the head of Operation Rescue, has stated that he has never encountered an abortion clinic that didn’t have significant violations – even by the pro-abortion standards of our health system. And this should not be shocking – anyone who decides to make a living killing innocent children is unlikely to be worried too much about the health of the mothers.

Pray for the conversion of all abortionists and abortion clinic workers. They are not beyond God’s grasp and He desperately wants them to come to a saving knowledge of His Son.

I was recently reading an orthodox Catholic publication, and a writer (a pro-lifer) was advocating the need for more “dialogue” in the national abortion debate. She argued that the two sides had become calcified in their positions, but if they would just dialogue, then perhaps progress would be made. Although this argument is a common one made in many political debates today – immigration, the role of government, etc. – it is not exactly defined what this “dialogue” should entail. But the assumption seems to be that if people were not so rigid in their position, then compromise can occur and the problem will be solved.

Is this really the case with abortion? Should we “dialogue” with those who are pro-abortion? It depends on what you mean by dialogue.

• If it means discussing the issue with those on the other side in a respectful manner, then absolutely. We believe every person is made in the image and likeness of God and therefore deserves respect. Although someone might be horribly wrong in their beliefs, we still must respect them as persons, even if we don’t respect their viewpoint.

• If it means that we engage in vigorous debates with pro-abortion forces, then absolutely. We should never be afraid to confront evil and we should be willing to stand for truth in every situation.

However,

• If it means that we compromise our beliefs in order to “end” the debate, then absolutely not. There are certain “non-negotiables” in the Catholic Faith, and the evil of every abortion is one of them.

For example, the common refrain we hear from pro-abortion advocates is that pro-lifers, if they are really against abortion, should support comprehensive sex education and contraceptive use. Not only is this contrary to the moral teachings of the Church, it has proven to be a disaster and to increase abortions. Such a “compromise” is essentially a capitulation.

The fact remains that our goal is to make all abortions prohibited by law and unaccepted by society. When the campaigns to stop cigarette smoking or drunk driving were in full swing, their advocates did not “dialogue” with those who opposed them. They relentlessly continued to march forward, knowing that success only comes to those who persevere.

As always, we should take Jesus as our model. He did not “dialogue” with those who adamantly opposed God’s will (see Matthew 23). But he did lovingly discuss the ways of God with those who were not living moral lives and were willing to see the light (see John 4). We should do likewise.

In all my years of pro-life work, one of the most common canards I have heard is “No matter where you stand on legalized abortion, we can all agree that we should increase access to contraception in order to lower the abortion rate.” Pro-abortion advocates trying to appear reconciliatory will promote this idea, and sadly, many pro-life advocates will agree with it. But it is simply nonsense, and common sense should tell anyone that. If you encourage people who don’t want to have kids to have sex, then what happens when their “protection” doesn’t work or is not immediately available? It doesn’t take an Einstein or Plato to know: abortion.

And now a study confirms this:

Study Authors Puzzled Why Abortions Rise with Contraceptive Use

The results of a new study just published in the journal Contraception on contraception use and abortion rates in Spain have researchers puzzled.

The study, conducted over ten years, was meant to “acquire information about the use of contraceptive methods in order to reduce the number of elective abortions.” From 1997-2007, researchers recorded the various contraceptive methods being used by a representative group of Spanish women, as well as their abortion rates.

What they discovered has them completely baffled—but is exactly what we at the Pro-Life Action League might have predicted: as contraception use increased, so did the abortion rate.

Researchers Puzzled by Results

In fact, while contraceptive use among these women went up significantly over that period—from 49.1% to 79.9%—the abortion rate rose even more dramatically—from 5.52 to 11.49 per 1000 women.

In other words, a 63% increase in contraception use was accompanied by a 108% increase in abortions.

The Spanish researchers are completely at a loss to explain these results, concluding that “The factors responsible for the increased rate of elective abortion need further investigation.”

Their puzzlement is understandable: they set out with the assumption that contraception can be used to reduce abortion, hoping to fine-tune that basic approach. Instead, they found abortions only increased with more contraception.

More Contraception Means More Abortion—But Why?

The Spanish research team may be at a loss to explain these results, but they make perfect sense to pro-life advocates who have been saying for years that contraception is not the answer to abortion. (In fact, the Pro-Life Action League explored this topic at a 2006 conference entitled “Contraception Is Not the Answer”.)

The impact that contraceptive use has on people’s sexual behavior is profound. Contraception does not merely mitigate the effects of people’s risky sexual behavior—it radically alters their sexual behavior.

Seemingly free of the most significant and concerning consequence of sex—pregnancy—people behave differently, just as one would expect. They’re more willing to take sexual risks—more sexual partners, more casual sex, more “cheating” etc.—and the end result is more unplanned pregnancy, not less; more abortion, not less.

Continue reading…

As Mark Shea would say, “sin makes you stupid” and only sin could make someone stupid enough to think that more contraception would lead to less abortions. But for over forty years our culture has wanted sex without consequences, and no amount of common sense will prevent us from continuing to push for it.

Here is the one method of contraception that is sure to NOT lead to more abortions:

A reminder: if you donate at least $30 before Saturday to Little Flowers Foundation via their online donation page, then you will receive a free signed copy of my book Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew. It is a great way to make a year-end tax-deductible gift, help Catholic families trying to adopt children, and receive a free book all in one fell swoop.

Please donate now!

LFF grant family at their child's baptism

Over eight years ago I helped to found the non-profit organization Little Flowers Foundation. Our mission has been to help Catholic families with the cost of adoption, especially adoptions of children with special-needs. Often a family will be financially able to raise a child, but not to actually adopt one. An adoption can cost over $20,000, and for most families, that is a one-time expense that simply cannot be afforded. So LFF offers grants to these families so that their adoptions can take place. Over the past 8+ years, we have helped over 40 families, disbursing almost $200,000 in that time-frame. We have almost never had to turn down a qualified family for a grant.

Until recently.

Like most non-profits, our donations over the past year or so have dropped significantly. However, our requests for grants have risen even more dramatically. Just this month, our grant committee considered 12 grant applications totaling $63,000 in requests. Unfortunately, we only had $13,000 to disburse. For the first time in our history, we had to turn down very qualified families for grants because we simply didn’t have the funds. As a member of the grant committee, I can tell you that this was a very disappointing situation.

With that in mind, I would like to announce a special fund-raising appeal: from now until the end of the year, if you donate at least $30 to Little Flowers Foundation through our online donation page*, we will send you a free copy of my book Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew. This is a perfect opportunity to make a year-end tax-deductible gift, help Catholic families bring an orphaned child into their home, and get a free book in the process!

Thank you for your generosity!

* Note: this offer only applies to online donations made between now and 1/1/11, and you must mark “My full contact information” under Privacy Preferences when donating or else we can’t send you your book!

As I mentioned on this blog a few times last week, the big news in this area is late-term abortionist Leroy Carhart setting up his barbaric practice in nearby Germantown, Maryland. I have now attended two prayer vigils at the clinic – Monday’s drew over 300 people and Saturday’s brought in over 600. I am convinced that prayer is necessary to stop such evil, and all of our activities are worthless without deep prayer support. But I also think something else is desperately needed, something that is often neglected when we think about what we can do to stop legalized abortion in this country. That would be reparation.

What is reparation? The Catholic Encyclopedia defines it as

a theological concept closely connected with those of atonement and satisfaction, and thus belonging to some of the deepest mysteries of the Christian Faith. It is the teaching of that Faith that man is a creature who has fallen from an original state of justice in which he was created, and that through the Incarnation, Passion, and Death of the Son of God, he has been redeemed and restored again in a certain degree to the original condition. Although God might have condoned men’s offences gratuitously if He had chosen to do so, yet in His Providence He did not do this; He judged it better to demand satisfaction for the injuries which man had done Him. It is better for man’s education that wrong doing on his part should entail the necessity of making satisfaction. This satisfaction was made adequately to God by the Sufferings, Passion, and Death of Jesus Christ, made Man for us. By voluntary submission to His Passion and Death on the Cross, Jesus Christ atoned for our disobedience and sin. He thus made reparation to the offended majesty of God for the outrages which the Creator so constantly suffers at the hands of His creatures. We are restored to grace through the merits of Christ’s Death, and that grace enables us to add our prayers, labours, and trials to those of Our Lord “and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ” (Colossians 1:24). We can thus make some sort of reparation to the justice of God for our own offences against Him, and by virtue of the Communion of the Saints, the oneness and solidarity of the mystical Body of Christ, we can also make satisfaction and reparation for the sins of others.

Please note that last sentence of the definition: “by virtue of the Communion of the Saints, the oneness and solidarity of the mystical Body of Christ, we can also make satisfaction and reparation for the sins of others.” We can and should make reparation for our own sins, but we also can make reparation for the sins of others. And what sin today is crying out the loudest to heaven for justice? The killing of innocent unborn life through abortion.

Let me use an example. Let’s say that my children were playing roughly in the house and damaged the piano. They might be truly sorry and I might forgive them. They might ask very nicely that I pay to have the piano repaired, but until money is raised to pay for the repairs, my children will not be able to play the piano. Their contrition and their requests for repair must be combined with reparation in order for the piano to be restored. Only when they pool their money together, sacrificing their own good for the piano’s restoration can the problem be overcome. It is true that I could just use my own money to repair the piano, but by making my children use their money, I showed them the consequences of their actions.

The same is true in the spiritual life. As the Catholic Encyclopedia states, “God might have condoned men’s offences gratuitously if He had chosen to do so, yet in His Providence He did not do this.” God asks for reparations from us for our sins and the sins of the world, but too often we think that by asking for God’s assistance, He will swoop in and solve our problems for us. Abortion is legal in this country because of the sins of this nation, and it is not until we make reparation for those sins that it will once again be illegal and abortion clinics will be shut down.

What are some ways we can offer reparation? It can be any and every sacrifice:

• Take the most uncomfortable chair when you enter a room.
• Deny yourself treats after dinner.
• Do the dishes for your wife without being asked.
• Fast at least once a week.
• Go to adoration an extra hour each week.
• Get up early to pray an extra 15 minutes each day.
• Give extra help to that annoying co-worker on a project.
• Pray the Rosary in front of an abortion clinic each week.
• Give more than 10% of your income to charity.

As you can see, there are countless ways to offer reparation, and every day offers opportunities for it. If we really are serious about ending the evil of legalized abortion in this country, we need to be really serious about offering reparations.

If you are interested in watching Monday’s “Kick out Carhart” rally, here is a full video of the event:

Note: my wife Suzan begins speaking at the 33:45 mark.