"I Have a Prayer"

A friend sent me this contribution, written by her daughter in 2010.

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech “I Have A Dream” was adapted to a modern situation of discrimination and oppression, known as abortion.

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I Have A Prayer

Written by Andrea Gleason

An extraneous number of years ago, a great God, in whose image we are created in today, transformed, from the dust of the earth, a man and in turn a woman, whose disobedience cast a permanent shadow upon the soul. Through the death and resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, man was endowed with an opportunity for grace that beams like a piercing light to the human race shackled by sin. It came to be, a prophecy fulfilled.

But even today, man cannot untangle himself free from sin. Even today, man is still shackled by his own devices and blinded by his own ambitions. Even today, man lives in a populated world of death, in the midst of murderers in denial who are veiled under the pretense of an educated title. Even today, man turns on his own, and has chosen to persecute the most defenseless and innocent of his brethren. And so we are obligated today, to protect the children from the very persons who have the responsibility of bringing them into this world.

These children were created to come into the world to live their lives according to God’s plan.  When God indelibly wrote on each man’s heart, giving him a sacred soul, He claimed each one for Himself. This soul in each human being is the proof that all men, yes, all men from conception forward, would be guaranteed the equal dignity deserved and the rights that follow according to both natural and common law. It is obvious today that the world has chosen to ignore this condition, insofar as her citizens of the womb are concerned. Instead of acknowledging this fact, the world and witnesses to this tragedy have turned a blind eye to the silent cries of a methodic massacre occurring behind the closed doors of sterile rooms.

But we refuse to believe that such cruelty will continue. We refuse to believe that hearts cannot be softened and that men have forever lost their conscience to underhanded persuasions from the devil. And so, with God as our witness, we demand for these children exactly what each one of us has received, a fullness and richness of life with undeniable rights.

We must speak out at all times to remind the world of the escalating tragedy at hand. This is no time to speak softly or to hide behind indifferentism. Now is the time to bring the truth into the current reality. Now is the time to unveil innocent bloodshed and invoke the name of God in our earthly battle. Now is the time to speak for those who were never given the chance. Now is the time for the realization of the dignity entitled to all men, at all stages of God-given life.

It would be fatal for the people of the world to undermine the importance of this issue. The darkness enveloping the minds of the oppressors will not pass until there is a ray of light struck into the very depths of their souls. Two thousand and ten is not an end, but a beginning. And those who expect a silent retreat from the Lord Almighty and His faithful will have a rude awakening if the world returns to business as usual. Until the unborn are recognized to have equal rights, no peace shall exist in this world. Rest assured, justice will be carried out, be it in this world or the next.

But there is something to mention to those fighting in this battle for souls, as we all stand by with a sense of helplessness while our fellow neighbors are sacrificed to the will of others: In this battle to protect our young souls, we ourselves must rise above the violence of our fellowmen. We cannot appease our Lord by breaking one of His commandments as a means to fix a commandment already broken. Our protest must be vocal, but with conditions of charity and peace. Our weapon of choice must include the powerful Rosary of Our Lady. May she hear our genuine plea and intercede on our behalf, that God may mercifully look down upon this pitiful race and change the hearts of men as only He can.

We cannot fight alone.

As we struggle, we must always keep our eyes toward the Heavens for guidance.

We cannot retreat.

There are those who have attempted to appease us with superficial laws plagued with loopholes. We will not be satisfied as long as unborn children are handed over by their own mothers to be subjected to such torturous brutality at the hands of “medical professionals”.  

We will not be satisfied as long as a child is stripped of the chance of a full and natural life. We will not be satisfied as long as the life-giving duties of God are undermined. No, no we are not satisfied, and continue to “hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill” (Matthew 5:6).

Let us rise de profundis, out of the depths of despair.

And even though many spiritual battles lie before us, I still have a prayer. It is a prayer deeply rooted in gifts of hope and faith from an Almighty God.

I have a prayer that one day the world will rise up and live out the true meaning of its being: “And you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind and with your whole strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like to it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31).

I have a prayer that on the day of announcement of the life created, all mothers will rejoice in the gift received.

I have a prayer that one day, doctors will again be the keepers of the gift of life, assisting mothers in nurturing the life within them.

I have a prayer that one day the world, even as it wreaks of the stain of man’s sin, will show the mercy that we have been shown by God.

I have a prayer that all children will one day live in a world where they will not be judged according to a perceived burden, but by the inherent life and soul they possess, being made in the image and likeness of God.

I have a prayer of petition today!

I have a prayer that one day, in this world, with its “pro-choice” supporters, with its leaders unleashing the chains under pretenses of “women’s rights” -- one day in every corner of our world, a child, no matter the manner conceived, will be accepted and loved and allowed to grow, to thrive, to learn, and to one day decide to place his or her own life in the hands of God the Creator Himself.

I have a prayer of intercession today!

I have a prayer that one day the chilled, iron hearts of men will melt, our leaders will remove the self-interested magnets from their moral compasses, doctors will return the power of taking lives to God alone, and God will enlighten many to recognize the logical beginning of a human life at conception; for as said by the prophet Ezekiel, “I will give them another heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord.”

This is our hope, and this is the gift of faith that we carry with us, rosary in hand, on our way to the prayerful protests on the corners of abortion clinics.

With this faith the size of a mustard seed, we will move this mountain standing between justice and us. With this faith, our world can be cured of this sickness of soul that has spread throughout. With this faith, let us all strike our breasts and exclaim with fervor, “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof; say but the word and my soul shall be healed.” With this faith, we work out our salvation on this earth doing and spreading God’s will, that one day we, although unworthy ourselves, may hear the words, “Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

On our way to eternity, we fight for His will on earth, that, some day, all God’s children will pray with new meaning:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. 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. Amen.

And if God’s children are to rejoin Him for all eternity, this must be believed with conviction.

And so Thy will be done in those countries who permit these murders under the excuse of  legality, and we ask to be delivered from this evil.

Thy will be done in occasions of children conceived with medical problems.

Thy will be done in occasions of children conceived by teenage parents.

Thy will be done in occasions of children conceived under financial difficulty.

Thy will be done in occasions of children conceived through the heinous crime of rape.

Thy will be done in occasions of children conceived who are unwanted by their own parents.

And when God’s will is implemented upon this earth, as it is in Heaven, when He is allowed to reign His creation, we will be privileged to hear a different cry from the once endangered unborn once they are finally permitted to take their first breath:

Born at last! Born at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are born at last!