This week we received some ugly and hateful mail. It was mail marked “Return to Sender” – originally mailed at the end of the year to a donor who passed away in August.
The person now living at this address had added some comments on the envelope. The front read, “This guy died, because like all opponents of abortion rights, he was a feeble old man, unable to cope with the modern world. Please stop sending this.”
On the back of the envelope, the current resident added, in block text:
Please kill yourself!!
God isn’t real!!
Abortion is awesome!!
Kill ALL the babies :)
He concluded with the phrase “Hail Satan” in all capital letters and set off with pentagrams. You can see the images here.
Over the next few months, Ohioans will hear that no one really likes abortion, but it is needed to protect women and their reproductive health. This is a lie. At the root of the so-called Reproductive Rights Movement is a segment of the population that loves abortion. They see it as salvation and profess it as a sacrament.
This, of course, will not be the language they use in the upcoming abortion ballot initiative, but it the language they use when they think no one is looking. No Ohioan should forget the complicity of groups like the Abortion Fund of Ohio (formerly WHOO), whose staff members and volunteers were criminally charged for after disrupting the 2021 Respect Life Mass and Roe Remembrance. These are not conscientious health-minded persons who just want to see women free and healthy. They are extreme abortion allies who want to force their views on every Ohioan.
I’ve had a few people ask if I thought this person “really” meant what they said, suggesting that perhaps it was just mockery. I don’t know. I do know that demons are real. Spiritual warfare exists. The devil doesn’t care if someone is just joking.
As both the hateful and threatening rhetoric has escalated and violence against pro-life organizations, pregnancy centers, and churches has escalated we are taking every incident seriously, including this one. My goal is that every staff member, volunteer, and event attendee feels safe expressing their constitutionally protected rights to free speech, conscience, and religion with Greater Columbus Right to Life.
It has come at a price for our small organization. We’ve installed security systems, retained private security at events, and more. This is in addition to the things we’ve always done structurally.
In this instance, I addressed the situation by sprinkling the envelope liberally with Holy Water, reporting it to the police and the Postmaster.
More interesting is how God addressed the situation. Within minutes, I received a message from a friend, who is a Religious sister, an educator, and a friend. Out of the blue, she shared a picture colored by one of her students following the recent Respect Life Mass and March for Life. She gave me permission to share it here. It is the Spiritual Adoption Prayer penned by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. If you cannot read it, it says “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen.” The student added the phrases, “Keep a baby safe,” “Do not be afraid!” and “God has a plan.”
What a perfect response at the perfect time.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us, “Behold I send you out as sheep among the wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
I’ve been using that verse from Matthew a lot. To be a sheep among the wolves as we engage with the brokenness and chaos of our world implies that we need to be aware that there are danger and evil in this world. To be wise as serpents and innocent as doves is a reminder to be prudent in our response, but also virtuous. It is to live in a world where a stranger sends you a note urging you to kill yourself because you dare to say babies should not be killed. It is to live in a world that is fundamentally unjust and to want to act prudently and virtuously toward the restoration of justice.
As I continue to reflect on these words, I have realized that there is a temptation to become overly self-reliant. Especially when the stakes are high. They are always high in this line of work, but they are especially high right now. We face the prospect of an extensive and expensive fight to keep extreme abortion laws out of Ohio’s Constitution.
No one wants to be a sheep among the wolves. But, as is so often the case – we are not merely warned. We are assured. In the Gospel of John the sheep are protected by the Good Shepherd, Jesus. He will see and meet our needs even before we are aware of them.
This is not always immediately visible, assuring, or obvious, but it is always true: the perfect response at the perfect time.
Join us today in praying for the conversion of this poor, angry, and misguided person and all like him.
But pray also in thanksgiving for this child and the millions of other children who know in their hearts and remind us with their prayers that “God has a Plan.” That plan includes the millions of pro-life young people to whom the future belongs.
If you would like to support the pro-life work that we are doing, consider making a donation today.
The person now living at this address had added some comments on the envelope. The front read, “This guy died, because like all opponents of abortion rights, he was a feeble old man, unable to cope with the modern world. Please stop sending this.”
On the back of the envelope, the current resident added, in block text:
Please kill yourself!!
God isn’t real!!
Abortion is awesome!!
Kill ALL the babies :)
He concluded with the phrase “Hail Satan” in all capital letters and set off with pentagrams. You can see the images here.
Over the next few months, Ohioans will hear that no one really likes abortion, but it is needed to protect women and their reproductive health. This is a lie. At the root of the so-called Reproductive Rights Movement is a segment of the population that loves abortion. They see it as salvation and profess it as a sacrament.
This, of course, will not be the language they use in the upcoming abortion ballot initiative, but it the language they use when they think no one is looking. No Ohioan should forget the complicity of groups like the Abortion Fund of Ohio (formerly WHOO), whose staff members and volunteers were criminally charged for after disrupting the 2021 Respect Life Mass and Roe Remembrance. These are not conscientious health-minded persons who just want to see women free and healthy. They are extreme abortion allies who want to force their views on every Ohioan.
I’ve had a few people ask if I thought this person “really” meant what they said, suggesting that perhaps it was just mockery. I don’t know. I do know that demons are real. Spiritual warfare exists. The devil doesn’t care if someone is just joking.
As both the hateful and threatening rhetoric has escalated and violence against pro-life organizations, pregnancy centers, and churches has escalated we are taking every incident seriously, including this one. My goal is that every staff member, volunteer, and event attendee feels safe expressing their constitutionally protected rights to free speech, conscience, and religion with Greater Columbus Right to Life.
It has come at a price for our small organization. We’ve installed security systems, retained private security at events, and more. This is in addition to the things we’ve always done structurally.
In this instance, I addressed the situation by sprinkling the envelope liberally with Holy Water, reporting it to the police and the Postmaster.
More interesting is how God addressed the situation. Within minutes, I received a message from a friend, who is a Religious sister, an educator, and a friend. Out of the blue, she shared a picture colored by one of her students following the recent Respect Life Mass and March for Life. She gave me permission to share it here. It is the Spiritual Adoption Prayer penned by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. If you cannot read it, it says “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen.” The student added the phrases, “Keep a baby safe,” “Do not be afraid!” and “God has a plan.”
What a perfect response at the perfect time.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us, “Behold I send you out as sheep among the wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
I’ve been using that verse from Matthew a lot. To be a sheep among the wolves as we engage with the brokenness and chaos of our world implies that we need to be aware that there are danger and evil in this world. To be wise as serpents and innocent as doves is a reminder to be prudent in our response, but also virtuous. It is to live in a world where a stranger sends you a note urging you to kill yourself because you dare to say babies should not be killed. It is to live in a world that is fundamentally unjust and to want to act prudently and virtuously toward the restoration of justice.
As I continue to reflect on these words, I have realized that there is a temptation to become overly self-reliant. Especially when the stakes are high. They are always high in this line of work, but they are especially high right now. We face the prospect of an extensive and expensive fight to keep extreme abortion laws out of Ohio’s Constitution.
No one wants to be a sheep among the wolves. But, as is so often the case – we are not merely warned. We are assured. In the Gospel of John the sheep are protected by the Good Shepherd, Jesus. He will see and meet our needs even before we are aware of them.
This is not always immediately visible, assuring, or obvious, but it is always true: the perfect response at the perfect time.
Join us today in praying for the conversion of this poor, angry, and misguided person and all like him.
But pray also in thanksgiving for this child and the millions of other children who know in their hearts and remind us with their prayers that “God has a Plan.” That plan includes the millions of pro-life young people to whom the future belongs.
If you would like to support the pro-life work that we are doing, consider making a donation today.
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