This Lent, Make Peace With Your Past

Details: 25 March 2011

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro Life Secretariat recently developed new materials to communicate the Church’s message of hope and healing to post-abortive women and men. The materials promote Project Rachel, an outreach of the Church that provides post-abortion counseling and reconciliation by specially trained clergy and professional counselors.

"Don’t be afraid. Draw close to my heart. There you will find the peace and happiness you seek. Jesus speaks these words to every human being in every generation. He knows well that each of us is broken by sin and burdened by selfishness and past hurts. As St. Paul has written, ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ Yet we are saved ‘by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.’"

These are the opening words of the Project Rachel brochure produced by the Pro Life Secretariat. The brochure and other promotional materials are intended to communicate God’s limitless love and mercy to all who are affected by abortion.

The materials feature images representing the age, gender and ethnic diversity of those suffering from a past abortion. The messages include various sentiments from those who struggle with a past abortion and God’s response to those sentiments. For example:

"God will never forgive me for this" – "God’s greatest desire is to forgive"; "I don’t deserve to be happy" – "God wants to restore your happiness"; "I can’t believe I let this happen" – "Never let your past keep you from God"; "I failed as a father" – "Do not despair. All is not lost"; "My heart is broken" – "God will take away your pain"; "I feel so worthless" – "You are precious to God."

In all of the materials it communicates that same message of hope to those wounded by a past abortion: "Come back to God, Who is love and mercy" and "Project Rachel: Peace starts here."

For Lent this year, the Pro Life Secretariat produced a version of their promotional ad that says: "This Lent, make peace with your past" (see below). They also produced bulletin announcements, prayers of the faithful and homily notes for the third Sunday in Lent. These resources can be downloaded for use at www.usccb.org/prolife.

The following excerpt from the aforementioned homily notes should provide all of us with a powerful point of reflection during this Lenten season.

"The story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well is a lesson in Divine Mercy. Jesus did not come for the righteous. He came to call sinners to repentance, and repentance allows us to receive an outpouring of grace, the living water of which he speaks. In this passage, we discover the lengths to which Jesus will go to seek out those who are suffering for their mistakes, so that he can restore their dignity as children of God, their peace of heart, and their hope of salvation."

If you or anyone you know is suffering from a past abortion, invite them to contact Project Rachel at 1-888-456-HOPE (4673) or online at www.hopeafterabortion.org.

You can contact Greg at The Nebraska Catholic Conference, 215 Centennial Mall South Suite 310, Lincoln, NE 68508; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.