In a video titled Pro-Life is Pro-Love, Father Daniel Mode shows step-by-step how to turn a school, a youth group, a parish or a family into a vibrant pro-life community. Father Mode is the chaplain at Bishop Denis O'Connell High School in Arlington, Va. The curriculum of his four-year program runs the gamut from pro-life spirituality to pro-life activism. Each year a different pro-life aspect is emphasized — fetal development, prayer, service, euthanasia, the death penalty. This constant exposure makes the pro-life message a normal part of life, not something exclusively political. “Youth desperately need a foundation upon which to build this culture of life,” says Father Mode. “They can't do it unless they know — unless they can do and see — what the pro-life movement is all about.” To order, call EWTN at (800) 854-6316.
Dr. Dolores Grier, former vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of New York and president of the Association of Black Catholics, is a veteran pro-life activist. In Catho lic Compass: Family Issues, she invites us to join her every Friday in prayer and fasting for the unborn, their mothers and our legislators. “Fast from food and water from 8 a.m. until noon and begin with the Our Father and end with the Our Father,” she says. Her strong, steadying voice reminds us that to be pro-life is not only our responsibility but also our privilege: “God is life and he looks to use us to defend life.” To order, call EWTN at (800) 854-6316.
According to the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, “Shocking pictures have traditionally been used to dramatize injustices sought to be reformed. Until abortion is seen, it will never be understood.” The center's seven-minute video Harder Truth is a shocking depiction of life within the womb, an abortion and the bodies of aborted fetuses. A warning precedes the graphic footage and the video comes with a guide. Viewers are told they can avert their gaze if need be. There is no narration, only a gentle musical score that rises to a throbbing crescendo in the middle of the video. I found the driving beat too intense. Watching this video may be the longest seven minutes of your life, but these are the hard facts we don't see on the evening news. To order, call the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform at (562) 777-9117 or visit abortionNO.org.
St. Augustine said that, to have “the mind of Christ,” we should think with the Church. The best way to form one's conscience vis-è-vis the life issues is to study the pro-life writings of Pope John Paul II. In the audiotape set Evangelium Vitae, Father Regis Scanlon guides the listener through the Holy Father's landmark encyclical of the same name. Father Scanlon is a masterful teacher and his presentation makes the papal document very accessible. The set is available from St. Joseph Communications at (800) 526-2151 or www.saintjoe.com.
For excellent individual audio-tapes of inspiring pro-life testimonies — Sister Helen Prejean on the death penalty, former New Ager Nancy Grubbs on her “pro-life conversion,” Yvonne Huitron on forgiving her brother's killer, Donna Lee on healing from abortion — contact the New Catholic Evangelist at www.newce. com/ nce or by calling (800) 257-9425.
