“Get away from this dark place”[/caption]
One of the sidewalk counselors gave a flyer to the couple, who were in their late teens, while they were on their way into the abortion center. They stopped on the walkway leading to the front door to look over the flyer for several minutes. A second counselor had just arrived, and she asked the couple if they would like to come back and talk. The young man said “No Thanks”, and they went inside.
The couple came back out a short time later and walked up to the counselors on the sidewalk, asking to hear more. The counselors told them about the risks and side effects of an abortion, and asked about their circumstances. She was 22 weeks along, and it was primarily her decision, and he didn’t want to force her to do something she was not ready for. The reason for the abortion was their young age, living with parents, and not really ready for a baby. However, they loved each other planned to get married sometime in the future.
The counselors advised them that their situation was temporary, but the decision to have an abortion would be a permanent scar on their lives that they would always regret and could severely damage their relationship. They explained to the couple about all of the resources that were available to help them, and that in a few years their lives would be much different. The counselors told the man he needed to tell her that he loved her and was committed to their relationship, to be a good husband and father, and never abandon them.
The young man nodded, and this seemed to resonate a little with her, as she nudged closer to him. After some more discussion about the love created by a family, the counselors told them that CAPS (a pregnancy resource center) was just a few blocks up the street and was open. They should go there to talk about the resources that were available to help them, and to get counseling about how they can make their lives work together with a new baby.
After a while, one of the counselors said, “Now give her a hug, and go up the street to talk to these people. Get away from this dark place”. They nodded, smiled, and thanked the counselors. Then with a flyer showing the location of CAPS in hand, headed to their car and left.
Please pray for this couple and for their journey together as they bring a new baby into this world.
– Sent by Helpers of God’s Precious Infants on August 18
Yes Planned Parenthood is a very dark place. Thank God for these sidewalk counselors because they helped save a precious life. End Abortion Now! Adoption is the option.
Parents, churches and schools, and all society, need to be very mature, and strongly teach and uphold Christian Morality— respect for God, selfless virtue, and Self Control. Hedonism, selfishness, laziness, rebellion, irresponsibility– and deadly Mortal Sin– destroy countless lives. And Satan is always lurking, cunning and enticing poor, dumb, weak, sinful mankind. To lead an irresponsible, sinful life–and kill an innocent child of God — is a horror!
The couple’s situation is not “temporary”, as the counselor claimed: it’s a permanent change. They are/will be parents for the rest of their lives. Their lives are forever changed.
The counselor gave ignorant advice to the man when he “told the man he needed to tell her that he loved her and was committed to their relationship, to be a good husband and father, and never abandon them.” What if he doesn’t love her and isn’t committed to the relationship? It’s likely he just used her for sex. The counselor could be setting the stage for future domestic abuse by coercing the man into a relationship he doesn’t want or isn’t ready for.
These sidewalk counselors are not properly trained nor vetted. They could be doing grave harm to people.
I’m not in favor of abortion, but the end does not justify the means. Don’t give certain types of advice to people when you know nothing about them. You could be ruining their lives in other ways. I believe the advice given, as reported in this story, was irresponsible, naive, rash, uninfomed, superficial, and misguided.
I know a couple that got married because the woman became pregnant. The marriage didn’t last a year. The man resented the child and how much time and money his wife was spending on the child. He become verbally abusive and threatening toward both. She moved out and has retained legal counsel.
Getting married because of a pregnancy is one of the least wise things people can do. The counselor definitely should not have advised the couple to get married.
Reply to be smart: You are so wrong. That’s not a smart comment at all. The murder of the unborn is never a solution. Those sidewalk councillors are true American heroes. End Abortion Now. Adoption is the option.
“Be Smart” makes a valid point. What training or licensing do the “counselors” have to be called “counselors”? Some of the things said could indeed be counterproductive, bad advice. You don’t know anything about the people going into the clinic other than the woman is pregnant and probably doesn’t want the child. You don’t know why, you don’t know the relationship history, you don’t know the character of the man or the woman, you don’t know the circumstances of their lives or finances, you don’t know what the man and woman think or feel about each other.
Saying anything to chalk up an apparent “save” isn’t responsible.
Reply to Be Careful What You Say and Assume: Saving even one unborn child from abortion is the most responsible and moral decision you could make. Put your faith and trust in God no matter what. End Abortion Now! Adoption is the option.
Any young man who says that he really loves a girl– should act like a gentleman, respect her, hold her in the highest esteem, and refrain from too much closeness. Both should go home — to separate homes– happy, with a clean conscience. You date to find a marriage partner. If a couple decides they don’t want to marry, they should break up, and start dating new people. Your lifelong, marital, conjugal life begins on your Wedding Night.
They say they love them to get in their pants. It’s a bad idea for girls to trust horny guys. That’s why girls need fathers.
That the young man said, “No, thanks,” to the counselor instead of cussing him out in the first place is a good sign, and yes, they might get married and resent the child. On the other hand, many a woman has been a virgin on her wedding night, and still the guy cheated on her, and later she became what she hated, the other woman going from man to man. There are no assurances. We all have to make the right choices minutes by minute, day by day until we have finished the race. At least now the angels rejoice over two sinners who repented from the thought of killing their child.
May Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. His organization produced much fine literature that was used in the pro-life movement, including in the Birthright Crisis Pregnancy Centers. His literature encouraged chastity and good Christian morals.
May Dr James Dobson’s soul rest in peace! I greatly appreciated his focus on traditional marriage and family, and Christian values. However, I do not believe corporal punishment is necessary.
Dr. James Dobson was a national leader for good, traditional Christian family values. As a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at USC Medical School in the 1960s, he was deeply concerned about the 1960s evils, and disintegration of Marriage and Family life. When the American Psychological Association was pressured to remove the listing of LGBT disorders from the medical books in 1973, Dobson resigned from the APA– and left his job at USC.
Corporal punishment depends on the age of the child, and the seriousness of what the child does. It should never cause great harm to the child physically. I once smacked one of my grandsons on the bottom with my hand when he was about three or four and ran toward the street before I could catch him. After that when I told him to stop and not rum on, he stopped. It was legal at that time to hit a child that age with the hand and nothing else. As I see it, better smacked on the bottom with a hand then dead from getting hit by a car in the street.
I think you did the right thing in that situation– and prevented a terrible tragedy. I would do the same thing. But that kind of situation is unusual.
About four decades ago, I was a Birthright volunteer. The Pro Life movement never allowed volunteers to discuss God, Christian Morality, or help wayward girls to change their lives– we were told to only try to save the baby. Doing pregnancy tests (no ultrasounds) and trying to help the pregnant girls in every possible way, and save the baby, was challenging. What a terrible, Satanic culture! Where are the churches, to teach people how God wants us to live– and stop wayward living, and abortion?
The Catholic school shooting today, during Mass, in Minneapolis, was a terrible shock. I have thought, since the 1960s, that our society must not allow for permissive, so-called “freedoms” for social rebellion and sin. No– any society can fall, never to rise again– by so doing. Our society’s future rests on mandatory formation of its citizens, and laws requiring good manners, respect, responsibility, and morality and decency. Our Church must be strong in Christian teaching, discipline, and leadership.
I am again questioning Pope Francis, regarding capital punishment. Is it really “inadmissible in all cases” — according to his 2018 Catechism revision?? Because human nature is weak and prone to sin– no society is “advanced” morally. Our Satan-drenched society, since the 1960s, is extremely “advanced” in selfishness, sin and crime. One must humbly relinquish privileges and human dignity, upon committing extremely heinous sins and crimes– and take their punishment. In some cases, capital punishment may be necessary. Society must be protected.
Pope Francis’s change to the catechesim was ill-considered. Whatever “inadmissible” means (it’s not a theological or doctrinal term), the judgment of “inadmissibility” rests entirely on a matter of contingency: namely, advanced, stable Western democratic, capitalist society. Once that social contingency no longer holds — and the West is in decline — any judgment of the death penalty’s “inadmissibility” based on the contingency also no longer holds. Francis did not articulate nor teach a universal doctrinal truth about capital punishment being “inadmissible” or immoral; he made his own prudential judgment appear to be universal by rhetorical sleight of hand. Rest assured, capital punishment is, by divine revelation, a morally justifiable option for governments to exercise in certain cases. The death penalty is not intrinsically evil; since it is not intrinsically — always and everywhere — evil, there may be occasions for its moral use.
Excellent post! Thanks! I will keep this post for future reference. It is a scary thing, if you or a family member are ever called for Jury Duty– or are a Catholic lawyer, judge, or hold a civic or political post… if there is ever a horrific murder trial– or a 9/11-type of terrorist trial– in your community– and you or a family member agree to the Death Penalty– will you risk being kicked out of your parish church?… or risk excommunication?
“Questioning” and “listen” are both incorrect.
“listen’s” opinion that the inadmissibility of the death penalty no longer holds because the “West is in decline” is preposterous. Preposterous because this is not the teaching nor the mind of the Church.
The death penalty is inadmissible because there are now other bloodless means to protect society without having to take the life of the criminal (as Pope John Paul II had taught), not because “the West is in decline.” Ridiculous.
“Questioning’s” opinion that the criminal must “relinquish” his/her human dignity (and I suppose “Questioning” also means that the same criminal must relinquish his/her life as well) is totally wrong because that is NOT the teaching of the Church. The criminal does not lose his human dignity even if he/she had committed a heinous crime.
People, our human dignity is not contingent on our actions, not in our merits, not in our accomplishments, not in our sins and failings. God Almighty at your conception gave you a human soul thereby endowing you with dignity. And guess what, nothing that you can do or what other people can do to you will remove your humanity, your dignity, and God’s love. Let no one deceive you to believe otherwise.
Jon sounds just like liberal Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom. But we all know that if a future pope changes the Catechism back to the pre-Francis era, jon will simply parrot what the new pope says. Why was this post printed, anyway?? It is 210 words long!! Way over the Cal Catholic acceptable word count of 100 words totall!
People, read what the saintly Pope John Paul II wrote in “Evangelium vitae”:
“And yet God, who is always merciful even when he punishes, ‘put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him’ (Gen 4:15). He thus gave him a distinctive sign, not to condemn him to the hatred of others, but to protect and defend him from those wishing to kill him, even out of a desire to avenge Abel’s death. Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity, and God himself pledges to guarantee this.” (9)
And Pope Francis repeated John Paul II’s teaching in “Fratelli tutti” where he wrote:
“The firm rejection of the death penalty shows to what extent it is possible to recognize the inalienable dignity of every human being and to accept that he or she has a place in this universe. If I do not deny that dignity to the worst of criminals, I will not deny it to anyone.” (269)
Listen to the living Magisterium. Respect life!
Well, so what, jon? You do not seem to be a true Christian with brotherly love, who cherishes the human dignity, human rights and privileges, and right to life, happiness and well-being of others. You show no love nor respect at all for God, nor for your brothers. All you do, is constantly set yourself pompously above others– and scream your reactionary religious beliefs at them, like a madman. Normal, good Catholic men with wives and families of children to love and protect– and their children’s Catholic schools, churches and communities– are NOT concerned with he “human dignities, rights and privileges” of deranged murderers and terrorists.