{"id":40622,"date":"2013-07-15T07:34:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T12:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=40622"},"modified":"2013-07-15T00:15:07","modified_gmt":"2013-07-15T05:15:07","slug":"things-i-learned-from-this-past-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/things-i-learned-from-this-past-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Things I Learned From This Past Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"thingsi'velearnedACNMheader\"<\/a><\/p>\n

First, this week has been physically, emotionally and spiritual exhausting<\/strong>, and not just in the context of pro-life legislation. I am thankful that our courage, strength and perseverance all comes from the Lord.<\/p>\n

Secondly, we cannot underestimate the power of our presence online, in person and in witness to Faith and Truth. <\/strong><\/p>\n

During the pro-life rally on Monday, I turned to my friend and mentioned that I was glad there was a small group of orange clad pro-abortion supporters gathered near the south steps of the Capitol.\u00a0 What mattered was that they were there and listening. We can only hope that some of the words and prayers spoken at the Capitol reached them and will help soften their hearts to the persecution of the unborn.<\/p>\n

We have also seen how social media can unite us. The hashtage, #Stand4Life, served as a way to unite ourselves among Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. Not all of our Facebook friends or Twitter followers have the same views as us. Wouldn’t it be amazing if one comment, post, tweet or share, caused someone just to consider what it means to be pro-life?<\/p>\n

I think a very important example of this has to be Senator Eddie Lucio.\u00a0<\/a> As a Democrat from Brownsville, Lucio voted opposite of his fellow Democrat in support of HB2. We need more politicians and elected officials who are willing to stand against for what they believe in even if it outside party lines.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, this will continue to be a divisive issue. <\/strong>This is a debate full of anger, hurting and passion. As much as there is a sharp contrast in the beliefs between the pro-abortion and pro-life supports, there are divisive issues between those who are pro-life.<\/p>\n

There are debates about the use of graphic abortion photos while praying outside of abortion mills and at rallies. There are those who believe any legislation short of making abortion illegal is not good enough while some believe that any incremental steps we can take to make abortion less frequent is perfectly acceptable. There are some who believe that pregnancy resource centers should proclaim the Gospel, while others don’t view that as a priority.<\/p>\n

These are not new arguments among the pro-life movement. Whatever you believe we must not lose sight of the final goal, to protect the unborn and to ensure that no women ever feels like she has to get an abortion. It is only by working together we will overcome this culture of death we live in.<\/p>\n

Fourth, we have to continue to be involved in this fight.\u00a0 <\/strong>There are people, organizations and crisis pregnancy centers that work tirelessly to continue to fight for the rights of the unborn and to provide services for women who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Host a baby shower and collect items for local pregnancy centers such as Agape Pregnancy Center<\/a> in Round Rock, Austin Pregnancy Resource Center <\/a>and the John Paul II Life Center<\/a> in Austin or consider volunteering in whatever capacity they need.<\/p>\n

Pro-Life legislation happens far before the bill is written and sent to the floor to be debated and voted on. It begins with who we have elected to represent us. Texas Alliance for life has a list of representatives and senators who voted in support of the omnibus pro-life bill<\/a>. Email, call, visit, tweet or write them letters thanking them for standing for LIFE.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, this week has been physically, emotionally and spiritual exhausting, and not just in the context of pro-life legislation. I am thankful that our courage, strength and perseverance all comes from the Lord. Secondly, we cannot underestimate the power of our presence online, in person and in witness to Faith and Truth. During the pro-life… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,90,92],"tags":[1796,1831,67,1832,1833],"class_list":["post-40622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","category-faith-blog","category-news","tag-stand4life","tag-hb2","tag-pro-life","tag-texas-abortion-ban","tag-texas-pro-life","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40352,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/06\/sb5-a-moment-in-texas-legislative-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":40622,"position":0},"title":"SB5: A Moment in Texas Legislative History","author":"Rita Suva","date":"June 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The night of Tuesday, June 25 was one crazy and unsettling night for many Texans. A sea of pro-choice persons clad in orange shirts with speckles of pro-life blue shirts thrown in here and there had been present in the Texas Capitol building in downtown Austin for nearly 13 hours.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SB5 Rotunda Photo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/SB5-Rotunda-Photo-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33704,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/01\/texas-catholic-pro-life-day-saturday-january-26th\/","url_meta":{"origin":40622,"position":1},"title":"Texas Catholic Pro-Life Day – Saturday January 26th","author":"Jason Elizondo","date":"January 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"With the 40th anniversary of Roe vs Wade this week and all the things happening this weekend to celebrate life. I thought I would use my time this week to highlight a few of them. Saturday\u00a0January\u00a026th is Texas Catholic Pro-life Day. A day full of events to celebrate life capped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"TXLIFE","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/TXLIFE-300x217.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39084,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/04\/2013-catholic-advocacy-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":40622,"position":2},"title":"2013 Catholic Advocacy Day","author":"Rita Suva","date":"April 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Catholic Faith in Action On Tuesday, April 9, Catholic faithful from across the great state of Texas gather together at the Texas State Capitol to celebrate Catholic Faith in Action Advocacy Day. 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Although it was earlier announced that certain religious organizations would be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"United Sates Capitol building","src":"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/2\/2f\/United_States_Capitol_-_west_front_tilt_correct.jpg\/320px-United_States_Capitol_-_west_front_tilt_correct.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33951,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/01\/my-saturday-and-sunday-in-pictures\/","url_meta":{"origin":40622,"position":4},"title":"My Saturday and Sunday (In Pictures)","author":"Elizabeth","date":"January 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"When I finally got some time to relax on Sunday evening, I realized that the\u00a0weekend went by in a flash. Friday, I spent some time helping at a dinner for seminarians who were in town for the Texas Rally For Life. 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