Interesting week

Greetings from Liberty!!!

Well, as most of you already know it has been a very eventful week (with trying to help a girl decide life, and then the March for Life). So we will just jump right into this update.

There is no update on Trish since the last one given. Please continue to keep her in your prayers! We pray that she may choose life! Because of you and your connections, there are a ton of resources available for her. And now there are three families that are willing to take her baby in (if she so chooses). PLEASE KEEP PRAYING!!! As soon as I get more info, I will send it to you all!

We had a big turnout this week for our dinner (15) students! We actually had two students that are/interested in the Church come this week, along with a few other new faces! We certainly are growing and the Spirit is moving!

Before our dinner on Wed. a group of us went to Holy Cross to adoration. It has been awhile since I have been to adoration, so I really enjoyed it!

On Thursday, we had a few students go to the March for Life! It was great to see so many young people there and on the side of LIFE!!! It is a shame that the media did such a horrible job at delivering this news.

On Friday another group of students and I went to Theology on Tap in Danville. It was really interesting and we got a lot out of Joe's talk (thank you Joe). We learned about the Lay person's vocation and their job in the church (it is probably the most important).

Other than that, I just did some homework and tried to catch up on some sleep.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Trish and her unborn child.

Catholics at Liberty group.

Students struggling with faith.

My school work and studies (I just got a new academic advisor. Hopefully he doesn't tell me I have to do something else to do in order to graduate).

And finally, as always, there are pictures updated. Most are from the March for Life (where I ran into the Louisville crowd)! And the last one is of the Lynchburg College Catholic Campus Ministry tonight after their mass.

In Christ,
Chris Osgood

Update on prayer request!!!

Thank you all for the prayers!

Please keep praying for this girl who is wanting the abortion.

There really isn't much update from Cody, but we are still praying! I do want to thank you all for your prayers and support!

We have found out that she is still with her boyfriend and that her parent's don't know yet.

There are a number of you that through your connections have helped out tremendously! There are 2 families that are looking to adopt and are interested in this child!!!

We also have a number of people who have offered for her to stay with them and help her until the child is born!

A few counselors from Crisis Pregnancy Centers from all over the country are ready to talk with Cody and her about this.

And a number of people that have gone through abortion are ready to share their story with her.

Please keep praying! God is working here!!!

In Christ,
Chris Osgood

URGENT PRAYER (17 year old wants an abortion)

My friend Cody from back home just sent me a message saying that his friend is wanting to have an abortion. He is trying to help her through it, but the only alternative he knows to offer her is adoption.

Trish is two weeks away from turning 18 and she is two months pregnant. If you could send me any resources to send Cody, so that he can share them with her and help her through this. It would be greatly appreciated!!!

Please pray for Trish!!!

In Christ,
Chris Osgood

"I didn't have a voice" I had to kiss my child goodbye

I found this post on facebook from one of my friends. What a sad story. This my friends is why we are Marching for LIFE this Thursday!
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In October of 2006 I found out I was going to be a Father. My girlfriend of 6 months was pregnant with our child. Neither of us planned this pregnancy, or had even talked about the possibility of getting pregnant. That was about to become my biggest regret. Like I said I wasn’t ready to have a child. She said she couldn't go forth in having a child and needed to abort. She went to the nursing staff at Boston College a week or two after she found out she was pregnant.
The nurse at BC told her that she would be better off having an abortion, and told her where she could get one. Boston College won’t even give out condoms, but told her it would be ok to get an abortion, and where to get one. I didn’t make a big deal of it at the time because I wanted her to stay calm and positive.

I brought her to a crisis pregnancy center in Boston when she was 5 weeks pregnant, so that she could explore her options other than having an abortion. The women at the center set up a date for her to get an ultrasound so she could see her child. We went to get her first ultrasound when she was 5 weeks pregnant. We weren’t able to see much at this point, but we did see the heartbeat of our child. The sono tech. said it was too early in the pregnancy to see our baby, and to come back in 2 1/2- 3 weeks. We came back 3 weeks later for another ultrasound, and that’s when we saw our baby. Our child was at 8 weeks gestation and had fingers, toes, eyes, everything. I saw and heard my child's heart beat and I cried. It was a very overwhelming and beautiful experience for me, until she looked over at me and said: “What are you crying about? Worms have heartbeats too”. Her sister had offered to pay $500 for her to get an abortion. She insisted she was going to get the abortion, was planning to get one that weekend, and broke up with me right before.

I called the abortion clinic and asked what my rights were; they said “You don't have any”. I then asked them, "What do you do with the aborted babies? I want to bury my child". They told me that it wasn't a child, it was a fetus, and to never call again or they would involve the police. My hands were tied. I, as a father had no legal right to protect my child from a death committed by a "doctor". I called everyone imaginable to see what my rights were and I got the same answer: “nothing”.

The week before my child was aborted; I went to try one more time to ask the mother of my child to not do this. But she was adamant about having an abortion, and told me to leave. So I then asked her if I could do one thing before I left, she told me that was fine. I then got on my knees and kissed the stomach of the mother of my child and said “I love you, and Daddy will see you in heaven”. I then took the ultrasound pictures and left.

The day my child was aborted was a very painful day for me. I was informed that my child had been aborted in the afternoon on December 2nd, 2006. It was the most painful experience I have ever been through. My relationship ended with the woman that I thought I was going to marry, and I lost my first child. I didn’t want to go on; I was in too much pain. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I had nightmares of my child being aborted. The day after my child was aborted, I went to see my pastor and he suggested that I have a memorial for my unborn child. I took his advice, and had one the following Sunday at his church. I had my parents and a few friends come. It was a short ceremony, but very painful. I never thought that my child would meet God before I did.

After that day things were still very painful. I still couldn’t sleep or eat, and thoughts of suicide filled my head every waking hour. I joined Bible studies, and post abortion Bible studies as much as possible. Those were the only people that would understand. There were times that I wouldn’t even receive support at church. A man is really not allowed to grieve the loss of his unborn baby. I was told things like: “Your child wasn’t even born, so get over it”, “It wasn’t a baby yet”, or even people saying “Your child deserved to die”. None of those things helped me heal and just put me in more of a state of depression.

That winter I was invited to a Right to Life march in Concord, NH. I thought it might be healing, so I went. While I was there, I met a man that ran crisis pregnancy centers in NYC. After speaking to him for awhile, he invited me down to NYC for the summer. I decided to go down and give it a shot.

On July 12th 2007 the day my child was supposed to be born, I went to NYC to serve God and help men and women in situations like I was in. While I was there, I counseled around 500 men and women, and through God, saved at least 100 lives from abortion. I continue to do this work in Manchester, NH in a center that I opened this past summer. Even though I never got to meet my child, I miss my baby ever single day. I know my child is now in the arms of Jesus and I will meet him and hold him in heaven.

Theo Purington
http://www.unitedchoiceforlife.org/
theo@unitedchoiceforlife.org

From the USCCB

STATEMENT of the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops"If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor; if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil." (Psalm 127, vs. 1)

The Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States welcome this moment of historic transition and look forward to working with President-elect Obama and the members of the new Congress for the common good of all. Because of the Church's history and the scope of her ministries in this country, we want to continue our work for economic justice and opportunity for all; our efforts to reform laws around immigration and the situation of the undocumented; our provision of better education and adequate health care for all, especially for women and children; our desire to safeguard religious freedom and foster peace at home and abroad. The Church is intent on doing good and will continue to cooperate gladly with the government and all others working for these goods.

The fundamental good is life itself, a gift from God and our parents. A good state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This was bad law. The danger the Bishops see at this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Supreme Court decision itself.

In the last Congress, a Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) was introduced that would, if brought forward in the same form today, outlaw any "interference" in providing abortion at will. It would deprive the American people in all fifty states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. It would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government and others of good will to reduce the number of abortions in our country.

Parental notification and informed consent precautions would be outlawed, as would be laws banning procedures such as partial-birth abortion and protecting infants born alive after a failed abortion. Abortion clinics would be deregulated. The Hyde Amendment restricting the federal funding of abortions would be abrogated. FOCA would have lethal consequences for prenatal human life.

FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience of doctors, nurses and health care workers whose personal convictions do not permit them to cooperate in the private killing of unborn children. It would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities. It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church should be intent on opposing evil.

On this issue, the legal protection of the unborn, the bishops are of one mind with Catholics and others of good will. They are also pastors who have listened to women whose lives have been diminished because they believed they had no choice but to abort a baby. Abortion is a medical procedure that kills, and the psychological and spiritual consequences are written in the sorrow and depression of many women and men. The bishops are single-minded because they are, first of all, single-hearted.

The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world. If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. Abortion kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is legally protected. Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.

This statement is written at the request and direction of all the Bishops, who also want to thank all those in politics who work with good will to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us. Those in public life do so, sometimes, at the cost of great sacrifice to themselves and their families; and we are grateful. We express again our great desire to work with all those who cherish the common good of our nation. The common good is not the sum total of individual desires and interests; it is achieved in the working out of a common life based upon good reason and good will for all.

Our prayers accompany President-elect Obama and his family and those who are cooperating with him to assure a smooth transition in government. Many issues demand immediate attention on the part of our elected "watchman." (Psalm 127) May God bless him and our country.