Mary...faithful assent...

"What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ"
--Catechism of the Catholic Church, 487,

"Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ." --St. Augustine, De virg., PL 40, 398

In her faithful assent to the Father via the angel messenger, Mary teaches us that the assent to faith comes from a certain obedience because of that faith...thus, Mary's fiat--her 'yes' to the Father--is a significant indicator as to the value our Father in heaven places on our obedience to the Truth. Truth in charity, borne of our assent into faith must be our sign in these times. Mary chose to bear the Son--to give Him human life though He remained also divine. What does this tell us then about the value of life? About each conceived child in the womb from the beginning? I do not think we can think anything other than that we must defend life from the moment of conception.
If we assent to faith, we must accept the Truth--all of it...let Mary be our model for saying yes to God, yes to life.

Faith is...

Faith is a conscious assent to the mysteries of the triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...in assenting to this great mystery, we thus put on the robe of holiness, becoming children of the Light. In so doing, we internalize the virtues of faith, of hope, and of charity. Thus, we assent to life in the Spirit.
There is no greater example of human assent than that of the Virgin Mary...
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid; for, behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because He who is mighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His name;
And His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear Him.
He has shown might with his arm, He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungary with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel His servant, mindful of His mercy--even as he spoke to our fathers--to Abraham and to his posterity forever."
--Luke, 1:46-55 (Magnificat).
Mary's consent at the Annunciation informs us that all life is sacred from the moment of conception...to deny this, is to deny God.

By her example...

The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life."
--Lumen Gentium, 56, 61.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church,488, p.123)

Mary, the mother of Life...

The season of Lent begins on February 16, Ash Wednesday...this season of 40 days of prayer and fasting,in which we remember our Redeemer's passion and death, culminating at Easter in his Resurrection, is also united to the '40 Days for Life Campaign' across this nation. It is fitting that this campaign, recognizing the dignity of all human life from the moment of conception should co-exist with our Lenten season to bring recognition to the responsibility that we all have to bear witness to the Truth.

To prepare for these forty days we will first look at the Mother of life, Mary...for she is our hope...giving life to Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and interceding for us as we oppose this culture of death that reigns in the world...a culture that despises the most innocent human beings...and allows, by law, for these little ones to be annihilated in the womb...

Mary our Mother cries out in heaven regarding this abomination...we too must cry out--but first let us fast and pray for an end to this culture of death...

Mary, our hope...our mother...

"The blessed virgin has always taken great care of me. I had recourse to her in all my necessities, and she has preserved me from great dangers. I did not dare address myself to her divine Son, but only to her, and I often presented her with the little crown of the rosary, which I said on my bare knees, or genuflecting and kissing the ground at every Ave Maria."
--St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
AD. 1685

Taken from 'The Autobiography of Saint Margaret Mary,(1930). Sisters of the Visitation, publisher.

On prayer...

"Who can persevere the whole day in the praise of God? I will suggest a help. Whatsoever thou doest do well, and thou hast praised God."
--St. Augustine, on Ps.xxxiv., Disc. 2

"If you experience dryness in your meditations or other prayers, do not feel distressed and conclude that God has turned His Face away from you. Far from it. Prayer said with aridity is usually the most meritorious."
--Light and Peace, p.19, B. Quadrupani