Devotion for today: Trading in Whole Foods and Trader Joe's for Life

 Matthew 16:25-27: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

I recently had a crisis in my life. I just found out that two of my favorite food stores, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, contribute to Planned Parenthood, one of the largest abortion providers in the country. If I stand for anything in this world, I stand for life from conception to natural death. I am living this conviction on both ends right now. My greatest joy in life is watching my granddaughter during the day, seeing her wonderment and awe at life emerge as she passes from newborn to infancy to older baby stage. I am also helping my 92 year old aunt cope with the ravaging effects of cancer treatment as she lies in a hospital bed trying to recover from her latest round. Both are marvels to me. My aunt has a profound love and trust in God, so she is peaceful and calm. My granddaughter is a joyful child, filled with giggles and squeals, so happy to be alive. How could I possibly continue to support groups that contribute to death? Oh but I love those stores. What to do?

God never lets me debate for long. Look at what I just read in “The One Thing is Three” by Father Michael Gaitley, Marian Press, 2012:

“… Now here is where the enrichment of faith comes to the rescue. Again, the enrichment of faith refers to ‘the witness of a living and mature faith’ that faces the challenges of the modern world and doesn’t back down. In fact, it ‘masters’ those challenges by putting faith first. What does it mean to put faith first? It means choosing being over having, the person over things, a life of self-giving love over selfishness. This is what it means for the faith to “penetrate the believer’s entire life.” It means letting God’s Word rule over all one’s decisions. It means not limiting prayer to Sunday Mass. It means living the life of Christ, abiding in him, and being a contemplative in action. In sum, it means doing everything through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, from riding the subway to folding the laundry. When the laity have such an enriched faith, God is made visible to the world through what they do and say and how they act and are. This is the witness of true holiness to which all the laity are called….”

When Karol Wojtyla visited the United States less than a year before becoming Pope, he said:

“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.”

Chilling? I would say so. There is no real choice in life for an authentic Christian. We have to be willing to sacrifice, and that is a foreign word to many people today. What? Give up my pleasures, my money, my free time for the good of another human being?  Well, yes. It is called martyrdom to the world and fullness of life in Christ. One leads only to death: that is a scientific fact. One leads to eternal life. The choice is yours.

So I will find other places to shop. And I will write a letter letting my former grocery friends know why I am leaving a long and wonderful relationship as I truly love the food in these store. If I don’t write the letter, I am like a protester standing in front of the White House without a sign. How will the President know what it is I don’t like!!!

Let me end with a few more words of John Paul II:

“The challenge facing us is an arduous one: only the concerted efforts of all those who believe in the value of life can prevent a setback of unforeseeable consequences for civilization.”

Be brave, be strong and be willing to sacrifice for the cause of life. We believe God brings every baby into a mother’s womb for a loving reason, and we believe God takes a person home when He does for a loving reason. Any attempt by man to end life at any stage is nothing short of replacing the true God with one whom we created ourselves.

This site, although not exhaustive by any means, will give you an idea of other places contributing to abortion through Planned Parenthood: http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/1225/2/.

The Girl Scouts are on it, as is Disney. Really???????????????????