Saving lives is cornerstone of ecumenical 40 Days for Life prayer vigil

40 Days for Life keynote speaker Jonathan Tremaine Thomas of Indianapolis, a Protestant leader with the National Black Pro-Life Coalition, reminds pro-life supporters on March 6 that the blood of innocent unborn babies killed by abortion has been sown into our nation’s land. The prayer rally was held at the St. Augustine Home for the Aged Chapel in Indianapolis. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Mary Ann Wyand

God calls people of faith to help him with his work of salvation, Jonathan Tremaine Thomas reminded pro-life supporters during the 40 Days for Life prayer rally on March 6 at the St. Augustine Home for the Aged Chapel in Indianapolis.

Saving lives and saving souls is our Christian duty, Thomas emphasized in his keynote address for the spring pro-life campaign, which mobilizes people to pray and fast for an end to abortion during Lent.

A Protestant leader with the National Black Pro-Life Coalition, Thomas has spoken at several respect life events since he moved to Indianapolis.

“A person is a person no matter how small,” he said, quoting from Horton Hears a Who, a popular children’s book written by Dr. Seuss.

“Heaven hears a Who,” Thomas said, each time a defenseless unborn baby is killed in an abortion.

“Maybe you have been on the forefront of the pro-life battle for the last 40 years,” he said. “Maybe you have been at the [abortion] clinics doing [pro-life] sidewalk counseling. Maybe you have been there every Saturday praying the rosary. Maybe you have never missed a

pro-life rally, and yet you haven’t seen the victory that you so desire.”

Never doubt that God hears our pro-life prayers, Thomas said. “God is both lamb and lion, [and] the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous. … This is a spiritual battle.”

More than 50 million lives have been destroyed by the tragedy of legalized abortion in the U.S., he said, and this blood shed by innocent unborn babies has been sown into our nation’s land.

“When heaven responds to the cries of the unborn, there has to be people who can hear them, too,” Thomas said. “When heaven hears a Who, Hoosiers [must] hear heaven. … I believe that’s what this [Lenten] season that we’re in is all about.”

National statistics indicate that heart disease is the primary cause of death for African-Americans, he said, but abortion is actually the No. 1 killer of African-Americans.

“One out of every two black women will get an abortion,” Thomas said. “The African-American race is the only race that is decreasing at an increasing rate.

“I used to be very upset about the fact that our culture will not acknowledge the reality that abortion is the No. 1 killer of African-Americans,” he said. “But then I felt like the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear and said, ‘Heart disease is the No. 1 killer.’

“Heart disease is the No. 1 killer not only of African-Americans, but of our entire nation,” Thomas said. “… It takes God to make us good. Our hearts are sick. That is why a mother can allow her son or daughter to be ripped up [by abortion] in her womb. We have a heart disease in this culture. … We live in a culture that calls what is evil ‘good’ and what is good ‘evil.’ We live in a culture that is dying of heart disease.”

Pro-life supporters must “advance beyond the front doors of the abortion clinics, and into the living rooms and the hearts and the minds of families all over this nation,” he said. “We have to be a [pro-life] voice for the culture. … God will respond if we humble ourselves in prayer and participate with him in changing history. I believe heaven is looking for Hoosiers, and I believe that I’m standing in front of some Hoosiers who can hear heaven. … We’re on the winning side.”

After the prayer rally, Our Lady of Mount Carmel parishioner Melanie Rosswurm of Carmel, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, who is a 40 Days for Life volunteer coordinator, said she is glad to see Catholics and Protestants praying together to end abortion.

“I think it’s wonderful that we’re all coming together [in prayer] to protect and defend life,” Rosswurm said. “It’s a basic fundamental that life is truly precious. If we could all see that, some day abortion won’t exist.” †