Sunday, July 30, 2006

A Memorial Service for the Victims of Abortion

This afternoon Bev Weis joined Claire and I at the St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery in south Omaha for a special memorial service for the victims of abortion. The service was sponsored by the Omaha Business and Professional People for Life and I had been asked to say a few words and then lead those gathered in a prayer. A small service was then conducted by the Rev. Mr. Glenn Tylutki.

The day was terribly hot (102 degrees) and the trees planted around the memorial have not yet grown tall or leafy enough to provide shade so it was a fairly small group. But no matter; the memorial was as lovely and peaceful as ever, the fellowship quite encouraging, and the prayers, being earnest and directed to the God of all confort, were certainly of great value.

The memorial design involves two rings of square granite stones embedded in a circle of flowers, small bushes and ground cover. In the middle of the circle is a dramatic stone statue of a pensive woman kneeling in contemplation. It is the Rachel Mourning Statue and upon the large square pedestal on which it rests are the appropriate Scripture and an explanation of the memorial's significance. It is really a very moving display and an excellent place to quietly mourn, pray and re-dedicate onself to the fight against the unjust violence of abortion.

The square granite stones are actually designed to be used as memorial tablets with space for the inscriptions of the names of children lost to the world through abortion. Names of children can easily be reserved for a tablet simply by e-mailing Vital Signs Ministries. We will contact the BPPL in your behalf. The normal donation suggested for each line on one of the granite squares is $25 but the price can be covered by BPPL or Vital Signs.

The Memorial for the Unborn is truly a haven for healing and needs to be promoted by the Omaha pro-life community much more than it has been these last four years of its existence. Especially relevant would be the increased involvement of the post-abortion ministries provided by our local pro-life pregnancy centers.

Again, the Memorial for the Unborn is located on the southwest end of St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery, 5226 S. 46th Street (48th & Q).