Fighting for the rights of the unborn and their mothers was not a top concern of mine until I was invited to pray the rosary in front of an abortion clinic in Dallas last year. That morning, as the first mother walked into the clinic, the gravity of the reality of abortion hit me. Tears started rolling down my face because I knew I was watching this young woman make the mistake of her life. Years later, she would look back to this morning with pain in heart and remember when she killed her own child. And, unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one to climb those steps that day.

After that, I listened more carefully to what Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II said about protecting the rights of the unborn, and I decided that if it was a priority to them, as a practicing Catholic, it needs to be a priority to me, too. I recently left a very good communications job in the secular world to work here at the Catholic Pro-Life Committee in Dallas. My family was not so understanding of this at first because making this kind of move during a recession is not what the world would consider “a good move.” At my previous job, I knew I was making a difference for my organization and the people who worked there, but I kept thinking about what I would say to God when we are finally face to face and he asks me what I did to protect his most vulnerable children during this time of intense attack. I want to be able to tell him that I did what I could with the gifts and talents he gave me. So, here I am. I thought I was making major sacrifices to take this position. What I’ve learned is that everyone here at the CPLC is making sacrifices so that you can benefit from having us a resource, a partner, a place to come to get answers, information, crisis help and healing.

I’m so blessed to be a part of the Catholic Pro-Life Committee and look forward to hearing your comments and questions as I become a regular blogger.

Peace in Christ,
Marisa