On Holy Innocents Day, remember the work of Good Counsel Network

It's Holy Innocents Day in the Catholic calendar - a day when Catholics and others turn their minds to the deaths recorded by St. Matthew (2:16 - 18) in the following Gospel passage:

Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry; and sending killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

It's a day when our minds naturally turn to the countless millions of unborn children, more children than have ever been killed in the whole of human history, as a result of the policies of our modern King Herods - President Obama, the US president, Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister, David Cameron, the UK's current prime minister, and so many others.

It's also a day when my mind turns to the countless courageous mothers - and fathers - who, sometimes enduring great hardship, withstand social and "moral" pressures to abort their children and, in spite of difficulties and sacrifices, look after them after they are born. I think especially of single parents who might be on their own this Christmas season. I also think of mothers and fathers who have been hurt by an abortion for which they may, or may not, have been partly responsible. I believe that their sufferings, both those who keep their babies and those who don't, can be a kind of bloodless martyrdom - a martyrdom which is providing the foundation of a new culture of life.

Also providing the foundation of a new culture of life are pro-life groups like Good Counsel Network "a life-affirming women’s organisation which offers a free pregnancy test, free advice, medical information, practical help and moral support to women seeking abortion". Good Counsel Network in London often provides help and support to mothers who get in touch with us at SPUC and we know we can always turn to them.

Here's what Stuart McCullough of the Good Counsel Network told me last week:

2012 has been an extremely busy year for the Good Counsel Network.

• We are running a new Intern Programme,
• We ran a “40 Days for Life” 24 hour a day prayer vigil outside one of the London abortuaries (see picture above)
• We continue to have a vigil 5 days a week at that abortuary.
• We’ve seen hundreds of abortion bound-women and many of them have changed their minds and continued their pregnancies, resulting in 95 babies born already this year and more due.

We have not however been able to raise sufficient funds to cover our current outgoings. At the moment we have outstanding bills of approximately £10,000. It can be difficult at times to estimate our costs as the support offered to some mothers will be very small, while others will need a lot of help. Earlier this year we met a young woman who was going into an abortion clinic to abort her twins. After a number of long counselling sessions with us it was clear that the reason for the abortion was her family’s reaction to her unmarried situation. As the girl herself said, “If I could actually marry my boyfriend in the next couple of months, I could keep the baby”. At this point we offered to help with some of the finance for her wedding. We kept everything as cheap as we could, her cake was ready-made and purchased at a local supermarket, but all in all we spent in the region of £1,000. This was not an expense that we could easily budget for as until we spoke to her we had no idea what help she would need.

Other problems we assist with include helping with rent for a short time, hiding women who are at risk from families and boyfriends, feeding and housing those without benefits, getting medical advice and care to those who cannot access it, ongoing counselling for those in distress, and for those suffering after abortion – just to name a few things. I would ask you to consider making a regular monthly donation via a standing order if you do not have one already. Be it for £5, £10, 50, or £100 per month it really does make a huge difference to our Life-Saving work. Or you can of course send us a donation however large or small. If someone were to donate £1000 at this time it would be fair to say that the twins mentioned above and other babies like them will live through God’s Grace and their generous donation. I would like to thank you for your continued support of The Good Counsel Network over the last 16 years.
God Bless,
Stuart McCullough

I warmly commend the work of Stuart and Clare McCullough and their team to the visitors to my blog. Write to them at  The Good Counsel Network, PO BOX 46679 LONDON NW9 8ZT or email: info@goodcounselnetwork.freeserve.co.uk

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
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