The Stewardship Foundation supports the right to life. We believe that the purposeful taking of the life of an unborn child, in fact all innocent human life whether born or unborn, is morally wrong. We actively support the charitable planning development offices of pregnancy crisis centers like Heartbeat International and others. And we rejoice with Pope Francis as he celebrates life with a special gift of “mercy” —the absolution of the sin of abortion for all women of the world who had abortions, and all those who assisted in some way in abortions, whether it be a spouse, medical practitioner, abortion provider, parent, or friend.
In the United States, bishops and most diocesan priests have for decades had authority to absolve the sin of abortion for those Catholics who have asked for it with a contrite heart. But in many places in the world, this is not so. So the fact that during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, starting December 8, 2015, all priests will have the authority to absolve the Catholic sin or abortion ushers in a wonderful year for spiritual renewal!
Please pray for the Stewardship Foundation as we continue to advise and council pregnancy crisis centers in matters of financial support for their mission, and pray for Pope Francis that his message this month in Washington, New York, and Philadelphia is fruitful for the faithful in the U.S.
As Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, a top advisor to Francis, recently told an audience at Georgetown University, “Let us pray for the visit of our Pope Francis to the United States,” he intoned. “It won’t be easy, but it will be a great blessing.”
For several years now we have been blessed to partner with Heartbeat International whose mission is to provide pro-life pregnancy resource centers in the U.S. They represent the very touchstone of the foundation’s mission. In past years, we’ve always exhibited at their annual conference, but this year we are additionally blessed with the opportunity to present a workshop at the 2015 Annual Conference in St. Louis, April 7-10.
With the help of friends who own better cameras that we do, we set out to create a visual representation of the miracle of changing simple water to wine. Taking the kinds of jugs and woven baskets usually found only at flea markets or Pier 1, we staged our props in a sunny outdoor location that we hoped might resemble a wedding garden. Our problem? Pouring water into the first jug, having the water turn into wine in the second jug, and spill over into the third jug. Where’s a good miracle when you need one? Our solution came through the miracle of Photoshop and the skills of our good friends and creative team at