I was privileged to give a series of talks on Saturday at the Diocese of Brownsville‘s Youth Chastity and Pro-Life Conference held at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Weslaco, Texas. The Diocese’s Pro-Life Apostolate organized the event, which attracted a crowd of over 300 teens, along with dozens of college students, young adults, and parents. As I’m primarily accustomed to speaking in classrooms or at pro-life club meetings, this was the largest group I’d ever spoken to! When I first arrived at the parish hall on Saturday morning, I was impressed to see a display area set up inviting attendees to enter and view a series of pictures of aborted babies, along with captions describing various abortion procedures. There were also numerous exhibitors offering pro-life materials and literature, as well as scapulars, rosaries, and other devotional items. The first talk I gave was my “Making the Case for Life” presentation (which I also did as a webinar last summer). After a pro-life skit performed by members from Mary Mother of the Church Parish in Brownsville, I gave a talk entitled, “Don’t Trust Planned Parenthood”, which focused on the deception and lies pushed by the nation’s largest abortion provider. During this presentation, I showed two of Live Action’s investigative videos, which the crowd found especially eye-opening. Following another pro-life skit was a presentation from two sidewalk counselors affiliated with the McAllen Pregnancy Center, who encouraged the teens to consider witnessing to life by praying outside their local abortion clinic. After lunch and some music led by Steadfast in Faith, Bishop Emeritus Raymundo Peña briefly addressed the teens and thanked them for coming to the conference. I then gave a talk on Chastity and placed special emphasis on going to Sacrament of Reconciliation frequently as a means of practicing this virtue. I was very grateful that the Pro-Life Apostolate had invited several priests to be present throughout the day, and many teens had their confessions heard. The last presentation I gave addressed how to start a pro-life club using our Pro-Life Curriculum. All the talks I gave were very well received, and I was impressed by the many thoughtful questions that attendees asked. Following my talk, the group prayed the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and spent time in Adoration of the Holy Eucharist. The day ended with Mass celebrated by Bishop Daniel Flores. By all accounts, the event was a great success, and I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it!
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