By Rebecca Mastee

Can God really defeat the culture of death?

“Of course!” one might respond. “He is capable of doing anything. He’s God!”

However, day by day, actions to protect life seem to be defeated, despite the prayers and work of the faithful. More and more varied attacks are launched. They relate not only to abortion, but also the death penalty, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, cloning, embryonic stem cell research and laboratory creation of chimeras (yes, human/animal hybrids are now becoming reality). People are turned into commodities through the sale of human body parts and through the trafficking of persons. This list does not cover all that is included in the culture of death. It is simply overwhelming!

One important thing to remember amid this: God is bigger than all of these… combined. He is capable of doing anything. Yet, he also provides humans with free will, to choose how to act and what to believe. In line with one’s free will, it has been said that God can be quite persuasive when given the opportunity. This is where prayer comes in. Prayer fuels the opportunities for God to persuade, acting ever so subtly in society.

Why doesn’t he hurry up already? I have asked myself this many times. I am left with the conclusion that God is in control and that all things work according to his timing. Often this is difficult to accept, especially when we pray, faithfully, for years on end. However, these long-term petitions provide opportunities to practice patience and perseverance, and to increase our faith. Often we are left with the choice to either give up, losing hope, or to trust in God.

Immaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, has an amazing story, which I will not recount here. I will say, however, that listening to her speak at the recent Affirming the Culture of Life conference in Billings, one could not help but be inspired by her faith. She truly believes in the power of prayer.

An experience from her childhood provides inspiration for the perseverance of prayer and a steadfast faith.

At 11 years old, Immaculee Ilibagiza was no exception to the beautiful imaginations of children. Having just learned about the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, Immaculee set about re-creating the scene, believing that Mary would appear to her, too. The plan was to continue with daily rosaries and to plant flowers at the prayer site for Our Lady to enjoy. Yet after some time, the climb up the hill became tiresome, the flowers never were planted and the trips ended with the thought that Mary was too busy to visit Immaculee’s Rwandan village. Just three weeks later, Immaculee recalls, her father came home with news that Our Lady appeared in Kibeho, Rwanda. Although excited to hear of this event, Immaculee was crushed that she missed the opportunity to be the one to whom Mary appeared.

In her 2008 book “Led by Faith,” she reflects: “It’s a funny story to me now, but it always comes to mind whenever I’m not dedicating enough time to my prayers or following through on work I’ve set out to do. It was an early lesson in the importance of not losing faith, because, sooner or later, all prayers are answered. It also taught me that we can’t expect God to do everything for us just because He hears our prayers – we have to do our part and follow our petitions with action.”

Next time, when tempted to feel defeated by the culture of death, remember that we are called to prayer and action, but also to a patient trust in God. If we fail to persevere, we might give up just before God provides an answer, and miss out on God’s greatest work.

Let us keep the faith!


Editor’s note: Apparitions of Our Lady of Kibeho were approved by the Catholic Church in 2001.

Rebecca Mastee is the associate director of policy for the Montana Catholic Conference. She may be reached by phone at 406-442-5761 or by e-mail to rebecca@montanacc.org.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 4, April 16, 2010.