“The Ladies of Cecilia” and  Music-Based Evangelization. Music based evangelization is a new and exciting way of spreading God’s word. Through the inspirational power of song, our goal is to reach America's youth, and foster in them a greater appreciation for the Culture of Life, as well as promote a stronger presence of the Catholic faith in their lives and in our society.   In addition to our singing roles, we will also serve in an instructional capacity during our performances. This part of our work consists of a short, talk, given by the performer, on some aspect of faith or morals. These talks would be around ten or twenty minutes, depending on the situation. They would then be followed up with an appropriate song. The basic idea is to use the music as a means of reinforcing the ideas that were put forth in the presentations. In some cases, the songs themselves will be instructional. For events more specific to teen or young adult groups, our focus will be on a variety of youth related topics such as abstinence and chastity, modesty, marriage-family issues, pro-life issues, etc. The extent to which we use this approach and the topics we choose, will depend on the make up of the particular audience we are performing for. In general, all of our discussion topics are made up in advance. If a pastor or event coordinator has a certain theme they would like us follow for a particular event, then we will be happy work with them to meet their needs. We can also do strictly music appearances as might be the case at a larger event involving other entertainment groups. Also, If your parish organization is in need of a speaker for a youth or pro-life event, several members of our group are available for speaking engagements on a variety of pro-life or youth oriented topics. In general, the outreach of our minister is to people of all ages, both single and married. However, our primary focus is aimed more toward the under 30 population, simply because it is they who will be the foundation of the families of tomorrow. It is our hope then that, through the music we perform and the witness we give, we will instill in our young people, a better understanding of the truths of the Catholic faith, which, in turn, will better equip them to challenge the anti-life and anti-family mentality that is so prevalent in today’s society. The task of reclaiming America for Christ is a formidable one, and no one person or organization can accomplish this task alone. But with all of us working together, and encouraged by our Lord’s words that: “with God all things are possible”, we can make a difference. To quote Archbishop Chaput of Denver: “If pagan Rome could be won for Jesus Christ, surely we can do the same in our own world. What it takes is the zeal and courage to live what we claim to believe."   The next section gives an example of a short introduction that could used for a pro-life talk which would be followed up by a song.   As a way of introducing the theme of our next song, I would like to read to you a short letter that was published as a “letter to the editor” in several Catholic newspapers  last year. It is titled “America's Other War”.  Dear Editor: March 19, 2008, was the 5th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. Numerous news accounts noted that 3,990 U.S. military personnel had died in this war so far. These reports, however, tell only half the story. They don’t tell about America’s other war, a silent war in which the causality figures, as of that date, were numerically the same, almost 4,000 killed in Iraq in five years, and almost 4,000 killed each and every day in America’s domestic war against the unborn child. One article quoted a person as saying, “Most of the guys over there believe in what they are doing and want to be there,” and this is true. But I would ask, what about all the aborted babies who will never have the opportunity to “want to be there,” never have the chance to “answer the call” to serve their country? How often do we remember these casualties? The men and women who died in Iraq died with honor and will long be remembered for their bravery. They knew why they were there and it was their choice to sacrifice their lives for their country. But the innocent child had no choice, and knew not why he or she had to die. We only know that they died without honor and are remembered by almost no one, no one but a grieving young woman and God. At least the families and loved ones of our fallen heroes have pictures and happy memories to help them ease the pain of their loss; and they also have the praise of their country to remind them of the courage and valor shown by their sons or daughters. On the other hand, the young “mother-to-be”, who was deceived or pressured by our culture into killing her unborn child, has none of this. She, like the innocent child she lost, is forgotten by our society. The abortion industry that championed her “right to choose” remembers not its victims. Now that the deed is done and the bill is paid, she is nothing more than a number on a bank deposit slip. Each abortion usually leaves two casualties behind, one dead, one wounded; sometimes the count is two dead. For the surviving “mother-no-longer-to-be,” the pain and suffering is just as great, if not more so, as those who have lost a loved one in battle. But in this war, she receives no consolation from her country: no Taps will be played in honor of the child she will never see; no flag that draped the coffin can be hers; no Medal of Honor to proudly display; no photographs or happy memories. All she receives is the abortionist’s statement, which is stamped: “paid in full.” Many people complain that the Iraq war is senseless, but do they ever consider the senselessness of the abortion war? Adolph Hitler killed six million people in the extermination camps of Nazi Germany. The toll in America’s abortion camps now stands at nearly 50 million dead. As Fr. Pavone says: "Silence always helps the oppressor and never the oppressed". Why then are we so silent?   And so my friends, with these thoughts in mind, I (we) would like to sing for you a new pro-life song. It was written to help educate young people about the evils of abortion and to refute some of the more common misleading pro-choice slogans: “it’s my body”; “it’s my choice”; it’s just a blob of tissue, not a baby, etc. The song is basically an imaginary conversation between a little baby in the womb, and it’s mother. The baby overhears it’s mother talking about having an abortion and decides it’s time for a serious “mommy-baby” talk. As the song progresses, we see that the baby is really talking to all of us: asking us to pray for an end to this scourge on our nation; asking us to proclaim, to all the young people, the truth about abortion. The baby in this song represents all babies whose “mommy’s” may be considering an abortion; it is speaking for all those unborn children who are unable to say: "mommy, I want to live”. It’s sort of a cute little song, but, on the other hand, it is also a very serious song, because there is nothing “cute” about the death of an innocent child. The song is titled “Let Me Be Born”, and I (we) hope you will like it.