Nearly 10 years after a stunning photograph of his tiny hand traveled the world, Samuel Armas has a firm grip on what “The Hand of Hope” means to him.

“When I see that picture, the first thing I think of is how special and lucky I am to have God use me that way,” Samuel told FOXNews.com. “I feel very thankful that I was in that picture.”

On Aug. 19, 1999, photographer Michael Clancy shot the “Fetal Hand Grasp” — his picture of a 21-week-old fetus grasping a doctor’s finger during innovative surgery to correct spina bifida. Nearly four months later, on Dec. 2, Samuel Armas was “born famous.”

The photo, which first appeared in USA Today on Sept. 7, 1999, quickly spread across the globe as proof of development in the womb and was later cited during congressional debates on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which passed in 2000.

“It’s just a miracle picture, a miracle moment,” Clancy told FOXNews.com. “It shows the earliest human interaction ever recorded.”

(See the link for the rest of the story, including the famous picture)

Truly a picture is worth a thousand words. The photographer, who was pro-abortion at the time, was himself transformed and became a strong pro-life advocate. With the advancement of medicine and technology, it is a scientific fact that what we are dealing with is a matter of human life! The abortion issue is not an issue of “choice,” but of preserving human life at it’s earliest stages.

The Church wants us to get the message of life out, and simply sharing these kinds of stories with your friends is a perfect way to evangelize. Many who are pro-abortion don’t know what is really at stake here, their attention is focused in the wrong direction (e.g. “choice”), but they can be transformed if they are simply shown that the unborn are people too!

It’s times like these which we should stop and give glory to God and offer up prayers, especially a Rosary, for the advancement of the Pro-Life cause.

But there is more, another idea came to mind as I was thinking about the snow: What does the Bible have to say about snow? After doing a quick word search, an astonishing passage came up, Psalm 51. This is not only one of my favorite Psalms, but is a famous Psalm of repentance which the Church has always hailed. It was written by King David, who himself fell into sin, and rather than give up he trusted in God and repented.  The Church calls this Psalm the Miserere, which is Latin for “have mercy on me” (the first words of the prayer). If you think back to Mass, when we say the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), part of the prayer says “miserere nobis” (have mercy on us).

Anyway, back to the text of Psalm 51, I will quote only the first 10 verses:

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Did you catch the reference to snow? I strongly encourage Catholics to pick up a Bible and read the whole Psalm, it’s amazing! If you feel the need to repent, if your life is not going so well, pick up a Bible and read Ps. 51, read it from the heart and it will pick you up. If you are about to go to Confession (or need to go), this Psalm (along with a good Act of Contrition) is a good place to start. Catholicism’s deep spiritual heritage is something that we Catholics today need to rediscover and take to heart.

It’s also the day of my last final! Woohoo! Freedom! Ahem…sorry…just had to get that out of my system. Anyway…

As I was reflecting on my faith life over this past term, I realized that I can’t say that I’ve done such a good job at being a disciple of Christ. In fact I should just as well say that I’ve done a crummy job all together.

Maybe you’re in the same boat as me. School gets busy. Work gets busy. Life gets busy and we have forgotten to pray. We forget about God. I tell myself the same thing every term: “This term will be different. I won’t let my busyness get in the way of my relationship with God.” But somehow, it always does. I make excuses for why I’m too tired, or too busy to put God at the center of my day.

I can’t be the only one who struggles with this, right? There’s gotta be a hundred other people who feel the same as me. On the other hand…there must be at least one person who has overcome that temptation whom we can use as an example to look up to.

How about…Mary! Yeah! She’s so perfect that God saw her holy enough to use her as the vessel to bring Christ into the world. What would Mary say to us, if we asked her how to grow stronger in our love for Jesus. I think she would say the same thing she said to the angel.

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.” Luke 1:38

Such a simple, yet profound statement. Mary is ready for action. “I am ready to do God’s will.” Brothers and sisters, I am in the same boat as you, but we can’t keep making excuses for ourselves. We need to accept our responsibility as Christians: to make Christ our first priority. He is at the center of our lives and we are ready to do his will. Our day should revolve around him, and responding to his call.

Our day must be a conversation with God. We must be steadfast in prayer.

New term’s resolution #1: pray a rosary once a day.

We can ask Mary to show us the way to her son. By praying a rosary, we are meditating on the life of Christ. What a great way to grow closer to Christ.

New term’s resolution #2: go to confession. Regularly.

We should be eager to be found free from sin and without blemish. If Jesus came back today, would I be ready for him to see me, just as I am. I would hope so, but maybe I’m not. Maybe it’s time to go to confession and be made clean again.

New term’s resolution #3: go to daily mass.

If you work a typical 9-5 job, you might have a hard time finding a mass that fits your schedule, as do I. Even if we find the time to go to mass in the middle of the week, we’ll feel so much better for it. We’ll have the Eucharist to strengthen us for the week, and the word of God to guide our paths. We’ll be taking one step closer to filling our lives with Christ.

So…are you ready to take the Mary challenge? Are you ready to do God’s will? Are you ready to put God at the center of your life, instead of the time left over?

Yes. You are.