My volunteer work at Vida Humana Internacional (VHI) has been a blessing and a source of graces. If I had to single out one of them, I would undoubtedly mention the grace that flows from spreading the Culture of Life while reading and answering the e-mails addressed to VHI.

Some of the e-mails are from people who have accessed VHI's website either through a referral or while searching for a specific topic. Others are from people who have watched" Por amor a la vida " (For Love of Life), VHI's television series on EWTN, or listen to "Defiende la vida" (Defend Life), VHI's weekly radio program on EWTN-World Catholic Radio.

We receive messages from Catholics and non-Catholics, priests, married couples and single people. They are from all over the world, but mostly from Latin America, Spain and the United States.

Some messages are complimentary, others contain specific requests, yet others are from people seeking information or support. There are also letters that criticize, but very seldom do we get a hateful message. We are mindful that, "everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but a man who lives by the truth comes out into the light so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God" (John 3: 20-21).

In this work we are faithful to the spirit of the Gospel. To those people who are seeking answers we point to Jesus, His teachings and those of His Church. We try to be a light to those who dwell in the darkness of error. We bless those who curse us. We acknowledge compliments, answer questions, clarify points about our website, direct potential volunteers to our affiliates, encourage those who are seeking help and reply to criticisms as well.

In our replies, we correct errors and point out fallacies in the incoming messages, praying and hoping that people will listen, and that we might win back our straying brothers and sisters. We affirm the teachings of the Church, offering direct quotes from the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, documents of the Magisterium and additional references. Rather than serve as a chat room or forum, the goal of our e-mail ministry is to supplement the material available on VHI's website.

VHI's e-mail ministry makes a difference in people's lives by helping them to live the Gospel of Life. Some messages are very moving. For example, a woman from Argentina wrote to thank VHI for promoting the Culture of Life. She told us about her little girl, who she had been told to abort but did not. In another letter, a young man with a homosexual orientation told us about his struggle to be chaste and faithful to the Gospel, requesting our prayers and advice. He found our website after praying for God's help. We were humbled to know that the Holy Spirit had directed him to our website. We promised to pray for him, and directed him to the Courage program, where he can get additional support. We also received a message from a Brazilian couple who wanted to get additional information about natural family planning in order to overcome infertility.

Sometimes we learn about interesting Internet links from people who have visited our site. We also get requests from people who want to establish a link to our web page. In order to consider these requests we visit their website. If we find errors, we deny the request and point out the mistakes to the sender. If we think that the page is interesting we refer it to Magaly Llaguno, VHI's executive director.

Reading and answering the e-mail directed to VHI has been a source of countless graces, spiritual development and an intellectual challenge as well.