Give it Away…
It’s amazing how I seem to fall for the same trick of the devil every time a 40 Days for Life campaign begins. About a week before we start, I look at the schedule and see all the holes and start feeling sorry for myself. I will start saying things like:
“Well, I guess 40 Days for Life has run its course. After 15 years of doing this, I don’t blame people for getting tired of it.”
“Well, I will just have to do all these empty hours myself.”
“I guess I can give up karate and adjust my work schedule for 40 days.”
I even told my husband that he can forget about having cooked dinners and a clean house for the next 40 days…and that his laundry may or may not get done. Yes, I was having a real pity party for myself. But then my husband suggested that I start calling people to try to recruit more volunteers. I thought that was a good idea, so I went to our blog site to look at the photos posted on our last campaign, this past fall. I thought that if I looked at the faces of those who participated last time, maybe I would know who I could ask. Looking at those photos from last campaign was enough to shake me out of my self-pity. I was reminded that God is using 40 Days for Life to bring the beautiful, vibrant Body of Christ to the place where He is needed most. There were so many people who participated last time, it was amazing! And I realized, that it will happen again this time. God is the ONE who is running this show. He doesn’t need me. The devil would like me to think that everything depends on me, so that I will get bitter and give up. But I know and I trust that God will inspire people to come to fill in the gaps. And even if He doesn’t, it is okay. It will all work out for the best. If I have to give away more time than I would like, God will bring much fruit from it. As if to help me understand this truth…of fruit coming from sacrifice and trust…God gave me a glimpse of this concept in Saturday’s Mass readings. In the first reading from 1 Kings, Jeroboam was afraid that if he let his people return to Jerusalem to worship in the proper way, that their hearts would return to Rehoboam, the King of Judah, and that they would turn and kill him. So, out of fear, he misled Israel by making two gold calves and telling the people that they could worship them instead. Because Jeroboam was afraid to give up his position and his power, he led an entire nation into paganism and sin. In contrast, the Gospel reading from Mark 8 told the story of Jesus wanting to feed the crowd that had been with Him for 3 days, so He asked his disciples if they had food to share. They gave up those few loaves and fishes, which they probably wanted to keep for themselves…and just look at the fruit that came from that sacrifice! 4,000 people ate, and there were seven baskets left over.
I was struck by these two opposing stories. Opposite reactions led to opposite results. Selfishness and the fear of suffering by one man led to the suffering and death of an entire nation, while the generosity and self-sacrifice of a few disciples led to the salvation of thousands. Just something for us to keep in mind as we embark on this long, difficult journey of 40 days.
May God bless you!
nikki
Keep reading to find out what happened on the sidewalk today…and if you missed the yesterday’s blog with photos and videos from last night’s kick-off, CLICK HERE to see what an amazing night it was! And here are some brand-new photos and videos from Larry!
Cathy & Peggy
Opening shift of the Spring’26 Vigil. Mary B from Christ the King, my home parish, joined Peg and me for the 7:30-9 shift. Two couples and one single went inside, none interested in talking. As we were leaving 5-6 escorts came out to “protect” clients from us.
Julie & Conrad
Julie and Conrad were on the 9-11 shift on Tuesday Feb 18. There were 5 escorts. 2 by the gyro shop and 2 up the street and 1 in front. I had Our Lady. Julie and I explained to the escort that killing innocent babies is beyond evil. Julie spoke with her privately. I spoke about killing babies. I hope Julie’s kindness may have touched the escort. Not words. The good news was that only 1 woman went in. A very quiet shift thank God.
Larry, Beth Ann & Ed
Traffic in and out of Planned Parenthood was on the light side. A small handful of couples going in and out. We prayed for one couple who went in with a baby in arms! Several passersby had very positive comments, one had very negative comment.
Chris & Kevin
Joining me in prayer today were my rear-round prayer partners, John and Kevin, from Regina Coeli Parish. We prayed three Rosaries and a pair of Chaplets of Divine Mercy and Loreto Litanies. One young man stopped and listened intently as we prayed the fourth and fifth decades of the Sorrowful Mysteries. He then asked if we had a Rosary he could have. We found one, gave it to him, and I gave him a big hug. Other passersby were not so nice, spewing profanities and kicking one of the wraparound signs so hard that it cracked. Nikki and Joe relieved us at the end of our shift.
Nikki & Joe
Joe and I finished out the last hours of day 1. Thanks be to God for the mild weather! I am used to morning traffic. Late afternoon is much different. We had many negative remarks from passersby and a few positive ones as well. There are lots of young people, getting out of school, so our witness is critical at this time I think. There was a man leaning against the building beside PP for the first hour, as Joe and I prayed three mysteries of the rosary. After the second set of mysteries, he came over to criticize us, asking if we were part of the group that thinks that “women who are victims of incest should be forced to give birth.” I have to confess that I argued with him. Not very nicely. I think maybe I am getting too old and too cranky. I wish I could be more like Charlie Kirk was. Let’s pray for each other. I felt the evil down there today. Prayer is the answer.
Holding you up in prayer. In light of the horrific crimes against children being exposed today, I think back on the words of a famous person, perhaps Mother Teresa, who said if we don’t respect life in the womb, we will not respect life period. We see the resultant and terrible increase in violence against children, women, adults, all human beings ever since wholesale abortion was allowed in our country and in our world. Lord, have mercy on us and help us to get out from under this scourge of infanticide which we have brought upon ourselves.
Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were seated–so also with the fish.” – John 6:11
Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the multitude, but He did it through His disciples.
The disciples that day stood between Jesus and the multitude, just as His disciples do today. If they had only eaten the bread themselves and not passed it on to the hungry crowd, the people would have gone hungry, even though the provision was right there. Likewise, if we who have the gospel only feed ourselves with it and don’t share it with those who are perishing, they will die in their sins, not because there wasn’t enough salvation to go around, but because we didn’t take it to them.
Thank you do everyone who comes to the sidewalk. God bless you! I was there on Day 1. Just to clarify (under the picture): I did not stay until 1 pm..left earlier around
1245. All of you who are shift leaders are amazing!