40 Days for Life is about PRAYER.
40 Days for Life is primarily about PRAYER. Many of our participants pray the rosary on the sidewalk. What a beautiful prayer witness those beads make.
Today, October 7, is the Feast of the Holy Rosary for many of our Catholic brothers and sisters. How can we be more like Jesus’ Mother, who wanted nothing more than the Lord’s will to be done in her life? We can begin with cultivating a life of prayer. We can’t know how God wants us to live if we don’t learn to listen to Him and recognize His voice.
May we strive to be like His Mother, whose best advice to us in Scripture is, “Do whatever He tells you.” (John 2:5)
Reports from the Sidewalk:
Fran:
Diane and Tom had everything ready for us when we arrived and we enjoyed a few minutes of conversation before they went on their way to help others. Peggy, Lisa M., Anthony, and I were all very thankful for the beautiful, warm morning. We began the shift all together in prayer, starting with the daily reading from the 40 Days for Life Daily Prayer folder, followed by the petitions typed on the back of the baby signs.
As we were praying the staff started to arrive, many more than last week. For each staff member that passed by, Anthony removed his beret, bowed his head and offered a silent prayer for their conversion. Lisa moved around the outside of the yellow line, onto the street, faced the doors and knelt down to pray. We also saw three abortion-bound women enter through the doors before 9:00 am. Sidewalk Advocate Peggy gently offered assistance but they gave no response. And God gently, lovingly offered wisdom… “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 3-4) Let us pray that people will respond.
Peggy, Anthony, and Lisa M.: we thank you!!
Judy:
Lincoln Place Nazarene with Meredith, Pastor Joe and Judy, Chuck, and Lori. Anthony was also with us from the 7 am shift, and Bill joined us for a while.
It was a busy day for abortions. By the time we arrived at 9 am, 3 ladies had already gone in. They weren’t interested in any other options.
Quite a few others went in during our shift and were not interested in hearing about life alternatives.
However, we met a young couple who were passing by on the sidewalk and had already chosen life and had an ultrasound and were having a boy. They were destitute and needed resources. We were able to have prayer with them, point them in the right direction for free resources and offered to give them a baby shower. They were delighted. We look forward to working with them and coming alongside them through their time of need. We are praising God that they chose life…even through difficult circumstances. This was very encouraging to all of us.
On an even brighter note, a lady came out of Planned Parenthood who had probably gone in during the 7:00 a.m. shift, and said she had CHANGED HER MIND!!!!! She had the ultrasound pictures that she was showing the driver in her car and they were both happy and laughing. She did not accept any information from us, but they were obviously very happy and excited for the decision she had made. Praise God for answered prayer and a life saved.
Thank you Anthony, Chuck, Meredith, Judy, and Lori!!
Lisa K:
I was so glad to have 12 year old Max with me today. What a prayer trooper he was. Thanks also to Beth Ann, Barbara, Anthony, Bob, and Dan. All of you make a difference. In fact, one prayer volunteer said to me today, “We’re not making an impact at all today.” And immediately, I replied with a serious “We don’t know that.” We have to believe that what we do when we pray makes a difference. The Holy Spirit is alive in us, and He will use His mighty power if we are open to Him!!! God bless you all for praying- and making a difference!
Beth Ann, Anthony, and Barbara- prayer warriors ALL!
Cecilia:
The weather was beautiful! So was the “company” during my shift! Fr. Jim & Joyce joined me for the ride down. Carolyn showed up with 3 lovely ladies from her church, Mary 1, Mary 2 and Dre’. St. Agnes had a great turnout with Audrey, Ken, Ron, Ann, & David. Anthony came by in his wheelchair and was a great witness for life. Barbara & Megan came later in the shift and jumped right in praying with us. St. Agnes filled the sidewalk with prayer on the right side. They prayed several rosaries and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Material was handed out as well. Fr. Jim led many of the prayers on the left side using The Palm of His Hand book. All four Mysteries of the Rosary were prayed in honor of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. I tried to join in prayer as much as possible, but it was a busy day from the get go! What a blessing to have so many interactions and people open to receiving material. Too many to remember and list but here are some:
Gabriel stopped when we first arrived and wanted material for men, so I gave him the abortion flyer for men and the Pure Manhood book I had, as well as other material. One lady coming out of PP stopped to talk. She is from Puerto Rico and has her 1 1/2 yr old daughter, G., here for a bone marrow transplant at Children’s Hospital. Please pray for her. She is married and was at PP for birth control. I gave her fliers about that and about NFP. Another lady coming out stopped to talk. She is engaged and wants to have kids right away but is concerned about the vaccine. I also gave her info about birth control and NFP.
I had a wonderful chat with Eric, the bookstore owner. I told him that we’d love to see pro-life books in the store. He said he can order in many things online and sometimes cheaper. So I put him to the test. Just this morning I stumbled across a book on Amazon, “I’m a Saint in the Making”. My friend and I may get it for young kids we know. Sure enough Amazing Books & Records can get it cheaper and they get a portion of the proceeds! Check them out: http://www.amazingbooksandrecords.com/
Cody stopped by to share his love of Jesus with the St. Agnes group. He is very inspiring as he is out of prison, gave his life to Jesus and is trying to spread the gospel message. Like all of us, he stumbles into sin and gets discouraged. But we encouraged him to keep trying and to trust in God’s Mercy. He received a Divine Mercy prayer card as we approached the 3:00 hour. Before leaving, they prayed over him and he said a beautiful prayer as well. What a way to end the day!
Pete:
The beautiful weather we got today as we prayed belied the darkness of what was going on inside PP. I was joined by Dean and Shift Buddy Regis for the full 2 hours. Thank you to Barb (who, with Megan and Anthony were witnessing and praying across the street until 4) for witnessing to a boyfriend waiting for his girlfriend who was inside PP for quite some time. She shared some materials with him which we can hope, along with prayers, will help them make the right decision, if they haven’t already made the wrong one. Our Lady of the Rosary, please pray for victory for Life.
God Bless, Pete
Thank you for being there, Dean!! Thank you, Regis, for the sacrifice of praying on your knees.
Larry:
We had five volunteers yesterday from 5:00 PM till 7:00 PM.
We prayed two Rosaries, and after the first, we were joined by a young man who introduced himself as a homosexual, and then began a totally vulgar and graphic description of homosexual acts.
Anthony was trying to talk with him, but he was only interested in trying to shock us with his comments.
We felt sorry for him, as he obviously had lots of issues to deal with, and upon starting to pray the second Rosary for him, he left and didn’t return.
We continue to pray for an END to the horror of abortion.
May we always be like Our Lady, listening to the Lord and desiring His will for our lives.
One thing we know He wants is for us to always CHOOSE LIFE.
