Day 26…Thanks to People of God Community, St. Luke the Evangelist RLG, and our fabulous team members!

I really love today’s beautiful Gospel reading in which Jesus grants sight to a man born blind. There are so many people in our world who have never been exposed to the light of truth and therefore are blind to the knowledge that God loves each and every person from the moment of conception on. We pray that our merciful Lord will grant them spiritual sight.

But it was a line from today’s New Testament reading that grabbed my attention:

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

Ephesians 5:14b

I am so blessed that I was not born blind to the truth of God’s love for me…but how often do I close my eyes to God’s love for every other person and “sleepwalk” right past them when they are in need? I need to awake and arise and receive Christ’s light again so that I can share it with the world. May He grant each of us a new awakening and a fresh resolve to serve vulnerable moms and babies on the sidewalk!

Jen and Vince

(from Jen) Very noisy start to the morning, with construction continuing on the building to the left of PP. It didn’t stop us from offering many prayers and hymns, though. Thanks to the faithful regulars of Sunday morning and to People of God Community members!

Ken and Pat

(from Ken) Today was the first Sunday of this campaign when we had sunshine for a little while. A welcome change from the recent cold snap. A few negative comments that went unanswered as we prayed in earnest for the lonely and the lost who don’t acknowledge the Glory of God in their lives. It does make the heart heavy to see that so many suffer for lack of surrender to our Merciful Savior.

The People of God Covenant Community and the Sunday Rosary Walkers filled the sidewalk with hymns and prayer. What a blessing it was to see so many witnesses for the Truth of the dignity of human life in the womb.

Marie and Andrew

(from Marie) Saint Luke the Evangelist Parish prayer warriors stood in the breech from 12:00-2:00 today along with faithful Andrew. 

We were happy to have good weather and a mostly quiet, uneventful shift. Several passersby offered greetings and I noticed a few making the Sign of the Cross as they passed by.

I take that as an acknowledgment of belief in Christ as well as the sacredness of our witness. We do not take our witness lightly. We pray that our witness will touch a heart or two.

We prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Scriptural Rosary.

The contractors on the other side of the circle were cleaning up from their work and left shortly after we arrived. A bit later, a young woman associated with 937 Liberty (now the Peirce Theater) came and asked that we move our display (aka “propaganda” was the word she used) since they were going to be having an event there. I told her that we could not move to the other side so the display stayed. We all moved to the curbside of the sidewalk, well out of the way of their entrances. A few people entered but certainly not a crowd as if there was an event. She came back out a while later to move her car and did not interact with us. I assume she was trying to assert herself in a not so friendly way with our first interaction. May God touch her heart to see that the unborn are not “propaganda” but human lives.

We were joined by Andy and Sue at 1:00 for their shift. More Rosaries were prayed.

Andy and Sue

(from Andy) I apologize for having to have a 70° sunny day. I almost feel guilty about it.  A little bit of excitement as the normal driving police officers decided to walk today. So we noticed them go by a few times and finally started talking. They noticed that the abandoned sodomy bar was an unlocked door so they asked us if we saw anything suspicious. We told them no.  They called for back up and went in with guns drawn to make sure nobody was in there who wasn’t supposed to be.  It was all clear, thank the Lord.

Charlie and Mary

(from Mary) There was a lovely woman who was there when I arrived, and we prayed a rosary together. There were quite a few homeless people hanging out on the street, and we were approached by a woman who asked our political affiliation, then asked if we realized that Republicans eat babies. Charlie had a respectful conversation with her and she finally left, but her boyfriend came over a little later to tell us the same thing, was becoming insistent and a little aggressive so I finally told him I would call the police if he didn’t leave. Charlie handled it very well and he finally left. We prayed a DM chaplet and spoke to a few passersby, with some encouraging comments.