The LORD said to Moses,
“Go down at once to your people
whom you brought out of the land of Egypt,
for they have become depraved.
They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them,
making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it,
sacrificing to it and crying out,
‘This is your God, O Israel,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’
Exodus 32:7-8
What if, when we looked at a sign like the one above, we felt that we knew better, and freely decided to go that way anyway? We could end up physically okay but guilty of having disobeyed something clearly designed to keep us safe. How many times could we get away with that? Would our chances for safety change if beyond the “wrong way” sign was a one-way high-speed bus lane? I argue that our chances of being “okay” would indeed change. The more potential for danger and harm, the more seriously we must take the signs and rules that warn us of the danger. So- why do we not take the same precautions when it comes to spiritual dangers? Isn’t there a possibility that we could become morally depraved?
Depraved? The Lord told Moses that His people had become depraved? Isn’t that a word from ancient times? Why bring it up in 2022? I think the answer lies in the next line of the passage above, when the Lord continues with “They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them…”
As a mom, I see this over and over. My children sometimes “turn aside from the way I pointed out to them.” But, dear friends, our families are a mere microcosm of what is happening in our world between us and our God. God is continually calling us out and convicting us of our sin through the power of the Holy Spirit…. but only then to call us BACK. Didn’t we see the gospel from this past Sunday– the parable of the Prodigal Son, where the father runs out to meet his son to bring him back with rejoicing? Our God does the same search-and-rescue type of mission with us.
So two questions for our consideration in these last ten days of our vigil: Am I a sinner? I think we all know that the answer is yes, no matter who we are. And secondly, does God love me? Again, a resounding yes should be obvious. But in answering EITHER of those questions, we have to be honest with ourselves. To be pro-life is to look at things with clarity… with honesty… with integrity. We may not always live up to those as well as we should. But we are called to see things for what they are. So…. what am I? A sinner. Does God love me? Yes. How can both be true? How can God love me when I’ve said and done the most awful things, maybe even had an abortion or participated in one? Because He is Our Father who loves us as we are…. but He also loves us too much to let us stay that way.
May we be open to His loving arms, His continual desire to bring us back from our depravity. Jesus, help us. We trust in You.
-Lisa
Reports from the Sidewalk
Peggy and Cathy:
Jim from St. Alphonsus and Randy and Lisa from Holy Family Parish joined us in prayer this morning. A fair number of workers and volunteers went in, as well as three clients. No one was interested in any literature or help. One was a rather young girl, maybe 14-15, who was taken in by her mother. One has to ask, was this the girl’s “choice,” or her mother’s? It is sad that a mother would take her daughter to have her child (the mother’s grandchild) to be killed. There is so much help available.
After I left, I went to 10:00 Mass at my parish. It happened to be a funeral Mass today. I thought, so appropriate, to pray for the babies killed today and every day.
Judy and Meredith:
Chuck, Lori and Judy came from LP Nazarene. Meredith joined from Covenant Church, and Nancy, Marilyn, Peg, Dan, Sue and Lisa from Holy Family joined us, and Jennifer joined us again this week.
We had all kinds of weather, including a brief appearance of the sun. We praise God for His creation. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth.
It was an abortion day with a regular procession of clients. A couple stopped to take some resource information.
On another note, one gentleman stopped and asked if we had a pair of men’s shoes size 10 and a half. His nephew had one of his shoes stolen and he was wondering if anyone here could replace them. He said he would be back again to see if someone brought a pair. So I’m just throwing that out there in case anyone has a pair of men’s 10 and a half shoes that they would like to donate to have on hand here at the vigil.
Lisa and Linda:
Such sadness for me today. Mothers bringing in their own daughters for abortions. Grandmothers leading their grandchildren to the slaughter. It pains my heart. Please pray.
On a more grateful note, I was so blessed to be with my Shift Buddy Linda and with Billy, who joined us on his day off. Thank you both!!
Carolyn, Fr. Jim and Joyce:
It was a good day today with our wonderful prayer partners. Someone leaving PP listened to us and we gave her information. Also many people stopped and took our information. We had a lot of nice comments about the babies.
Virginia and Mary:
When we got there, we prayed a Divine Mercy chaplet with Fr Jeremy (I think) and the group before they left. We prayed two rosaries and had mostly positive and encouraging comments. One woman stopped and angrily demanded to know how many children we adopted; I told her that many of us are adoptive parents, but she continued her angry spew and wanted to know if we were vaccinated because according to her fan-of-Planned Parenthood logic, “most Christians don’t get vaccinated, so they kill people and it’s the same as abortion” and then went on her angry way. But we had a good conversation with some high school students who stopped and wanted to know why we were against abortion. One young man remained after his friends left and we talked about the reality of abortion and addressed his questions regarding women living in poverty and the world being overpopulated. These poor kids are so thoroughly brainwashed. Before he left, we told him he could come back anytime and speak with our group. Virginia did a great job of engaging passersby and we gave out some literature. –Mary
Mary, Steve and I were the participants in this shift. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, with the usual foot traffic (starting around this time) of students, residents and workers.
Approximately 3:30 a young woman entered PP alone and appeared possibly be pregnant. She would emerge about an hour later carrying a brown paper bag and refusing any conversation or printed literature.
Another scenario involved 3 high schoolers, the lone female in the group started asking about “what was wrong with abortion”, but wasn’t interested in our response, as she got a call on her cell phone. Of the 2 young fellows she was with, one continued her line of thinking asking about population explosion, climate control, etc. He was very respectful, seemed to be listening to our responses. They also passed by going in another direction.
Tom and the one of the next shift fellows came close to 4:55, and we began to break down.
It’s interesting to note, several passersby are repeaters, going one way and returning headed in the other direction, giving us two chances of talking to them. –Virginia
Larry and David:
Coming soon!
God Our Father treasures us.
Let us continually wrench ourselves out of our depravity… and turn back to Him with trust.
Oops, apologies to Fr Jim, I got your name wrong!