PUT YOUR COAT ON!
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY (courtesy of “Church on the Move” paraphrasing Isaiah): If you put on a coat on a cold and wet day, does the coat change the weather? No! It changes you! It changes your ability to endure harsh conditions. PRAYER and worship are like a coat we put on to help us deal with the storms we encounter in our life here on earth.
That’s such a good analogy for our 40DFL family since our prayer and worship happen outside during Pittsburgh’s late winter and early spring. Our experience with weather at the vigil really drives that understanding home. (Admittedly not today, though. Praise God for the sunshine!)
It’s also a good analogy for our 40DFL family given what we witness at the vigil. People pass by so underdressed for the weather, shivering and hunched over. Some may have just left home unprepared; others likely have no home and no hope of thawing out any time soon. It’s just as true of some of the souls that pass us by. You can see in their eyes that they’re shivering and hunched over on the inside, too. Maybe they once knew that God loves them, but they left home to go out into the world and didn’t think to take that knowledge with them; or maybe they’ve never encountered God’s love at all.
Our prayer on the sidewalk clothes us in God’s love and helps us to endure the cold acts of killing babies, wounding women, promoting the “right” to end an innocent life, and persecuting those who speak the truth. Sacrificing our comfort by keeping vigil outside PP also gives us a chance to offer warmth to others, both physically and spiritually. Please join us in bringing the warmth of God’s love to a cold and hurting world!
-Jen
PRO-LIFE EVENT CALENDAR
- Saturday, April 1st: Gathering of Pittsburgh Pro-life groups and advocates, hosted by the Diocese of Pittsburgh
- Sunday, April 2nd: Closing events for this 40 Days for Life campaign (see flyers at the end of this post)
- Thursday & Friday, April 13 & 14th: “Post-Roe America” conference at Grove City College
- Wednesday, April 19th: “Being Pro-Life in a Post-Dobbs America” conference at St. Vincent College
Contact pghsaland365@gmail.com for more information about these great events!
SIDEWALK REPORTS
7-9 AM +++ Jen and Vince
Speaking of coats and lessons to be learned, I was briefly distracted by a man crossing the street in front of PP today. He wearing a leather jacket that looked like it was from a 1980’s music video but walking a fancy breed of dog. I smiled at the contrast. As he walked away down Liberty, I saw the image on the back of his jacket–it was the Sacred Heart of Jesus! Not what I expected to see. Just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its JACKET!
Jen
9-11 AM +++ Pat
11 AM-1 PM +++ Rich and Ken
We couldn’t have asked for better weather unless it was about 20 degrees warmer. It started out with Ken and I and then Karen came to stand with us. By the time our shift was over we had about 23 prayer warriors witnessing and praying. Not bad, huh? There was a lot of foot traffic and a lot of thank-you’s for us being there. Thanks to all who came to defend life.
Rich
Roseann still recovering so I stood with Rich for the 11 – 1 shift. Finally a warmer day on Liberty Avenue with plenty of foot traffic and mostly friendly comments. One woman even stopped to tell of a personal experience with a difficult pregnancy that, by the grace of God ended well, and she now has a healthy nineteen-year-old son along with four other children. We were also blessed to pray with a family of four, giving a total of nine defenders of life in the photo above.
Ken
1-3 PM +++ Marie
What a beautiful, sunny day for the prayer warriors from my parish, Saint Luke the Evangelist. There was a lot of foot traffic on Liberty Avenue, not many positive comments and several negatives. Not enough to deter our prayers (Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet.) Even the rowdy group of young women riding a Pittsburgh Beer Paddle who took advantage of a red light on Liberty to scream obscenities at us. Truly sad they don’t understand the harm abortion does to women. We were blessed to have Charlie and Amy from Bellevue Knights and Jim and Cathy from Zelienople join us today.
Marie
3-5 PM +++ Andy, Steve, and Denise
Don’t forget pcuc will pray the stations of the Cross at PP on Good Friday morning at 10 AM. All invited
Thanks,