Prophecy Fulfilled…
This Sunday is Palm Sunday. In the Gospel of Matthew for Palm Sunday, we hear:
“From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”, which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Many writers have tried explaining why Jesus says this, because it’s easily mistaken as despair. Thankfully, ahead of this Gospel we hear Psalm 22 in the readings for Palm Sunday Mass. The Psalms were written about 1,000 years before the Crucifixion. Psalm 22 is a crucifixion prophecy and we hear:
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? All who see me scoff at me; they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads: “He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, if he loves him.””
It’s almost as if the Psalmist was there present at the foot of the cross. Jesus made sure that witnesses experienced the fulfillment of this prophecy. As we stand on the sidewalk, praying and pleading with those who subscribe to the evil of abortion, these readings for Psalm Sunday give us hope and joy to carry on with our mission to convert hearts turned as hard as stone and cold as ice by the evil one. Our job is not easy nor comfortable, and we must offer our discomfort with that of Jesus on the Cross and realize that only through this suffering can we experience the Divine Joy of the Resurrection and the possibility of saving the life of an innocent baby and the souls of their family!
If you don’t have solid plans for Good Friday, think about attending services at St. Paul’s Cathedral. During the Reading of the Passion, they have a glorious soprano who chants , “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani” that will send chills down your spine and put you right at the foot of the cross.
Larry
Read on for today’s sidewalk reports:
Bill & Tracy
It was a depressing morning at the slaughter mill. Plenty of staff went in. I suspect I counted 4 doctors. The revolving door began around 8:15 with plenty of couples or singles going in. One couple, a set of very young girls, went in unaccompanied by an adult. How is that legal? Only one person took a pamphlet. Most ignored us or were slightly hostile.
Shawn and Beth from St. Peter’s in Steubenville were with us. Anthony was there (YAY!) to lead all 20 decades of the Holy Rosary. Their presence helped to lift our spirits. Tracy
Beth & Linda
(From Beth) – Thanks to Father Jason and Mary Beth for praying as Linda and I kept a sad vigil. Usual client traffic unfortunately. Cute moment: daycare must have had a fire drill and as she passed us, a sweet three-year-old saw our fetal models and cried ” baby, baby,” yes even a 3 year old knows it’s a baby. Yep.
Sheila & Barb
It was a busy day on the sidewalk. A fair amount of young couples were in and out of the “clinic.” And there was a convention so a lot of young people were passing by and definitely taking in the prolife message! Thankfully, we had a lot of prayer warriors with us! Sheila
Sandy, Kim & Mike
The traffic accident caused us to be 10 minutes late. Thankfully Sheila waited for us and was there to welcome parishioners from St Raphael. It was such a joy to pray the rosary, sorrowful mysteries for life meditation. This was the first vigil that we had numerous prayer warriors with us and we let them know how wonderful it was to have them. The sun came out and warmed us as more people came to pray with us. We had parishioners from Holy Trinity arrive toward the second half of our shift. A mother with her baby and a whole family with beautiful icons prayed the chaplet of divine mercy with us. Another gentleman prayed and sang verses from the Bible. I was able to give a brochure to three different women who were all very kind and thankful. I believe it was because of all the prayers we had today. Sandy, our sidewalk advocate, who we greatly miss ( she is out with a broken ankle) said she would be praying from home with us. We also had two of our parishioners from St Matthias, Gayle and Bernie, praying from home with us. There were a lot of men going into Planned Parenthood today- I think they were security guards that were being trained or some orientation. Some of them were nice saying hi, others ignored us. We prayed for their conversion and everyone who works there. I know God answered our prayers even if we don’t know how yet. Praising God for the beautiful prayer warriors, all His grace and a peaceful vigil. Kim
Bill & Virginia
(From John) We had a lot of people today. It was refreshing to see so many pro-life folks. There was a family from Steubenville. Sue and Nancy and their crew. We had my crew from Saint Bonaventure and Bill’s wife Ursula came. The weather was pleasant. The sun felt good. We prayed most of the time. It was quiet in Planned Parenthood. Only one person came out with a brown bag. Amen! One of the youngest boys from Steubenville had a picture of Saint Michael. Let’s pray to him for the protection of children around the world who are in danger. Saint Michael defend us in battle…
Sad to read of so many people going through the Portal of Perdition (PP) doors today, but equally happy to see photos of so many smiling prayer warriors present to pray for the souls of the babies. I cringed at reading the word “doctors” above, as anyone who performs abortions, murder of an infant in its mother’s womb, does not deserve that title. Murderer or butcher is a more fitting descriptor. Thank you witnesses for bringing God’s light into the darkness of Liberty Avenue. Christus vincit!