The scriptures from today’s liturgy are all about asking the Lord for what we need. The following passage is from today’s Gospel. Our Lord Jesus tells us some amazing and comforting words:
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.”
Matthew 7:7-11
Sometimes we might read this and think, “That’s great that the people in Jesus’ time could ask Him things, and He could speak the answer to them right then, in an audible way. But it’s not that easy today. How can I possibly hear God these days? Does God even speak to people anymore, or was that all just in the Bible?”
The answer to that is, most assuredly, YES. The Lord speaks to us ALL the time. So why aren’t many more of us hearing Him? The only way we can have our hearts attuned to hearing Him is through prayer. And by prayer, we’re talking about extended times in silence with Him. No one will be disappointed if they continue this habit. It WILL lead to an ability to better hear Him.
So what about the women and men who struggle with questions regarding abortion? Here are just a few of the questions a pregnant couple may ask when considering abortion:
How can I afford a baby?
How can I tell my parents I’m pregnant?
How can I tell my boyfriend I’m pregnant?
How can I keep my boyfriend? If I don’t have an abortion, he’ll leave me.
How can I keep my job if I have a baby?
How can I do this all by myself?
These questions and many more are just the tip of the iceberg for what many abortion-vulnerable couples deal with. But there IS real help. God hears and answers us, but as mentioned above, we must take time with Him to LISTEN. And secondly, there are people and organizations who can help with REAL HELP in all of these areas of doubt and uncertainty. That’s part of why we are on the sidewalk…. to offer that help. Being pregnant unexpectedly can be scary…. but the Lord Himself tells us over and over, “Be not afraid.” Let us remember the words of Jesus above when He says that our Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask Him.
Reports from the Sidewalk:
Nikki (7-9am)
Cathy and I were very happily surprised that Vito from the Murrysville Knights of Columbus came by on his way to work and prayed the first hour with us! It was wonderful to have the three of us sanctifying that place with prayer. The sidewalks were very quiet and almost nobody went into the clinic. There was one abortion-bound woman who went in, but she came out soon afterward. She said she was just going for an ultrasound. She did not speak English, but Regina from Birthright had a Spanish interpreter call her. We gave her all of the information that we could and prayed for her. We continue to pray that she chooses life! Anthony showed up for the second hour and it was great to pray and share our stories of faith with him. A bright light at the end of the tunnel came when Judy and her crew from Lincoln Place Church of the Nazarene showed up at nine! God bless all of our 40 Days for Life family!
Judy (9-11am)
Our shift started with Lori, Chuck, Pastor Joe and Judy from Lincoln Place Church of the Nazarene.
Things were quiet when we arrived. They don’t seem to be doing abortions. Hallelujah.
We were very encouraged when a lady named Lillian stopped by and said she comes by here every Thursday morning and prays over this place that they would stop killing babies. We were all bearing our concerns with the Lord about this atrocity and praising God that He is able to change the culture. That’s what we pray and believe!
We praise God there didn’t seem to be abortions going on during our shift.
Lisa and Linda (11am-1pm)
From Linda:
It was a slow day on the sidewalk, and it didn’t appear that any abortions were scheduled today.
From Lisa:
We were so blessed to have many prayer warriors joining us today. We did see several clients coming out with contraception or the morning after pill…. so tragic. How can we better share with these couples not only the physical dangers of contraception, but the moral dangers as well? Let us pray we can grow in this.
From Joyce (1-3pm)
We were so blessed with such a beautiful sunny day! The air was chilly, but the sun kept us decently warm…The SON was shining!
There were girls, and guys, going in and out today. Not sure if it was an abortion day, but one couple came out, shortly before our shift was over, and the girl was crying. It was so sad. She was walking fast ahead of the guy/boyfriend? …and Susan from St. Ferdinand’s tried to get her to stop and talk with her, but she kept walking. We were wondering if she may have had an abortion. I just bowed my head and prayed for her.
Susan and Carolyn were great with handing out literature and talking with people. There was a white Cadillac sitting out front for a while. The driver was filming us. So Susan went over to try and get him to put his window down and talk. He wouldn’t. So she took a picture of his license plate. A woman came out of PP and talked to him at his window (he put the window down to talk to her). Carolyn said she was one of the abortionists, but we aren’t sure.
Virginia (3-5pm)
There was the usual heavy foot traffic, especially the school kids starting about 3:30. Here are some of the highlights of this shift.
An unknown female stopped outside the circle, blessed herself and prayed for about 5 minutes, said “hello” and continued walking. A couple went into PP about 4pm, and didn’t exit until about 4:45. They were parked outside so they went to their vehicle, but accepted some handouts from Pete.
A young lady exited the PP building, carrying a brown paper bag and entered a waiting car, and refused any literature. There were 2 college-age men who stopped inside the circle, blessed themselves and said a few prayers. They greeted Pete and I and went on their way.
A young family- mother, father and young daughter- passed by and the lady gave me a $1 bill. She and her family passed by later on and I returned the $1 to her.
4 young ladies went into PP about 4:15, dressed in “funky” clothes, sweatshirts, etc. These gals exited PP about 20-30 minutes later, immediately verbally started harassing us about women’s right and babies being only a clump of tissue. One identified herself as a “satanist,” said she had had an abortion after being raped, as well as a relative of hers being raped (no mention of an abortion). We spoke calmly about abortion alternatives, but were not heard because of the loud vulgar language being used.
A young man walking by leaned on the window sill of PP and talked on his cell phone, he then moved closer to us and started talking about abortion being a right for women. He was intoxicated and didn’t stay but a few minutes.
Tom arrived to collect the materials, and the next duo was there to help pack the material into Tom’s car.
Let us remember that we have a God Who loves us. He may not always give us what we want…. but He will definitely give us what we need. Sometimes what we need might even be hard, but if we need it, and it is good for our souls, then I say BRING IT ON, Lord!
All we need to do is….
Just read this now, Lisa. You really did a nice job on this blog post.