Day 9…Thanks to our faithful team!

Battle Tested—Lenten Ready

            When, in Lent, we hear the Gospel of Our Lord’s being tested in the desert, it reminds us that these forty amazing days of Lent and, in fact, every day of our life is about a battle between good and evil. In other words, our journey through Lent and our journey through life is not for wimps.

            Before Jesus began His public ministry, the Spirit led him into the desert, where He fasted and prayed for forty days. We can say that this time of communing with His Father in the desert manifests to us the prototype of Lent that the Church presents to us. We might even see in the forty years when the Hebrews wandered in the desert seeking the Promised Land a prefiguring of our life as we wander in this world, truly a desert, as we seek our Promised Land, heaven.

            So, what do we find in the Season of Lent and in our life, our time allotted to us in this world? We recognize that we are living in the midst of a battle between the creative power of God’s love and the destructive power of the ancient enemy’s hatred. The only way that we can win the battle is to do what Our Lord did during the forty days in the desert. He fasted and He prayed. He turned to His Heavenly Father and He lifted up His Heart to be joined with the Heart of the Father in prayer and in love. The power of eternal and unshakable love is manifested in this union of their Hearts. Jesus, who is Almighty God, took on our own human flesh, becoming like us in all things but sin, and underwent the rigorous fast of 40 days to teach us that self-denial leads to self-mastery and self-sacrificial love in obedience to God’s Will, and finally to the defeat of the wiles of the enemy. When we fast and pray, we open our heart in submission to God so that He may realize the victory of good over evil in our own life.

            My dear friends, we are dropped down behind enemy lines at birth. We are born into a fallen world where the ancient serpent seeks to destroy lives, destroy families, corrupt communities, and set nation against nation. The enemy wants to lead as many souls as possible away from God. He wants to tempt us and cause us to sin, to say a resounding “NO!” to God. He does this by making us think that God does not exist or, at least, by convincing us that there is no such thing as sin. He whispers in our ears and minds that we are in control of our own lives and destiny. The evil foe does everything in his power to seduce us into sensual pleasure, into the quest for control, and into worshipping ourselves (and him!) in place of God.

            However, even though we are behind enemy lines, we share in the victory of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us by shedding His Blood on the altar of the Cross. While it is true that the old enemy still prowls around like a roaring lion seeking those whom he wishes to devour, he is enraged, because he knows he has been defeated by the Lord Jesus, who put him to flight in the desert.

            By our fasting and prayer, by our uniting ourselves with the Sacrifice of Jesus at every Mass, by our receiving His Sacred Body and Precious Blood in Holy Communion, by our asking for the intercession of the Mother of God and of our brothers and sisters, the saints in heaven, and by our requesting the protection of the angels, we wage a powerful spiritual battle against the forces of darkness. We belong to the army of the Savior, whose power lies in love, mercy and peace. Yes, we are battle-tested and Lenten-ready as we strive to follow the Savior and the standard of His Holy Cross.

            Have no fear! We will continue to fight the battle for the establishment of a culture of life and a civilization of love. Our daily presence at Planned Parenthood and prayers offered there, the reaching out to pregnant women in desperate need, and our loving voices united on behalf of the unborn, with the help of God’s grace, will make a great difference in proclaiming the dignity and worth of every human life.

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid

Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh

KEEP READING FOR TODAY’S SIDEWALK STORIES…

Nikki & Mark

It was a quiet shift for Mark and I…joined by Randy at 8am. It seems it was the calm before the storm. No one entered except for employees, and I think I saw the abortionist go in around 8:30. There was one single woman, an attractive young woman who entered at around 9, and who accepted a blessing bag and green brochure, who said she was pregnant and going in for an ultrasound. I asked her if she needed help with her pregnancy, and she said “no”. She wanted to be pregnant. I told her that PP doesn’t offer prenatal care, and encouraged her to go elsewhere for her ultrasound, but she went in anyway. She did not come back out. She seemed truthful, so I have no idea what was going on there. I would be really surprised if PP is doing ultrasounds for pre-natal care!

It was wonderful to see Sue arrive for her shift, and to hand over the torch to her. One thing to note: For our entire shift there was a man laying all the way across the sidewalk in front of the Gyro shop. He would wake up periodically and try to eat something out of a snack bag near his head, which would spill all over the sidewalk as he tried to pour it into his mouth. It was so depressing to see. A large group of about 50 charter school students were lined up on the sidewalk for a few minutes…having to literally step over this poor man as they went. I wonder what it must be like to be a child in this world today, where a normal part of your school-day experience involved stepping over drugged-out men. This world. Hearts have grown cold. I hope Jesus is coming back soon.

Sue & Cheryl

It was a cold and ugly shift with probably 8 women going in. One couple we approached did come back out after about 10 minutes, so we are hopeful that she is contacting the free pro-life resources on the green brochure. Cheryl, Randy and I prayed non- stop except for when we were reaching out to women. It seemed like there were more than usual homeless men laying on the sidewalk and walking the streets. My thought is all this disorder will not stop until the killing of the innocents comes to an end. A woman on a bike yelled something at us and knocked over the fetal models…she seems unable to handle the visible truth. We said a prayer for the real victims today, all the women and babies being hurt and killed by abortion.  Sue

NOTE: The woman that Sue wrote about above knew to un-hook the bungee cord, which held the fetal model to the tree, before knocking over the models, breaking the largest model at the place it attaches to the post. These were brand new models, which cost about $300. We won’t give up showing the truth though! The fact that the fetal models are targeted so often just proves to us their effectiveness! There will be a new set in a few days, and we will make sure they are more durable this time.

Sam, Beverly & Ed

Cil, Fr. Jim & Carolyn

(from Cil) – We were glad that Carolyn and Diane were well and able to join us this week!  Carolyn is always there with Our Lady.

Thanks to Eva for coming again and for Fr Jim, from St Francis / Clare who drives us each week.

It was nice to have Bob from St Mary, OL of Guadeloupe in Kittanning with us for most of the shift.  And Dave from Carolyn’s Resurrection Parish also came down and prayed on the other side.  Many rosaries, and the Divine Mercy were prayed.  

To my enjoyment we sang some songs… a mix of religious, patriotic and children’s.  To lighten things up a bit Carolyn told us a few corny jokes.

It was sad to see different ones coming and going.  I was able to give a blessing bag to someone exiting and someone going in.  The one entering was pregnant and stopped briefly.  I told her that we could help her.  I don’t know that I said the right things.  She was late for her appt and still went in.  She did come out before we left but walked the other direction from us and didn’t want to stop.  Gave away the small cards to whoever would take them.  Mixed reactions today.

My fingers were cold so we were thankful for the hand warmers.  Thankful for the dry day.  We found sun towards the end of our shift.

Pete & Bill

For the 3-5 shift it was relatively quiet today for Bill and I.  We did hear some encouraging words from passers-by, which always lifts the spirit, along with the usual ‘Don’t you have anything better to do’ comment.  But we feel truly blessed to go about and do the Lord’s work in proclaiming the sanctity of life.  God Bless – Pete