Fear & Trembling…but with FAITH!

The Need for REPENTANCE…

As our Lenten 40 Days for Life approaches, (we are just four weeks away from kick-off!)…I am feeling strongly that our theme for these 40 days needs to be “repentance”.

Leading up to the November elections, many of us had been praying the nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadelupe, which Cardinal Burke was leading. For nine whole months we prayed daily that God would have mercy on our nation and would spare us from the election of leaders who would make the expansion of abortion and the corruption of the innocent their number one priority. We were also praying Fr. Ripperger’s prayer for the election, recognizing our guilt and the guilt of our nation, while begging God to spare us from the election of leaders that we deserved. Can anyone deny that God has answered our prayers?

It is true that God has had mercy on us, and that He has given us more time to seek His Face in repentance and to turn from our wicked ways. It appears that He wants to forgive us and heal our land…but how can He forgive us if we don’t repent? I have yet to see a politician or national newscaster say anything about the need for America to repent of the fact that we have shed the innocent blood of over 60 million unborn babies through abortion. If we do not sincerely repent of this most grievous sin, how long do we think this reprieve will last?

So…how do we do this? What does “repentance” look like today?

In Bible times, people would show their repentance by the visible sign of wearing sackcloth and covering their heads with ashes. I somehow don’t think that would be very effective in these times. There must be another way for us to show our neighbors and God that we are sorry for the sin of abortion. But how? Well…I am glad you asked! I just happen to have the perfect opportunity for us all to show God and our neighbor that we sincerely repent for all the innocent lives lost to abortion…and it is beginning in just four short weeks! Yes, 40 Days for Life Lenten’s campaign runs from March 5th until April 13th! For forty straight days, from 7:30 am until 5:00 pm EVERY DAY…we will be on the sidewalk praying for repentance, revival and for God to heal our nation’s soul.

Allowing our hearts to be broken…

For those of us who have been doing this a long time, there is the danger that we will become callous to the horrific crime against God that is abortion. Speaking for myself, I rarely cry anymore. When God first broke my heart and removed the scales from my eyes…back in 2009…I cried every day for a year. But then after a while, my heart hardened…and although I have never given up the fight…I don’t really feel the pain anymore. Well, last month I received a reminder of the pain that I felt at first, when I re-read a book that I inherited from Bob Newman. The book is a binder filled with images of abortion victims and their stories, which Bob had collected and assembled. Andrew McCauley was looking for photos of abortion victims to use in a talk he was giving to some seminarians, and I remembered that I had this binder that Bob had given me many years ago, so I dug it out and began to read it. For two hours, at bedtime. I can tell you that I did not sleep peacefully that night.

I will show you the image that broke my heart the most, and caused me to sob in repentance. It was the photo of a little baby boy that was born alive…possibly a saline abortion. The doctor killed him by yanking his umbilical cord from his body, causing massive abdominal hemorrhage and ripping off his penis. If that wasn’t bad enough, the doctor also carved off his buttocks to ensure maximum blood loss. I can’t imagine a more torturous way to die. I wouldn’t wish this on the most heinous criminal…let alone on a precious, innocent baby.

Yes, we have a lot to repent for in this nation, and it is up to us…the CHURCH…to lead the way!

I titled this post “Fear and Trembling…but with Faith!” after today’s Gospel reading from Mark 5. It includes the account of the woman suffering from a hemorrhage who touched Jesus’ clothing, believing that if she only touched the hem of His garment, she would be healed. She of course was healed. But the part of this passage that really grabbed me was the verse, “The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.“

Our repentance is to be two-fold; We fear and tremble because we understand the gravity of our sin, yes. But we don’t hide our sin from God. We don’t turn away from Him…no! We approach Him…trusting Him and believing that He will forgive and heal us!

God can use anyone to save precious lives and to bring about healing and restoration!

As a reminder that God uses our prayerful witness in front of PP, here is a photo of a baby that was saved from abortion last year. Her mother was in a very difficult situation and had gone to PP for an abortion. Thanks to Sheila and our year-round sidewalk volunteers, Maria chose life. Her baby, Jeyli, was born and was just baptized last month…along with her older brother. I had the joy to attend the baptism, while Sheila and her husband Joe had the great honor of being the children’s God Parents.

A “Saint” is Saved from Abortion!

I remember Fr. Thomas More Sikora telling our 40 Days for Life team that God is using us to “save future saints“! He said that he believes that God will raise up many of the babies that are saved from abortion to be great saints. Since Satan had tried to kill them…God must have great plans for them. I thought of this when sidewalk volunteers Larry and Eileen reported that during their shift in front of PP a few weeks ago, (it was a Wednesday afternoon when the temps were in the teens!), and a young mom approached them with her baby in a stroller. She told them that she had come to PP exactly one year ago to the day to abort her child, but had changed her mind and left. She came back to show us her beautiful baby…and even brought the baby inside of Planned Parenthood to show them!!!

Now wait till you hear what that child’s name is! That’s right….”Saint“!

Speaking of babies who were saved from abortion, I was thinking about the first baby that I ever knew of who was saved because of my sidewalk presence. Her mom came to the sidewalk after she was born just to tell me that she had changed her mind after seeing me there, and she told me her baby girl’s name was Melania. That was 16 years ago. Little Melania must now be a young woman, who could be having children of her own in just a few short years! It is amazing to think about the second generation of family lineages that are being born because of lives saved through our sidewalk witness!

JOIN US!

We all need to join in this effort to bring healing and repentance to our land. Here are the ways YOU can be involved:

• Sign up for a weekly time to pray at PP during the 40 days, or if you can’t come weekly, choose whatever times you can make it! Go to www.40daysforlife.com/pittsburgh to sign up, or contact Jen at pghsaland365@gmail.com and she will put you on the schedule.
• Fasting is more critical then ever before! To help bring about repentance and revival in our nation, join our 40-day fast from food by signing up to fast on as many days as you can. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO FAST!
• Make plans to attend one or both of our kick off events! CLICK HERE for the flyer!
• Mark your calendars now to attend our 40 Days for Life CLOSING EVENT WITH ABBY JOHNSON!!! Yes! Abby is coming to Pittsburgh for our closing event! She is looking forward to joining in our Eucharistic Procession to PP and will speak to us about her wonderful ministry to former abortion workers! CLICK HERE FOR THE FLYER
• Pray Fr. Ripperger’s prayer for our nation daily, for protection for our president and national leaders! CLICK HERE for a PDF of the prayer.

Thanks for reading this long post. I hope to see you soon!

God bless you!

Nikki