40 Days for Life Lenten’s Campaign will kick-off at 7pm on Tuesday with a Mass at Divine Mercy Parish, Epiphany Church, followed by a candle-lit Eucharistic Procession to Planned Parenthood! Fr. Chris Donley, Pastor of Divine Mercy Parish will be the main celebrant, joined by Bishop William Waltersheid and many other priests! Please join us and help us to kick-off this powerful prayer campaign in front of Planned Parenthood! CLICK HERE for the flyer for more information. CLICK HERE for the campaign flyer and use them to spread the word at your church!
We will have prayer with the Blessed Sacrament on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood after our procession from the church at approximately 8:30pm on Tuesday. We will keep the prayers going all through the night, leading up to the official start of the 40-day vigil at 7am on Ash Wednesday. Men are needed to join this overnight vigil! We currently have just the minimum of 2 men for many of the overnight hours and would like more to join! Contact me at nbruni@40daysforlifepgh.com if you are able to help!
The first day of our vigil on Wednesday is in need of more prayer volunteers! There are no churches signed up for that day, so we need many individuals to come and pray on the sidewalk! Contact Donna Goss at gdgoss620@gmail.com to sign up. And if you haven’t yet adopted a time slot for your church or parish, contact Fran Morrow at franmac98fmc@gmail.com to get them signed up!
Last night we had a meeting of our year-round sidewalk advocates and 40 Days for Life 365 volunteers here in Pittsburgh, and I just have to tell you how inspired I was to hear the testimonies that were shared! For instance, Greg Engelmeyer, the leader of Pittsburgh’s Sidewalk Advocate Program, read an email from the director of a crisis pregnancy center in Mercer County. She wrote that many of her clients, after having seen their baby on ultrasound at her center, remained determined to abort. After travelling to Pittsburgh for their abortions, and seeing the prayerful witness in front of Planned Parenthood, many of them returned to her pro-life center in Mercer and told her that they decided they just couldn’t do it. She contacted Greg to thank him for keeping our pro-life witness going on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood! We save many more lives than we know!
Another encouraging report came from Regina Ranelli, of Birthright of Pittsburgh. She informed us that she has worked with at least 40 women who chose life after being directed to her from a pro-life volunteer in front of Planned Parenthood! God has used us to save at least 40 lives…and that is just from a report from Birthright! We have no idea how many women have chosen life after having been directed to the many other pro-life centers here in Pittsburgh…such as Women’s Choice Network and Choices Pregnancy Center!
There are many reasons why praying at Planned Parenthood is important. Saving the lives of precious children is just one of them. We also do it because those who are being killed daily are deserving of our prayers and witness. We are the only ones that will ever acknowledge their value, dignity and importance in God’s eyes. if we are not there to speak for them, who will?
We also do it for our own spiritual benefit. Praying in front of Planned Parenthood helps us to be less selfish; with our time, our comfort and our money. As I was standing in the freezing wind yesterday morning, I was not comfortable. I was trying to pray but kept getting distracted. I had drank coffee before going, but didn’t want to leave my partner alone for the long trek back to the parking garage to go to the bathroom…so I just suffered until the end of my shift. My feet and hands were frozen, my stomach growling and I was rushing to an appointment that I am always late to on Wednesday mornings after my shift. Our time at PP is not enjoyable. If it is, there is probably something wrong with us. It is something that no one…in their human nature…wants to do. But we do it because it is important. If we don’t do it, it will appear to the world that no one cares. 3,000 babies die there every year. We should care about that enough to suffer for them.
So I hope you will join us in this 40 day adventure of prayer, fasting and peaceful witness in front of Planned Parenthood! I can’t wait to see how God will use our presence to save lives and draw souls back to Himself!
See you on Tuesday!
Your sister in Christ,
Nikki