Approximately 20 faithful Christians from all over Pittsburgh have been gathering together every Sunday morning at 9:30 am, in front of Divine Mercy Parish/St. Mary’s downtown for a mile-and-a-half-long prayer walk around our city. This morning we were pleasantly surprised to be joined by Pittsburgh’s auxiliary bishop, Bishop William Waltersheid! Bishop Waltersheid has decided to join us on as many Sundays as possible, to walk and pray with us, so I am inviting you to join us as well! We began this weekly prayer walk back in June of last year as a way to prepare for the October 7th consecration of the Three Rivers, which was done by Bishop Waltersheid. The rivers were consecrated at the Point to the Three Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. After the October 7th consecration, we decided to continue with our weekly prayer walks to help us carry on through the election, and then after the election we continued until there was a resolution to the election. This brings us to today, where we are continuing to offer our sacrifice of walking in the cold, in repentance for the sins of our nation and begging for God’s mercy to be upon us. If you would like to join us, as we safely pray and walk (socially distancing in the outdoor air), just show up any Sunday at 9:30 at the corner of Stanwix and Third, in front of the doors of Divine Mercy Parish, St. Mary Church. We conclude our prayer walk back at the church around 10:45 am.
The reason that I am writing about this weekly prayer walk is because I think that it is more important then ever, during this dark and dangerous time, for us, as the Body of Christ, to persevere in prayer. When we pray together…physically together, we encourage and inspire each other to persevere in our faith, which can be difficult when we see the advancing of evil all around us!
I read an article recently that has haunted and greatly discouraged me. It exposed the fact that at the University of Pittsburgh, researchers are taking the scalps of aborted babies (obtained from Magee Hospital) and grafting them onto the bodies of rodents!
(Article linked here.)Imagine the depravity! Could we sink any lower??? To take God’s beautiful creation, a precious, unique individual…a helpless baby in the womb…remove his scalp and graft it onto a mouse? Look at this photo, if you have the strength, and see the soft baby hair, which should be being softly stroked by the loving hands of the parents…now living on as part of a research animal in a cage. Surely, animals must be more human…or should I say humane… than we have become in 2021.
Another thing that has haunted and disturbed me was an interview that I watched on Lifesite News. (linked here) In this video, Pamela Acker describes how fetal tissue is harvested (kidneys in particular), from aborted babies…many times while they are still alive, with their hearts beating! She compared what we are doing to these babies to what the ancient Aztecs did, by ripping out the beating hearts of those who were being sacrificed to the Aztec gods. We are no better than those sadistic pagans, sacrificing our children to the idols of health, affluence and convenience.
May God have mercy on us!
We have been praying and fasting for an end to abortion and for our nation to turn back to God. And, what has happened since we have been praying?
Well, let’s see…we will soon have a new administration in power that is the most anti-Christian administration in history. Religious persecution is a very real possibility. Our ability to publicly witness to our faith and our pro-life stance will likely be threatened. The very woman who fiercely prosecuted David Daleidan for exposing Planned Parenthood’s illegal selling of baby body parts will now be our vice president. She is also the same person who relentlessly persecuted crisis pregnancy centers in California, trying to force them to have signage referring women for abortions on their center signage. So the future of the pro-life movement looks grim, to say the least.
So, did God not hear our prayers? Is He turning His back on us? Or, has He heard…and ANSWERED our prayers? Maybe we just don’t like His answer! Really…what can we expect, after shedding the blood of 70 million innocent children? It may be time to suffer. We deserve it. If suffering is coming, it is actually very merciful of God that He is allowing it. Why? Because if we suffer, we may just repent and turn back to Him, and maybe…just maybe….He will heal our land.
I am writing this on Sunday, and the epistle reading from today was from Romans 12:6-16. This verse is very beautiful and speaks to our time so powerfully:
…Be patient in tribulation, persevering in prayer. Share the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Be of one mind towards one another. Do not set your mind on high things but condescend to the lowly.
Romans 12
What struck me about this verse is the last line, “Do not set your mind on high things but condescend to the lowly.” That is what I see our little rag-tag Sunday morning prayer group doing. We are not trying to coordinate some grand and complicated prayer walk. We have not advertised it or promoted it, those who want to come simply show up. No one notices what we are doing…but God does. Prayer and sacrifice, made with love, are never wasted! Even if we don’t get the answer that we want, God will use our prayers to strengthen us and He will bring about good from the present evil. Join our little rag-tag prayer team, or gather a group of prayer warriors in your own neighborhood or church! Our light is needed now more than ever!
Our 40 Days for Life Lenten Campaign will be starting soon! We still are looking for shift buddies for the following shifts (from Feb. 17 – Mar. 28):
Sundays from 9-11 am (with Ken) and 5-7 pm (with Andy), Mondays 3-5 pm (with Marie H), Wednesdays from 3-5 pm (with Virginia) and 5-7 pm (with Joe K), Thursdays 3-5 pm (with Pete) and 5-7 pm (with Charlie), Fridays 11 am – 1 pm (with Sheila) and 5-7 pm (with Bill E) and the FIRST TWO MONDAYS from 11 am – 1 pm we need BOTH a shift manager AND a buddy. (This is for 2/22 and 3/1 ONLY). Please contact me at nbruni@40daysforlifepgh.com if you are able to make an appointment with God during any one of these times!
Of course we welcome your prayerful presence at Planned Parenthood ANY time that you can make it! Contact Fran Morrow at franmac98fmc@gmail.com to sign up as a group, or if you want to sign up as an individual, contact Donna Goss at gdgoss620@gmail.com
Our brand new 40 Days for Life 365 initiative had a promising start last week! Thanks to those who signed up for the first time, to help us to cover the afternoon hours on abortion days! A special thanks to Chris, Arlene, Stephen, Carrie, Jen, Eric and Nadine (and I apologize if I missed anyone! For this week, we need someone for these times:
Tuesday from 11am – 4pm (especially from 2-4 as we have a brand new volunteer, Eric, who has no one to stand with) ; Wednesday we need someone to be with Chris from 2-3 pm ; Friday is filled….praise God! Saturday we need someone to be with Greg from 11am-1pm and someone to be with new volunteer Carrie from 1-2pm. We also need people from 2pm-4pm, This week’s 365 Captain is Katie O’Brien, so contact her at fezysmama@yahoo.com to help fill some hours this week!
Especially since the March for Life is now cancelled in DC…I would make a special plea to those who were planning on going. You would have sacrificed about 18 hours to drive there and back in one LONG day of pro-life activism. Since you cannot do that this year, may I suggest that you spend those 18 hours instead, breaking them up into weekly hours (one or two at a time) at Planned Parenthood? God may just use your presence there to save a life!
To conclude this long blog post (my apologies for going on so long)…I wanted to give you an update on Baby “A”, who was born at 24 weeks at Magee Hospital, and who has been fighting for her life after being born at 24 weeks. (Doctors had pressured mom to abort, but she courageously chose life.) Many of our 40 Days for Life family have contributed to help mom “E” to be able to stay at a hotel near the hospital, in order to be with her little baby girl. She is very appreciative and sent this photo and note:
Mom “E” writes: To all my supporters I thank you. Baby A is doing good. But still having some issues. It’s a long road for me and her. But the support and prayers from all of you keeps my Faith strong. March seems so far away with her Up’s and downs. But I know she will get there. I truly appreciate all the support and prayers for me and my baby girl. Continue to pray for us. I will keep y’all updated on her progress.. Thanks so much from the bottom of my heart…Baby A Mommy E
And Regina Ranelli, from Birthright of Pittsburgh, gives this update:
Baby A. is 31 weeks old now, and continues to fight every! She is just shy of 3 lbs., and is breathing successfully with C-Pap machine. She is currently on a second round of antibiotics as she fights another infection. Fight she will though, with Mommy E. By her side! Many thanks for continued prayers!
Thanks everyone for persevering in prayer! Thanks for walking along with the rest of your brothers and sisters in Christ as we keep the faith and put our trust in our Heavenly Father to see us through this dark time!
In Christ,
Nikki