Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

After reciting the Chaplet of Mercy and Sorrowful Mysteries outside the local Planned Parenthood abortion mill this morning as part of the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil, one of the men in our group excitedly told us to look up in the sky. This is what we saw in two different locations:

My wife, I and four strangers spent an hour outside the local Planned Parenthood (PP) center one fall morning in 2010, witnessing to and praying for all those entering that building - staff and client alike. That had been only the fourth time over the past two years that we had participated in the Forty Days for Life prayer vigil in front of this place of deception and death. The majority of the cars entering the facility’s driveway while we were there sped up immediately when they saw the signs and leaflets we carried and the rosaries in our hands.    Most avoided having any eye contact with us, perhaps in a last ditch effort to prevent their consciences from awakening them to the horror of what they were about to do. It was like we were lepers. We continued to pray. We sang softly and sometimes off key.   We listened to God’s Word.   We encouraged each other and prayed that these women, their escorts and the facility’s staff would know that we were there...

I joined more than a hundred others individuals in Syracuse, New York today in the annual March For Life. It was cold - an insignificant inconvenience in comparison to the innocent ones in our community and throughout this nation and the world who have lost their lives at the hands of an abortionist. May our physical witness there today be a source of consolation to them and encouragement for more Catholics to become engaged in this essential battle to protect and save lives. I stood in the back of the group as it assembled after the march to hear the words of local pro-life leaders that included, among others, a mother of eight, the local coordinators of Forty Days For Life, and this area's stridently pro-life and courageous Congresswoman, Ann Marie Buerkle. Thank God they are among us. Pray for these women and for who sacrifice and suffer much in their efforts to protect and save lives. As inspiring and encouraging were the words of these ...

My wife, I and four strangers spent an hour outside the local Planned Parenthood center [this morning], witnessing to and praying for all those entering that building – staff and client alike. This was only the fourth time over the past two years that I participated in the Forty Days for Life prayer vigil in front of this place of deception and death. The majority of the cars entering the facility’s driveway while we were there sped up immediately when they saw the signs and leaflets we carried and the rosaries in our hands. Most avoided having any eye contact with us, perhaps in a last ditch effort to prevent their consciences from awakening them to the horror of what they were about to do. It was like we were lepers. We continued to pray. We sang softly and sometimes off key. We listened to God’s Word. We encouraged each other and prayed that these women, their escorts and the facility’s staff would know that we were there out of love for them and as instruments of a lovin...