Today is St. Mary’s day with forty days for life, so a bunch of parishioners signed up for different time slots (or like me, forgot to sign up for a time slot, and will just show up) to pray outside of the abortion mill* here in Alexandria. As I understand it, what this means is that every day, from 7 AM – 10 PM, for forty days, running up until November 1st, there will be people out there praying quietly for an end to abortion, for healing for women who have had abortions, for guidance for women contemplating abortions, and for the men who may be either suffering from the woman’s choice (and an early end to their stint as fathers), or encouraging her to do something she doesn’t want to do. It’s a mostly-silent witness, lots of rosary praying, and trusting the Lord, rather than our own yelling, to change peoples’ hearts.
Check out 40 Days for Life’s website for locations. Even if you’re busy today, there are plenty of spots and plenty of locations. You can sign up now for a time slot, or just show up ready to pray. If you don’t see your city or state on the list (I’m looking at you, City of Kansas City, and State of Kansas), it might be time for you to prayerfully consider starting a chapter. This literally saves lives. Not as many as we’d like, perhaps, but saving even one human life is worth a few hours (or a full day) of prayer. The thought that I keep having is that at the end of my life, I may be approached by someone in Heaven whose life I either saved through pro-life activities, or failed to save, because I was “too busy” for them. This is especially relevant to me since I walk past an abortion mill on the way to work. Say a few prayers, and if you feel the Spirit is calling you to help save some innocent lives, check out the website, show up, and pray your heart out.
*The priest pointed out last night that it’s not really a “clinic,” at all, in that it doesn’t provide a medical service. I’m still fine with either term, but I thought it was an interesting point.