Many pro-life activists are striving to promote the culture of life and to counter the culture of death. Responding to the culture of death, I have witnessed to those in difficult situations in front of abortion mills. As I have prayed and conversed before these places of death and despair, I have considered how best to broadcast and share the message of hope and new life. This January I was privileged to attend both the National March for Life in Washington, DC and the Walk for Life in San Francisco, CA.
Thousands of peaceful, joyful protesters descended upon the National Mall, January 22, despite frigid temperatures. We gathered due to a tremendous evil that has been allowed to continue in our country, but marching with so many pro-life people re-kindled and intensified my resolve to save babies and respect life from conception to natural death. Being Catholic I attended the Mass for Life at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The readings for the day were 1 Sam 17: 32-33, 37, 40-51—David v. Goliath, Ps 144—Prayer asking the Lord for His strength, and Mk. 3:1-6 – Jesus’s loving healing in the midst of oppression and hate. We the protesters found these fitting reminders of the battle in which we are engaged and a perspective on the beautiful gift of life we are striving to protect and nurture.
Having freshly returned home from the March for Life, I unexpectedly received an invitation to attend the Walk for Life in San Francisco, January 25. Naturally, I jumped at the chance and soon found myself arriving at the SF airport shortly before the Walk was to begin. What struck me most about the Walk– aside from the balmy weather – was the shallow and deprived nature of the counter-protesters. Seeing the faces of these young women, some no older than 16 and others younger, made my heart pity so-called “pro-choice advocates”. Not one of them seemed joy-filled; they appeared forced and petty. Their “Abortion on demand and without apology” accentuated the callous disregard for the beautiful gift of life. Moreover, these steeled my resolve to be compassionately supportive to all those in difficult situations. In what ways can I concretely support men and women in crisis pregnancies, and how can I show my respect for human life today here in my own home?
These experiences serve as a vivid reminder of our call as human beings to respect the dignity of all life, especially the unborn and the elderly. That respect must start with you and me, otherwise, our words and intentions ring as hollow as sad counter protests of those “celebrating” the “right to abortion”. Finally, I find the following particularly insightful: Heb. 3:13 “Encourage one another daily while it is still today” – let us respect, nurture, and love our fellow human beings always “on demand and without apology.”
Thousands of peaceful, joyful protesters descended upon the National Mall, January 22, despite frigid temperatures. We gathered due to a tremendous evil that has been allowed to continue in our country, but marching with so many pro-life people re-kindled and intensified my resolve to save babies and respect life from conception to natural death. Being Catholic I attended the Mass for Life at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The readings for the day were 1 Sam 17: 32-33, 37, 40-51—David v. Goliath, Ps 144—Prayer asking the Lord for His strength, and Mk. 3:1-6 – Jesus’s loving healing in the midst of oppression and hate. We the protesters found these fitting reminders of the battle in which we are engaged and a perspective on the beautiful gift of life we are striving to protect and nurture.
Having freshly returned home from the March for Life, I unexpectedly received an invitation to attend the Walk for Life in San Francisco, January 25. Naturally, I jumped at the chance and soon found myself arriving at the SF airport shortly before the Walk was to begin. What struck me most about the Walk– aside from the balmy weather – was the shallow and deprived nature of the counter-protesters. Seeing the faces of these young women, some no older than 16 and others younger, made my heart pity so-called “pro-choice advocates”. Not one of them seemed joy-filled; they appeared forced and petty. Their “Abortion on demand and without apology” accentuated the callous disregard for the beautiful gift of life. Moreover, these steeled my resolve to be compassionately supportive to all those in difficult situations. In what ways can I concretely support men and women in crisis pregnancies, and how can I show my respect for human life today here in my own home?
These experiences serve as a vivid reminder of our call as human beings to respect the dignity of all life, especially the unborn and the elderly. That respect must start with you and me, otherwise, our words and intentions ring as hollow as sad counter protests of those “celebrating” the “right to abortion”. Finally, I find the following particularly insightful: Heb. 3:13 “Encourage one another daily while it is still today” – let us respect, nurture, and love our fellow human beings always “on demand and without apology.”
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