Sunday's Kick off Rally was very special. The day started out gloomy and rainy. All who were involved prayed for the rain to hold out during our walk. And it did!!
We decided to have a holy hour and benediction before the rally, something we had not done before. We know God comes first and what better way to pray to Him for a successful 40 Days than this. The holy hour took place at 12:30pm, was led by Fr. Joseph Newton from St. Luke's parish and seminarians from the archdiocese assisted him. Praise the Lord for our youth who are so willing to help! One of the more than 30 people that participated in the holy hour said it was a beautiful way to start the 40 Days for Life campaign.
The rally was very inspirational. Shawn Carney, one of the founders of 40 Days for Life, was our keynote speaker. He spoke at our last kick off rally in the spring and was even more inspiring this time. We were treated to a special treat because his wife, Marilisa, another one of the founders for 40 Days for Life, also spoke. She was so excited to be here with us and excited for the chance to speak to all of us. She is a very warm and caring mother of three and extremely passionate about the prolife movement!
Luis Aguayo from the Hispanic Catholic Family Movement group also addressed the audience of more than 130 people. He is so dedicated to saving innocent lives and has participated in all four of our 40 Days for Life campaigns. This time Luis showed us he is starting to learn more English and addressed us in English with a beautiful story about how he is trying to get the Hispanic community and his parish priest more involved.
Everyone left the rally energized and excited. Most of the people made the 2.5 mile walk to Planned Parenthood. It was beautiful to see the sea of people walking along 86th Street, standing for life. I stayed in the back for most of the walk and it was amazing to see all the people walking and praying for the unborn and the end to abortion. Prayers and songs could be heard in both Spanish and English.
Upon arriving at Planned Parenthood, we gathered for the Rosary. We prayed it by alternating the Our Fathers and the Hail Mary's in English and Spanish. Once we had completed the Rosary, Father Noah Casey, also from St. Luke parish, encouraged our efforts and gave us a blessing.
With that, the rally concluded and now we are called to schedule our time to come and pray every week. I hope we can all wait one hour with the Lord these 40 Days.
Elaine Alvarez
St. Luke
No comments:
Post a Comment