Who on earth would want to spend an hour or so standing outside across the road from an abortion facility praying for the mothers the fathers and the babies and also the people who perform this dreadful act?
Well I did today, and I must say it was a sheer act of the will. I did not want to be there – I have many things to do and places to go, but the graces abound for those who somehow find an hour to pray at this place of Calvary.
I was standing with friends praying, and a lady came up to me and bent her head and said hello and started to say my name. I looked up and she said “Thank you Colleen. My son Harry is 14-years-old now and he is amazing and has grown up very well. He has a younger brother and we are all very happy.”
She spent some time telling me about her life since our last encounter and wants to come and visit us at our John Paul II Centre for Life. I was awestruck that she would recognise me after all these years. I had been praying outside that same abortion facility well over fourteen years ago when I met Yuki. Our Centre supported her throughout the pregnancy and beyond. Today she could not thank me enough for saving her son’s life.
So I plead with you, if you are able, please join Mark and his team in Auckland, or Clare and her team in Wellington, between now and Palm Sunday which is the close of this 40 Days for Life vigil. I promise you that your presence does make a difference. Lives are saved. People are given hope. The light of Christ shines in the darkness.
Please know that each one of you is always in our prayers and on our hearts.
Sign up for the Auckland vigil.
Sign up for the Wellington vigil.
Thank you. I pray at a 40DFL vigil in Manchester, NH USA, and I still haven’t gotten “comfortable” – but of course it’s not about my comfort.