In honor of Respect Life month, my parish usually holds a Life Chain up and down a nearby major thoroughfare and intersection. People line up the sidewalk holding signs like, "Abortion kills children," "Abortion hurts women," "Life is the first inalienable right," "Jesus saves," and others. Not just holding these signs for people to see, but to stand there in prayer as a witness to our peaceful stand for life.
I personally didn't get to see the full breadth of how widespread we were, but it seemed like more people participated this year than last despite the cold weather. We probably spanned like three blocks or so. And supposedly a fellow Christian church (non-Catholic) joined us in our Life Chain this year, so that's pretty cool!
For me, I stood out there with my sign that said "Abortion hurts women," and prayed a Rosary while kneeling on the sidewalk. Not gonna lie, it was distracting seeing cars pass by. Not gonna lie, I'm grateful for all those times I worked on my non-kneeler knees, because kneeling on the sidewalk during an entire Rosary wasn't so bad. Builds character.
Anyway, it was rather distracting watching the traffic go by. Because...as the picture above suggests...it was hard to tell if people were giving a thumbs up or a middle finger as they drove by. I mean, abortion is a hot button issue, and some people are rather passionately opinionated about it. But come on, don't tint your windows! Then I really can't tell if that's a thumbs up or middle finger that you're shaking at me, even though I'm trying my best not to pay attention to you anyway! And many thanks and congrats to those who actually rolled down their windows...which most of those people with rolled down windows gave sustained thumbs in the upright position. Approved.
In the area that I was at, only one guy shouted "F#@% YOU!!!!!!!" as he drove by. Annnd he immediately became my intention for the Hail Mary I was on.
So Life Chain is great! As long as the government doesn't attempt to breach our other First Amendment rights (of speech and assembly...but they've breached religious freedom)...we can continue to have public gatherings of prayer to send a message that hey, abortion ain't good--there's a better way.
Please pray for our country that we can inspire and educate others to make a stand for life because the right to life is sooooooo fundamental to our human experience.
Life.
- JD
