We came to the battle field! It was the beginning of the year – January 2, 2018 – a good time to begin the year celebrating Life! The age old battle lines had been drawn! Life vs Death! The Coalitions for Life vs Planned Parenthood!
Many of our pro-life youth today enthusiastically claim that 2018 is the year they will stamp out abortion. Planned Parenthood kills more unborn babies through abortion than any other organization. Our mission is to close down this mega Planned Parenthood on the Gulf Freeway in Houston and thus save many babies. With this goal in mind, a small group of mostly older (50+) PAPA members gathered outside this Planned Parenthood facility. We consisted of 8 women, 1 man, and a priest, Father Michael. The weather was very cold (in the 30s F), so we were bundled up in parkas, gloves, scarves and warm hats! My husband, Julius, backed our car up close to another car, opened the back end, and turned on the car heater and blower. We stood between the two parked cars and for an hour and a half prayed the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and sang joyful songs as Father Michael blessed the cars that drove into the Planned Parenthood parking lot.
So picture this: Here we were joyfully praying and singing in front of the largest Planned Parenthood in the western hemisphere….aka “the Killing Fields”. Where was the hope in all of this? How could we be joyful? Our reward came after about 45 minutes. A woman and what appeared to be her daughter and small granddaughter saw us, pulled over in their car and stopped to discover what we were doing. We shared with her that we were praying the Rosary for an end to abortion and joyfully singing and celebrating God’s gift of Life! We gave her a Rosary, a Rosary pamphlet, and our church’s office number. They were very grateful! We promised to pray for them and noted that, as they drove away, they did not enter Planned Parenthood’s parking lot!
While contemplating on our prayerful experience, I reflected on the fact that many groups have gathered together from our church over the past 4 years to pray in front of this Planned Parenthood. But this was the first time that we expressed joy in song and prayer in this mission. So in the future, our prayerful presence will be more joyous because…. Joy is Contagious and Life is to be celebrated!
