Summary of Sept 10th 40 days for Life Information Meeting at St. Patrick's Basilica
Good day Parish reps,
I attended the meeting on September 10th, and because some of you were unable to attend I thought I would give you a brief synopsis of it. Unfortunately, the SCAVI ( basement area) was double booked so our group was moved to the Baptistery which sounds nice and it was, but it was a wonderful and very informative meeting, even if we were a little warm and somewhat cramped.
The campaign is well underway and Stan Siok informed us that as of now, three parishes and the group Couples for Christ have already signed up for a day or a part of a day at the Ground Zero Vigil site. Stan re-iterated the remarks that Father Richard Siok gave in his opening prayer and talk that we are all called to be prophetic witnesses, and to speak up for the "least of our brethren". The way we treat the unborn is the acid test of Christianity. Stan gave us a new poster outlining all the Important Dates including kick-off rally, midpoint rally, and closing rally and I am just waiting for him to send me the file so I can forward it to you for you to put up in your church lobbies. Guy from the French sector is working on getting the campaign established within the French Parishes.
Paul Cuddihy our Prayer coordinator emphasized the importance of instilling in each parish the idea of praying for an end to abortion. Prayer is the cornerstone of this campaign. Actually, prayer should be the cornerstone of everything. Anyways, he has some great ideas and will be contacting the leaders of the different organizations within each parish such as the CWL, Knights of Columbus Legion of Mary, Prayer Groups, etc. with the proposition that different Church Groups consider sponsoring Holy Hours with prayers for Life within their own parishes as well as encouraging their own members and families, the importance of prayers for Life. This is why we are asking for contact names for the different groups within your parish as well as the Parish email. I would like to thank those who have sent them in. For those who have not done so, I encourage you to do so, so that your parish can be part of this prayer initiative. Paul has been working on some Holy Hour prayer booklets that he will send electronically to all of these groups in order to help facilitate this project. John Pacheco has already incorporated these wonderful prayers in the 40 Days for Life Web site under GET INVOLVED!/ Prayer & Fasting/ Catholic Prayers. Here’s the direct link: http://www.40daysforlife.com/ottawa/index.cfm?load=page&page=172
Also again this year we will be contacting Nursing and Retirement Homes to ask for their assistance in praying for the 40 Days for Life Campaign. I am a member of the Legion of Mary in my parish of the Annunciation of the Lord and each week members of our group visit Elmsmere Retirement Residence here in Gloucester. During both Campaigns last year we asked the Residents to pray for the success of the 40 Days for Life Each week when we prayed the rosary we included prayers for the unborn , their mothers, abortionists and all those affected by abortion. We always said a prayer to Saint Joseph, patron of Canada and our lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the unborn. As well , we kept them up to date on the progress of 40 Days for Life. Our parishioners who live in long term care facilities are just so happy to be asked to pray for those in need . Often they are suffering and it gives them comfort to unite their suffering with Jesus on the cross for this worthy cause. Our elderly Catholics love to pray and to be part of what’s going on!!!
We were asked to contact our non Catholic friends to inform those about 40 Days for life. Perhaps they could contact their Church leaders with the information….especially the evangelical and Pentecostal Churches.
Jesus himself showed us by His 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting in the desert that prayer and fasting are the most important weapons in our arsenal against the forces of evil. It was also emphasized at the meeting that when we are praying at the Ground Zero site it is not a time to chit chat with our neighbors. We are also not to stare at people going in and out of the abortuary.
It is also a good idea to suggest to people who go to pray at the site to have information on Pregnancy Support Centers should you be approached by someone . Myra Burrell from Birthright-Ottawa gave short talk about their karaoke fundraiser, and had some handouts about it. She also gave a short briefing as to what her group does.
Also present at yesterday's meeting was Frances Wilkinson from Canada Silent No More gave a powerful testimony of some her moving experiences at Ground Zero.
The closing prayer was led by Fr. Michael Winn, the new Rector of Holy Spirit Seminary (Ukrainian Catholic Rite). Last spring he was involved with the 40 Days Campaign in Winnipeg. We all faced the large crucifix in the St. Patrick’s Baptistery and were united in profound prayer for the success of this campaign.
Anyways, these are some of the main points covered at the meeting. For further information I have provided a page on my website http://sites.google.com/site/faithfulcatholics/ which I update as needed. Included is a link to a A Simple Sermon on Abortion that Stan handed out at the meeting last night. Thank you again and may our Good Lord Bless you for the good work you do for HIM.