Day 29: Vigil Help Needed

We have only ten days left in our journey of prayer and witness for life, and I invite you to sign up now for one or more of the vigil hours that are still available to help fill our schedule and maintain a solid and continuous prayer presence at the site. As of the latest tally, 13.5 hours as yet remain uncovered, and 60 more need one more person. Surely we can fill these as a team! When are you available to come and pray for the unborn during this last week of our campaign?

Photo: Sherri, Jennifer, Kerri, Jacinta, Kelly, and Nancy
last Sunday at the vigil site. Come on out and join us!

Also, we're gearing up for a fun-tastic door-to-door outreach effort this Saturday, from 9:30am to 4:30pm in the city of Alexandria. Our target literature drop total is 3,000, and we are nearing that goal with confirmed walkers already. Let me know when you can join us!

We are in the midst of the Nine Days of Prayer for Clergy (October 22-30), in which Christians are invited to pray the following prayer, which has been adapted for inter-denominational use. For more information visit www.prayercampaign.org.

Father, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to be our High Priest, and you continue his saving work among us to this day. Bless our clergy and ministers, and give us more of them. Make them holy. Strengthen them to proclaim the Gospel of Life, and to defend the rights of all, especially the unborn. Bring us, your ministers and people, to the life that never ends. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The early Church Father Irenaeus wrote in Against Heresies, "The Word of God became man, the Son of God became the Son of Man, in order to unite man with himself and make him, by adoption, a son of God." We are adopted children of God through our Christian Baptism. It is up to us, therefore, to act in accordance with that sonship, and, as St. Paul writes, conduct ourselves "in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ... It is your special privilege to take Christ's part -- not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him... Never act out of rivalry or conceit; rather, let all parties think humbly of others as superior to themselves" (Philippians 1:27-2:3).

As we join in prayer with others including those of different Christian denominations, and place ourselves in positions where we may be ridiculed or criticized, let us remember that we are sons and daughters of the Lord, and humbly view all, including friends and those who disagree with us, as truly superior to ourselves. By doing so we lay the path to true peace and charity which is the foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven.