Today was day 11 of the 40 days for life campaign and another baby was spared from abortion, Praise God! The babies’ father was instrumental in helping save his own son. This happened after he spoke with one of our sidewalk counselors. Please pray for this couple, that they may find many blessings now that they have opened themselves up to the gift of LIFE!
Now I would like to talk about the armor of God and what it means for us that pray and sidewalk counsel outside of abortion clinics:
Have you noticed how fish can spend their entire life in the ocean and the saltiness of the water never penetrates them? You can eat any ocean fish and it’s not salty! Unless of course, you add salt when you cook it!
Similarly, as persons who spend time outside abortion clinics in peaceful prayer or sidewalk counseling, we are exposed to all kids of ugly things, but somehow that ugliness never penetrates us. That ugliness never becomes part of us. On the contrary, the more we love those parents and their unborn children, the clinic workers and the abortionists, the more protected we seem to become!
The ugliness that I refer too comes in many different forms. Those forms are spiritual, emotional, physical, mental, etc. Examples range from family or friend rejection to what you are doing. Or maybe insults by persons driving by, the clinic staff or the clients. Or perhaps, witnessing that a woman is being forced by her partner or parents to abort. A couple telling you that they already have too many kids and decide to abort this one. Or maybe, observing a couple counting money that would be used to destroy their child. It could be something as sad as watching how someone locks away their maternal instinct and decides that her baby would be too inconvenient to keep at this time. Doubts about what you are doing when the world just doesn’t care. Excuses, for not going to pray, difficulty concentrating in your prayers while at the clinic, etc. But these fade away because of the love you feel for those in need of your prayers, or those needing a helping hand, or the knowledge that they are not alone because you are there for them. Throughout all of this your armor remains intact and nothing seems to penetrate it.
We like to refer to this as putting on the armor of God. In Ephesians 6:11-13 we read:
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.
How then should we put on the armor of God? I believe that Jesus gives us the tools with the Sacraments. We should also use the sacramentals given to us by the Church and attend Mass frequently. In other words, we need to be and stay closer to Our Lord. We need to do everything possible to remain in His Grace by steering away from sin in our lives!
In Christ!
Miguel
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