Watch "Why Be Pro-Life?" by Fr. Chris Alar, MIC: click here.
Join in and pray the 9 Days for Life Novena of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Jan. 19-27. Click here.
By Br. Stephen J., MIC
Day after day, they showed up outside the abortion clinic to pray. Hot days, cold days, rainy days, and sunny days would not send them away. Nor would the disdainful stares, comments, or gestures of those within the fence. Those outside stood their ground with Rosary beads or prayer books, a silent witness, a silent spiritual force. Sometimes, a sidewalk counselor would come, offering information and help to those who drove or walked up, respectfully disagreeing with the talking points offered by those inside.
It is a strange sight to the modern, secular eye. What are these “pro-lifers” doing on the sidewalk outside of an abortion clinic? What do they hope to gain by standing there, the silent representatives of grief and disapproval? The sidewalk counselors make a little more sense: At least they are trying to engage people. The prayer of the unmoving majority, however, may appear useless, or at least inscrutable.
We know better. As do the thousands who participate in the annual March for Life in Washington, DC, held this year on Jan. 21.
Power of Prayer
Prayer was my primary experience of the pro-life movement, and prayer continues to be the ground from which its strength comes. The other works of mercy practiced at crisis pregnancy centers and pro-life advocacy groups — ranging from feeding the hungry and clothing the naked to admonishing the sinner and comforting the sorrowful — derive their power from prayer. Most of the pro-lifers I have known were also dedicated to Divine Mercy, and we nearly always prayed the Chaplet at least once while witnessing on the sidewalk.
There’s an affinity between the pro-life movement and the struggle for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. The root problem confronted by the “sit-ins” by African-American students and the sidewalk prayer warriors is the same: a denial of the dignity of a human person. The sins of racism — including segregation, medical experimentation without consent, and even lynching — violate the human dignity of people of a different race or color. Sins against life such as abortion attack the human dignity of people who are not yet born. The former sins arise from a warped love of family and kindred; the latter have poisoned the identity of the family itself as the source of human life.
Abortion, considered as a social problem, is only the logical consequence of the “contraceptive mentality” that divorces sex from having children. Where segregation splits up classes of people in society, contraception and abortion split up the family, the fundamental unit of society.
In his encyclical Evangelium Vitae ("The Gospel of Life"), Pope St. John Paul II probed the spiritual dimensions of abortion and contraception. In particular, he noted that the social acceptability of abortion both began with a deadening of conscience and numbed man’s moral judgment further. The spiritual battle for souls is far fiercer than the social struggle for life.
Advocacy
We must advocate for life on all levels of society and government, but the battle for man’s conscience is not won by social or political persuasion alone. We need prayer, and in particular, the prayers of the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
How can you most powerfully assist pro-lifers in the works of mercy, and join the March for Life in spirit? My answer will come as no surprise: Begin with prayer. This is the last and easiest of the spiritual works of mercy: to pray for the living and the dead. In prayer is our power, for, as St. Faustina says, “every single grace comes to the soul through prayer” (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 146).
Pray generously, ardently, for the end of abortion and contraception. Pray for the souls of the innocent and the guilty. Pray for a “culture of life” to overcome the numbing culture of death. Even pray publicly with others outside an abortion clinic.
Again, this is no surprise. However, as you pray, you may be surprised to find the Lord calling you to actions such as volunteering at a food bank, a crisis pregnancy center, or a pro-life advocacy group. Perhaps the Spirit will even inspire in you new initiatives, entirely new ways to peacefully defend life. However, let all your works of mercy be commenced, continued, and concluded in prayer. Begin with prayer, and then “do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5).
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