Last night I was covering an hour of the 40 Days for Life vigil with a few friends when something exciting happened. We were trying to start a rosary (after they let me babble on about something or other for a while) when we heard sirens. As anyone who lives near a fire or police station can testify, that's not very unusual in the city. Because of this we paused for a minute and then started the rosary again. Then we heard more sirens.
These first few bits of prayer wound up being a microcosm of the whole rosary for us, as by the time we finished there were at least 4 proper fire trucks (the ones with ladders), several fire SUVs, at least 5 ambulances, a few police officers directing traffic, and a news van simultaneously labelled with a channel number (you know, like "Channel 5 news" or "XKCD 8: Your local news today!") and Telemundo. I can only hope our Spanish-speaking followers got the whole story from them.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
These 40 Days...
Tonight at 7:00 there will be a rally at our usual spot (1200 N LaSalle) to begin an event called 40 Days for Life.* This is a pro-life event that spans every day from Ash Wednesday (Feb. 22) through Palm Sunday (Apr. 1, no joke) in the Catholic liturgical calendar (sorry, you let the Catholic write it, I use my preferred calendar). Though it's a bit late to use this as an advertisement for the rally, I do want to take this opportunity to discuss the broader 40 Days plan.
The main event was started several years ago by a pro-life group in Texas. The idea is to return to the biblical idea of uniting prayer and fasting to drive out demons. Since the bible constantly uses 40 as an appropriate length of time for prayer, fasting, preparation, and change (witness Noah on the ark, Israel in the desert, and Jesus in the desert as well-known examples, and the purification requirements of Jewish mothers after childbirth for a less well-known example), the founders sought to unite prayer and fasting into a pro-life vigil. However, abortion in modern society is more than a religious topic. Now it has become a political topic, meaning its scope is beyond mere prayer and fasting (though they are important!); consequently, the founders incorporated outreach, by which they intended to have people go door-to-door to make those who lived nearby understand just what abortion is and does to their community. These three aspects, then, comprise 40 Days for Life: 1) a prayer vigil, 2) fasting, and 3) outreach.
The main event was started several years ago by a pro-life group in Texas. The idea is to return to the biblical idea of uniting prayer and fasting to drive out demons. Since the bible constantly uses 40 as an appropriate length of time for prayer, fasting, preparation, and change (witness Noah on the ark, Israel in the desert, and Jesus in the desert as well-known examples, and the purification requirements of Jewish mothers after childbirth for a less well-known example), the founders sought to unite prayer and fasting into a pro-life vigil. However, abortion in modern society is more than a religious topic. Now it has become a political topic, meaning its scope is beyond mere prayer and fasting (though they are important!); consequently, the founders incorporated outreach, by which they intended to have people go door-to-door to make those who lived nearby understand just what abortion is and does to their community. These three aspects, then, comprise 40 Days for Life: 1) a prayer vigil, 2) fasting, and 3) outreach.
Origins
Hi everyone (or anyone...)! This is a blog we're getting started on behalf of Prayer for Life at Division and LaSalle. For the backstory, every Saturday morning a group of young adults in Chicago, IL, meets on the northwest corner of Division and LaSalle to pray.
Why?
Why?
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