Peace and blessings of Our Lord, Jesus Christ!
The goodness of God never ceases to amaze me! My days have been filled with joys and blessings, as well as the craziness of classes. Through it all, God is so good! Last weekend, on Saturday—October 22—I woke up BRIGHT AND EARLY to attend 6 a.m. Mass before going to the abortion facilities in Pittsburgh. Starting off the day with Our Lord in the Eucharist is so awesome! As we prayed outside of the facilities, there was a heavy, intense feeling of the spiritual warfare that was taking place. But as I prayed, the SUN came out, and I heard God whisper in my ear, “This too shall pass.”
This too shall pass!
The joy that began springing up was beautiful; our joyous songs and prayers flooded the street outside of the abortion facilities, and after our clinic outreach, we all (there were about 120 of us) took bright yellow balloons that said “Life” on the side, and prepared to march to Pitt U. However, we did not have time to go to Pitt U, but instead, had a mini “March for Life” through the streets of Pittsburgh! We celebrated life! We saw some little children with their parents, and we gave balloons to the children. Other people cursed at us. Some people waved as us. In all that we did, whether we were cursed at or blessed, we did it with joy!
I came back to campus after our Pittsburgh excursion, and prepared for my next monumentally huge event on that day: my Intenting.
Here at Steubenville, we have the “household” system on campus. Households are groups of all-men or all-women, each with a specific charism. Spiritual warfare, evangelization, pro-life ministry, the Divine Mercy—you name it, there is probably a household that has a charism dedicated to whatever you have in mind! Well, the household that I felt called to “Intent” to is Sacrifice of Love. Mmhmm. Yup. Sacrifice of Love. And when was I going to Intent? On Saturday….after I picked the day, I found out that it was also the Feast Day of Blessed JPII!! The man who started me on the whole “Do not be afraid when Love Requires Sacrifice” meditation in my prayer life!!!!! Then, I found out that SOL was having a joint Lord’s Day celebration with our brother household, Conquer Through Love. AND, one of my acquaintances was intenting with CTL! So he and I got to intent together!! What a blessed and joyful time!!!!!
After Lord’s Day, I played soccer with some of my dear sisters in Christ, and had a blast! Then, I went to Trinity to hang out…they were having a party with their “sister dorm,” Marian. And, since I pretty much live at Trinity, I went with my sisters J Later that night, I went to dance at “Casino night,” an event that a men’s household puts on. The Gentile Gallery was transformed into a very classy casino setting, with poker tables and blackjack, and the downstairs lobby of the JC became a floor for swing dancing! I finished up the night with an hour of Adoration and some quality time and prayer with one of my dear brothers!
That one day is just a miniscule sampling of the great blessings of God! With all of the challenges this week—both with schoolwork and the devil—God continues to pour down His overabundance of blessings! And what He is continually teaching me, whenever I go through any struggles or have dear friends who are hurting, is from the abortion clinic: This too shall pass!
Well, I am off to Brooklyn for a Pro-Life retreat with Monsigneour Reilley, a prominent pro-life figure! Have a blessed weekend!!
