So I had never gone down to the March for Life in St. Augustine before. I had not realized that there would be so many people from other diocese attending. There were a good many from Orlando, some from Tampa Bay, and even Miami. Out of state, there were also those from Savannah, Georgia. So this was fairly well attended. Plus there were those from in-area Baptist churches. This march started 15 years ago.
So it was pretty cool to march through the oldest city in the U.S. with part of our route in the old town with cobblestone streets. Tourists were snapping shots of us. Encountered no pro-abortion protesters.
The homily from my bishop was excellent with pro-life themes I have heard him express on other occasions. I especially liked his recital of a prayer from St. John Henry Newman (listed at the end). I think I will add this to my daily prayers.
I also enjoyed the various speeches made. They were mostly short, inspiring, and to the point. Doug Tooke of ODB Films was hilarious. Jason “Moose” Hamilton, a local man with Down Syndrome, gave the most inspiring speech. List of speakers.
You so often hear about how many young people there are at pro-life events. This was certainly in evidence here. I ran into some college students I know from local abortion protests.
I also ran into a woman I had had recently met at one of the bible studies I attend. Fairly new to the area and widowed last year after fifty some years of marriage. We had a great conversation as we marched, especially as she was so knowledgeable about the faith. I knew she was intelligent since she knew that she wanted to know much more.
Meditations on Christian Doctrine – March 7, 1848
- God was all-complete, all-blessed in Himself; but it was His will to create a world for His glory. He is Almighty, and might have done all things Himself, but it has been His will to bring about His purposes by the beings He has created. We are all {301} created to His glory—we are created to do His will. I am created to do something or to be something for which no one else is created; I have a place in God’s counsels, in God’s world, which no one else has; whether I be rich or poor, despised or esteemed by man, God knows me and calls me by my name.
- God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his—if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.
- Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He {302} may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me—still He knows what He is about.
O Adonai, O Ruler of Israel, Thou that guidest Joseph like a flock, O Emmanuel, O Sapientia, I give myself to Thee. I trust Thee wholly. Thou art wiser than I—more loving to me than I myself. Deign to fulfil Thy high purposes in me whatever they be—work in and through me. I am born to serve Thee, to be Thine, to be Thy instrument. Let me be Thy blind instrument. I ask not to see—I ask not to know—I ask simply to be used. (St. John Henry Newman)
