“It will happen through prayer and penance and when we do our part to stand up for life,” the bishop said.
He also talked about how the annual rally for life was as much a rally for eternal life. Bishop Olmsted recalled a meeting outside of an abortion clinic with a Spanish-speaking woman that ultimately led not only to the birth of her child, but a return of the baby’s grandmother to the Church.
Damon Owens, founder of New Jersey-based Joy Filled Marriage, said the quest for eternal life is best met through sacrificial love. He was also among the night’s speakers.
“Our crisis in this culture of death and a call to return to the culture of life requires returning to agape love,” Owens said.
He reminded the college students, especially, that they weren’t just in school for an education, but for a period of formation of habit and their life’s vocation. Don’t just hear and accept the vocation, but love it, Owens said.
“Take the package called ‘you’ and place it at the service of mission. That will build a culture of life,” Owens said, calling abortion a personal problem first, not a political or social one.
It’s a personal problem that quickly went public after when the crowd filed out of the Newman Center and gathered in front of the Old Church immediately across from ASU for a eucharistic procession up A-Mountain.
A passing car honked in support. The procession spanned some 100 yards, following the bishop up the butte to recite the Pope’s new “Prayer for Life” over the Valley.
For high school freshman Angelica Castillo, her passion for the pro-life cause proved greater than her fear of heights. Castillo, who joined in the eucharistic procession, was among two busloads of teens from St. John Vianney Parish in Goodyear.
“I like to hope that my presence would show my support for life,” said James Fernando, a parishioner at Our Lady of the Lake in Lake Havasu City. He added that, if nothing else, the sheer visual presence of people during the eucharstic procession made a statement.
The rally continued with all-night adoration for the unborn, those considering an abortion and those in the abortion industry.
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Printed with permission from The Catholic Sun, newspaper for the Diocese of Phoenix, Ariz.