Pro-Life Prayer
200 Catholics make life a priority on Christmas Eve

By Mary Moore, The Catholic Sun
January 4, 2007

While many Arizonans crowded department stores in search of last minute Christmas gifts, nearly 200 Catholics gathered to pray the rosary with Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted Dec. 23 outside a Phoenix Planned Parenthood.

Despite an unusually dense fog and chilly temperatures, the fourth annual prayer vigil drew the largest crowd yet since the bishop began participating in 2003, just three days after his arrival in Phoenix.

Jeff and Jackie Anderson, members of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Cave Creek, said the event’s significance far outweighed the Christmas shopping crunch.

“We saw it in the paper and thought this is something important to do during Christmastime. We try to de-emphasize the consumer aspects of Christmas and reflect more of what Christmas is really all about. This is a way of putting words into action,” said Jeff Anderson.

The crowd, which stretched across two blocks outside the abortion clinic, listened as Bishop Olmsted and several other priests led 15 mysteries of the rosary over walkie-talkies. They also listened to jeers and honks from passing vehicles, some yelling “get a life.”

Save early, save often

It isn’t a life that Ss. Simon and Jude parishioner Lynn Dyer has been trying to “get” in her 20 years of this ministry — it’s lives she hopes to save. Dyer and others pleaded with several women who entered the clinic during the vigil, and she extended her concern beyond the women seeking abortion as well.

Dyer also addressed the Planned Parenthood employees who act as escorts to the clients, entreating them to reconsider their occupation.

“We always hope that they might have a change of heart and leave this place some day,” Dyer said. “We offer to help them find other jobs and tell them they don’t have to work at a place like this. There is a large turnover here, and we are just hoping that these people will realize what they are doing. We never give up on them.”

The Christmas Eve rosary vigil has become a family event for many.

Lars Arriola of St. Theresa Parish brought along his two sons, Peter and Evan, to participate in prayer.

“I have done this before with Peter and it’s important that we be here to pray for hearts to change and to save some babies.”

Bishop Olmsted, who emphasized the great significance of the child at Christmas, praised parents who brought their entire families to the vigil.

The presence of families, he said, “also gives a whole new sense about Christmas as a very courageous time of year. It’s not a weak little thing, but a time that is counter-cultural.”