Youths, various faith traditions represented at ‘40 Days for Life’ rally
Children and other participants in an Oct. 12 “40 Days for Life” rally plant small flags in the ground in front of a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Indianapolis. The flags represent the average 4,000 abortions that take place every working day each year in the United States. (Submitted photo)
By Sean Gallagher
Several dozen youths, young adults and parents gathered on Oct. 12 to witness to the goodness of life outside the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Indianapolis.
The occasion was a mid-point rally for this year’s fall campaign of “40 Days for Life.” Rally participants have prayed daily outside the abortion facility at 8590 Georgetown Road since the campaign started on Sept. 25.
Ron Kramer, a member of Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Parish in Indianapolis, is a “40 Days for Life” organizer. He appreciates the ecumenical nature of the campaign.
“There are a lot of churches that come out and participate in the ‘40 Days for Life’ prayer vigil,” Kramer said. “It is very exciting to me that the churches are figuring out that [the pro-life cause] is a big deal, and something we need to be concerned with.”
The ecumenical nature of “40 Days for Life” was highlighted during the rally by one of its keynote speakers, Rev. Brandon Sutton, pastor of Blue Ride Christian Union Church in Shelby County.
Sutton said that when he was invited to speak, he felt an obligation to do so.
“This is an event and opportunity I would not have passed up,” he said. “The pro-life movement is a cause I avidly support. Human beings have been created in the image of God. Therefore, we all have worth, value and dignity in the eyes of our Creator.”
Like Kramer, Sutton likes seeing Christians of various faith traditions coming together to stand up for life through “40 Days for Life.”
“So often Christians are labeled for what they disagree about or for what they are against,” Sutton said. “This event propagated, not what we oppose, but that which we support—human life.”
Also speaking at the rally was Rynelle Castellino, a junior at Cathedral High School and a member of St. Matthew the Apostle Parish, both in Indianapolis.
Earlier this year, Rynelle won the 2013 Indianapolis Right to Life Speech Contest. She spoke about her pro-life convictions on Sept. 17 before more than 1,000 people at the pro-life organization’s annual fundraising dinner.
The crowd and setting for her speech at the Oct. 12 rally was a big contrast. Speaking in front of people outside an abortion facility and on a busy city street was important for Rynelle.
“When I was speaking outside the abortion center, there were many passers-by in the cars or who were coming into the center who weren’t pro-life,” Rynelle said. “Hopefully, I impacted them somehow with my speech.”
At the end of the rally, a group of young children placed in the ground some 4,000 flags held in two large planters that represent the number of surgical abortions that take place each working day every year in the United States.
Kramer was emotional when he recalled the moment. He said the simple action by the children spoke a powerful message for him, and hopefully for the motorists driving up and down the busy Georgetown Road.
“We can’t just drive by and ignore what’s going on. Children get that,” Kramer said. “They were creating a much greater presence of the truth concerning the 4,000 children that are surgically aborted every working day in this country.”
(A closing rally for the fall “40 Days for Life” campaign in Indianapolis will take place at 3 p.m. on Nov. 3 in front of the Planned Parenthood abortion facility, 8590 Georgetown Road, in Indianapolis. For more information about the “40 Days for Life” campaign in Indianapolis, log on to http://40daysforlife.com/indianapolis.html.) †
