Walk for Life West Coast 2012

This year’s theme – abortion hurts women – was visible across the backdrop of the main stage of this year’s Walk for Life West Coast. This theme was put into proper context by Father Frank Pavone, at a pre-address at a side-stage before the Walk for Life West Coast got underway:

Text:

“We are the ones who are pro-woman. We are the ones who stand, not just for the baby, but rather who say to society, “Why can’t we love them both?”

The difference my friends between those who, we will meet some of them today, who advocate for legal abortion, and us who advocate for life, is not the difference they want the mother to think it is. They want the public to think that we stand for the babies, and they stand for women. But that’s not the difference between the two sides.

The difference between the two sides in this monumental struggle, in our nation and in our world today, is they think that you can separate the mother from child and we say you can’t.

You cannot love one without loving the other.
You cannot protect one without protecting the other.
and you cannot harm one without harming the other.”

—

Pictures from this years Walk for Life West Coast, 2012, including one with me with Fr Pavone. enjoy!

This past Saturday was the day of the Northern California Pro-Life Walk-a-thon. I drove down to Elk Grove Park with Our Lady of Lourdes Parishioners, Soraya and her mother Ana, to lend our support (and stretch our legs) in the 3.6 mile walk. All the proceeds for the day went to help fund five crisis pregnancy centers in the Sacramento Diocese. One of my favorite parts of the walk were the very awesome and enthusiastic junior high schoolers from St Joseph’s Parish in Elk Grove, who made us feel like hero-marathoners every time we passed the water and cup-cake table!

THANKS SO MUCH for the smiles and joy you brought to all of us!

And of course, all of the smiles and walking and encouragement was for one purpose; so that little ones will have a chance to take hold of life and run with it, like this little walker does!.

walkathon2 — A little walker and her family :-)

A Big THANK YOU also goes out to all of my sponsors for the walk-a-thon. There are a few donations still coming in, and I think we (you and I) will just break $1,000 to help out those CPC’s! Put that together with the numerous priests of the diocese who also hit the trail, we can rejoice!

Next year, it will be even better, I am sure. May our Lord bless each of you, as we continue to work to defend life in all its stages.

Next Event: Walk for Life West Coast, in San Francisco on Saturday, January 21st, 2012. For more information, check out the website. I’ve already reserved my space on one of the many buses coming from Sacramento, CA for the event. Are you coming? Let me know! I’d love to meet you!