By Dan Miller, State Director, Pro-Life Wisconsin
I woke up to darkness and pounding rain on the morning of Good Friday.
Then, I started to think about what our Pro-Life Stations of the Cross would look like in pouring rain. Anxiety settled in, and I began doubting the “why” of the entire event. But then I said a quick prayer and brushed it off, saying to myself, “The rains will be over and gone by the time we begin to make the journey to that awful place (the old abortion center). Everything is going to be alright.”
When I left the house to get my car out of the garage, the garage door wouldn’t open. The electricity was on in the house. Once I got all that handled, I was on my way to St. Hedwig’s Catholic Church in Milwaukee. I live in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. It’s all city streets to get to the church—and they were flooded, bad. In some spots, right up floorboards of my car. Other cars were stalling as they ripped through the high water. Each intersection was flooded. I went through each “lake” very slowly, leaving barely a wake. I made it through ALL of them! I quietly thanked Jesus for getting me to the church as I parked in the parking lot of St. Hedwig’s. Then I realized, if it was that much of an effort for me, would anyone else make it?
When I got inside the church to set up, people started to trickle in. No pun intended. The start time of 10a.m. had come and gone. A few people had showed up – maybe about thirteen. One pro-lifer, Don, traveled all the way from Whitewater, to be with us. As we waited to begin, Dr. John Puckner, a great friend of the pro-life movement, sat at the piano and played some beautiful songs.
I recounted the Miracle on Farwell story (click to read The Miracle on Farwell here). Surely everyone who was there, except for Don, had heard the story a million times. It didn’t bother me that everyone else would hear the story again. I felt like he needed to hear it. We all did. To hear how powerful prayer actually was and is. Especially on such an ignominious day as Good Friday.
As we always do, we used the Pro-Life Stations of the Cross (click for the Pro-Life Stations of the Cross here), written by a good friend, +Fr. Cletus Healy S.J.+ God rest his soul. They were the most beautiful 14 Stations of the Cross that I’ve ever prayed. Those prayers get better and better every time I pray that version of the Stations of the Cross. Something was special about it, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why.
After praying the Pro-Life Stations, we processed to the old Affiliated Medical Services abortion center building at 1428 N Farwell Ave but this time we took, a different route – Brady Street to Farwell Avenue, instead of Humboldt Ave to Ogden Ave and then to Farwell Ave. George Kriegl, one of our long-time board members at Pro-Life Wisconsin, even questioned my route plans. “This is not the usual way we go. Which way do you want to go, Dan?” He looked concerned, so I tried to assure him that everything would be alright.
God bless George Kriegl, our faithful cross-bearer for Good Friday. I love seeing all the old pictures of this event. George is always the first to volunteer to carry the cross. I’ve even called our Good Friday cross, “George’s cross.” On the way down to Farwell, George was leading us along at a pretty good pace. Normally, we finish the set of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary before arriving at the abortion center, but this time the entire fifth decade had yet to be prayed.
When we got down there, I wanted to give people a chance to get settled, so I started to reminisce about all the opportunities to suffer for Christ that we had been given over the years in front of that abortion center. So many times, have we been accused of being such “poor Christians”—because we weren’t feeding the poor instead. I shared with the group a story about the time that one pro-lifer, George Archibald was getting yelled at—shrieked at, actually—by someone who pulled up to the abortion center years ago on a Saturday, admonishing him for not feeding the poor or sheltering the homeless instead. George calmly responded to his accusations by saying, “I do that on Mondays and Tuesdays. On Mondays I feed the poor at a church on the South Side [of Milwaukee], and then on Tuesdays I go swing a hammer with Habitat for Humanity to build housing for the homeless. I pray for the babies on Saturdays.” I love how George said it to that guy, with such conviction, love and a father’s heart. The guy yelling at him had nothing else, so he drove off. I love telling these stories.
It was time to get back to praying—so we got back to the fifth decade of the Sorrowful Mysteries—the Crucifixion of Jesus. I was using the RosaryCenter.org’s scriptural Rosary on my phone. We had our portable sound system down there, so everyone could hear what we were saying. EVERYONE. The first scripture verse was from St. Luke 23:33 – “Jesus is nailed to the cross.” Then I hear this oddly familiar voice roaring out, “I love it when they nailed him to the cross! That was so awesome!” When I prayed the Hail Mary, he mocked that by saying, “HAIL SATAN! ALL HAIL SATAN!” Then he said, “Why are you here? Did you not know that the abortion clinic is closed? Why don’t you go do something useful with your lives? Go feed the poor! Give shelter to the homeless!” The voice belonged to the painter at the old abortion center, who we had encountered in the past. (When the 1428 building went up for sale, he was hired to spruce it up a bit.) He’s “kind of’ harmless, but he is also very loud, foul-mouthed and obnoxious. So, I try to ignore him and continue on. I say the next scripture: “He prays: ‘Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’” (St. Luke 23:34) Painter-dude chimes in, “THEY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING. KILL THAT EMM-EFFER JESUS CHRIST! HAIL SATAN!!! HAAAAAAAAILLLLLL SATAN!!!” It was almost as if we had the wild mob’s spirit from Jesus’ persecution right there with us.
OK. I just have to interrupt here. It’s 3p.m. on Good Friday as I am writing this. The skies have gone dark. Am I the only one who noticed this on Good Friday?
Back to the painter-dude. So, I’m continuing, praying on. "Jesus says to the repentant thief: ‘This day you will be with me in paradise.’” Painter-dude shrieks, “LIAR! JESUS CAN’T SAVE YOU! HAIL SATAN!! HAIL SATAN!!” I mean, he had something to shout for each one of the scripture verses. This guy really loved mocking scripture.
When we get back to St. Hedwig’s, those of us who were left didn’t want to leave. Normally, everyone is making a beeline for their cars to get back to their home churches to join in their Good Friday services. So, we were just standing around talking about all the odd events that occurred while we were praying in front of the abortion center. Then I glanced down at my phone. Two missed calls. Both from sidewalk counselors at about the same time. I listened to my messages and found out that the two sidewalk counselors, Danielle and Monica, had ran into a Spanish-speaking mom at Planned Parenthood on Water Street. She pulled over on the street, rolled down her window and tried to explain to them both that she was pregnant and had an appointment at Planned Parenthood. By now, she was crying her eyes out. She didn’t want to go inside. They were going to kill her baby. TODAY! So, they told her that there was free help here in Milwaukee and she didn’t have to kill her baby. Not today. Not ever. They felt like they needed someone to help them translate. Of course, my phone was on silent when they tried to call. Thankfully, Danielle and Monica had proceeded to call the Women’s Care Center on Mitchell Street. They have staff who who speak Spanish and got her an appointment to get an ultrasound on Monday. Baby saved!
PRAISE GOD!
IT GETS BETTER!
There was a young couple who went to Planned Parenthood earlier on the morning of Good Friday. For some reason, the father of the child invited his parents to come join them at the abortion center on Water Street. He never gave them the heads-up that they were there for an abortion. Once his dad found out that his son and girlfriend were there to have an abortion, both he and his wife pleaded with the mom to let them raise their child. It must have gotten to be too much, because Planned Parenthood proceeded to kick the grandparents out. They, of course, told all of this to the sidewalk counselors outside. They encouraged the grandparents to go back inside. Amazingly, they were let back in. They told their son they should ask for their money back. Then, the staff kicked the grandparents out again. The son, who by now was a little incensed about the way they were treating his parents, decided to man up and tell his girlfriend that they weren’t going to have the abortion. HE changed HIS mind! Then, he demanded that they give them their money back! They told him, “No.” He became infuriated and made a scene. They proceeded to kick HIM out! The only one left inside was the mom. So, the sidewalk counselors encouraged him to go back inside to get her out of there and he did! Because everyone was so supportive, the mom decided that they should keep the baby. Amazing!
That was my Good Friday.
I thank God every day for giving us His Son Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and was resurrected on the third day. In the battle between good and evil, God always wins. Christ won the battle, once and for all. Christ is victorious!