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Posted on 03/26/2012 4:43:57 PM PDT by ottbmare
Undaunted by a forecast of heavy thunderstorms, 200 Christians gathered on the afternoon of March 25 to pray at the front steps of the US Supreme Court. The two-hour vigil, called "Encircle the Court in Prayer," took place the day before the high court began hearing arguments concerning the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordability Act, widely referred to as “Obamacare.”
The provisions of the president’s healthcare legislation of greatest concern to these believers are the “HHS mandates,” which compel religious entities to provide employees with insurance coverage for contraceptives, sterilization services, and abortifacient drugs. Roman Catholics, conservative Christians, orthodox Jews, and Muslims believe abortion to be deeply immoral, and the Catholic Church also considers sterilization and contraception to be wrong. The nine justices of the Supreme Court will decide whether government can compel Americans to purchase health insurance, and whether it can force the religious to directly subsidize an activity they consider evil.
Event coordinator Patrick Mahoney, a Presbyterian minister, led believers as well as other clergy in prayers for God’s will to prevail as the court deliberates. Reverend Mahoney read aloud the “Prayer for the Poor” of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and prayed individually for each of the justices of the Supreme Court, for all elected officials, and for President Obama.
He added, “But now we are coming to pray--to humble ourselves before God and asking God to intervene on what is arguably the most important case before this court since the Roe v. Wade decision. And so we are coming before God and asking God to superintend.
“Begin with this: The scriptures say, ‘This day I call the heavens and earth as witnesses against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; I say chose life.’ God says, “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live, and that you may love the Lord, your God. Listen to His voice and hold fast to Him, for the Lord is your life and he will give you many years in your land.’
“To the court, God has set before them, over the next three days of arguments, life or death. We pray that this court chooses life.”
Those at the prayer vigil walked slowly around the Supreme Court building, laying 3300 long-stemmed carnations on the ground. Reverend Mahoney told the crowd that the flowers symbolized the 3300 babies aborted each day in the US.
Additional remarks and prayers were offered by Peggy Nienaber, Chief of Program for Faith and Action, Reverend Myke Crowder, representing the National Clergy Council, Pierre Bynum of the Family Research Council, and Father Marcel Guarnizo, a Roman Catholic priest and chair of the Educational Initiative for Eastern Europe.
Father Guarnizo spoke about the Constitutionality of the HHS mandates, noting that the Bill of Rights guarantees the free exercise of religion. If the government can remove this right through legislation, he said, it can remove any right. With their rights no longer protected, Americans will then have no protection from any overreach by government.
The vigil concluded after Father Guarnizo led the “Chaplet of Divine Mercy,” a Catholic prayer that, he noted with a smile, non-Catholic Christians can also use.
Here is a brief video of a portion of Father Guarnizo's remarks:
Father Marcel Guarnizo at the Supreme Court
The prayers continue Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in front of the Supreme Court.
God bless you for giving us this wonderful first-hard report!
We join with them in prayer.
Uh-oh. That title was supposed to read “...against Obamacare,” not “against Obama.” Many in the crowd may not be warmly inclined toward the president, but the worshippers were reminded to pray that he will be enlightened. We prayed hard for Justices Bryer, Ginsberg, Kagan, and Sotomayor, too.
“Uh-oh. That title was supposed to read “...against Obamacare,” not “against Obama.”
Indeed. We need to pray for America.
Yes, we should have a FR prayer chain going.
It is time for all those who care anything about the future of our freedoms as Christian and citizens to repent of our sins, pray and fast. The only one that can truly help us is The LORD.
RM, can you edit the thread title?
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