Unplanned

This weekend is Fall Break or All Saints Break or Four-Day, depending upon who is speaking.  Either way, we have no classes today or tomorrow and most of the undergrads (along with a good chunk of grads) are gone away.  Due to the lack of undergrads, the GNT (graduate and non-traditional) community  decided to hold down fort at the abortion facility in Pittsburgh.

There was no 6am Mass on campus, so we went to the Franciscan Third Order Religious motherhouse at 7:15.  By the time we got out of Mass, got a blessing, and hit up McDonalds for coffee (an anonymous donor covered breakfast for us!) we were way behind the normal time of arrival.  In fact, we arrived at the abortion facility not long before, on normal weekends, we'd be leaving.

I wasn't very happy about this.  I get frustrated when things move slowly and tend to judge myself for not being a more intense person.  God tends to teach me lessons in these moments, but I forget them with unfortunate speed.

We settled into our prayer pod and commenced praying.  Our sidewalk counselors kept their more lonely vigil in the frigid weather.  After we had been there a couple hours, we decided to recite rather than sing a final chaplet, so we could head back in a timely manner.

As we started the chaplet, an ambulance pulled up to the front of the abortion facility.

We switched to singing the chaplet, which lasted us as the paramedics went inside.  As they came back out and pulled out a stretcher.  As they went back in and helped a woman out of the door and onto the stretcher and whisked her away in the ambulance.  And as the ambulance pulled off down the street, our chaplet ended.

I tell this story here for two reasons.  One: I (obviously) have no idea what went wrong for the woman, but please keep her in your prayers this week.  Two: God has funny timing, in that it always works for His perfect will.  More often than not, I don't realize this, but this Saturday was an affirmation of His faithfulness in the when of His plans.