Faithful ‘Walk a Mile – Save a Baby’

Bishop Barbarito celebrates Mass and then the faithful take part in a prayer walk at Eammanuel Parish to benefit Birthline/Lifeline Pregnancy Centers.

Tom Joseph, right, a diocesan assistant campus minister, leads a group of Newman Club members in a walk around the grounds of Emmanuel Parish during a Birthline/Lifeline Centers walkathon Oct. 10. From left to right, Esther Castillo, twins Pierre Jean Charles and Thierry Charles pray as Jose Enriquez reads from a prayer book.

LINDA REEVES | FC
Tom Joseph, right, a diocesan assistant campus minister, leads a group of Newman Club members in a walk around the grounds of Emmanuel Parish during a Birthline/Lifeline Centers walkathon Oct. 10. From left to right, Esther Castillo, twins Pierre Jean Charles and Thierry Charles pray as Jose Enriquez reads from a prayer book.

LINDA REEVES | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PALM BEACH BUREAU EDITOR

Posted: 10.13.09

DELRAY BEACH | Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito praised the faithful wearing sneakers, T-shirts and visors sitting in the pews at early morning Mass Oct. 10 at Emmanuel Parish.

Then, he thanked participants for supporting life from the moment of conception until natural death, and for helping raise funds and awareness through their witness.

Jackie Schatz, right, who traveled from the Archdiocese of Miami, joins her friend, Barbara Rielly, of Emmanual Parish for a benefit Oct. 10 to benefit Birthline/Lifeline Pregnancy Centers. The two women grabbed a seat on a bench near the lake under a shade tree and took turns praying out loud as others walked and prayed along the rosary path at Emmanual Parish.

LINDA REEVES | FC
Jackie Schatz, right, who traveled from the Archdiocese of Miami, joins her friend, Barbara Rielly, of Emmanual Parish for a benefit Oct. 10 to benefit Birthline/Lifeline Pregnancy Centers. The two women grabbed a seat on a bench near the lake under a shade tree and took turns praying out loud as others walked and prayed along the rosary path at Emmanual Parish.

“It was a privilege that Bishop Barbarito came here to celebrate Mass,” said Sister Mary Clare Fennell of the Sisters of Mercy, about the Mass that preceded a walkathon to benefit Birthline/Lifeline pregnancy centers, a ministry that helps women and babies.

“It was a beautiful day praising God and celebrating life,” said Sister Fennell.

This is the second time organizers have staged the walking, prayer event themed “Walk a Mile – Save a Baby” at host parish Emmanuel.

The parish features a quarter-mile rosary path, benches and lake. Some who did not walk in the heat sat under shade trees reciting prayers or the rosary.

“It is bigger than last year,” said Mary Rodriguez, a parishioner of St. Mark in Boynton Beach, who is administrator for Birthline/Lifeline, which includes three facilities in Palm Beach County. “We are going to try to do it annually.”

A preliminary count indicates about $9,200 had been raised, but more donations are still coming in. Proceeds will go toward operational costs for the centers supported by Catholic Charities and individual donors.

“We are in a battle, a very bloody battle,” said Rodriguez about the pro-life initiative of Birthline/Lifeline that reaches out to women in an attempt to save the unborn from abortion and provide women in crisis with support. “Our weapons are the Eucharist and the rosary.”

Groups from parishes and organizations showed up on Emmanuel grounds holding water bottles and full of enthusiasm. This year, youth attendance was impressive.

“We need more young people to stand up and to be an example for the culture of life,” said Catherin Rodriquez, Mary’s daughter, a young adult out in support of her mother’s efforts and of the pro-life walk initiative.

Jackie Schatz of Pompano Beach traveled from the Archdiocese of Miami to participate with friend Barbara Rielly of Emmanuel. The two women grabbed a seat on a bench near the lake under a shade tree and took turns praying out loud.

“It is a worthy cause,” Schatz told the Florida Catholic. “We were here last year for the walkathon.”

About Birthline / Lifeline

Birthline/Lifeline pregnancy centers, which are assisted by Catholic Charities and donors, celebrated 35 years of service last year.

The ministry, with locations in Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach, is designed to help women and babies by providing pregnancy testing, education, counseling and referrals.

In 2008, the centers served more than 7,500 women, but all three centers have had a steady increase in visitors since starting to offer ultrasound that gives women an opportunity to see the baby in the womb, truly emphasizing the Church’s teaching that life begins at the moment of conception. For information, call 561-278-0894.

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