Saving Lives, One Loaf at a Time

Bread For Life Campaign A Delicious Prolife Effort

BY EMMALEE ITALIA  Contributing Editor

When Barbara Williams asked for inspiration for a way that she and fellow Rosary Altar Society members could support Respect Life efforts, the Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit answered in a very real, tangible way, providing the impetus for a Bread for Life Campaign.

“The inspiration really came through prayer,” said Williams, the Rosary Altar Society president in St. John Parish, Lakehurst. “This really started because of Holy Mother Mary – as Mother of the Eucharist, with the Holy Spirit being her spouse, and us being in the middle of our three-year Eucharistic Revival.”

Organized and carried out by the Rosarians, the Bread for Life Campaign involves RAS members baking bread loaves for sale on the third Sunday of each month, with all proceeds going toward local prolife organizations including Birth Right and Open Door. The first weekend alone brought in more than $800.

“We’re averaging about $700 per weekend,” Williams said, noting that an average of 20 Rosarians bake for each sale. “The response has been enormous. We sell each loaf for five dollars; people are so overwhelmingly generous – they may buy one loaf and give us $20.”

The campaign idea came to Williams last August during her personal prayer time. She felt called to approach Father James O’Neil, pastor of St. John Parish and chaplain for the RAS, with her statue of the Virgin Mary with Child holding a dove, and have him bless it.

“After I gave him that statue is when things really began to roll,” she affirmed.

Using the statue as inspiration,

MISSION PRAYER:

Editor

Holy Mother Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Our Living Bread,

We pray your special graces bless our efforts on behalf of the unborn and the mothers through our “Bread for Life Campaign.” Amen.