‘Walking with Moms in Need’
CHARLOTTE — A homily last October for Respect Life Sunday inspired parishioners at St. Matthew Church to answer the call from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to help pregnant women and new mothers.
The effort – called “Walking with Moms in Need” – is a nationwide campaign to encourage U.S. parishes to walk alongside vulnerable pregnant women, providing them with information, direct assistance and resources. It was launched March 25, 2020, the 25th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s encyclical “Evangelium vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”) and the Solemnity of the Annunciation.
Father Peter Ascik brought home the campaign’s message to St. Matthew parishioners after learning about it while attending the 2020 March for Life in Washington, D.C. That message? Catholics must put into practice Church teaching that all lives are valued, using their time, talents and skills to build a culture of life in their own communities.
Father Ascik took the campaign’s message to heart. “I was interested in being a part of that at my parish and learned more, but then the COVID-19 pandemic started,” he recalls. “So the initiative was delayed a little bit. But by the summer of 2020, the USCCB and ‘Walking with Moms in Need’ put out more materials, hosted a webinar and encouraged parishes to start the ministry when it was feasible.”
Respect Life Sunday last October proved perfect timing for Father Ascik to preach about St. Teresa of Calcutta and her message about life and serving Jesus. “I said that ‘Walking with Moms in Need’ addressed these two things and does it in a way where we serve Christ in that pregnant mom and in the unborn child,” he recalls.
“I was listening to the Mass livestream for that Sunday, and heard his request,” remembers parishioner Patty McOwen. “His invitation was simply: ‘If you would like to, come help me.’ He said it with such sincerity and compassion and love, I started to weep.
“I said to myself, ‘I am going to help him do this!’ I am a nurse with a variety of experiences over the last 30-plus years, and I felt this was such a good fit for my heart and my experiences. I became part of the core team, and I am so excited to be part of this project.”
Melissa Scanlon is another parishioner who volunteered to help steer the new ministry after hearing Father Ascik’s homily and attending the “Walking with Moms in Need” information session Oct. 31.
“When I heard Father Peter’s homily and request to start ‘Walking with Moms in Need,’ it felt like a personal invitation from the Holy Spirit to do my part,” Scanlon says. “As a mother myself, I understand just how important it is to have community and support. My hope is that we at St. Matthew can work to change the culture in our community so that women can confidently choose life for their babies, knowing that they will be supported along the way and that they are loved first by the Father but also by us.”
Since they became organized, Scanlon says, “volunteers have been organizing a database of local resources for moms in need that are aligned with our Catholic values – everything from medical care to child care to housing services to counseling.”
Those resources are being carefully vetted and specific people are being identified within those organizations so that the mothers in need are connected directly to the people who can best help them.
Says Scanlon, “We want to make this database available to everyone in our parish and in our community and will eventually be posting it to our website, as well as making printable versions that can be handed out. The goal is to make our parish aware that there are resources should they need them – for themselves or for others.”
Meanwhile, volunteers are providing moral support and friendship to vulnerable pregnant women in addition to practical items and resources. That’s the “walking” part of the ministry.
So far, two expectant mothers have been referred to them by Sidewalk Advocates for Life, which Father Ascik volunteers with, and two others have come under their care.
The ministry is helping the mothers secure what they need for themselves and their babies – everything from diapers and baby clothes to cribs and car seats – as well as connecting them with resources for other possible needs such as legal help, housing, financial aid and counseling.
“Perhaps more importantly, we offer them friendship and prayer,” Scanlon emphasizes. “Support and encouragement go a long way towards helping them to have the confidence to utilize the resources available. Even though we have just started this work, we have already heard that the support and care they feel from our community have been life-giving.”
Reyna is one of the mothers who recently received help thanks to St. Matthew’s new ministry. She used to think abortion would solve all her problems, she says. “But who I am to decide for the life of a little one? Specifically, when this little one is my own one?”
A Sidewalk Advocates for Life volunteer, whom God “put on my way to the abortion clinic at Hebron, spoke to me about other options and solutions while I was walking to have an abortion,” she recalls.
Reyna is grateful to that person and to all the people who have been praying for her and providing the help she needs to provide for her child.
“I want to tell them thank you because now I have my baby with me, and for showing me there is a solution and God talks through them to me. We have everything the baby needs, and we are forever grateful,” she says.
“Please keep talking to other women considering abortion and helping them through this journey,” she adds.
Liliana Cabada Salas from St. Matthew Respect Life Ministry has been in touch with the volunteer who is accompanying and helping Reyna directly. Salas believes she and her fellow volunteers with “Walking with Moms in Need” serve as instruments of God’s love: “We are all like one big family now trying to help and offer a solution and show how big is the love of our God!”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Pictured: Mom Reyna and her newborn are being assisted by the St. Matthew “Walking with Moms” ministry. She and her husband were considering abortion but decided against it when they learned through Sidewalk Advocates For Life that there were people who were willing to accompany them in choosing life for their child. (Photo provided by Lidia Sundberg)
Learn more
At www.walkingwithmoms.com: Learn how to start “Walking with Moms in Need” at your parish.
Questions? Contact Melissa Scanlon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..