Archdiocese of St. Louis: Why We Fight for Marriage

Meet Amanda Lindley, 26-year-old web content specialist for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. She's been married for two years and fasts every Friday for marriage. Amanda told me about the Archdiocese's viral video campaigns for life, marriage, and religious liberty. The newest video is below, together with my interview of Amanda, to kick off the bishops' Fortnight for Freedom starting on June 21. Check out previous interviews in this series in the Pray-Cana section of the blog.





Join the Call to Prayer!

1. Amanda, please tell us a little about yourself.

I am 26 years old and will have been  married for 2 years this September to my supportive and loving husband, Danny.  We do not have any children yet, but we are looking forward to the days when God blesses us with some little ones. Right now we are practicing on our nephew and our two pups. You can follow me on Twitter @ALindleySTL

2. Are you personally participating in the Call to Prayer? Have you been fasting, praying, or attending a local Eucharistic Holy Hour?

Absolutely! I am praying a daily rosary each morning and fasting and abstaining from meat on Fridays. 

3. Tell us more about the video. Where is it airing? Has it gotten a good response?

The video was created in house by our Office of Communications and Planning. We have posted the video on our Call to Prayer landing page on our website. It is also available on our YouTube Channel  and we have been actively sharing it through our social media (follow us on Twitter @archstl). The video is really meant to help people reflect on the three key issues of the Call to Prayer: life, marriage, and religious liberty. We hope that when people watch this video, they think of the beauty that each scene represents and that they feel called to pray to protect each of these important issues, issues that help define us as Catholic Americans.

4. How many parishes or individuals in the Archdiocese of St. Louis are participating in the Call to Prayer? When did the Archdiocese start publicizing it?

We are encouraging all of the faithful in every parish of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and beyond to participate in the Call to Prayer. In fact, we are collecting pledges for people to commit to the Bishop’s Call.  We began publicizing it in early May and it has a special presence on the homepage of our website and our blog site St. Louis Areopagus. Even before the Call to Prayer, we have been working diligently to protect these issues, especially that of Religious Liberty. You may have seen our most popular video "It's That Simple" which completely crushed the HHS mandate in 15 seconds! 

5. I love the Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty t-shirts that the Archdiocese is selling. What do they say on the back? Have they been popular?

Thanks! We love them too! On the backs of the shirts there is catechetical and scriptural information which supports the Bishops’ and Church’s  positions on these issues. They have been very popular!

6. What plans does the Archdiocese of St. Louis have for the upcoming Fortnight of Freedom? 

We will be having a special Fortnight for Freedom Mass on July 3 at noon at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. Our shepherd, Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, will be celebrating the Mass and we are hoping to have a very strong youth presence as they are truly the future of our Church and even our nation.

7. What is the top reason you think that people should answer the bishops’ call?

Because our bishops’ are answering it themselves and they are asking us to do the same. Bottom line is that these are our spiritual leaders and they are frightened. They are frightened for their flock because of the deliberate negation of our liberties as Catholics and as American people. In response to this our bishops have asked us to join them in prayer for these key issues, and that is why we need to answer. It’s that simple.