A national Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children (January 22, 2018) is serious business because forty-five years of legalized abortion in the U.S. has been deadly business. Across the U.S., we have ended an estimated 60 million lives--and wounded hundreds of millions of mothers and fathers and grandparents along the way.
Not much new can be said regarding this tragedy which is tearing apart the fabric of our society. But sometimes, we find new ways to say what needs to be said.
1. Check out the beautiful video advertisements put together by VirtueMedia.org (click on "Our Ads" to view).
2. Preview a few of these outstanding themes from the USCCB, many of which have been featured in this year's 9 Days for Life campaign.
- Why do we think that every life is "A Perfect Gift"? Consider the perspective of Charlie's family...
- What to do when a friend is considering abortion? Try the L-O-V-E approach...
- What should we take into consideration in "Supporting Families Who Receive a Prenatal Diagnosis"?
- How can we help women and men suffering after abortion? Check these suggestions in "Bridges of Mercy for Post-Abortion Healing."
3. Finally, listen to what Pope Francis really thinks about this controversial topic:
"Among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this.
"Frequently, as a way of ridiculing the Church’s effort to defend their lives, attempts are made to present her position as ideological, obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development.
"Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defense of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be. Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable value of each single human life, but if we also look at the issue from the standpoint of faith, 'every violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in vengeance to God and is an offense against the creator of the individual'." (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 213)
May these insights transform our prayer throughout this week and this new year--
DDS
