Created in the image and likeness of God from the very beginning of time, human life begins its journey on earth from conception till natural death. We are called to be proper stewards over the gift of life that has been given. This ethic of life is the thread that unites all efforts to uphold the dignity and quality of life at all stages of existence. Let us embrace this teaching with consistency as we continue our efforts in proclaiming the good news of life in our time and place.
Heavenly Father, in Your love for us, protect against the wickedness of the devil, those helpless little ones to whom You have given the gift of life. Touch with pity the hearts of those women pregnant in our world who are not thinking of motherhood. Help them to see that the child they carry is made in Your image as well as their made for eternal life. Dispel their fear and selfishness and give them true womanly hearts to love their babies and given them birth and all the needed care that a mother can give. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen. Divine Majesty and Human Dignity O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8 A Psalm of David You whose glory above the heavens is created is chanted by the mouth of babies and infants, You have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the star which you have established; what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Prayer for Those Who have Lost a Child to Abortion by Fr. Frank Pavone Lord of all Life, You have entrusted us to the care of one another, And called us to be one Body in Christ. You call us to rejoice with those who rejoice, And to weep with those who weep. Hear our prayer today For our brothers and sisters who have lost children to abortion. Help us to understand The pain that is in their hearts, And to be a living sign to them Of your welcome, your mercy, and your healing. Help them to undergo with courage The process of grief and the journey of healing. Never allow them to feel alone; Always refresh them with the presence of Your Spirit And of their brothers and sisters in Christ. Console them with the sure hope That you love and care for their children. Give them new strength, That even while they grieve what they have lost, They may look forward to all the good That you still have in store for them. Lord of healing and hope, Give us all the forgiveness of our sins, And the joy of your salvation. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen. Source: PriestsforLife.org
Psalm 19 (18) The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth. And their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the Lord are true, and righteousness altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. But ho can discern his errors? Clear me from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Redeemer in the Womb Lord Jesus Christ, You took our human nature upon Yourself. You shared our life and death, our childhood and adulthood. You also shared our time in the womb. While still God, while worshiped and adored by the angels, while Almighty and filling every part of the universe, You dwelt for nine months in the womb of Mary. You were our Redeemer in the womb, our God who has a preborn child. Lord Jesus, we ask You to bless and protect the children who today are in their mothers womb. Save them from the danger of abortion. Give their mothers the grace to sacrifice themselves, in body and soul, for their children. Help all people to recognize in the preborn child a brother, a sister, saved by You, our Redeemer in the womb. Source: StPaulsPISMoBeach.com/respectlifeprayers.html O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life. From St. John Paul II Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy. Grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life. Evangelium Vitae, The Gospel of Life, 105 Psalm 118 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel say, His mercy endures forever. The right hand of the Lord has struck with power; the right hand of the Lord is exulted. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. Colossians 1:16-18 In Christ were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!