Prayer for the Helpless Unborn
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 today who are not thinking of motherhood.
Help them to see that the child they carry is made in Your image - as well as theirs - made for eternal life.
Dispel their fear and selfishness and give them true womanly hearts to love their babies and give 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 Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.
Source: EWTN
"Twenty-nine states mandate that a woman seeking an abortion be given counseling including information intended to discourage her from obtaining the procedure, such as a purported link with breast cancer; 24 states require a woman seeking an abortion to wait a specified period of time, usually 24 hours, between when she receives counseling and when the procedure is performed.Yet, there is still so much to be done! Please join me in supporting life this year in supporting pro-life legislation. Pro-life legislation does make a difference! Again, here is a link to NARAL's grades for states on abortion. Let's strive to fail more states this year and stand up for life.
Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia prohibit the use of public funds to pay for abortion for low-income women, even when it is medically necessary, generally making exceptions only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest. Only 17 states use their own funds to pay for all or most medically necessary abortions for Medicaid enrollees.
Thirty-four states require some type of parental involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion: Twenty-one states require one or both parents to consent to the procedure, while 13 require that a parent be notified. "
Source: Guttmacher Institute
Please let me know of any pro-life legislation passed by your state this year as I make this master list of pro-life laws from 2005:
Federal:
The Cord Blood Stem Cell Bill became Federal Law
Arkansas:
Parental Consent Law
Illinois:
Born Alive Infant Protection Act signed into law on Aug 12, 2005
Minnesota:
Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act passed
Mississippi:
Prevents minors from crossing state lines & requiring abortion centers within a 30 mile radius of a hospital.
South Dakota:
5 great laws passed
Texas:
Parental Consent Law
I love reading up on St. John Bosco. One of the most inspirational stories I've ever read has come from him when St. John Bosco raised a boy back to life from death. I'm asking my readers to please join me in praying the Novena to St. John Bosco from today, Jan 23rd to Jan 31st.Father and teacher of Young, In need of special help, I appeal with confidence to you, O Saint Don Bosco, for I require not only spiritual graces, but also temporal ones, and particularly... (add your own personal intentions here)
May you, who on earth had such great devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary Help of Christians, and who always had compassion for those who were suffering, obtain from Jesus and His Heavenly Mother the grace I now request, and also a sincere resignation to the Will of God.
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father
2271. "Since the first century, the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law: You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish. [Didache 2, 2: SCh 248, 148; cf. Ep. Barnabae 19, 5: PG 2, 777; Ad Diognetum 5, 6: PG 2, 1173; Tertullian, Apol. 9: PL 1, 319-320.] God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes. [GS 51 # 3.]"
2272. "Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. 'A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,' [CIC, can. 1398.] 'by the very commission of the offense,' [CIC, can. 1314.] and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. [Cf. CIC, cann. 1323-1324.] The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society."
2274. "Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being. Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, 'if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual.... It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence.' [CDF, Donum vitae I, 2.]"
2322. "From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a 'criminal' practice (GS 27 # 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life.
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Today we celebrate two anniversaries.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 today who are not thinking of motherhood.Help them to see that the child they carry is made in Your image - as well as theirs - made for eternal life.Dispel their fear and selfishness and give them true womanly hearts to love their babies and give 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 Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain, Title Unknown
"Let's look at the numbers in the US first. In 1965, at the end of the Council, there were 58,000 priests. Now there are 41,000. By 2020, if present trends continue (and there is no sign of a dramatic upsurge in vocations), there will be only 31,000 priests, and half of those will be over 70. (To offer a personal example of the effect of these demographics, I was ordained in 1981 at the age of 27. Today, at the age of 52, I can still attend gatherings of priests and find myself one of the younger members present.) In 1965, 1,575 new priests were ordained. In 2005, the number was 454, a decrease of more than two-thirds — and remember that the Catholic population in the US increased during these years from 45.6 million in 1965 to the 64.8 million of 2005, a rise of almost 50%."
by Father John McCloskey
The State of the US Catholic Church at the Beginning of 2006
Tomorrow, Jan. 22nd, we remember one of the saddest moment in our history. In 1973, the United States allowed mothers to murder their own unborn children. This horrendous and murderous attack on the dignity of life has lead to the murder of millions of babies - 1.3 mil annually in the US and 46 mil. globally in a year!.jpg)
Double (1954 Calendar): January 20If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. - St. Augustine
