Respect Life and Pro-Life Ministries

National Child Abuse Prevention Month recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to prevent child abuse and neglect and promotes the social and emotional well-being of children and families.

When a child is abused, the effects are grave and can last a lifetime. Some of the most common effects of abuse include:

• Loss of faith and trust in God.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder, psychological distress, and other indirect signs of trauma, such as anxiety, trouble sleeping, chronic stomach pain, and headaches.
• A greater risk of developing behavioral problems, substance abuse, and suicide.

The sense of violation goes deep into a person’s psyche and feelings of anger, shame, hurt, and betrayal can build long after the abuse has taken place.

Click here for the Novena for Protection and Healing from Abuse.

We celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on March 19th. This occasion is an opportunity to highlight the gift of adoption by seeking the intercession of St. Joseph for the many people whose lives are touched by adoption. invite others to join in prayer leading up to the solemnity, March 10-18.
Intentions

The novena is also available to download as a PDF or Microsoft Word document. 

• Day 1: For Mothers Who Place Their Children for Adoption (en español)

• Day 2: For Fathers Who Place Their Children for Adoption (en español)

• Day 3: For Family Members of Children Placed for Adoption (en español)

• Day 4: For Children Awaiting Adoption (en español)

• Day 5: For Married Couples Pursuing Adoption (en español)

• Day 6: For Adopted Children (en español)

• Day 7: For Adoptive Mothers (en español)

• Day 8: For Adoptive Fathers (en español)

• Day 9: For Family Members Welcoming Children through Adoption (en español)

The upcoming observances of National Marriage Week (February 7-14, 2022) and World Marriage Day (Sunday, February 13, 2022) are opportunities to focus on building a culture of life and love by supporting and promoting marriage and the family.

Prayer for Married Couples
Almighty and eternal God, You blessed the union of married couples so that they might reflect the union of Christ with his Church: look with kindness on them. Renew their marriage covenant, increase your love in them, and strengthen their bond of peace so that, with their children, they may always rejoice in the gift of your blessing. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We pray for all married couples: May their openness to new life Bear witness to the generous love of God.

9 Days for Life is a novena for the Protection of human life. Each intention is accompanied by a short reflection and suggested actions to help build a culture of life. Click here for daily intercessions January 19-27.
Day 1     Day 2     Day 3     Day 4     Day 5     Day 6
Day 7     Day 8     Day 9 

Jesus calls each of us to ‘care for the other as a person for whom God has made us responsible’ (EV 87). …The encyclical The Gospel of Life recognizes the full range of threats against human life, from poverty and malnutrition to murder and war. Particular emphasis, however, is placed on threats to life at its beginning and end—precisely when it is most in need of protection. In modern times, children in their mothers’ wombs and those approaching the end of their lives are certainly among the ‘least of these’ in our world’s estimation.

Read more here.

Adoption is a wonderful gift. Though sometimes portrayed in negative ways by the media, most experiences of adoption are beautiful love stories—such as the one shared HERE.

Like every other human family, the Holy Family had to confront real and concrete challenges. Yet, “in every situation, Joseph declared his own ‘fiat’” (PC 3). His “yes” to the Lord meant that regardless of the hardship and personal sacrifice to himself, he consistently chose to put the needs of Mary and Jesus before his own. Joseph’s devotion helps reveal to us our own call to show special care for the lives of those whom God has entrusted to us.

During this Year of St. Joseph, each of us can find in him “an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble” (PC, Intro). Joseph shows us how to say “yes” to life, despite our own fears, frailties, and weaknesses. For it is Joseph who was “chosen by God to guide the beginnings of the history of redemption. He was the true ‘miracle’ by which God saves the child and his mother."

May we, too, be miracles in the lives of those who are most in need, especially at the beginning and end of life.

Suicidal individuals—with or without a terminal illness—typically do not want to die; they want to escape what they perceive to be an intolerable situation, and they inaccurately believe that suicide is their only way out. The patient requesting assisted suicide is often asking, "Does anyone want me to be alive, or care enough to talk me out of this request and support me through this difficult time?"

While individuals who are at risk for suicide often comtemplate and formulate suicide plans, and some may show warning signs, they are often ambivalent about ending their loves. The actual suicide attempt is often done impulsively, in the midst of an acute crisis or while intoxicated or emotionally distressed.

Furthermore, completing a suicide generally requires not just intent (which typically waxes and wanes over time) - but also easy access to means. People tend to fixate on one specific plan. If that particular method isn't readily available, they typically don't choose an alternative method; they choose to live. But assisted suicide increases access to a ready means to end one's life for those who are especially vulnerable due to a terminal illness.

Laws permitting suicide communicate the message that, under especially difficul circumstances, some lives are not worth living. This tracigally false message will be heard by not only those with a terminal illness, but by any person struggling with the temptation to end his or her life.

Every suicide is tragic. We don't discourage suicide by assisting suicide.

Throughout her life, the Blessed Mother continually chose to go deeper into her relationship with God. She modeled how to value and respect His precious gift of human life, from the moment of conception to its natural end. In the Annunciation, through her “yes,” Mary witnessed to the undeniable humanity of unborn children as she conceived and carried the Christ child in her womb. After the Annunciation, having learned that her cousin Elizabeth was with child, she went in haste to her aid.

Our Blessed Mother shows us how the way we live today can prepare us, in hope, to also enter into heavenly glory at the end of our lives. Are we open to God’s precious gift of new life? How do we support expectant mothers and parents of young children? Do we prioritize showing our love and care for loved ones who are ill or aging?

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
 

Congress is trying to force Americans to pay for abortion. 

The Hyde Amendment and similar laws have protected taxpayers from funding elective abortion for 45 years. Now, powerful members of Congress want to take away these laws that both Democrats and Republicans have supported for nearly half a century. Billions of taxpayer dollars could be used to pay for abortion.

It is critically important for Catholics to send a strong message before Congress moves forward to impose taxpayer-funded abortion.

Stop your tax dollars from going to abortion. Take action and sign the petition to Congress at NoTaxpayerAbortion.com. 
 

Fatherhood has its origins in God, who chose to reveal Himself to us as Our Father, sending his only Son for the sake of our salvation. Fathers therefore have a special role “in revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God” (Familiaris consortio 25). Indeed, the role of the father “is of unique and irreplaceable importance” (FC 25). Although society increasingly tells fathers that they have no say in the lives of their children before birth and fails to recognize the dynamic and critically important role of fatherhood, it is both a biological and spiritual reality.

Pope Saint John Paul II said fathers are called to exhibit “generous responsibility for the life conceived under the heart of the mother” (FC 25). They are uniquely entrusted with the protection and defense of both mother and child and, in this way, in safeguarding the sanctity of human life. Yet research continues to show that the top reasons women seek abortions include lacking support from the child’s father and financial challenges, which are only exacerbated by a father’s absence.

Through our prayers and through the intercession of St. Joseph, patron of fathers, may fathers come to know the irreplaceable role they hold in the lives of their children, and the responsibility they share in welcoming God’s gift of new life!