Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. With nearly 25 million victims worldwide, there are more slaves today than at any time in history. Our Catholic faith calls on us to defend life and human dignity, to fight conditions that lead to the enslavement of human beings.
Loving Father,
We seek your divine protection for all who are exploited and enslaved. For those forced into labor, trafficked into sexual slavery, and denied freedom. We beseech you to release them from their chains. Grant them protection, safety, and empowerment. Restore their dignity and provide them a new beginning. Show us how we might end exploitation by addressing its causes. Help us reach out in support of victims and survivors of human trafficking. Make us instruments of your spirit for their liberation. For this we pray through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Resources on Human Trafficking:
Vatican USCCB Amistad Movement
Read more on St. Josephine Bakhita here.
Death is a decisive moment in the human person’s encounter with God the Savior. Helping the Christian to experience this moment with spiritual assistance is a supreme act of charity. It encompasses the patient with the solid support of human relationships to accompany them and open them to hope. Palliative care and hospice are precious and crucial instruments in the care of patients with serious and complex chronic or terminal illnesses, and they help provide comfort to both the patients and their families.
Read The Witness of the Good Samaritan: Palliative Care and Hospice
Heavenly Father, thank you for the precious gift of life. Help us to cherish and protect this gift, even in the midst of fear, pain, and suffering. Give us love for all people, especially the most vulnerable, and help us bear witness to the truth that every life is worth living. Grant us the humility to accept help when we are in need, and teach us to be merciful to all. Through our words and actions, may others encounter the outstretched hands of Your mercy. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Each October the Church in the United States celebrates Respect Life Month, and the first Sunday of October is observed as Respect Life Sunday. As Catholics, we are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, and at every point in between. We consider more deeply why every human life is valuable and reflect on how to build a culture that protects life from conception to natural death.
Click on the resources below for more on Respect Life Sunday.
Reflection Prayer
We pray that the life of every person, from conception to natural death, will be protected in our laws and cherished in our hearts. Amen.
St. Peter Claver was a Jesuit missionary from Spain who, in the 1600s, served and ministered to captured and enslaved Africans as they were taken off the slave ships landing in South America. St. Peter Claver desired to offer his life as “a slave of the slaves.” His Feast Day this month is an opportunity to highlight the connection between racism and various attacks against human life. As St. John Paul II reminded us, “Where life is involved, the service of charity must be profoundly consistent. It cannot tolerate bias and discrimination, for human life is sacred and inviolable at every stage and in every situation; it is an indivisible good.”
Racism occurs because a person ignores the fundamental truth that all [humans are] equally made in the image of God.”1 Racism fails to acknowledge the dignity with which God creates each person, and it contributes to a culture of death.
Let us pray:
Mary’s Assumption into heaven reminds us that life on earth is a pilgrimage to our ultimate destination. We prepare in hope for our own passage into eternal life by the choices we make today. When we choose to love and follow God in our daily lives, we strengthen our relationship with Him, and this relationship is the true meaning of heaven: “To live in heaven is ‘to be with Christ’” (CCC, 1025 citing St. Ambrose, In Luc.,10,121:PL 15 1834A.).
We can see how, 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 pregnant mothers and parents of young children? Do we prioritize showing our love to those who are ill or aging? Do we care for them in a way that respects God’s gift of life?
National Natural Family Planning Awareness Week highlights the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae vitae (July 25), which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, married love, and responsible parenthood. The dates also mark the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne (July 26), the parents of the Blessed Mother.
“There is an inseparable link between the two meanings of the marriage act: the unitive meaning [making love] and the procreative meaning [making babies]. This connection was established by God himself, and man is not permitted to break it on his own initiative.” (H.V, no. 12)
May married couples embrace their call to total, faithful, and fruitful love with openness to new life.
What is NFP?
Click HERE for NFP stories from couples.
Although fathers do not physically carry their children from conception, fathers can still be overwhelmed by an unexpected pregnancy. We Christians must support men who, in following the example of St. Joseph, choose to embrace their role as a father in all circumstances, but especially in challenging situations. St. Joseph was unexpectedly called to fatherhood amid extremely confusing and difficult circumstances. However, despite many obstacles, St. Joseph chose to be faithful. St. Joseph chose life by listening to God’s will and consciously deciding to be a father to Jesus, the Son of God. Pope Saint John Paul II said that fathers are called to exhibit “generous responsibility for the life conceived under the heart of the mother” (Familiaris consortio 25). Like St. Joseph, all fathers are uniquely entrusted with the protection and defense of both mother and child and, in this way, safeguard the sanctity of human life. But biological fathers, because they do not physically carry the child, sometimes fail to truly father their children.
Our society increasingly tells fathers that they should have no say in the lives of their unborn children, no opportunity to choose to father their children. Our society seems to restrict the decisions regarding an unborn child solely to the discretion of the mother. In the face of false messages about fatherhood, we must respond with the truth that the role of a father “is of unique and irreplaceable importance” (FC 25). We know that the assistance and support of the father of a child, or lack thereof, can often be a deciding factor in a woman’s decision to choose life. Tragically, there are men who sometimes pressure mothers to make the decision to abort the child, sinning grievously and making the cowardly choice. These men are not following the example of St. Joseph and are not exercising true, spiritual fatherhood.
This is because fatherhood extends beyond simple procreation and biology. Fatherhood is first a spiritual reality, because 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 and unique role “in revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God” (FC 25). Fathers have a vital, unique, and important role to play in the personal and spiritual development of their children, and in reflecting the love of God the Father himself. Fathers are called to show the world the virtues of a tender protector, while living out the virtues of humility and courage.
In all circumstances, but especially in difficult circumstances, a father needs to be encouraged to faithfully accept the role entrusted to him by God and support the mother of his child. 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!
Mother's Day and the month of May are wonderful opportunities to highlight the beautiful vocation of motherhood and the gift of life.
On Wednesday, May 31, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast Commemorates the Blessed Mother's visit to her cousin Elizabeth and the encounter of Jesus and St. John the Baptist while in the wombs of their mothers.
Sign up HERE and join us in praying A Novena for Life in honor of the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
By the age of 45, as many as 1 in 3 women have had an abortion, and a similar number of men and family members have been involved.
Many feel that abortion is “the unforgivable sin.” They need to hear that, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God forgives every sin of a repentant heart, even the sin of abortion. In fact, Jesus’ message to St. Faustina is that the greater the sinner, the greater the right to His mercy.
For those who have participated in an abortion and feel they have committed an unforgiveable sin: May they come to know the Lord’s limitless mercy, and turn to Him for forgiveness and healing. Find ways to build the bridge of mercy HERE.
If you or someone you know has had an abortion, be assured that it is never too late to seek God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Additionally, other confidential, compassionate help is available. Select “Find Help” from the menu on www.hopeafterabortion.org to find the diocesan Project Rachel Ministry near you.
Leading up to the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 20,* join us in praying the St. Joseph Adoption Novena. Invoking the intercession of St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, we will pray the Lord blesses all who travel upon the path of adoption. *Normally March 19th, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is transferred to Monday, March 20th in 2023 because March 19th falls on a Sunday. The novena is also available to download as a PDF or Microsoft Word document.
Intentions
National Marriage Week (Feb. 7-14) and World Marriage Day (Sunday, Feb. 12) are opportunities to focus on building a culture of life and love that begins with supporting and promoting marriage and the family. This year's theme, "Marriage...one flesh, given and received" highlights the one-flesh union of husband and wife that is willed by God. It also indicates the personal self-gift of each spouse, one to the other. These concepts point to Christ who gives Himself under the appearance of bread and wine—as real flesh and blood.
The over 60 million abortions since the 1973 decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton reflect with heartbreaking magnitude what Pope Francis means by a “throwaway culture.” However, we have great trust in God’s providence. We are reminded time and again in Scripture to seek the Lord’s help, and as people of faith, we believe that our prayers are heard.
And while, on June 24, 2022, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade, right now state and federal laws, in many instances, are still hostile to preborn children. So, great prayer and advocacy is still very needed.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373, designates January 22 as a particular day of prayer and penance, called the “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children”: “In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.”
During this time of preparation and expectant waiting, we also remember expectant mothers who are preparing for the birth of their children. May we look to the Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph and follow their example of cherishing and protecting human life.
For women who are unexpectedly pregnant: May they be filled with trust in God’s providence and lovingly welcome the gift of their child. God is with us always.
in the case of an unexpected pregnancy, you may be unsure of how to help or what to say. Learn how to support those in their new journey of motherhood HERE.