The Gift of Life

God our Creator,

we give thanks to you, who alone have the power

to impart the breath of life

as you form each of us in our mother’s womb;

grant, we pray,

that we, whom you have made stewards of creation,

may remain faithful to this sacred trust

and constant in safeguarding the dignity of every human life…

Collect

Day of Pray for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

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All are created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

Declaration of Independence

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The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behaviour and even in law itself, is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake. Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard the reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness" (Is 5:20).

Pope John Paul II

Evangelium Vitae, 58

http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html

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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.

Pope Francis

Evangelii Gaudium, 213

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html

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Not just on this Day of Prayer, but each and every day, we give thanks to Our Creator for the unalienable right to life.

Have you, like me, been bothered to hear recent angry chants of “women’s rights are human rights”… thinking that the chanters were blatantly ignoring the fundamental right to life?   Are you saddened by those promoting self-serving destruction?  How can we put an end to the duplicity of demands for inclusivity and tolerance to the exclusion and detriment of persons who aspire to moral values?

I am reminded of the peer pressure of my distant teenage years.  I can still hear my parents saying, “if ‘everyone’ is doing something (fill in the blank), it doesn’t make it right and it doesn’t mean that you have to do it also.”  You and I need to be the voices of wise, loving parents guiding and praying others away from the pressures of the evil one which are rampant in today’s world.  Acts of loving kindness can conquer anger and selfishness, by the grace of God.

People of faith, hope and love… all people of good will:   Be steadfast in your belief that human rights and dignity are bestowed on each and every person from conception to natural death.   Celebrate that we are all created in the image and likeness of God.  We will find peace and joy when we embrace God’s will.

Thanks be to God for the gift of His love!

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