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
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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
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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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