10/1/10

Respect Life Month 2010


October is Respect Life Month in the US Catholic Church.

If you hop over to the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, you'll find links to a range of life issues deserving of our study, prayer and action:

Abortion
Assisted Suicide
Capital Punishment
Human Cloning
Contraception
Disabilities
Embryo / Fetal Research
End of Life Issues / Euthanasia
IVF / Reproductive Technology
International Issues
Morning After Pill
Natural Family Planning
Partial-Birth Abortion
Post Abortion Healing
Roe v. Wade
RU-486
Stem Cell Research
Unborn Victims of Violence Act
Women and the Culture of Life

In a statement to mark Respect Life Month 2010, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston addressed direct threats to human life and called Catholics to “constantly witness to the inestimable worth and dignity of each human life through a loving concern for the good of others.”
Because we are created in the image of God, who is Love, our identity and vocation is to love sacrificially for the sake of others. Pope Benedict XVI has called this “the key to [our] entire existence.” In a homily during his recent visit to the United Kingdom, Pope Benedict reminded us that “our hearts can easily be hardened by selfishness, envy and pride,” and that “pure and generous love is the fruit of a daily decision.” Every day, he reminded us, “we have to choose to love.” In our homes, schools, workplaces, and in public, if we constantly witness to the inestimable worth and dignity of each human life through a loving concern for the good of others, if we allow the dignity of every human life to guide the decisions we make as voters and public policy advocates, we can surely succeed in creating a more just and humane society.
(Read the complete statement here)

As I write this post, I think of two intercessions we pray in my parish at our Saturday and Sunday Masses, not just in October but on every weekend of the year:

- For respect and reverence for life
in all its shapes and forms,

and for the wisdom and will
to conserve the gifts of creation,
let us pray to the Lord...

- For children waiting to be born
and for the mothers who carry them

and for children waiting to be adopted
and for the families who will receive them,
let us pray to the Lord...

Image from Respect Life Apostolate


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2 comments:

  1. Having gone through the procedure of IVF several times and finally ending up with a much loved and wanted beautiful healthy baby boy,
    I do not understand why the Catholic Church would oppose this. My husband and I medically could not convieve in the natural way. We love each other very much, and ultimately had a child because of this love and modern technology.

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  2. Lily: If you followed the link in the post at the USCCB site, I hope you found some helpful information on why the Church teaches on this question as it does. A combox isn't the best or the easiest venue for pastoral counseling. If you have questions beyond the information available here, I'd encourage you to speak to someone at your parish.

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