Prayer Is Needed!
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel. (2 Tm 1:10)
Today, on this 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we consider the past four decades in which our society has legally permitted abortion and wandered far from God. Instead of accepting children in joy and hope, many hearts seem hardened against making commitments to others, fearing the demands others may make on our time or our freedom.
We are becoming a culture marked by rejection, by loneliness and sorrow.
Our laws now make it legal to destroy life by abortion, by abortifacient drugs, in destructive embryo research, in the course of in vitro fertilization procedures, and in some states by assisted suicide and the death penalty. How Jesus must grieve over this culture of death! Let us open our hearts in faith, entrusting our culture to the healing power of Christ, the One who has overcome sin and the power of evil.
Each and every human life is valuable. If not, then no human life is valuable.
If we could root the dignity and value of a human being in anything other than being made in the image and likeness of God, then that dignity would always be fragile and never permanent.
If it were rooted in so-called “quality” of life, then a person would be less valuable when they have less pleasure and more pain.
If dignity were rooted in a person’s strength or intelligence, then those who are stronger or smarter would be more valuable than those who are weaker or less intelligent.
If worth were rooted in a person’s ability to contribute or not be dependent on those around him or her, then individuals who are most in need would be the least “deserving” of help and attention.
However, we know that our worth is not rooted in any of these things; our God-given dignity can never be taken away, and no person is ever less deserving of our love than another.
This day, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Church asks us to pray for the legal protection of unborn children. We can all do that at the very least.
FAITH ACTION: Make time to pray, today, for the protection of unborn children. Pray, as well, for a end to the culture of death that pervades our society and our world.
Please pray, as well, for all those participating in the March for Life in Washington, D.C. A rather dangerous blizzard is predicted to hit that part of the country from 3:00 p.m. today until 6:00 a.m. Sunday.