Celebrant: Aware
that God cares for us more than we can imagine, we present to Him our needs.
Deacon/Lector:
That Pope Benedict, and
all bishops, priests, and deacons will joyfully and effectively proclaim the
grace of God that brings us salvation, we pray to the Lord...
For our President,
Congress, and Courts, that they may carry out their duties with reverence
for God and His unchanging law, we pray to the Lord...
That God, who rescues
the life of the helpless, may enable us to rescue children from abortion,
the sick from euthanasia, the criminal from capital punishment, and the poor
from starvation, we pray to the Lord…
That Christians who are
persecuted for their faith may grow in the courage to acknowledge Christ in
the presence of others, we pray to the Lord...
That the sick may be
healed, the dying consoled, and the departed welcomed into eternal life, we
pray to the Lord...
Celebrant:
Father,
To You we have entrusted our lives.
As we proclaim Christ your Son,
Provide for all our needs,
And fill us with Your Spirit.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bulletin Insert
A
Mother’s poem to her child lost by abortion
“Forgive me. I
am sorry my baby, my little one. You were killed by the one who loved you
the most. For the months I carried you, Flesh of my flesh, flesh of his
flesh. I felt your every move, I could feel you ….But I was too young, I did
not know. Your father, my little one, did not know you. You are a boy, a man
like him. I call you Stewart William, like him. You have curly, brown hair
like him. Your face is his face. I love you like I love him. I have no
excuses. I saved you from a world. Where babies are killed by the ones who
should love them the most. You are safe with God now. If I should ever have
another child, You must remember that I will always love. You the most, my
first baby. Sleep well, my little one.” For healing after abortion,
contact
www.RachelsVineyard.org.
Homily Suggestions on Pro-life Themes
“All the hairs of your head are counted…you are
worth more than many sparrows.” This assertion in today’s Gospel forms the basis
for preaching on how much God values human life. It is not just “living things”
that God values, because he created them. Rather, it is human beings – worth
more than other living beings – who are privileged to have a particular
relationship with God. This “capacity for God” marks out what we mean by the
“sanctity” of human life. There is a relationship opened up for us with the
Creator – a relationship of which lower forms of life are not capable. We can
know him, praise him, receive a share in his divine nature, and one day see him
face to face. We were made for him, as St. Augustine said, and our hearts are
restless until we rest in him.
If a sparrow does not fall to the ground without the
Father’s knowledge, what about a tiny unborn child killed “in secret” by
chemical abortions (sometimes masquerading as birth control), or a new human
embryo destroyed “in secret” in a laboratory in the name of “research?”
Part of acknowledging Jesus before others, then, is
to bear witness to the care that he and the Father give to the smallest human
lives, and the concern God has to preserve such life.
