Celebrant: God always
welcomes us and hears our prayers. Let us pray for the needs of our Church
and our world.
Deacon/Lector:
That the Pope, bishops, and all church leaders will continually seek
God’s wisdom and guidance, we pray to the Lord...
That world leaders will model the mercy of God in their treatment of
their people, we pray to the Lord...
That we who are called to instruct and admonish one another may never
fail to dissuade those who are tempted to abort their children, we pray to
the Lord...
For our parish, that we continue to actively invite men and women in our
midst to share their gifts and energy with the Church as they each discern
their vocation, we pray to the Lord...
That those who have died and those who grieve them may find comfort in
Christ, we pray to the Lord...
Celebrant:
Merciful and compassionate God,
you give us all we need to come to everlasting happiness.
Hear our prayers,
that we might be a sign of your blessings to all we meet.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bulletin Insert
Come to the Church
“On what reasonable grounds and with what imaginable right can anyone
suggest that any human life since that time of Abram, is less precious or
valuable than that of Isaac? Or has less potential in the plan of our
Creator? What a savage, unconscionable, heinous act it would have been to
have put this special gift of God, Isaac, to death in his mother’s womb. And
to how many potential Isaacs has that happened and is still happening……The
right to life is the greatest civil rights issue of our time. This is the
issue that will determine whether America remains a hospitable society,
committed to caring for women in crisis and their unborn children, -- or
whether America betrays our heritage and the truths on which the founders
staked their claims to independence….No one has to have an abortion. To all
those in crisis pregnancies, I pledge our support and our financial help.
Come to the Catholic Church. Let us walk with you through your time of
trouble. Let us help you affirm life. Abortion need not be an answer ...”
---Archbishop Edwin O’Brien Maryland March for Life St. Mary’s, Annapolis,
March 13, 2008
Homily Suggestions on Pro-life Themes
Ez 33:7-9
Rom 13:8-10
Mt 18:15-20
The readings today provide important insight into the pro-life witness of
the Church and of each member of the Church.
Combining the themes of the readings, we can say that the Church consists of
“loving watchmen.” Because we love God, we love others, and therefore try to
persuade others to love the same God and to keep themselves from the
destructive harm of sin. When we try to fulfill the exhortation of Ezekiel
and of Jesus to engage in the spiritual work of mercy of “admonishing the
sinner,” we are told – particularly when the sin we are trying to prevent is
abortion – that we should “mind our own business.”
(Of course, this criticism is not heard when the sins we are trying to
prevent are politically correct to prevent, such as harm to the
environment.)
Yet it actually is our business to engage in fraternal correction, because
God has entrusted us to each other. “The God of the Covenant has entrusted
the life of every individual to his or her fellow human beings” (Evangelium
Vitae, 76). There is a natural bond of responsibility, because we are all
one human family, and there is a mystical communion in grace and a harm that
is done to the entire Body of Christ by the sins of each individual. Hence,
fraternal correction, and being a “watchman,” make sense.
The task is especially urgent when we are speaking up for defenseless human
beings who cannot speak for themselves.
The love that Paul describes in the second reading is what infuses the
pro-life movement and motivates its participants. Defending the unborn is
simply an application of “love your neighbor.” Pro-life advocacy, therefore,
does not have to be seen as ideologically or politically motivated. It is
simply love in action, and love that inspires not only the work of the
pregnancy centers and the post abortion healing ministries, but also the
legislative efforts, the political efforts, the protests, and every other
form of pro-life activity.
The gospel passage today ends with the words, “where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Why did the
Lord say “two or three?” He is there when just one person is present, isn’t
he? Certainly, he is. But it is when the “other” or “others” show up that we
are then able to give ourselves away in love, and that bond of active love
between human beings manifests Jesus’ presence in the particular way that he
highlights in this passage.
