Fifth Sunday in Ordinary
Time, Cycle B
General Intercessions
Celebrant: Gathered in the
name of Christ, we humbly come before the Father to present our needs.
Deacon/Lector:
That the Church may be
strengthened by the Spirit in its ministry of spreading the Good News of Jesus
throughout the world, we pray to the Lord...
That Church leaders may work
faithfully to fulfill their mission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations, we
pray to the Lord...
That our Christian lawmakers
will actively promote justice through the legal means entrusted to them, we pray
to the Lord...
That all who despair because
of a past abortion may open their hearts to repentance and the merciful
forgiveness of the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted, we pray to the Lord...
That the lonely and
depressed may know the depths of God’s love for them through the efforts of
compassionate Christians, we pray to the Lord...
That the members of our
parish community who have died may be welcomed into God’s kingdom, we pray to
the Lord...
Celebrant:
Almighty God, you are the
source of our hope and strength.
As you answer our prayers, keep us always close to you, and bring us salvation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Bulletin Insert
Abortion Survivors
Child psychiatrist Philip
Ney relates, "A woman reported telling her nine year old son about her abortion,
which had taken place years before he was born. He said, 'I knew, Mom, that
there was something wrong. I always have nightmares about knives and my mother
killing me. I have an imaginary brother who wants to kill me. If you had not
aborted the other, would you have aborted me?'" (Abortion Survivors, p.36).
This is a story repeated more times than most people realize, and representing a
societal and pastoral problem whose proportions are greater today than at any
previous time in history: the phenomenon of tens of millions of abortion
survivors.
It is clear that abortion's primary victim is the child who is killed. It has
also become increasingly clear that to kill the child is to harm the mother and
father as well. What is not always so well known, however, is that abortion
makes its impact felt on those who have had a sibling aborted, and that this
impact is felt in surprising and astonishing ways, which also have wider
implications for the whole of society.
Homily
Suggestions on Pro-life Themes
Jesus loved the poor, the
weak, the sick, and the demon-possessed. These individuals, and those who cared
for them, knew that they could come to Jesus to find what they needed. What they
needed, however, was often much more than what they thought they needed, because
Jesus indicated by his words in today’s Gospel passage, and by his actions, that
it was his purpose to preach the Word of God. The healing, in other words,
flowed from something more fundamental. People need to hear the truth of God. By
accepting it and being formed in it, they can establish right relationships with
God and one another. They can conquer sin. They can have integral salvation, in
body and soul.
As Jesus was the one to whom
the people brought the ill and those possessed by demons, so the Church today is
the place that people should be inclined to go first. The Church preaches
integral salvation, as the recently issued “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of
the Catholic Church” so clearly explains. The feeding of the soul and the care
given to temporal needs go hand in hand.
The Church, which teaches
the truth that all life belongs to God, is reaching out each day to those who
are tempted to take life by abortion. The thousands of pregnancy centers run by
Christians across the nation bear witness to this fact. These centers provide
medical help, financial assistance, legal advice, counseling, job and education
opportunities, assistance to keep and raise the child or to make an adoption
plan, and countless other needs. Some national hotlines, like the “Option Line”
(1-800-395-HELP) and websites like
www.PregnancyCenters.org bring this concrete help to countless people daily.
The members of each parish can extend the ministry of Jesus by referring people
to this kind of help. It saves lives, spares people endless grief, and proclaims
the Word of God about human life.
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