| Following are individual short devotions that can be used to observe this special anniversary.
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| "We need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to *call things by their proper name*, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception." (Evangelium Vitae, 58)
Reflection: Some call abortion "termination of pregnancy." But so is birth. The fact is that every pregnancy terminates. The issue is how. Abortion supporters are simply masking an act of violence with their language. It's like a man killing his wife and saying, "I terminated our marriage."
Prayer: Spirit of truth, keep us free from the power of deception. Give us clear minds to know truth, and courageous tongues to speak it. Amen.
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| "The height of arbitrariness and injustice is reached when certain people... arrogate to themselves the power to decide who ought to live and who ought to die" – Evangelium Vitae, 66.
Reflection: When people ask me about the right to die, I say, *Don't worry -- you won't miss out on it.* A right is a moral claim. We do not have a claim on death; it has a claim on us! It is our duty to surround our dying brothers and sisters with all the love and care we can.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you conquered the power of death. May we seek freedom from its power only in you! Amen!
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| "I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion... Do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope." -- John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, n.99.
Reflection: The God of Life is a God of Mercy. The pro-life movement rejects abortion, but does not reject those who have abortions. Rather, it embraces them with love and mercy, and invites them to the forgiveness and peace of Christ.
Prayer: Lord, I pray for all those who have had abortions. Through the compassion of those around them, make them confident that they can turn to you for forgiveness, and grant them your peace.
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| "Give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace" (John Paul II, to those who have had abortions...Evangelium Vitae, 99).
Reflection: Every day, around the world, men and women who have lost children to abortion gather for Rachel's Vineyard retreats, which provide an opportunity to face the wounds of abortion in a safe, affirming environment of prayer and the support of others who have been through the same experience.
Prayer: Lord, be with all those who are going through healing after abortion, and bring them quickly to your peace. Amen.
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| "Life, especially human life, belongs only to God: for this reason whoever attacks human life, in some way attacks God himself." – John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, n.9.
Reflection: No human being can own another, not even one's own child. God entrusts us to the care of one another, but he alone remains the owner of human life. That's why we cannot throw it away, no matter how small, frail, or inconvenient it may sometimes be.
Prayer: Lord, may all people acknowledge you as the only master of human life. May those who defend life understand that they are not only defending their brothers and sisters, but are also defending you!
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| "Yes, every man is his 'brother's keeper', because God entrusts us to one another." (Evangelium Vitae, 19)
Reflection: Some people think that because men cannot get pregnant, they have no right to say anything about abortion. But any human being, male or female, has the right and duty to speak up when someone's life is in danger. Real men don't stand around with their hands at their side when innocent babies are being ripped apart. They do something to defend these children.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for entrusting me to my brothers and sisters in the human family, and for entrusting them to me. Keep us all faithful to this call. Amen.
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| "The basis of these values cannot be provisional and changeable 'majority' opinions..." (Evangelium Vitae, 70)
Reflection: Abortion supporters often say most Americans are pro-choice. But the pro-choice position is that a person can choose an abortion at any time in pregnancy, for any reason, and even at taxpayer's expense. This position has never been embraced by a majority of the American people, and never will be.
Prayer: Father, you send your Spirit upon your people to help them discern the law written on their heart. Protect your people from falling into false and harmful opinions. Give us the strength to embrace your truth always. Amen.
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| "No word has the power to change the reality of things: procured abortion is *the deliberate and direct killing... of a human being.*" (Evangelium Vitae, 58)
Reflection: In discussing abortion, its supporters never defend the act of abortion itself, but only the alleged right of someone to have one. They focus on the freedom to choose it, but avoid describing what is chosen. Our job is to focus the discussion on abortion itself, on what the act is.
Prayer: Come, Holy Spirit of truth. Fill our minds and give speech to our tongues. Give us grace to always face truth honestly, and enable us to challenge those who would evade it. Amen.
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| "No single person or group has a monopoly on the defense and promotion of life. These are everyone's task and responsibility" – EV, 91
Reflection: In *The Gospel of Life*, Pope John Paul states that no person or group, including the Catholic Church, has a monopoly on the defense of life. He called on all Christians, and all people of good will, to cooperate with each other in this effort. Indeed, we all need one another to accomplish the works of justice.
Prayer: Lord, enable those who work for the defense of life to welcome and accept one another and to rejoice in the fruits of their collaboration. Amen.
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| "True 'compassion' leads to sharing another's pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear" – Evangelium Vitae, 66.
Reflection: The word "compassion" comes from the Latin words meaning "to suffer with." Love brings us closer to people, and when they are in pain love wants to come closer still. Love gladly suffers for and with the one who is loved. The so-called "right to die" is really a clever disguise for the right to kill.
Prayer: Lord, free us from the selfishness that wants to run away from the suffering of others. Instead, fill us with true compassion, that we may suffer with them. Amen.
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| "A law which violates an innocent person's natural right to life is unjust and, as such, is not valid as a law" – Evangelium Vitae 90.
Reflection: The Church does not say that laws allowing abortion are just "bad laws." The Church declares that they are no laws at all. Rather, they are acts of violence, and must be resisted rather than obeyed. To be valid and binding, a law must never contradict the law of God.
Prayer: Father, as we live amidst many unjust laws, give us the grace to recognize them as invalid, to say so to others, and to work to change them. Amen.
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| "To refuse to take part in committing an injustice is not only a moral duty; it is also a basic human right" – (The Gospel of Life, 74).
Reflection: One of the key battlegrounds in the fight for life is to defend the freedom of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, judges and other professionals to refuse to violate their conscience as they carry out their work. At times this freedom is secure, and at other times, fidelity carries a high price.
Prayer: Lord, provide light and strength to all those who may face the loss of their jobs in order to maintain their integrity. Protect us all as we do what is right. Amen.
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| "In transforming culture so that it supports life, *women* occupy a place, in thought and action, which is unique and decisive. It depends on them to promote a 'new feminism'" – The Gospel of Life, 99.
Reflection: The early feminist leader Susan B. Anthony said, "Abortion is child murder." Women are equal in dignity to men because all human beings are equal in dignity. And "all" includes the human beings still living in the womb.
Prayer: Lord, how easy it is for people and for movements to forget the meaning of "equality." Free the legitimate efforts for women's advancement worldwide from the mistaken notion that this includes abortion. Amen!
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| "A 'new feminism' ... rejects the temptation of imitating models of 'male domination', in order to acknowledge and affirm the true genius of women in every aspect of the life of society, and overcome all discrimination, violence and exploitation" – The Gospel of Life, 99.
Reflection: The early feminist leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton said, "When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit." Authentic feminism is pro-life!
Prayer: Lord, renew our society with a deeper appreciation of the true genius of women, and of their role in a culture of life. Amen.
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| "A notion of freedom which...gives no place to solidarity ... ends up by becoming the freedom of 'the strong' against the weak" – The Gospel of Life, 19.
Reflection: Cardinal Meisner of Germany compared the slaughter of tens of millions of unborn children by abortion to the genocide campaigns conducted by Hitler and Stalin. Whenever a government removes equal protection from some human beings, it is an insult to all human beings. The class of victims may change, but the evil is the same.
Prayer: Deliver us from evil, O Lord. Preserve world governments from corruption and make them havens for human rights. Amen.
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| "Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity" – Evangelium Vitae, 9
Reflection: If we ask, "How can we eliminate capital punishment?" The answer is, "Eliminate abortion." After all, as long as we try to solve problems by throwing away the innocent, it is quite hard to convince people that we don't solve problems by throwing away the guilty.
Prayer: Lord, we confess that so often we think that the way to fix people's problems is to throw people away. Free us from that way of thinking. May we protect the innocent, and may we not fail to recognize the dignity even of the guilty. Amen.
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| "We need first of all to foster...a contemplative outlook [which] arises from faith in the God of life, who has created every individual as a 'wonder'" – The Gospel of Life, 83.
Reflection: There are two ways to look at a tree: we can calculate the value of the lumber, or we can be moved by the beauty of the branches. Both views have their place, but our culture has gone overboard in calculating usefulness, to the detriment of reverence. This is especially dangerous when we look at human lives for their productivity rather than their dignity.
Prayer: Lord, fill us with wonder as we contemplate human life and all your creation. Amen.
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| "To the Father and to his mercy you can with sure hope entrust your child" (John Paul II to those who have had abortions, *The Gospel of Life*, n.99).
Reflection: Baptism is the ordinary way to be born into God's grace. But for those killed without baptism, we can still have sure hope. St. Paul wrote that God wants all to be saved. Let us entrust these children to the Lord, who does not forget anyone that He creates, even when we do.
Prayer: Father, to you we commend the souls of all children killed by abortion. Bring them to heaven, and bring us your comfort. Amen.
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| "Where life is involved, the service of charity must be profoundly consistent ... for human life is sacred and inviolable at every stage and in every situation; it is an indivisible good. We need then to show care for all life and for the life of everyone" (John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, n.87).
Reflection: The consistency of our care for life flows from the fact that God's care is constant. Every life at every stage of its existence belongs to him. God's rights over human life are never interrupted or diminished.
Prayer: God of uninterrupted love, keep us constant and consistent in our care for one another. Amen.
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| "The human person, unlike animals and things, cannot be subjected to domination by others" (John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, 19).
Reflection: If representatives of the Church abuse children, the State steps in. The Church likewise has a duty to intervene when the state allows children to be killed by abortion. America is proud of its freedom of religion, and equally proud of its protection of human rights. The two can go together, as long as "separation of Church and state" never means that either one looks the other way when human rights are violated.
Prayer: Lord, may both Church and State be faithful in their duty to protect human rights. Amen.
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| "All have a responsibility for ... developing ... legislative projects which...will contribute to ... a society in which the dignity of each person is recognized ...." (The Gospel of Life, 90).
Reflection: The law called the "Born Alive Infants Protection Act" states that babies born alive at any time of gestation, even as a result of a failed abortion, are to be treated as persons under the law. To be able to protect unwanted babies after a failed abortion brings us one step closer to protecting them before an abortion.
Prayer: Lord, please hasten the progress being made in our laws for the protection of life! Amen.
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| "Certainly, from the moral point of view contraception and abortion are *specifically different* evils: ...the former is opposed to the virtue of chastity in marriage, the latter is opposed to the virtue of justice and directly violates the divine commandment 'You shall not kill'. But despite their differences of nature and moral gravity, contraception and abortion are often closely connected..." (*John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, n. 13*).
Reflection: Abortion and contraception are both grave sins, but the Pope points out that they are different in nature and that abortion is worse. Neither should be tolerated.
Prayer: Free us, Lord, from the contraceptive mentality that closes the door to generosity. Amen.
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| "Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God" (The Gospel of Life, 65).
Reflection: Once we cross the boundary between "allowing to die" and killing, there will be no turning back. If the terminally ill have a *right* to escape *their* suffering, why shouldn't teenagers have a right to escape theirs? After all, isn't this equal protection under the law? Moreover, why should people be able to exercise a right only when they can articulate it? Voluntary euthanasia *automatically* introduces non-voluntary euthanasia.
Prayer: Enable us, Lord, to understand that our suffering is not the greatest evil in life, and to bear it in union with you. Amen.
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| "Such attacks strike human life at the time of its greatest frailty, when it lacks any means of self-defense. Even more serious is the fact that, most often, those attacks are carried out in the very heart of and with the complicity of the family—the family which by its nature is called to be the 'sanctuary of life'" (John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, n.11).
Reflection: Not all sins against life are the same. Context matters. Greater dependence calls for greater protection. The family setting implies greater compassion.
Prayer: God of the family, Lord of the frail, may compassion and protection overflow from your heart to ours! Amen.
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| "Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable ...But today, in many people's consciences, the perception of its gravity has become progressively obscured" (John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, n.58).
Reflection: A woman who saw the photos of aborted babies wrote, *"OH MY GOSH. I just read your entire web page. OH MY GOSH is all I can really say out loud. I have seen articles and read about abortions before-but I still felt like it was the woman's decision. My mind was changed TODAY."*
Prayer: Lord, grant light and conversion to all about abortion. Amen.
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| "In this way democracy, contradicting its own principles effectively moves towards a form of totalitarianism. The State is no longer the 'common home' where all can live together on the basis of principles of fundamental equality, but is transformed into a tyrant State, which arrogates to itself the right to dispose of the life of the weakest and most defenseless members" (John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, n.20).
Reflection: Some see laws permitting abortion as a minor flaw; the Pope is saying here that they change the very nature of the state.
Prayer: Lord, free us from the tyranny of governments that think they can dispose of human life. Amen.
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| "It is precisely in the 'flesh' of every person that Christ continues to reveal himself and to enter into fellowship with us, so that rejection of human life, in whatever form that rejection takes, is really a rejection of Christ" (The Gospel of Life, 104).
Reflection: For some people, religion is too "religious." They think they encounter or reject Christ only when speaking or thinking about him explicitly, or only when doing or failing to do specifically religious activities. But the Church teaches clearly that we meet Jesus in each human life.
Prayer: Jesus, you are all around us. Open our eyes to your presence in every human life. Amen.
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| "Really, what we have here is only the tragic caricature of legality; the democratic ideal, which is only truly such when it acknowledges and safeguards the dignity of every human person, is betrayed in its very foundations" -- The Gospel of Life, 20
Reflection: Simply because a law may be passed "in the proper way" does not automatically mean it is legitimate. Authentic law serves the good of people, and the protection of their rights.
Prayer: Lord, may legislators and judges see the foundations of authentic law. Amen.
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| "The Gospel of God's love for man, the Gospel of the dignity of the person and the Gospel of life are a single and indivisible Gospel" (John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, n.2).
Reflection: Some who preach the Gospel think that pro-life activity is a "hobby," added onto the Gospel. It is not. It is as integral to the Gospel as any cause or activity could be. The Gospel is all about the redemption and exaltation of the human person, and the marriage of humanity and divinity, in and through Christ.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, may we never lose our awe at the destiny your Gospel announces for humanity. Amen.
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