Celebrant: We trust in the Lord above any other source of help or hope. Because he alone knows our deepest needs and is able to meet them, we now turn to him with confidence.

Deacon/Lector:

That as the Church proclaims Christ Risen from the dead, all the people of the world may find new hope in the Gospel, we pray to the Lord...

That Christ's love for the poor, the hungry, and the sorrowful may inspire his disciples in their global efforts to care for every human need, we pray to the Lord...

That God may give joy to those who are persecuted for fighting abortion, euthanasia, war, and capital punishment, we pray to the Lord…

That those who are called to the priesthood, diaconate, and religious life may hear that call clearly and respond to it generously, we pray to the Lord...

That all who have died may be purified of sin and share in the resurrection, we pray to the Lord...

Celebrant:

Father,
you bless those who are in distress
and reward those who trust in you.
As you answer our prayers,
keep us faithful in your service.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We bishops have the serious duty to clarify and correct first personally and then publicly… Catholic elected officials who publicly profess to be Catholics, but publicly support abortions, letting them know that they are not in good standing with the Catholic church and cause great scandal for millions of fellow Catholics. They have broken Eucharistic consistency. - Texas “Heartbeat Law” Will Keep the Hearts of Thousands of Tiny Unborn Beating with Life, Bishop Michael Pfeifer, O.M.I., Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of San Angelo – September 8, 2021

Jer 17:5-8
1 Cor 15:12, 16-20
Lk 6:17, 20-26

Watch and share this video with homily hints

Abortion is not only a sin against life; it is a sin against hope. We trust our own (or others’) evaluation of the problems in our lives and in the world, and decide that the world is too inhospitable for a child to be welcomed into it. The first reading, therefore, with its exhortation to hope in the Lord, speaks right to the heart of the culture of life. The pro-life movement is focused on inspiring the hope that brings the courage to say yes to life. 

This hope is based ultimately in what the second reading identifies as the foundation of our faith: Christ is indeed raised from the dead. The evils we fight, like abortion, are ultimately defeated already at their root, because the kingdom of death has already been overturned.

These truths of the first and second readings provide the basis for the beatitudes, each of which can be applied to the pro-life witness of the Church:

“Blessed are you poor.” Biblically, the “poor” are those who have no help but God. The “poor” are not simply the materially disadvantaged, but rather those who are marginalized by society. The children living in the womb are truly the poorest of the poor, and the Church’s preferential option for the poor requires that we give them priority attention. These children are the only group of people in our society whose very right to life is formally and explicitly denied by public policy.

“Blessed are you who are now hungry.” We are hungry for justice to be established; the unborn are hungry for their most basic rights to be recognized.

“Blessed are you who weep.” If we are to be builders of the culture of life, we must first learn to weep over the culture of death. The evil of abortion must break our hearts. Only then are our hearts opened to receive the grace and strength to witness and battle against this evil.

 “Blessed are you when people hate you.” Defenders of the unborn are hated by many in the world today, who see them as a threat to human rights, as enemies of women’s rights and health, as opponents of freedom itself. Few movements can give one as direct an experience of this particular beatitude than the pro-life movement – which is precisely why it is a blessing to be involved in it.