"The point has been reached where the most basic care, even nourishment, is denied" (The Gospel of Life, 14).
Reflection: Some do not believe that artificial means, like feeding tubes, need to be used to provide nutrition. But every meal we have is also artificially provided. Straws and cups are artificial. So are the numerous processes by which our food comes from the fields, through the food companies and supermarkets, through chemical preservation and processing, through the ovens and microwaves, and onto our tables. Food and water are always normal, obligatory care, even when administered in artificial ways. Prayer: Lord, protect all who need assistance for the most basic provisions of life. Amen.
"Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and he was obedient to them" (Luke 2:51).
Reflection: Though he was conceived of a virgin, Jesus nevertheless lived as a son in a human family. The family is the sanctuary of life. The family, above all, is where life is to be welcomed, no matter how fragile or inconvenient it may be. One of the many reasons why the Church sees abortion and euthanasia as pre-eminent issues is because these crimes are committed by one family member upon another. Prayer: O Holy Family, bless our families, and lead us to a Culture of Life. Amen.
source: Pro-Life Reflections for Every Day from Priests For Life
"He will govern your people fairly, and deal justly with your poor ones." (Psalm 72:2)
Reflection: The preparation for Christ’s coming is reform, and the promise of His coming is reconciliation. And the two are linked. If the Messiah comes to restore harmony between nations and people, then the people of the Messiah are to repent of whatever destroys that harmony. If the Messiah will judge the poor with justice, then the people of the Messiah are to work to eliminate injustice. Prayer: Strengthen your people, Lord, to fight the greatest injustice of our times, which is abortion. May we be well prepared for your coming. Amen!
"Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days…They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain." (Isaiah 65: 20, 25)
Reflection: Christ’s coming heralds a new harmony in all of nature, including between mother and child. Advent leads us to the Silent Night when the whole world finds joy in his birth, a joy no longer threatened by violence. Prayer: Lord, may your birth shed protection on all about to be born, and as we work to end abortion, may we “wait in joyful hope for the coming of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.” Amen.
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." (John 1:14)
Reflection: Christmas, for which we are now preparing, is not simply the feast of the birth of Christ; it is the feast of His becoming human, the reality called the Incarnation.
Jesus was an embryo, a fetus, an unborn child. Life in the womb, which was already sacred because it comes from God, is now made even more holy, and worthy of our every sacrifice. Prayer: Lord Jesus, you lived for nine months within the body of the Virgin Mary. Give success to the efforts of all who believe in your Incarnation to protect every life in the womb. Amen.
source: Pro-Life Reflections for Every Day from Priests For Life
"She was greatly troubled by his words…" (Luke 1:29)
Reflection: Mary was afraid and uncertain in the face of her unexpected pregnancy. In Advent, believers throughout the world spiritually rush to her side to eagerly await with her the birth of the Savior.
The best way for us to celebrate Christmas is to rush physically to the side of those in the community who, like Mary, are uncertain and afraid about their pregnancy. Let us strengthen them to choose life. Prayer: Father, I pray for those who are pregnant but afraid to be mothers. Through the prayers of Mary, give them strength, and enable me to reach out to them. Amen!
"See what love the Father has bestowed on us, enabling us to be called the children of God…" (1 John 3:1)
Reflection: St. Augustine said of Christmas, “God became man so that man might become God.”
Christmas is about a wondrous exchange of natures: God shares our frail humanity, and we share his divinity.
The joy of Christmas is not just that a child is born, but that a whole new humanity is born. We share the Divine Nature, starting right now. Prayer: Lord, as you have given us a share in your nature, so give us all a more profound reverence for the life of every human being! Amen!
source: Pro-Life Reflections for Every Day from Priests For Life
"Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)
Reflection: Christmas is God in human language . It is not simply about the birth of a child, but rather the coming of the one who will preach the Sermon on the Mount, instruct us by parables, and establish his Church.
This is why it makes no sense to welcome the child but reject his teachings.
That Gospel has taught from the beginning that life must be protected, including life in the womb. There can be no such thing as a “pro-choice Christian.” Prayer: Jesus, in welcoming you, I welcome the Father, and all the truth and grace he gives us through you! Amen.
"I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, you may also be." (John 14:3)
Reflection: Christmas means more than kindness, goodness, family, joy, and giving. It’s about what kind of destiny awaits us beyond the grave.
Christmas is about the Gospel of Life, the hope of eternal life offered through the birth of a child whom we accept by faith. In the light of the manger, we see every human person as one who is called to be where Christ is in glory! Prayer: Lord, you want every human person to be where you are. Fill me with that kind of love for every life. Amen!
source: Pro-Life Reflections for Every Day from Priests For Life
"He did not spare his own Son…How then can he fail also to give us everything else…?" (Romans 8:32)
Reflection: The song “Grown up Christmas list” speaks of a list for a world in need. This list includes, “no more lives torn apart, that wars may never start…that right would always win.”
Christmas is a time for wishing boldly for good things. Let us write our Christmas list with confidence. Prayer: Father, increase our longing that every life may be safe from the violence of abortion and euthanasia, and from the ravages of poverty, crime, and war. Increase our confidence in your generous love, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
"There has been born to you a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord." (Luke 2:11)
Reflection: From the beginning of time, prophets announced that the Messiah of the Lord would come. “Messiah,” or “Christ” means “Anointed one.” God anointed many people to carry out special missions for him.
On Christmas, this prophecy was fulfilled in a surprising way, because the angels did not simply announce that Jesus was the Messiah of the Lord . They said the newborn child was Messiah AND Lord . God did not just send a Messiah. He came himself . Prayer: Fill us, Lord, with the wonder of God joining our human family, and raising our dignity beyond our imagination. Amen!
"He has anointed me…to let the oppressed go free" (Luke 4:18).
Reflection: “Truly he taught us to love one another. His law is love, and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, and in his name all oppression shall cease” ( O Holy Night ).
As we celebrate Christmas, we renew our commitment to ending all oppression, particularly of those who are most oppressed, the unborn.
In the name of the newborn Christ, the oppression of our unborn children will cease. Prayer: Lord, may the joy of your birth give us the strength to be more active than ever in the pro-life cause, for you are Lord forever and ever. Amen.
"Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people…A Savior has been born for you" (Luke 1:10-11).
Reflection: The good news of Christmas is for everyone, and especially for the unborn, the most helpless of all.
Christ’s birth was announced first to the lowly, not to the powerful. Jesus’ ministry continued to follow that pattern: He consistently sought out those who were on the outskirts of society.
We are called to do the same. Prayer: Lord, to welcome you means to welcome the obligations that your mission places on us. This Christmas, I resolve to intervene for the unborn child. Amen.
"When they saw the child, they recounted the message that had been told them about him." (Luke 2:17)
Reflection: The Shepherds saw the newborn Christ, and the message that they had heard was that he was a Savior for all people .
Seeing him, they understood this even better. After all, who is more approachable than a baby?
Nobody, no matter how poor or lowly, would have reason to be afraid to approach him. Prayer: Lord, you continue to reveal yourself in the tiny babies yet in the womb. May we see you in them, and love you in them. Amen.
source: Pro-Life Reflections for Every Day from Priests For Life
"The Lord … has manifested his righteousness for all the nations to see." (Psalm 98:2)
Reflection: Thanks to Christmas, all the earth has seen the saving hand of God! A new and radiant vision of his glory has shone upon us, because human life has been joined to him.
He has raised human life to a greater dignity than it had before. Life was always sacred, because it is God’s creation. But thanks to Christmas, human life is forever united to Divine Life in and through the Infant King of Bethlehem. Prayer: Lord, may all your people continue to marvel at your love for human life, and reverence this gift as you do. Amen!
"Herod…issued an order to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding area who were two years old or less…" (Matthew 2:16).
Reflection: This Feast of the Holy Innocents leads Christians to reflect on the tragedy of abortion. Each day, our hearts should be broken as the bodies of these babies are broken, and the souls of those who kill them are weighed down with the burden of guilt and despair. Prayer: Lord, as the People of Life, enable us to bring into this world the hope that comes from the birth of Christ and from the birth of every baby. Amen.
"She…laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn". (Luke 2:7)
Reflection: The birth of Christ was planned by God from all eternity, and the details of his birth and life were announced by the prophets. How could there be no room for him who owns the world, and every inch of room in the whole universe?
Obviously, God did this on purpose. He wanted to show that His Son comes as a Savior, to reconcile a world that is at enmity with God. Prayer: Lord, as you seek room in our own hearts today, enable us to also make room for every human life. Amen.
"Come, let us go to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place…" (Luke 2:15)
Reflection: On Good Friday, we sing, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” What about Christmas? What if we sang, “Were you there when the King of Kings was born?” There is a way to be there, and it is to open ourselves to the joy and meaning of the birth of every child – to see in each child, even the unwanted and unexpected, a reflection of the Christ who comes even today. Prayer: Lord, open my heart, and open every heart, to the wonder of new life. May we greet you in each new child. Amen!
"With the Lord …a thousand years are like one day" (2 Peter 3:8).
Reflection: At the year’s end, we reflect upon what we have done and what we have failed to do. God gives us the gift of time and we use it in loving service to others.
What have we done this year for the defense of life? Let us resolve tonight that we will increase the amount of time and energy we devote to the number one moral issue: restoring the right to life! Prayer: Father, thank you for this past year and for all my past years; may my future be filled with the joy of life, and of defending life, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End" (Revelation 21:6).
Reflection: God gives us the gift of life, in units of years and months and days, and we likewise give it back to him, in days and months and years of faithful service. In the New Year, let us put the defense of the unborn at the top of our priority list. Prayer: Lord, enable me to devote more time, more energy, more resources to the greatest human rights movement of our day, the pro-life movement. May I speak up more vigorously, act more decisively, and be even more confident about the victory of life. Amen.
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