Tag: abortion

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

Free lectio divina prayer guide: quarryapps.gumroad.com/l/jojqau

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 3:22-30)

Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him.”

The scribes say that Jesus drives out demons by the prince of demons and that he is possessed by Beelzebul, but Jesus refutes their argument, reducing it to absurdity. In the same way a house or kingdom cannot be divided and remain standing, Satan cannot rise up against himself and stand. Who speaks these words but the Jesus Christ in the trinitarian unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? The strong man Jesus refers to in the parable, the Holy Spirit, comes to dwell in the house of the body, where no evil can possess it. “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness,” Jesus says, “but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”

God, you sent Jesus your Son to liberate all of humanity from the bondage of sin and evil. In this liberation, Jesus reconciles us to you and brings the hope of the resurrection, sharers in this gift. Right here at this moment in time, Jesus calls me by name to offer me the same. What is it to participate in the paschal mystery but to pick up my cross and follow him? In that unity with Christ, can I ever be broken from it except by my own free will? Help me, Lord, to remain in unity with you and make for the Holy Spirit an undivided place to dwell.

From the responsorial psalm: “Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel.” Father in heaven, protect the lives of the unborn and give us courage to fight for the protection of all human life, especially life in the womb.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

Jesus began to speak to the scribes in parables: “Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”

In today’s Gospel, the scribes say that Jesus is possessed by Beelzebul and that by the prince of demons, he drives out demons. Jesus then calls the scribes to him and says, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” Kingdom divided against kingdom; house against house: How does this describe our nation today? According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, in all the Dioceses of the United States, January 22 is observed as a particular day of prayer. As it states, this day is “for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.”

God, help me understand the words of Saint Paul from the first reading: “Christ is mediator of a new covenant . . . now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice.” Through your grace, help me by my prayers, words, and actions affirm that abortion is wrong and that every life is sacred. Restore and unite us, Lord, in the love through which you created us.

From the collect for today’s Mass: “God our Creator, we give thanks to you, who alone have the power to impart the breath of life as you form each of us in our mother’s womb; grant, we pray, that we, whom you have made stewards of creation, may remain faithful to this sacred trust and constant in safeguarding the dignity of every human life.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings