A Prayer for Life: Weekly Message for 01-15-19

Dear Friends in Christ,

This Friday in the United States, many of our brothers and sisters will participate in the 46th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and the following Saturday in San Francisco, there’ll be the 15th Annual Walk for Life West Coast. We have an opportunity to participate in the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn, which concludes a Nine Days for Life novena organized by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. I hope you will join me in praying for the unborn.

Today is a good day to contemplate the gift of your life, not just your first birthday, but those nine months in your mother’s womb, nine months of fatigue, joy, and hormonal upheaval on her part as you grew (and kicked). Celebrating conception is a Catholic liturgical tradition, from the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8th (followed nine months later by the Feast celebrating her birth) to the Incarnation of Our Lord on March 25th, nine months to the day before Christmas.

Let’s say a prayer today for every boy and girl right now in the womb to be cherished and protected. Let’s say a prayer today for every expecting mother to receive the spiritual and material support she needs to fulfill one of the most beautiful callings in Creation, and for a smooth, uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery. Let’s pray for fathers to have the wisdom, courage, and opportunity to provide for their families and never leave their side.

The best way to thank Our Lord for the gift of life is to pray and work so that every life is cherished, protected, and provided for. Let’s not just pray for that today, but every day.  

May Our Lord continue to bless your life this week and help you bless others’ lives too.

Father Nikola Derpich, L.C.
fr.nikola@rcspirituality.org