Each year, our Church asks us to commemorate October as Respect Life Month. This year, the month of October as Respect Life Month calls us to “live the Gospel of Life: to imitate Christ and travel in his footsteps,” commemorating the 25th anniversary of the proclamation of the encyclical Evangelium Vitae, The Gospel of Life, by Pope John Paul II. In that influential encyclical, John Paul II declared that the Gospel of Life is at the heart of J's saving message to the world. In taking human flesh, Christ dwells amongst us and sacrifices his very life for our redemption, revealing the profound dignity of every human being.
All of us as Christians are called to embrace the message of the Gospel of Life in our lives. The month of October calls special attention to this message. Each October, as a priest, I make sure I dedicate one Sunday mass to this message, but it is not something we can ignore the other months of the year.
Let us pray for the respect of life:
God of life and love, you created each us in your image and you sent your Son to bring us life.We pray, O merciful Lord, that you instill in us a respect for all life, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. Empower us to work for justice for the poor. Nourish us that we may bring food to the hungry. Inspire us to cherish and protect the fragile life of the unborn. Strengthen us to bring comfort to the chronically ill and infirm. Teach us to treat the aging with dignity and respect. Bring us one day into the glory of everlasting life. We this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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