Here are photos from yesterday's pro-life Mass and rosary procession from NY's Saint Patrick's Cathedral.
22 January 2013 is the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion in the USA. A Catholic New York article speaks of positive signs of change.
The March for Life will happen on Friday, 25 January, Washington, DC.
Thanks to George Goss for the pictures.
Human dignity is not respected: people are treated as objects and the "virtual reality" encourages us to see people as objects to be manipulated. While many will challenge this idea, there is no doubt that fear of living and a rejection of true happiness in this life drives us postmoderns to euthanize the self (think of the recent suicide pack of deaf twins), or the growing selection of the desired sex and traits of babies (girls aren't wanted in this country either) or the marginalization of the elderly and mentally challenged. Members of our society kill children because the are are seen as threats to freedom, to our lifestyle, or position in society. I don't think it is an overstatement to quote Pope John Paul II who said we live in a culture of death. Think of Newtown and Aurora, think of many cities were abortion, murder, rape, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, isolation and thievery are rampant. And sex is rarely seen as a beautiful event shared between a married couple and that we relate to one another within the family unit.
Today we recognize that Roe v. Wade is 40 years old and c. 55 million lives have been lost.
Merely remembering is not enough. We all need to work for a culture of love, a culture of life. Prayer is essential, but the Holy Spirit requires that His grace be extroverted. Contemplation and action....
Let's agree to follow the promptings of the Church and build a culture of LOVE.
Perhaps we can gather to have time for mental prayer, or to pray the Rosary and the Chaplet at 3pm.
From the US bishops we have this Mass rubric:
In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass "For the Preservation of Peace and Justice" (no. 30 of the "Masses for Various Needs") should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day.
General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373
Perhaps this new book on myths of abortion contributes to what Pope Benedict calls "human ecology." In the days before the annual March for Life, Recall Abortion is fitting.
