New Service Partnership
"...in our daily prayer as individuals and as a community, praise and bless God our Father, who knitted us together in our mother's womb..."
We are beginning a new 2-year all-school, service-learning partnership with HELP Pregnancy Crisis Aid this school year: http://helppregnancy.org
Our previous partnerships have been with:
- Kids Food Basket 2017-2019
- Catholic Charities of West Michigan: Foster Care 2015-2017
- Special Olympics 2013-2015
HELP Pregnancy Crisis Aid, Inc. is a Catholic, non-profit organization dedicated to helping pregnant women carry their babies to term by offering them support and alternatives to abortion, regardless of their faith, origin or background.
To kick-off this partnership we will:
- Offer up a series of rosaries together as a school in October for Respect Life Month
- Have a $1 Jeans Day for HELP Pregnancy Center on Friday, October 18th
St Jude’s October 19th Blackthorn Concert also benefits HELP! http://helppregnancy.org/events
On November 2nd St Jude Parish is hosting a Theology of the Body workshop with HELP for anyone interested in learning more about Theology of the Body: http://helppregnancy.org/tob-west-mi
In December we will:
- Have $1 Jeans Days to benefit HELP
- Host a Baby Shower with Paula Veneklase from HELP to learn about the HELP Layette Program for new moms
Prayer for Respect Life Month:
Eternal God, creator and sustainer of life,
bless us with the courage to defend all life
from conception to natural death.
Bless us with the strength to respect all peoples
from east to west, from north to south,
so that we may truly follow the call of Jesus to be neighbor.
We ask this in the name of Jesus,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Reflection: https://www.respectlife.org/reflection
From the time we are knit together in our mothers’ wombs until we take our final breaths, each moment of our lives is a gift from God. While every season of life brings its own challenges and trials, each season also gives us new opportunities to grow in our relationship with God.
Today the gift of life is threatened in countless ways. Those who are most vulnerable, rather than receiving the protection they deserve, are all too often seen as a burden and as expendable. As new attacks on human life continue to emerge, we can be tempted to despair, but Christ instead offers us unfailing hope.
Hope is not false optimism or empty positivity. Christian hope is something much more profound and goes to the very depths of our identity as followers of Christ.
Hope is the virtue “by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit” (CCC, 1817).
Like us, Christ entered the world through the womb of a woman. He willingly experienced the fullness of human suffering. He breathed his last on the Cross at Calvary in order that He might save us. Therefore, “God is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end” (Spe salvi 31).
Christians know “they have a future: it is not that they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that their life will not end in emptiness” (SS 2).
For this reason, a woman experiencing a difficult pregnancy can find the strength to welcome her precious child into the world. A man facing a terminal diagnosis can see that the end of his earthly life is only the beginning of eternal life with Christ.
The Church teaches us that “the one who has hope lives differently” (SS 2). Christ’s promise of salvation does not mean that we will be spared from suffering. Rather, the promise of salvation ensures that even in the darkest moments of our lives, we will be given the strength to persevere. By virtue of this Christian hope, we can face any challenge or trial. When the seas of life swell and we are battered by the waves, hope allows us to remain anchored in the heart of God. May we hold fast to Christ our hope, from the beginning of life to its very end.
That during this Respect Life Month
we may recommit ourselves
to upholding the dignity
of every human life;
We pray to the Lord:
That during this Respect Life Month
our hope in Christ’s resurrection
will strengthen us in protecting
the gift of human life;
We pray to the Lord:
That the life of every human person,
from conception to natural death,
might be protected in our laws
and cherished in our hearts;
We pray to the Lord:
For women and men suffering after abortion:
May the Church’s abortion healing ministry
help them find peace and healing
through Christ’s endless mercy;
We pray to the Lord:
For those nearing the end of life:
May they receive care that respects their dignity
and protects their lives
as they place their hope
in the promise of eternal life;
We pray to the Lord:
May God grant us the wisdom and courage
to lovingly protect His gift of human life
at every stage, in sickness and in health;
We pray to the Lord:
Check out this video to learn more about the core of Catholic Social Teaching as it relates to Respect Life Issues:
https://www.crs.org/get-involved/learn/resource-center/respect-life-month
All human life is made in God’s image, sacred, and deserving of dignity!
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