(Prayer offered on the Public Address system for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Monday, 23 January 2017–Respect for Life/Pro-Life Day)

Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of a loving God.

Twenty-six seconds. Every twenty-six seconds, an abortion takes place in the United States. As we commemorate yesterday’s anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the law allowing abortions at any stage, it is important to raise awareness about the injustices of abortion, a procedure that the Pro-Life movement has worked so hard to put a stop to.  Forty-two million abortions take place worldwide every year, each one taking away the life of someone with the utmost of innocence— one-third of our generation.

Recently, Pope Francis genuinely stated, “The right to life is the first among human rights.” The Catholic Church acknowledges that life begins at the moment of conception. Through abortion, we are deliberately ending the life of an innocent being, a child of God.  Each and every one of us is a thought of God, a heartbeat of God, and we all have a purpose in life. Some of us may not have discovered it yet, or some of us may know exactly what our purpose is, whether it be making others happy or succeeding in our talents. As we are so thankful to be able to live our lives, we need to recognize the importance of the lives of the unborn.

Let us pray:

Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the leaders of this nation, especially those who have the power and responsibility of making, interpreting and executing laws. Fill them with the desire to do God’s will, to restore justice and to establish laws in conformity with Divine Law.  Guide the women who are troubled during their pregnancies so that they choose life for their child. Holy Spirit, we ask you to preserve, protect and defend the lives of all children God, from their earliest beginnings until death. Amen.

St. John Baptist de La Salle … Pray for us.

Live Jesus in our Hearts … Forever.

Brooke C. Riccitelli–Class of 2019