Dear Parishioners:
Since the 1973 Supreme Court cases, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which legalized abortion-on-demand in our country, over 60 million lives have been lost to abortion. On this Tuesday we mark this sad and infamous anniversary. It is a National Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. We will mark this anniversary at OLM with a Mass for the legal protection of the unborn at 7:30am. Also we will gather in prayer on Tuesday night at 7:00pm for a Holy Hour of Life in which we will pray the Litany for Life before the Eucharistic Lord. I invite you to join us on this Day of Prayer. If you are unable to join us, please offer a Rosary on Tuesday for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. Praying for the protection of human life and respect of human dignity is a call we must all answer. Such prayer is vitally important if we are ever to change hearts and minds to help build a culture of life and civilization of love.
Pope Francis has accurately described abortion on demand as part of the “throwaway culture”. He states: "It is horrific even to think that there are children, victims of abortion, who will never see the light of day, Unfortunately, what is thrown away is not only food and dispensable objects, but often human beings themselves, who are discarded as unnecessary."
I reflected on this sad anniversary that resulted in the death of so many innocent unborn children and was struck by a recent article in the local news. It reported that the fertility rate in the United States is below what researchers say is the level needed for the country's population to replace itself over time. New figures released by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics show that the 2017 total fertility rate in the United States is 16 percent lower than that required level.
Only two states in the country had a fertility rate sufficient for the population to replace itself, according to the NCHS. And in Rhode Island, the fertility rate was 1,508.5 births per 1,000, well below the replacement level. As a culture we are not having enough children yet many in our society rejoice in the legalization of abortion on demand.
So we must pray. But we must also act! We must work to see that children are welcomed into the world. We must work to ensure every child has pre-natal and post-natal care. We must work to ensure every child has enough food to eat, shelter to live in, clothing to wear and a good education available. But most of all we must act with love to build a culture that respects and supports human life from natural conception until natural death.
On Christmas we celebrated the birth of the Christ Child. There was no room in the inn for the Holy Family and so the Son of God was born in poverty and humility in a barn. Yet He was welcomed with great joy and love. Let’s adopt this same attitude for every unborn child and see that they too are welcomed with great joy and love and not discarded as unnecessary or burdensome.
So pray and act! But we must also advocate. While we celebrated Christmas, members of the RI General Assembly pre-filed an extreme and radical pro-abortion bill. The top priority for the powerful pro-abortion lobby and their many allies at the RI Statehouse to expand abortion and ensure our tax payer dollars pay for it! What a sad commentary on their priorities as elected officials. This group of extreme pro-abortion legislators includes those elected from East Greenwich, Warwick and North Kingstown. They seem to be driven not to serve the common good of our state but rather to a radical agenda and great desire to see legal abortion expanded and funded by taxpayers.
So please take some time to advocate on behalf of unborn children! Call your state representative or state senator and ask them to work to protect the innocent unborn, to respect human life and dignity and to truly serve the common good of all including the unborn. Your voice counts so don’t remain silent as the unborn scream! Let each of us commit to prayer, action and advocacy. Let us be the voice of the voiceless as we pray to the God of Life for the unborn, as we act for the unborn with love and as we advocate for the unborn with justice!
Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!!!!!!