Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
“Those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him.”
On this day in our nation when Mother Church wants her children to pray for human life to be held sacred, these words from the Gospel assigned for today can serve to encourage us to press upon Jesus the need our nation has for a greater respect for human life. The recent news report about the state of Illinois being the 12th state to legalize assisted suicide simply adds to this need for asking God’s help.
As people who are members of Jesus, we want to be people who, in addition to praying for or nation to respect human life, want to be alert to the little ways, in conversation for example, that we live the attitude Jesus had.
The rabbi, Abraham Joshua Heschel, expressed something of this attitude of the holiness of human life when he spoke as follows:
“How embarrassing for man to be the greatest miracle on earth and not to understand it! How embarrassing for man to live in the shadow of greatness and to ignore it, to be a contemporary of God and not to sense it. Religion depends upon what man does with his ultimate embarrassment.” (I Asked for Wonder, p.43)
Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections