What can your parish do?
There are a number of things that every parish can do to begin building the culture of life immediately:
- Include abortion and the life issues in the Prayers of the Faithful and in daily Mass Intentions.
- Pray for local abortion clinics/hospitals by name. Pray also for the abortion staff and doctors.
- Visit the websites of local abortion clinics. This makes very concrete the reality of what happens there.
- Find your local pregnancy care centre - offer to fundraise or volunteer for them.
- Support the lay men and women who have given their lives full-time to working for the cause of life. Many of these workers are volunteers or poorly paid and they need the support of their clergy.
- Get on the mailing list of your local pro-life group or national groups such as Campaign Life Coalition or the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
- Plan homilies and talks that teach about the absolute dignity of the human person and the mystery and wonder of human life. Such homilies will form a foundation for homilies specifically on abortion and the other life issues.
- Place pro-life brochures or other materials at the back of the church. These could include newsletters from local pro-life educational groups or booklets such as the "Right to Know" resource produced by the National Campus Life Network. Your local pro-life educational group may also be able to provide you with brochures.
Here are some other places to get pro-life materials:
- Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF):
http://www.colf.ca/mamboshop/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=27&Itemid=255 - Our Sunday Visitor, USA:
http://catalog.osv.com/Catalog.aspx?CategoryId=PAMPH - Catholic Truth Society, UK:
http://www.cts-online.org.uk/acatalog/Our_Products_Moral_Issues_10.html - Lighthouse Catholic Media:
http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.com - Life Cycle Books, Canada:
http://www.lifecyclebooks.com - Life Canada:
http://www.lifecanada.org/ - Lifesitenews.com:
www.lifesitenews.com
See our Resources section for other ideas on incorporating the pro-life message into parish life.
Priest for Life USA offers a wide range of resources for the parish including sample Prayers of the Faithful, homily helps and bulletin inserts. Visit their website at: http://www.priestsforlife.org/brochures/priestdo.html
