Perhaps the most important thing we can do to promote a culture of life is to pray, to fast, and to celebrate liturgies on behalf of life, as well as to organize local groups dedicated to this mission. Prayer implores God’s help; sustains and instructs us; intercedes on behalf of at-risk mothers, children, and adults; and is the ultimate tool for changing the hearts, minds, and souls of the people who make up our great nation.
Pray, Fast, and Celebrate
“A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God… Let us therefore discover anew the humility and the courage to pray and fast so that the power from on high will break down the walls of lies and deceit: the walls which conceal from the sight of so many…the evil of practices and laws which are hostile to life.”
— Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, no. 100
The foremost place to worship, pray, and organize is at your local parish. Over 40 of our parishes have a pro-life group or a pro-life organizer. To get involved, please contact your parish directly.
The diocese also puts on a number of pro-life events each year, including the annual Respect Life Mass in January and the White Mass for medical professionals in October. Go to our Respect Life Calendar to find these events, held throughout the year.
40 Days for Life is a community-based campaign that takes a determined, peaceful approach to showing local communities the consequences of abortion in their own neighborhoods. The mission of the campaign is to bring together the body of Christ in a spirit of unity during a focused 40-day campaign of prayer, fasting, and peaceful activism, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God’s favor to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life, thus bringing an end to abortion. It draws attention to the evil of abortion through the use of a three-point program:
- Prayer and fasting
- Constant vigil
- Community outreach
There are three 40 Days for Life groups in our diocese. Please consider visiting their individual pages if you would like to join:
Every year in January over 100,000 people travel to Washington, DC to commemorate the Roe v. Wade decision by listening to national pro-life figures, marching down Constitution Avenue, and gathering at the Supreme Court. Afterwards some meet with their elected representatives, while others network with fellow pro-lifers from across the country.
Over 1,000 people from our diocese, many of them students, travel down to the March for Life every year. However, we are always looking for more. Please visit our March for Life page for information on how to go.
Students for Life of America (SFLA) is the nation’s largest youth pro-life organization. They are the only national pro-life organization dedicated to training and equipping college, high school, middle school, medical school, and law school students to mobilize around abolishing abortion. Students for Life has a team of 38 employees that work tirelessly equipping students so that they can defend the preborn and help young mothers on their campuses. Since launching full-time in 2006, they have helped to establish and build over 1,200 student pro-life organizations and have trained more than 55,000 students nationwide.
To join Students for Life or to see if there is a chapter near you, please visit their website.
