Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
Intention: That our Lasallian schools will continue to be places where the sinfulness of exclusion and marginalization is dispelled by the light of acceptance and respect.
Today’s Gospel | Mark 3:22-30
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”
Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
From the First Meditation for the Time of Retreat | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
One of the main duties of fathers and mothers is to bring up their children in a Christian manner and to teach them their religion. But most parents are not sufficiently enlightened in these matters. Some are taken up with their daily concerns and the care of their family; others, under the constant anxiety of earning the necessities of life for themselves and their children, cannot take the time to teach their children their duties as Christians.
It is characteristic of the providence of God and of his vigilance over human conduct to substitute for fathers and mothers people who have enough knowledge and zeal to bring children to the knowledge of God and of his mysteries. According to the grace of Jesus Christ that God has given to them, they are like good architects, who give all possible care and attention to lay the foundation of religion and Christian piety in the hearts of these children, a great number of whom would otherwise be abandoned.
You, then, whom God has called to this ministry, work according to the grace that has been given to you to instruct by teaching and to exhort by encouraging those who are entrusted to your care, guiding them with attention and vigilance in order to fulfill toward them the principal duty of fathers and mothers toward their children.
Prayer
Eternal Father, you bless each of us with the ability to live our lives doing what we can for the sake of your Kingdom. May we have the courage to be your good and faithful servants, using our gifts generously and well. Let your life and energy flow through us, filling us with care and vigilance for one another, especially the most innocent and vulnerable. Teach us to use our lives to celebrate and protect life, working to overcome confusion and fear with reverence and compassion. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.