Being Pro-Life in a Culture of Death

Opening Prayer O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy.

Opening Prayer Send Your Spirit to touch the hearts of our nation's leaders. Open their minds to the great worth of human life and the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Remind Your people that true happiness is rooted in seeking and doing Your will.

Opening Prayer Through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, Patroness of our land, grant us the courage to reject the "culture of death." Lead us into a new millennium of life. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen!

Ice Breaker This is the Great Baby Match Game I will show one picture of a baby Then when I switch slides you have to yell out where the matching Baby is, in slot 1, 2, 3, or 4. Here is a sample

Sample Round Picture Goes Here

Then you will yell which number the Matching Baby is in

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Final Round

100% Committed to Life The Catholic Church is one of the only institutions to stand up for life 100% of the time. As Catholics we are called to be pro-life. Our culture has cheapened life and we have lost sight of the enormous responsibility of being pro-life. We support life from conception until natural death.

Jesus is our example Jesus always stood for life when He walked the earth. Jesus was against the death penalty, He lived for the poor, He healed the sick, He forgave those who murdered Him, and he even said, I am the Life. If Jesus calls himself The Life if we are not Pro-life we are not Pro-Christ.

What are Life Issues? Murder – It is never appropriate to take an innocent life. All life is sacred, it is a gift from God. He is the Creator, we are the creatures. Therefore, we do not have the right to directly and intentionally take a life. Abortion – Every unborn life is sacred and must be given the opportunity to live. No one, for any reason, has the right to directly deprive the child of this life.

Abortion We must remember that to be pro-life means that we not only want the unborn child to live, but we also want the mother to live without the guilt of taking the life of her child. Being pro-life also means that we help heal mothers and fathers who have suffered Abortion. A pro-life response means we pray and fast for an end to abortion, and that we never ever help anyone to get an abortion, or even to say that it is Ok to have one.

Scripture Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed. Job 10:8-12 Your hands have formed me and fashioned me; will you then turn and destroy me? Oh, remember that you fashioned me from clay! Will you then bring me down to dust again. Psalm 139:13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Euthanasia Euthanasia is the termination of a human life that is sick, handicapped, dying, or generally not able to live to a full physical capacity. The Church says very clearly that this Putting out of commission is murder because it is directly trying to end ones suffering through death. Death is used as the means for solving the problem of suffering. In the case where burdensome medical procedures are required to keep one alive, one can remove them, even if a secondary outcome is that the patient dies. Here, the death of the patient is not willed, so it is not murder.

Capital Punishment/Death Penalty The Church says that given todays means of imprisonment, there is no adequate justification for taking the life of a criminal. Even after sinning seriously, the murderer has not lost his/her basic dignity as a human being, nor have they lost the right to live.

Suicide At no time is any individual allowed to take their own life, because all life, especially your own, is a precious gift from God. Suicide happens for a number of reasons, most of them because of psychological problems, and God takes all of these problems into account when He judges the person. He is a loving God who has mercy on all of us: He wants to bring us to heaven, and will do anything to make that happen short of forcing His will on us.

Other Issues There are many other issues our society faces that are not directly life/death issues, but rather touch on quality of life and individual respect. These include: Health Issues, scientific research, poverty issues, reproductive issues (Cloning), employment issues, war, etc. We make no judgment on the eternal state of someone who commits these sins. That will be done by God alone. These have always been the teachings of the Church on life. They will not change, nor are they open to a vote: they come from Christ Himself, and part of our submission to Christ means following these teachings completely.