Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer For The Unborn

Lord Jesus,

You who faithfully visit and fulfill with your Presence the Church and the history of men; You who in the miraculous Sacrament of your Body and Blood render us participants in divine Life and allow us a foretaste of the joy of eternal Life; We adore and bless you.

Prostrated before You, source and lover of Life, truly present and alive among us, we beg you.

Reawaken in us respect for every unborn life, make us capable of seeing in the fruit of the maternal womb the miraculous work of the Creator, open our hearts to generously welcoming every child that comes into life.

Bless all families, sanctify the union of spouses, render fruitful their love.

Accompany the choices of legislative assemblies with the light of your Spirit,so that peoples and nations may recognize and respect the sacred nature of life, of every human life.

Guide the work of scientists and doctors, so that all progress contributes to the integral well-being of the person, and no one endures suppression or injustice.

Give creative charity to administrators and economists, so they may realize and promote sufficient conditions so that young families can serenely embrace the birth of new children.

Console the married couples who suffer because they are unable to have children and in Your goodness provide for them.

Teach us all to care for orphaned or abandoned children, so they may experience the warmth of your Charity, the consolation of your divine Heart.

Together with Mary, Your Mother, the great believer, in whose womb you took on our human nature, we wait to receive from You, our Only True Good and Savior, the strength to love and serve life, in anticipation of living forever in You, in communion with the Blessed Trinity.

Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/b16_unborn.htm#ixzz1jqktcbjm

Devotion for today: another ordinary life lived in an extraordinary way

 Today we will look at a very fascinating candidate for extraordinary living.

Scripture for today: Proverbs 21:13

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.

Christ tells us: Matthew 25:35-36; 40

‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you comforted me, in prison and you came to visit me. I assure you, as often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it for me.”

Dorothy Day, Servant of God

Dorothy Day’s life was a journey toward the fulfillment of Christ’s commandment that we love one another. The Sermon on the Mount characterized her work with the poor on New York’s Lower East Side, and her founding of Catholic Worker Houses of Hospitality, farming communes, and retreat centers. It also found expression in her practice of nonviolence and solidarity with workers and the poor. For Dorothy Day, to be a Christian meant not only participating fervently in the prayer and liturgy of the Church, but also finding Christ in others. She was born in Brooklyn New York on November 8, 1897, the third child of Grace and John Day….  In 1916, she… moved to New York City where she worked as a journalist on socialist newspapers, participated in protest movements, and developed friendships with many famous artists and writers. During this time, she also experienced failed love affairs, a marriage, a suicide attempt, and an abortion. Dorothy had grown to admire the Catholic Church as the “Church of the poor” and her faith began to take form with the birth of her daughter Tamar in 1926. Her decision to have her daughter baptized and to embrace the Catholic faith came at great personal cost, the end of her common law marriage and the loss of many friends. Dorothy struggled to find her role as a Catholic. While covering the 1932 Hunger March in Washington, DC, for several Catholic magazines on Dec. 8, she visited the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and prayed for guidance on how to use her special gifts in service of the hungry and the poor. The following day, back in New York, she met Peter Maurin, an immigrant from France and former Christian Brother, who had a vision for a society constructed of Gospel values. Together they founded the Catholic Worker newspaper which spawned a movement of Houses of Hospitality and farming communes that has been replicated throughout the United States and other countries. At the Catholic Worker, Dorothy Day lived a life of fidelity to the Scripture, practicing voluntary poverty, the works of mercy, and working for justice and peace. Many of the positions she espoused were prophetic, but always emanated from the Gospel and the example of the saints, like St. Francis of Assisi and St. Teresa of Lisieux. Always present for Dorothy Day, was a question expressed in her autobiography, The Long Loneliness, “ Why was so much done in remedying evil instead of avoiding it in the first place…Where were the saints to try to change the social order, not just to minister to slaves, but to do away with slavery?” Dorothy Day was shot at while working for integration, prayed and fasted for peace at the Second Vatican Council, received communion from Pope Paul VI at the 1967 International Congress of the Laity, and addressed the 1976 Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia. Her pilgrimage ended at Maryhouse in New York City on November 29, 1980, where she died among the poor. (All information in this section can be found at http://dorothydayguild.org)

My thoughts: In order to be effective in society, we sometimes have to be radical. Merely sitting on the sidelines and hoping that things will get better for the least members of society isn’t going to have much of an effect. For those of us who are ill, house-bound, or committed to raising families and caring for family members, our constant prayers are the greatest gift we can give. For the rest of us who have a million reasons why we cannot do more, a radical change of heart is in order.  All of us are not called to be Dorothy Days, yet all of us are, in some way, called to make a difference. Let us keep this in mind as we pray to find our role in making the world a better place.

Prayer of Abandonment:

 Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures -
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

Charles de Foucauld

Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/Abandonment.htm#ixzz1jqmLjcjI

Devotion for today: leading ordinary lives in extraordinary ways

Let’s take time during “ordinary time” to look at a few individuals who did their ordinary jobs in extraordinary ways.

Scripture for meditation: Galatians 2:19-20

I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me. I still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Christ tells us: John 15:13

There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends

Father Vincent Capodanno, Servant of God. LT, CHC, USNR (The Grunt Padre)

Vincent Capodanno was born on February 13th, 1929, in Staten Island, New York. After attending a year at Fordham University, young Vincent Capodanno entered the Maryknoll Missionary Seminary in upstate New York in 1949…. After finishing officer candidate's school, Father Capodanno reported to the 7th Marines, in Vietnam, in 1966. When his tour was complete, he requested an extension, served in the naval hospital and then reported to the 5th Marines. He gained a reputation for always being there--for always taking care of his Marines. Lieutenant Joseph E. Pilon, MD states: “Over here [Vietnam] there is a written policy that if you get three Purple Hearts you go home within 48 hours. On Labor Day, our battalion ran into a world of trouble- when Father C. (Capodanno) arrived on the scene it was 500 Marines against 2500 North Vietnamese Army Regulars. Needless to say, we were constantly on the verge of being completely overrun and the Marines on several occasions had to advance in a retrograde movement. This left the dead and wounded outside the perimeter as the Marines slowly withdrew. Casualties were running high and Father C. had his work cut out for him. Early in the day, he was shot through the right hand which all but shattered his hand- one corpsman patched him up and tried to med evac him but Father C declined saying he had work to do. A few hours later, a mortar landed near him and left his right arm in shreds hanging from his side. Once again, he was patched up and once again he refused evacuation. There he was, moving slowly from wounded to dead to wounded using his left arm to support his right as he gave absolution or Last Rites, when he suddenly spied a corpsman get knocked down by the burst of an automatic weapon. The corpsman was shot in the leg and couldn't move and understandably panicked. Fr. C. ran out to him and positioned himself between the injured boy and the automatic weapon. Suddenly, the weapon opened up again and this time riddled Father C. from the back of his head to the base of his spine- and with his third Purple Heart of the day- Father C. went home.” On May 21, 2006, thirty-nine years after his death on the battlefield of Vietnam, Capodanno was publicly declared Servant of God, the first step towards canonization.

Of Father Capodanno's involvement in Operation Swift, John Lobur has said “I did not see Father when we embarked and I did not notice him anywhere as we approached the shooting.  I assumed he was with Lieutenant Murray who was our company commander at the time. Typically a chaplain would remain with the command post as he- like the skipper, a corpsmen, air and artillery forward observers and radiomen- were not expected to run right up the gut like we were.”

Bill Avery states: “I served with India Co. 3rd Bn 5th Marines from March 1967 to April 1968. I also fought on operation Swift. Prior to Ops Swift, I had complained to Senior Officers about the lack of spiritual comfort in the jungles, since we were in the bush & jungles on a continuous basis. July 1967 a Chaplain got off a helicopter in a very hostile area of the jungle. He set up a cross on a fallen tree in a small clearing. He held services as gunfire was all around. Chaplain Capodanno lifted my heart and soul with his words and prayers. It has been 44 years, but I will never forget the relief I felt. Chaplain Capodanno did make a difference! (All information for this section is taken from http://www.vincentcapodanno.org/.)

For more information on Fr. Vincent Capodanno, read The Grunt Padre by Fr Daniel Mode, priest of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, VA.

My thoughts: How can we, in our simple, everyday lives, be extraordinary like Fr. Capodanno? It is quite easy, and we can start today. Why don’t we say the following prayer? It gives God total control to use us as He sees fit. I think Fr. Capodanno, Servant of God, would be proud of us if we did.

Prayer:  Jesus, I’m very weak. I don’t have much to offer. In fact – too often I’ve been distant as I’ve followed you – and yet – behold, here I am, Lord. Take me and use me as you desire. Use me to make you known and loved, weak though I am. Help me to love you. Jesus, I see how gentle you are, and I trust you. I know that you know me better than I know myself. You know what I can take. I put myself completely into your hands. Use me to help you, weak though I am. You may not be able to do much with me…then again, I’ve seen you work miracles before. Do with me what you can. Behold, I believe. Help my unbelief. I trust in you. (Consoling the Heart of Jesus, Fr. Michael E. Gaitley, MI; Marian Press, copyright 2011,)