Respect Life office offers ways to observe 40th anniversary of abortion in our nation

The diocesan Respect Life Office is making resources available on its web page for the personal and communal observance of the Jan. 22 Day of Prayer and Penance and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Call to Prayer initiative.
There also is a link on the webpage to the Nine Days of Prayer, Penance and Pilgrimage that will take place from Jan. 19 to 27.
The webpage is at www.worcesterdiocese.org/respectlife. The webpage also carries an expanded edition of the USCCB’s Word of Life series that includes special intercessions, homily aides and other items, according to Allison LeDoux, diocesan director of the Respect Life Office.
Ideas for personal and communal practices in observing the Jan. 22 Day of Prayer and Penance and the Nine Days of Prayer, Penance and Pilgrimage follow:
Participate in the USCCB’s Nine Days of Prayer, Penance and Pilgrimage from Jan. 19 to 27. Visit www.usccb.org/9days to sign up for daily email messages during the novena, or text “9days” to 99000. “This national prayer campaign provides a simple reflection along with a prayer intention, suggestions for acts of reparation and a ‘did you know?’ section for each day of the novena,” Mrs.LeDoux said.

Make a private holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament or in your home.
Go to daily Mass and offer it for an end to abortion and an increased respect for human life.
Pray for those who have been wounded by abortion, that they may experience God’s mercy and healing. Raise awareness of Project Rachel, the Catholic Church’s ministry of healing and reconciliation to those who have been wounded by abortion, through your parish bulletin.
Pray the rosary of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Engage in some form of fasting.
Pray for those who minister in service of the dignity of the human person - crisis pregnancy counselors, hospice workers, clergy, pastoral care workers, medical professionals, educators, etc.
Pray for the conversion of mind and heart of those who support or have been involved in abortion in any way.
Pray for our country’s elected officials, that they may enact laws that protect human life from the moment of conception to natural death, respect the constitutional and God-given right to religious freedom and rights of conscience.
Prayerfully consider making a commitment to continue your prayer for the dignity of human life on an on-going basis throughout the year - for example, saying one Hail Mary every day for an end to abortion.
Learn more about abortion and many other life issues through the articles in the U.S. Bishops’ annual Respect Life Program.
Take some time during the month of January to read and reflect on Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium vitae (the Gospel of Life).
Plan to attend the Respect Life Mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 7:30 p.m. to pray for and with those who will be traveling to Washington, D.C., to attend the March for Life with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the country on Friday, Jan. 25.
Fifty-four people from St. Paul’s Parish in Warren and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in West Brookfield  are scheduled to leave Jan. 24 for Washington, D.C., for the March for Life.
Also, buses from Oxford and Webster and from St. Mary’s in Shrewsbury, along with a group from Assumption College and another group from the Trivium School in Lancaster are scheduled to make the trip.
Several parishes are planning observances during the week.
The Senior Committee at Good Shepherd Church in Linwood will show the film, “October Baby” at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Senior Room at the Good Shepherd Parish Center The parish also will have adoration from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 26 in the Mary Chapel.
St. Anna Parish in Leominster and the Leominster Knights of Columbus Council #406 are co-sponsoring a talk 7 p.m. Monday at the KofC council building on Lancaster Street/Rt. 117, Leominster, to mark the 40th anniversary of the legalization of abortion. Roderick P. Murphy, a longtime pro-life activist who is director of Problem Pregnancy of Worcester, which offers women alternatives to abortion, is to talk about “Fighting Abortion in Worcester County.”
St. Joseph the Good Provider Parish in Berlin will hold a Vigil for the Dignity of Life at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday a prayer vigil is to be held outside Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, 470 Pleasant St., Worcester, where abortions are performed.
St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge will hold eucharistic adoration after the 10 a.m. Mass Tuesday. It will continue until 5 p.m.