Although not currently an active ministry in our parish, this section hopes to promote the life and dignity of all humans. The Respect Life page also provides you with the latest issues facing our nation at the moment, and contains a variety of resources that Catholics can use.
The Church's obligation to participate in shaping the moral character of society is a requirement of our faith. It is a basic part of the mission we have received from Jesus Christ, who offers a vision of life revealed to us in Sacred Scripture and Tradition. To echo the teaching of the Second Vatican Council: Christ, the Word made flesh, in showing us the Father's love, also shows us what it truly means to be human (seeGaudium et Spes, no. 22). Christ's love for us lets us see our human dignity in full clarity and compels us to love our neighbors as he has loved us. Christ, the Teacher, shows us what is true and good, that is, what is in accord with our human nature as free, intelligent beings created in God's image and likeness and endowed by the Creator with dignity and rights.
What faith teaches about the dignity of the human person and about the sacredness of every human life helps us see more clearly the same truths that also come to us through the gift of human reason. At the center of these truths is respect for the dignity of every person. This is the core of Catholic moral and social teaching. Because we are people of both faith and reason, it is appropriate and necessary for us to bring this essential truth about human life and dignity to the public square. We are called to practice Christ's commandment to "love one another" (Jn 13:34). We are also called to promote the well-being of all, to share our blessings with those most in need, to defend marriage, and to protect the lives and dignity of all, especially the weak, the vulnerable, the voiceless. In his first encyclical letter, Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI explained that "charity must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful and therefore also their political activity, lived as 'social charity'" (no. 29).
-- excerpted from Forming Consciences For Faithful Citizenship; Part 1: The U. S. Bishops Reflection on Catholic Teaching & Political Life
Information & Resources Links:
USCCB Action Center
View the USCCBs current action alerts and where you can also sign up for future action alerts so you may contact your elected representatives to express your opinions and concerns on upcoming Legislation
California Catholic Conference
The California Catholic Conference (CCC) is the official voice of the Catholic community in California's public policy arena. Its mission is to advocate with the legislative, administrative and judicial branches of state government for the Catholic Church's public policy agenda and to facilitate common pastoral efforts in the Catholic community. The CCC also enables ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and action
Archdiocese of Los Angeles' Respect Life Ministry
The Life Ministry in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles promotes the dignity and sanctity of human life from conception to natural death through programs advocating prayer, education, pastoral care and advocacy.
PRAYER FOR RESPECT LIFE
Heavenly Father, the beauty and dignity of human life was the crowning of your creation. You further enabled that life when your Son became one with us in his incarnation. Help us to realize the sacredness of human life and to respect it from the moment of conception until the last moment at death.
Give us the courage to speak with truth and love and with conviction in defence of life. Help us to extend the gentle hand of mercy and forgiveness to those who do not reverence your gift of life. To all, grant pardon for the time we have failed to be grateful for your precious gift of live or to respect it in others. We ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.