Day Five – St John Paul II’s Gospel for Life – Novena

Our fifth day of our Novena for Life explores the protection of nature and its incompatibility with the justification of abortion.

Start the novena with this prayer each day, taken from St John Paul II’s concluding comments in his encyclical letter ‘The Gospel of Life’, followed by the daily quote or reflection as set out below and finish with the Glory Be  

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 our of misguided mercy, 

Grant that all who believe in your Son 
may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love 
to the people of our time.

Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, 
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives 
and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely,  
in order to build, 
together with all people of good will,  
the civilization of truth and love, 
to the praise and glory of God, 
the Creator and love of life. 

Reflection/Quote 

‘Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion…how can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?

Pope Francis, Laudato Si

Glory be to the Father

Glory be to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning
is now, and ever shall be
world without end. Amen.

Day Six

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