Novena: Pray for an end to abortion and violence against children
By Bishop Jaime Soto
I invite the Catholic community in the Diocese of Sacramento to pray the Novena to the Holy Innocents. Let us together pray this novena starting on Dec. 19 and continuing up to Dec. 28.
The novena has three intentions:
- For the President of the United States, all other elected officials and judges that they would recognize the humanity of every pre-born child and enact laws to defend them.
- For our own conversion and that of others so that all would recognize and defend the life and dignity of the unborn.
- Finally, that all innocent children, who are victimized in any way, would experience God’s love and mercy.
In these days celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus, we recognize how God’s choice to send his son gave us life and bestowed a new dignity on the human person. In the Gospel according to Matthew, King Herod saw the birth of Christ as a threat and chose to turn his fearful wrath against all the young children of Bethlehem. These innocent martyrs are honored on Dec. 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents.
The suffering of the Holy Innocents and the wailing of their families still echo in our world today. The practice of abortion springs from the same desperate fear that embittered the heart of Herod. Blind social indifference can ignore the cry of children and their mothers who suffer from the other scourges of war, poverty, abuse and neglect.
Christ shines the light of hope on all humanity. His love for us gives us the hope to overcome the fear and violence that perpetuate violence against children. We pray that this light might shine in the hearts and minds of all Americans so that we truly recognize and rejoice in the gift of human life. Inspired by the hope that Christ gives, may we commit ourselves to protect and nurture all children.
[Spanish] Novena to the Holy Innocents
