Every human being is created in the image of God and destined to be in communion with him. God calls us to seek him, to know him to love him. Our very essence, our identity, the source of our dignity comes from God.

This October you can use our resources for Respect Life Month to grow closer to God through daily prayer, reading scripture and participating in the sacraments. Below are ways you and your parish community can pray during Respect Life Month.

Organize a Blessing for Pregnant Mothers and Unborn Children

Pray with the Rite of Blessing for Unborn Children at the end of Mass to honor the sanctity of life.

Pray the Rosary

Parish Ministry groups can pray the Rosary and use the Intentions for Respect Life Month during each Mystery.

Host a Holy Hour for Human Dignity

Your Parish can organize a Holy Hour for Life.

Pray for those in need

Use the Intercessions for Respect Life Month during Mass each Sunday in October.

The acceptance of God’s love compels us to go forward in love. As Catholics we must share God’s love with others. When someone is facing great trials, we need to meet them where they are, walk with them on their journey, intercede for them, and be open to sharing Christ's love.

Below are ways you can serve our brothers and sisters in need this Respect Life Month:
 

Visit Your Local Pregnancy Center

Pregnancy Resource Centers help pregnant women in need. You can visit your local pregnancy resource center or schedule a tour! Take your Respect Life Group, Confirmation Class, or Young Adult group and learn how the center can help pregnant women in need. Many pregnancy centers need volunteers to collect and sort baby items or share information, this is a great way to introduce your parish community to the center and serve pregnant women in need.

Find your local pregnancy resource center by following the link and tying in your zip code: Optionsforpregnancy.com
 

Host a drive

During the month of October many parishes host a baby shower, diaper drives, or baby bottle fundraisers for pregnancy resource centers in their area. These are great ways your parish community can support pregnant and parenting families in the area.

If you aren’t acquainted with a center but would like to host a drive, you can help Claris Health. They are a great resource for pregnant or parenting families in Los Angeles. They are currently accepting items to help families in their communities.

Help Pregnant or Parenting families in your parish community
Volunteer with St. Vincent de Paul
 

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles serves those in need within Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties. They provide food, clothing, furniture, appliances, housing and resources for individuals and families in need of assistance.

To volunteer, find the conference nearest you by contacting your local Catholic Church and asking if they have a St. Vincent de Paul Conference of Charity. If there is not a Conference of Charity at your Catholic Church, please call the Vincentian Services Department at 1-888-552-7872 or email: [email protected]

As a volunteer, you can:

      • Conduct a food, clothing, blanket, or toy drive for those in need

      • Help a conference of charity with food distribution/ conference events

      • Speak to neighbors in need and help them find needed resources
 

Proclaim Life

“The Christian knows that in the social doctrine of the Church can be found the principles for reflection, the criteria for judgment and the directives for action which are the starting point for the promotion of an integral and solidary humanism. Making this doctrine known constitutes, therefore, a genuine pastoral priority, so that men and women will be enlightened by it and will be thus enabled to interpret today's reality and seek appropriate paths of action: The teaching and spreading of her social doctrine are part of the Church's evangelizing mission.” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church)

Read church documents that uphold the dignity of the human person:
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church

What is the compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

The first part, entitled “The Profession of Faith”, contains a synthesis of the lex credendi, the faith professed by the Catholic Church, as expressed in the Apostles’ Creed which is further elaborated by the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. In the liturgical profession of the Creed, the Christian assembly keeps the principal truths of the faith alive in memory.

The second part, entitled “The Celebration of the Christian Mystery”, presents the essential elements of the lex celebrandi. The proclamation of the Gospel finds its authentic response in the sacramental life, through which Christians experience and witness, in every moment of their existence, the saving power of the paschal mystery by which Christ has accomplished our redemption.

The third part, entitled “Life in Christ”, recalls the lex vivendi, through which the baptized manifest their commitment to the faith they have professed and celebrated, through their actions and ethical choices. The Christian faithful are called by the Lord Jesus to act in a way which befits their dignity as children of the Father in the charity of the Holy Spirit.

The fourth part, entitled “Christian Prayer”, summarizes the lex orandi, the life of prayer. Following the example of Jesus, the perfect model of one who prays, the Christian too is called to the dialogue with God in prayer. A privileged expression of prayer is the Our Father, the prayer that Jesus has taught us.

(Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, President of the Special Commission, Vatican City, 20 March 2005)

Compendium of Catholic Social Teaching

Transforming social realities with the power of the Gospel, to which witness is borne by women and men faithful to Jesus Christ, has always been a challenge and it remains so today at the beginning of the third millennium of the Christian era. The proclamation of Jesus Christ, the “Good News” of salvation, love, justice, and peace, is not readily received in today's world, devastated as it is by wars, poverty and injustices. For this very reason the men and women of our day have greater need than ever of the Gospel: of the faith that saves, of the hope that enlightens, of the charity that loves.

The Church is an expert in humanity and anticipating with trust and with active involvement she continues to look towards the “new heavens” and the “new earth” (2 Pet 3:13), which she indicates to every person, in order to help people to live their lives in the dimension of authentic meaning. “Gloria Dei vivens homo”: the human person who fully lives his or her dignity gives glory to God, who has given this dignity to men and women.

The reading of these pages is suggested above all in order to sustain and foster the activity of Christians in the social sector, especially the activity of the lay faithful to whom this area belongs in a particular way; the whole of their lives must be seen as a work of evangelization that produces fruit. Every believer must learn first to obey the Lord with the strength of faith, following the example of Saint Peter: “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets” (Lk 5:5). Every eader of “good will” will be able to understand the motives that prompt the Church to intervene with her doctrine in the social sector, an area which, at first glance, does not belong to the Church's competence, and these same readers will see the reasons for an encounter, for dialogue, for cooperation in serving the common good.

(His Eminence Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Vatican City, 2 April 2004)

Encyclical Letter: Humanae Vitae

The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships.

The fulfillment of this duty has always posed problems to the conscience of married people, but the recent course of human society and the concomitant changes have provoked new questions. The Church cannot ignore these questions, for they concern matters intimately connected with the life and happiness of human beings.

Encyclical Letter: Evangelium Vitae

The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message. Lovingly received day after day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as "good news" to the people of every age and culture.

At the dawn of salvation, it is the Birth of a Child which is proclaimed as joyful news: "I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:10-11). The source of this "great joy" is the Birth of the Saviour; but Christmas also reveals the full meaning of every human birth, and the joy which accompanies the Birth of the Messiah is thus seen to be the foundation and fulfilment of joy at every child born into the world (cf. Jn 16:21).

Defend Life

Where does one begin? Today, when human rights are proudly proclaimed and the value of life itself given public affirmation, the most basic of all human rights, "the very right to life," "is being denied or trampled upon, especially at the more significant moments of existence: the moment of birth and the moment of death" (The Gospel of Life, no. 18). Sometimes very difficult or even tragic situations can be the basis for decisions made against life, circumstances that can diminish the personal culpability of those who make choices that in themselves are evil. But as Pope John Paul II points out, today the problem goes further: "It is a problem which exists at the cultural, social and political level, where it reveals its more sinister and disturbing aspect in the tendency, ever more widely shared, to interpret . . . crimes against life as legitimate expressions of individual freedom, to be acknowledged and protected as actual rights"

(The Gospel of Life, no. 18).

The question "Where does one begin?" is easy to answer: "We must begin with a commitment never to intentionally kill, or collude in the killing, of any innocent human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled or desperate that life may seem" (Living the Gospel of Life, no. 21).

(USCCB, Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities)

Stand up for human dignity by signing-up to our Life, Justice and Peace Newsletter:

5 things to know!

We’ll keep you informed on important legislation, campaigns, and action alerts.
 

You can also visit the California Catholic Conference page for more information on legislation in our state.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is an assembly of the hierarchy of bishops who jointly exercise pastoral functions on behalf of the Christian faithful of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

View action alerts from the USCCB

Additional resources

We must not be afraid to defend life and have conversations around issues that pertain to human dignity. As a church we can advocate by participating in conversations that matter.

Webinars

The University of Norte Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life offers continuing

education and formation for leaders at all levels, below are links to some of their past webinars:

Caring for Women and Children: Navigating Medicine, Law and Policy After Dobbs

“A Post-Roe World? The Future of Abortion and Motherhood in America”

“Can we Imagine a World Without Abortion?”

“Morality and the Microscope: The Basics of Bioethics”

“Trapped in our Jeans? The Role of Genes in Determining Our Self?”

“The Intersection of Racial Justice and Life Issues”
 

Articles

Read the largest known in-depth study of American attitudes on abortion Sponsored by

Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life.

“How Americans Understand Abortion”

Video

Into Life | Love Changes Everything

A 12-part original series on accompanying a woman into life

The Sisters of Life and the McGrath Institute for Church Life teamed up with CampCampo Films to create an original 12-part video series based on the work of the Sisters serving women who are pregnant. Journey with the Sisters of Life as they explain what it means to walk with a woman who is pregnant and vulnerable. Learn what it means to deeply listen to and understand the heart of another, how to rejoice in the beauty of the individual person, and what it means to truly accompany someone into God’s life and freedom.

View the series: intolifeseries.com