amdg

SERMON NOTES: ST. MICHAEL PRAYER CAMPAIGN 2007

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, Human Life International

 

March 25th: The Solemnity of the Annunciation (in some countries it will be celebrated on Monday, March 26th) This feast is also commemorated as the “Feast of the Unborn Child” in many places.

 

First Reading: Isaiah 7: 1-10; Responsorial Psalm: Ps 40: 7-11; Second Reading: Hebrews 10: 4-10; Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I.                    The Solemnity of the Annunciation commemorates that meeting of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Angel Gabriel wherein the birth of the Messiah was “announced.”

·        This is the great feast of the Incarnation of God

·        What was announced was not just a birth but a marriage

·        A marriage of flesh and spirit hitherto unseen and unknown in human history

·        It would not be a forced marriage; nor would it be a marriage of convenience

·        Mary was the bride who was asked for Her consent, and on the basis of Her unconditional consent to God’s proposal, the marriage was consummated

·        All of human history is reckoned by the event of God’s taking on flesh.

 

II.         The Word needed a Body in order to be offered in sacrifice.

·        “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (Jn 1:14)

·        “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb 10:10)

·        In order for Jesus to be called the “Lamb of God” by John the Baptist and the “Paschal Lamb” by the evangelists, He had to have a Body to offer in sacrifice

·        Since He did not have a human, fleshly Father every strand of DNA in His Body was given by the flesh of His Mother

·        His Heart beat with the blood of Mary; His visage reflected the glory of Mary’s Beauty; His hair, eyes, skin, hands and feet were all Hers

·        And they were all offered in sacrifice for our sins.

 

III.               This Body was like every other human body in its development.

·        When the Word became flesh he entered a human womb and submitted Himself to the process of human development in time that we all must undergo

·        Christ’s Body passed through the stage of a blastocyst before He became an embryo; He was an embryo before he became a fetus and a fetus before He was known as an infant child

·        As an unborn Child he experienced every emotion, sensation and movement that every baby in the womb knows

·        As a divine baby He became one with all the inhabitants of the womb who are the subject of the modern day “massacre of the innocents” in abortion.

 

IV.              Emmanuel, “God is with us” as we fight to restore respect for every human body that is destroyed by abortion.

·        The God-Man Jesus Christ is not neutral to the suffering of the children who are not given a chance to be born

·        They are precious to Him as His unborn brothers and sisters

·        So are their mothers and fathers who are deceived by the abortion industry and distorted notions of freedom that draw people into these drastic “choices”

·        The Lord is also deeply concerned about the spiritual death that accompanies the killing of babies in the wombs and through His Church He seeks to reconcile those who have fallen prey to this miscarriage of justice

·        The Church now offers programs of post-abortion healing and reconciliation for those women and men affected most deeply as the second victims of abortion

·        And the Church prays deeply for the abortionists who commit these crimes against humanity on a regular basis

·        “God does not will the death of a sinner but rather that he be converted and live” says the Prophet Ezekiel, and that prayer for conversion is the prayer of the Church—it is our prayer.

 

V.                 The program of prayer for the conversion of abortionists will last the full nine months of a pregnancy from the Annunciation until the Feast of Christmas.

·        It is a fitting time frame in which to pray for the conversion of those who work for the destruction of babies in the womb

·        The campaign has St. Michael the Archangel as its patron saint—St. Michael is charged with casting out the power of evil over those who invoke his protection

·        We invoke that same protection on the babies who are in danger of abortion and on all those who are under the dominion of Satan in the abortion industry

·        Prayer is never without effect, even for the conversion of those who have done great evil

·        We have only to look at the conversions of Dr. Bernard Nathanson (the main architect of abortion on demand), Norma McCorvey (the Roe of Roe v. Wade) and Sandra Cano (Doe of Doe v. Bolton, the companion decision to Roe)

·        Concerted prayer, especially to the great patron of our souls, St. Michael, gives us great hope for conversions!

 

VI.       The ultimate meaning of this Solemnity: Life always has the last word!

·        Last January’s March for Life saw 100,000 people in Washington DC marching against the injustice of abortion

·        More than half of this crowd was under the age of 25!

·        The pro-life movement touches something deep in the human heart and sees the beating Heart of the Unborn Christ Child as our motivation

·        Young and old, of any race or creed, are standing up for the defense of the innocent babies, and we must join the chorus of prayer action

·        Let us stand with them and pray not only for the protection of babies from the destruction of their bodies but also for the conversion of those who need to be saved from the destruction of their souls.