CCL and the Year of Mercy: April

Our apologies, readers, for missing the March Year of Mercy blog post. Have mercy on our small communications staff!

We continue our prayer campaign in this Year of Mercy by remembering how the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines mercy: “The loving kindness, compassion, or forbearance shown to one who offends (i.e., the mercy of God to us sinners).” In the spirit of that definition, as we pray monthly for mercy in various areas we, then, are not asking for prayers or grace in general but specifically for the grace of mercy, which involves forgiveness.

This month we pray for medical professionals who actively promote contraception, abortion and reproductive technologies that deny the dignity of human life. We pray for those who are, even unknowingly:

— Ignorant or hostile towards NFP
— In denial about the side-effects of contraception
— Hostile to pro-life medical professionals
— Pushing contraception on women who don’t want it
— Belittling couples who use or are interested in NFP

We pray that God’s mercy will lead these individuals to a change of heart and the grace to see how these behaviors harm our society. We pray that NFP will become more widely known and accepted in the medical community.

At the same time, we want to pray for those doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc. who support NFP in the face of harsh criticism and condemnation from their peers. We pray for:

— Strength in adversity for standing up for their beliefs
— Strengthening their commitment to doing what’s right
— Their families and anything that they might suffer (financial or otherwise) because of their choice to be pro-life or NFP-only practitioners
— Medical students who want to follow their conscience and not prescribe contraception; for help in school when no one is supporting them

We know there are many reasons why knowledge of NFP is suppressed in our culture, but the reluctance of the medical community to acknowledge it’s benefits and efficacy is a big one. And let’s face it — contraceptive technologies produce a big profit. But, let us also remember that no person or problem is beyond God’s mercy. There is always hope with God! So let us pray for the conversion of those in the medical community who need to see the beauty and science of NFP and for strength for all the medical professionals who stand up for what is best for women’s health.

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Don’t forget to let us know how you are praying! We are creating a spiritual bouquet that (we hope) will have a multitude of flowers in it from all of our prayers. Each email report we receive of prayers said becomes a heart “flower” in our bouquet. Please tell your friends and family about our prayer campaign and invite them to pray along with us. Please contact Sarah with your prayer efforts at sdrew@ccli.org.

This year we are given a special opportunity to ask for and receive God’s mercy in our lives and for the good of the whole world. Let’s celebrate the Year of Mercy by ardently praying for what is most sorely needed in our world: an education in love.

December’s intention: For ourselves
January’s intention: For those who would benefit from learning NFP
Feburary’s intention: For those affected by contraception
Official Jubilee Year of Mercy website

— Sarah Drew
Assistant Editor