Some ideas to share with a pastor who wishes to increase Gospel of Life awareness and commitment at his parish:

Gospel of Life at parish level

Evangelizing for life at the parish level is essential to help parishioners better integrate the Gospel of Life in their lives, in their families, the parish and in the community.

There is a project that may be useful in this regard.

It is called the Spiritual Adoption Program 

The essence is to ask parishioners to say a short prayer each day for a period of 9 months for an anonymous unborn child in danger of abortion.

It is a prayer of Archbishop Fulton Sheen:  "Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion."

Prayer is powerful. Prayer can save lives & change hearts and minds.  

This is the essence of the Spiritual Adoption Program: - people committing to say this short prayer each day for a period of 9 months.  The key is getting people to pray to stop abortion.  The program is announced a week or two before it actually begins, and on a particular Sunday, at the end of the Mass the priest briefly announces the program, the prayer cards are handed out, and the parishioners are urged to say this prayer or a similar prayer each day for the 9 month period. 

There are many, many other aspects and possibilities that can be part of the program, but the fundamental aspect is prayer.   Petitions during Mass are also part of the essential emphasis on prayer.  

The Spiritual Adoption Program as designed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore (https://www.archbalt.org/respect-life-2/spiritual-adoption-program/) provides an incredible framework to teach the Gospel of Life and live it out. To teach, especially about the preciousness of the unborn child. Just concentrating on the beautiful development of the child is such a positive thing to do to counter the culture of death. Teaching about the unborn child gets people's interest.   

The program as designed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore uses very beautiful posters which illustrate the child's development month by month. To see the images: https://www.archbalt.org/respect-life-2/equip-you-to-defend-life/little-one-posters/  As you begin the program, the idea is to place the first poster somewhere appropriate in the church and then to change the poster each month to the next month’s image. There is a companion brochure that can be given out to reinforce these images: http://www.littleonepublishing.com/insidebrochure.html  

In addition to the posters and the brochure, we encourage other ways to impress on people the wonder of the developing child,  In the first several weeks of the program the bulletin can be used to emphasize the development of the child through inserts and/or brief bulletin announcements. See below for a sample of very brief bulletin announcements (one-liners, for example):   

Gospel of Life

Heartbeat of a baby only 6 ½ weeks after conception

www.4life4family.org/heartbeat

Gospel of Life

impressive photo of a baby 6 to 8 weeks after conception

www.4life4family.org/6-8-week-baby

Gospel of Life

Watch me Grow! – Beautiful images of infant in the womb 

www.littleonepublishing.com/insidebrochure.html

Gospel of Life

A precious conversation with your child

www.4life4family.org/a-precious-conversation-with-your-child-2

Gospel of Life

Video – An inspiring testimony by a mother who gave

birth to a child without eyes and with other problems 

www.4life4family.org/inspiring

Future bulletin announcements like the above can promote local pregnancy help centers, common questions & answers about abortion, information on post-abortion issues, "abortion pill" information and reversal information, beautiful testimonials of mothers who have chosen life, quotes from Evangelium Vitae and Church leaders, the USCCB's "Walking with Moms in Need" program, Catholics and politics, Students for Life, opportunities for public witness and action, etc.

At the end of the nine-month period, the parish sponsors a "Babyshower" or birthday kind of celebration where the parishioners can bring diapers, baby clothes, and money donations perhaps for a needy parish family or a local pregnancy help center. 

The Spiritual Adoption Program can bring great fruits to the parish, a deep-prayer orientation, great increase in awareness of the preciousness of the unborn child and the need to protect and assist the child and the mother. Much deeper spirituality based on Evangelium Vitae can lead parishioners to greater awareness and action in the society as a whole.

For more information, contact Dan Zeidler, Family Life Council, Inc., 414-218-3769, wauwatosalife@gmail.com

A digital copy of this article can be found at: www.4life4family.org/parish