Baby Steps to Building a Culture of Life

"Baby steps to promote a culture of life" by Maria V. Gallagher (CatholicMom.com)

Image credit: By Drew Hays (2015), Unsplash.com, CC0/PD[/caption] Following the directive of that great saint, Pope John Paul II, Catholics are called to rebuild a culture of life in our communities. But that can seem a daunting task. Our neighborhoods may be scarred by violence of all sorts, and renewing a society so that it treasures all human life can appear to be an impossible feat. It is true — we cannot hope to change the culture on our own. But we have an awesome ally in the Almighty. As they say in Cursillo, a lay-led movement within the Catholic Church, “Christ and I are an overwhelming majority.” With God’s help, life-giving miracles can happen. But we have to do our part. That’s why I recommend taking “baby steps” to rebuilding a culture of life:

Pray for an end to abortion. Pray for solid support for pregnant women in challenging circumstances. Pray for courage and strength for the fathers of preborn children. Pray that our public officials will pursue policies that promote the dignity and value of human life.
Dedicate an hour of Adoration each month to the cause of life. Father John Hardon, who is being considered for sainthood, once said there is no stopping abortion without the Eucharist. In the Eucharist we experience the graces we need to build a civilization of love.
Join a parish pro-life group. These groups are phenomenal, and undertake missions ranging from diaper drives to baby showers for pregnancy resource centers to Holy Hours for life. If your parish does not have a pro-life group, ask your pastor if you can start one. Just four or five dedicated people can build a strong church-based pro-life group.
Use social media to promote life! Post those ultrasound pictures on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Show the world the beautiful photos you collect of the newborn babies in your life. You never know how many people you might touch and how many lives you might save through your life-affirming posts.
Instill pro-life values in your children. The new book Pro-Life Kids by educator and mom Bethany Bomberger is a valuable, age-appropriate resource you can use with young ones. You can also teach them the stages of fetal development with soft-touch fetal models. And be sure to introduce them to the precious feet pin, which depicts the tiny feet of an unborn child at 10 weeks.

Imagine if each of us took baby steps to promote the culture of life, what a wonderful world this would be! That precious dream can be realized, if only we are willing to take those first few critical steps.