Holy Week is a time to not only contemplate the grief of Good Friday but to look with anticipation at the joy of the impending Easter Sunday. In so doing, the faithful typically spend extra time in prayer.
This year, during Holy Week, American Life League is asking that Catholics across the country unite their prayers with ours for our bishops.
There are 439 active and retired bishops in the US. They all have a difficult job, as they lead and shepherd their flocks. Even those who are retired still have an obligation to lead by example, to pray for the Catholic Church, and to uphold Church teaching.
It’s no secret that different bishops choose to focus their ministries on different topics. Some are very pro-life and encourage those in their dioceses to venerate Christ in the Eucharist and protect the vulnerable, while others rarely talk about these important things.
We believe that building a culture of life starts in the home and that pro-life values must be taught from the time children are young. Laying that foundation takes parents dedicated to the truths of the faith and parents who are well catechized.
It is the job of each bishop to ensure that the people within his diocese are educated in the faith. If bishops make this a priority, the priests will as well. Just imagine how we could change the culture if all bishops taught the truths of the faith at all times.
That is why we must pray for them and why we must pray for an increase in wisdom and understanding, for moral courage, and for strong leadership.
Holy Week is a beautiful time to start this practice.
Therefore, each day of Holy Week, we have a special challenge for you, and we will walk alongside you every day, sending reminder emails and encouragement.
On Monday, we will live stream a rosary on our Facebook page. Join us as we pray that our bishops will lead with courage as a united front and will prioritize pro-life principles and protect the vulnerable from creation until death.
On Tuesday, we ask you to abstain from all nonessential activity on your computer, phone, and TV. This will give you time to pray and allow you to spend quality time with your families. We will not post anything on social media on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, we ask you to pray for God’s mercy on the world with the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
On Thursday, the day Jesus instituted the Eucharist, we ask you to spend time in Adoration. Jesus is truly present—body, blood, soul, and divinity—in the Eucharist, and spending time with Him in Adoration allows us to grow in intimacy with Him, to contemplate His teachings, and to say prayers in quiet solitude.
On Friday, we ask you to pray the Stations of the Cross. Many churches will even have a live version. If you have never been, I urge you to attend. This is a beautiful and somber event that shows the crushing reality of the crucifixion.
God chose to send His Son as our redeemer so that we could choose to spend eternity with Him. Jesus’ death on the cross is an immense gift, and Holy Week is a time to think not only about the blessings He has given us but about the obligations we have as the Catholic faithful. So let us pray that those leading our Church come to understand the weight of faithfully guiding their flock and of upholding Church teaching.
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