Now that the Church has celebrated Epiphany, are you packing away Christmas ornaments? Carefully wrapping them in tissue so they survive the jostling back into the garage or basement or storage unit? Ordinary Time begins in three short days, on Monday, Jan. 12, so chances are you have packed up the Nativity set, with baby Jesus lying on the hay. He and His Holy Family, the shepherds, Magi, and sheep are nestled snuggly until December 2026!
The Christ child brings us hope — the hope of Emmanuel, God with Us, in our sufferings, tragedies, sorrows, as well as joys. We can keep this hope alive in our hearts even as we sweep up the pine needles and stow the wrapping paper.
One way to keep hope in our hearts is to focus on the gift of life that God has given each of us. We can thank God for the gift of our own lives. We can focus our prayers and actions on protecting human life, especially at times when humans are most vulnerable.
In one week, Catholics nationwide begin praying the annual 9 Days for Life novena, on Friday, Jan. 16, through Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. The prayer is one activity held in January each year to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decisions that legalized abortions of unborn children in the United States.
This anniversary still bears importance even after the court ended nationwide abortion on demand in 2022. Prayer and advocacy are still needed to move the hearts of state and federal lawmakers who continue to support laws that endanger preborn children and human life at all vulnerable ages and stages.
In Illinois, we particularly need prayer. Our state lawmakers market Illinois as an abortion travel destination, and last month they approved physician assisted suicide, making it legal in the state as of September 2026.
We encourage the faithful to pray the 9 Days for Life novena for these and many other reasons. The novena encompasses the liturgical observance of the National Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. On Jan. 22, all United States dioceses will ask their parishes to pray for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. So even if you do not go to Mass that weekday, praying the novena will help you pray for this right to life and make penance for violations to the dignity of human persons committed through acts of abortion.
Each day of the novena includes a prayer intention, a set of our traditional prayers to pray, a reflection to help us connect to the intercession, and suggested sacrifices or acts of penance to do for the day’s intention.
The novena in this way leads us from prayer into action, the natural progression of faith-filled prayer. Prayer leads us to bring the love of Christ to others, and Christian service will lead us back to heartfelt prayer. Pope Francis reminded us that “prayer and action must always be profoundly united.”
The 9 Days for Life Novena is a wonderful opportunity to keep the certainty of the Christmas message alive in our hearts. By becoming human, Christ reaffirmed the value and dignity of human life. Observing the novena may help awaken in our own hearts a reverence for this elemental teaching of Christ!
Sign up to receive the prayers each day by email at www.9daysforlife.com
