Respect Life

The parish Respect Life Ministry serves St. Mary’s Parish by striving to build a culture of life and upholding and promoting the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death.

We work in concert with parishioners as well as the Respect Life Office of the Worcester Diocese which, in turn, works to implement the guidelines of the United Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, in which we are called upon as Church, with our resources, our people, our services, and institutions, to pursue the cause of life with renewed energy and commitment.

Through prayer, pastoral care, and public policy advocacy, we work to proclaim the Gospel of Life in our midst throughout all ages and stages of life. By working together diligently, prayerfully, and courageously in the Lord’s service, the culture of death that surrounds us today will one day be replaced with the culture of life.

Twice a year we participate in the “40 Days for Life” program, conducting a peaceful prayer vigil at the site of Planned Parenthood in Worcester.

We work to oppose Physician Assisted Suicide in Massachusetts and oppose euthanasia.
We have shown the movie, Fatal Flaws, which explores the dangers of Physician Assisted Suicide

We participate in the Annual Mass for life at St. Paul’s Cathedral, celebrated by Bishop Mc Manus near the feast of the Annunciation of Mary.

We participate in the Mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral that precedes the January Annual Mass for Life each year and have promoted participation by the Worcester Diocese to attend the March in Washington, DC.

On occasional Mother’s Days we sponsor a Roses for Life appeal where roses are sold to benefit the good work that is being done to benefit pro-life causes.

Throughout the year we participate in fundraising efforts to support the ministry of Visitation House, where mothers and children find lodging and support in times of a crisis pregnancy as well as Problem Pregnancy, Inc. which provides free pregnancy counseling for woman facing an unplanned pregnancy.

If you would like join in supporting the efforts of the Respect Life Ministry, please contact Kurt Brenner at 508-887-1532.

For many years St. Mary’s Parish has been very generous in supporting the life saving work of Visitation House in Worcester, a home for pregnant women who need a home and support in order to give birth to their unborn child. Every year during the Respect Life month of October we take part in the Virtual Visitation House Baby Bottle drive to raise necessary funds to support these women and their babies. The October bulletin will tell you how to participate.

In the Spring of each year, usually at the end of March or early April in association of the Feast of the Annunciation, we hold a Rosary and Adoration for pro-life causes. The time of prayer begins after the 8:30 am daily Mass on Friday and continues until 9 pm.

Every other year we participate in a Spiritual Adoption program where parishioners pledge to pray for the safety of an unborn baby for nine months. Posters each month educate others about the development of the preborn baby. At the end of the nine months we collect baby items for local crisis pregnancy centers.

First Sunday in October, White City, Shrewsbury, 2-3:30 pm.                                             
Held in cities across the Nation.   LIFE CHAIN is a peaceful, prayerful public witness of pro-life individuals standing in remembrance of at least 65 million lives lost to abortion, praying for our nation, for people in crisis situations, and for a permanent end to abortion.  It is a visual statement of solidarity by the Christian community that abortion kills children, hurts women and men, and that the Church supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death.