Novena to Stop the HHS Mandate Starts TODAY
Posted by Eric Scheidler (May 30, 2012 at 5:45 am)
We fight for justice in government with many weapons. We use Rallies like we’ll hold on June 8, we use our power to vote, we use our voices and pens so our representatives in government know our concerns. But we must never forget that the strongest weapon we have is prayer.
Temporal rulers will come and go, but God is the great king over all, so recourse to Him is where our confidence must ultimately last. It is well within His power to stop the Obama Administration’s pernicious HHS Mandate.
With that in mind, we are asking all people of faith to join in a united prayer effort to Stop the HHS Mandate. In preparation for the June 8 Rally, we are calling on everyone to join in the “Novena for a Reversal of the HHS Mandate” that was such a blessing in the lead up to the Rally in March, which begins today.
A novena is a nine day prayer sequence for a particular intention, in this case the Rally for Religious Freedom and the defeat of the HHS Mandate. Though the devotion has its roots in Catholic spirituality, the prayers here are ones that people of any Christian tradition can pray.
We will be posting the prayers for each day here on the Stand Up blog for the next nine days leading up to the June 8 Nationwide Rally for Religious Freedom. Please join with us in this important prayer effort. Here is the prayer for today, May 30:
Novena for a Reversal of the HHS Mandate: Day 1
Lord God,
You are the Author of Life and Freedom.
In Your Spirit, we have the freedom of the children of God,
and in Your Name, we promote the freedom of all
to seek, embrace, and live the truth of Your Word.
In that freedom, Lord, we your people stand with Life
and reject whatever destroys life
or distorts the meaning of human sexuality.
In that freedom, Lord, we Your people live our lives
in a way that advances Your Kingdom of Life,
and we refuse to cooperate in what is evil.
At this moment, therefore, when our government has decided
to force us to cooperate in evil,
we pray for the grace to be faithful to You
and to oppose the unjust laws and mandates
that have been imposed upon us and our institutions.
We pray for the conversion of those in civil authority
who fail to appreciate the demands of conscience.
We pray for the complete reversal of all policies
that permit the destruction of life
or coerce the cooperation of Your people
in practices that are wrong.
Bring us to a Culture of Life.
We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thank you, Eric, Monica, Matt, all you wonderful people who so bravely lead and inspire us with your work! May your continued efforts, in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, bring us all, and our nation, to TRUE freedom in Christ!!
May 30th, 2012 at 7:13 am
Thanks for the post and the email reminding me! I hope that the novena gets lots of shares! We can do nothing without prayer!
May 30th, 2012 at 8:12 am
God Bless all who have voluntered their precious time for this Rally. Many thanks!
May 30th, 2012 at 9:46 am
So happy to be part of this effort.
May 30th, 2012 at 9:52 am
Novenas are so important, especially when many people participate. It pleases God when multitudes pray for the same petition. He surely hears us.
May 30th, 2012 at 9:52 am
will be there , thank you for putting this RALLY . we need alot of help from ABOVe , specially in Oregon.
May 30th, 2012 at 11:15 am
I will pray the Holy Rosary everyday for this Novena. Padre Pio said the Holy Rosary is our weapon. It has turned back armies against all odds. Our Blessed Mother is the Queen Mother and will obtain all good things from Her Divine Son, Jesus Christ, Our King.
May 30th, 2012 at 11:30 am
Want to pray this novena the entire nine days however will not have access to a computer all the days. Is there a way I can print out the entire novena and take it with me while on vacation?
If not be sure that rosaries and personal prayerful petitions will be presented to our Almighty and loving Father for whom nothing is impossible. He is, was and will always be in charge. He is the Lord of all nations.
May 30th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Thank you for the chance to be part of this 9 day Novena. It is so crucial that we all stand united to fight this evil.
May 30th, 2012 at 4:48 pm
this is a prayer I have been praying:
St. Gabriel, the Archangel, Strenght of God, pray for us. Inspire, defend, and protect us. Stand with us as we defend Life against the culture of death. We ask this in the NAME of Jesus, Our Savior and Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen
May 30th, 2012 at 8:46 pm
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May 30th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Thanks so much for posting!!! God Blessings!!
May 30th, 2012 at 10:48 pm
Pro-Life group Guadalupe Mission For Life&Peace from Mexico City will assist at Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe at 6:00a.m. on Friday,June8, for the special intentions of The National Rally For Religious Freedom, for your Bishops,for the HHS MANDATE to be completely reversed and for the end of abortion and euthanasia. If anyone would like to have your intentions included at this Mass please send it in an e-mail to marianab@misionguadalupana.com. Mariana Bringas
May 30th, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Praying with you and hoping everyone will be faithful and stand together during these 9 days. God bless
May 31st, 2012 at 2:42 am
Am so glad that a friend of mine brought this to the attention of our men’s group at church. Will look forward to joining a group here in Maine to walk beside our Catholic friends who appear to be the most effected now.
May 31st, 2012 at 3:53 am
I pray daily that the Supreme Court will overturn Obamacare. The more we know of it, the more regulations are added, the less we like it. Church leaders were origially in favor of it because it promised to help the poor, but like most government programs it quickly morphed into a power grab where all are forced to fund or otherwise support immoral and sinful behavior. Here’s praying that all serious believers will join together in praying for Obamacare’s downfall.
May 31st, 2012 at 6:21 am
Thanks for posting this, Eric. Thanks for sending me the link, Janice. I am grateful and blessed to take part in this Novena. Take care and God bless.
May 31st, 2012 at 9:45 pm
Aloha Friends,
This is a wonderful gesture in praying this novena but we need to generate the passion within our spirits to let the lawmakers know and understand that we will stand united and will make our wishes known to them in the polling places.
Yes, we need to pray and then take action. As in James, “Words without deeds….” are meaningless. As we attend rallies, let us remain focused that our elected officials are not there and may not be even phased by what we are doing.
Invite all your friends, families who are eligible to vote to register and vote.
Mahalo Nui Loa,
Deacon Kin
June 1st, 2012 at 10:10 am
Without God we can do nothing! Yes, pray, pray, pray…my family will! If a person cannot do anything else, this is the most important action to take.
June 3rd, 2012 at 6:10 pm
[…] and our divisions. Individuals and groups are banding together in interfaith prayer (e.g. the Interfaith Novena to Stop the HHS Mandate) to implore God’s direction and assistance towards justice and […]
June 4th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
First of all I would like to say that calling your little rally a “Stand Up For Religious Freedom” rally is just ridiculous. YOU HAVE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM!!! How can you not appreciate the religious freedom you enjoy in this country? How can you just take it for granted that you are allowed to believe, practice, express, and speak out WHATEVER YOU WANT TO regarding your religion??? And then you not only take it for granted, you hold RALLIES to protest that your “religious freedom” is being “attacked”, “stripped” “taken away” because the president wants birth control to be included in insurance policies? Are you kidding me? You people are unbelievable! It’s like you are grasping at anything to fight about.
The fact is, NOTHING is being taken away from you. You will still have ALL the same religious freedoms that you have always had in this great country. If birth control is “against your conscience” then you don’t have to use it! Simple as that. Where is the attack on your religious freedom???? And please don’t give me the non-sense argument that Catholics are being “forced to pay for other people’s birth control” which is “against their religious teachings”. Can you name ONE person in the entire country who agrees morally with where every single cent of their tax dollars go? Of course not! We are ALL very indirectly paying for all kinds of stuff we don’t want or believe in. Like fighting needless wars, for example. Why should “Catholics” be any different?
Come on people, deep down you MUST know that you are NOT, IN ANY WAY, being asked to do something that is against your “conscience” or religious beliefs. You are NOT “sinning” if you don’t protest this! I think the reason Catholics are so hyped up about this, is because you are very disturbed that America and society in general is evolving and that the majority of people no longer believe in the church’s archaic rules that limit people’s personal freedoms. Be honest with yourselves…God knows when you are lying, remember? The church has, over the centuries abandoned hundreds of rules and practices that were no longer deemed fair, or right, or applicable in today’s society. WHY is it SO important to you that we hold on to these particular rules??? Doesn’t it say something to you that 98% of CATHOLIC women have used or are using birth control? Maybe, just maybe, birth control is not the “evil” that the church has made it out to be all these centuries. Again, the rules HAVE changed as we evolve into better human beings.
It’s time for the church to evolve on the birth control issue, as well as several other issues, especially its views on homosexuality. If Jesus is all you make him out to be, then he would be disgusted at how people treat homosexuals today. I mean, think about it, you people are holding rallies and protests because you think YOUR religious freedom is in jeapordy simply because it’s possible that birth control will be covered on everyone’s insurance! Think how trivial that is compared to the plight of homosexuals. Look at how YOU (Catholics)think of and treat these people. You reject them, and criticize them, and don’t let your kids socialize with them. You say that WHO THEY ARE, is bad,evil, sinful, wrong, abominable, sick, disgusting, abnormal, willfully going against God, bad for society, and on and on and on. But worst of all, you DISCRIMINATE against them! You actually believe that because of WHO THEY ARE, that they should not be allowed to have all the same rights and privileges as all other law abiding, tax paying Americans! THAT is what is sick, and wrong, and sinful, NOT gay people.
Finally, why the prayers for this rally and in general? Didn’t God already make up his mind about everything a long, long time ago? Do you think if more people pray even more, then he’ll change his mind about this or anything else?
For all the reasons above, I find the church to be the most hypocritical organization of all time. I would love to hear an argument that makes a lick of sense, so if you think you can answer any of my questions, please, bring it on! EVOLVE Catholics! It’s the 21st century!
June 7th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
[…] Madison’s novena prior to the June 8, 2012 Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally […]
June 20th, 2012 at 5:25 pm