Fr. Dominic Mary, MFVA | January 22, 2026
Today we are observing a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. The directives of the Church clearly state:
“In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.”
Furthermore, following the specific norms set down for this day, the Mass we are celebrating today is “For Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life.” Therefore, it is clear from these official directives of the Church that today is a day of prayer, penance, and thanksgiving—thanksgiving for the gift of human life.
On a day like today, it may even cross our minds as to why a person would consider the grave evil of murdering an innocent unborn child in the first place. For those considering abortion, why the refusal or inability to see an unborn child as a human being with the right to life, no matter how the child was conceived? And if the child is seen as a human being with the right to life, how can abortion still be considered an option?
Certainly, pride, fear, selfishness, inconvenience, and pressure from others often play a role. But so do evil spirits and open occult activity in the abortion industry, which has only surged as society has become more pagan, has embraced the culture of death, and has adopted ideologies like Marxism and communism. These ideologies have filled the minds and hearts of countless people with errors that lead to the rejection of God and His plan concerning what it even means to be a man or a woman, as well as God’s plan for marriage, procreation, and family life. The “errors of Russia,” so to say, have spread throughout the world.
Lust, Sin, and the Path to Murder
Today’s first reading from 1 Samuel, with its two main characters of Saul and David, gives us further insight into the nature of murder. Earlier this week, Saul was reprimanded by Samuel for his disobedience to God’s commands. In today’s reading, after returning home from battle, the women give Saul “thousands,” but to David “ten thousands.” Fear of losing his kingship, mixed with anger, resentment, and jealousy, leads Saul to consider killing David. This teaches us that when sin is left unchecked, it leads to graver sins—jealousy leading to hatred and murder in Saul’s case.
This is nothing new. In the first human family, Adam and Eve were disobedient to God, marking the original sin and the fall of man. Their offspring did not fare much better. Cain’s unchecked envy of his brother Abel led to hatred and eventually to murder. With Adam and Eve, and with Cain and Abel, we see the pattern of disobedience to God’s commands followed by murder.
Although Jonathan refers to David as “innocent” in today’s reading, David did not remain innocent. After becoming king, David rationalized the murder of an innocent man. His lust for—and coveting of—Bathsheba led to adultery, which led to her conceiving a child. David did not kill the child in her womb to cover up his sin, but he killed Uriah, Bathsheba’s innocent husband, instead. Lust led to murder. This connection is a significant factor in society’s current widespread and institutionalized sin of murder through abortion.
A Culture of Lust and a Culture of Death
With a vast portion of the global population apparently addicted to lust through pornography and the radical perversion of God’s plan for human sexuality and reproduction—including the widespread use of contraception—it is easy to see how a mindset of selfishness and lust leads to a hardness of heart. This hardness leads to a disregard for the reality and truth concerning the inalienable rights of the human person, born or unborn.
Those caught in a lifestyle of lust are often blind to spiritual realities and deep relationships, and they frequently lose the ability to see the dignity of other people. This blindness leads to unhappiness, which in turn deepens the lie that more lustful experiences will remove inner emptiness and emotional pain. Other people become either objects to fulfill base desires or obstacles to comfort and pleasure, and thus something to be discarded.
The unborn person, consequently, becomes an object of inconvenience—a human being lacking rights, or at least having rights that can be trampled upon. Hardness of heart, often beginning with unbridled lust and a refusal to follow God’s laws, makes killing in the womb an easy decision through rationalization and justification based on lies propagated by a godless and anti-Christian society. Ignoring whatever conscience remains, the unborn child is killed in the mother’s womb.
Toward a Culture of Life
The mistakes made by Saul and David shed light on how unchecked sins—such as jealousy and lust—lead to graver transgressions, often including murder, and to the darkening of conscience. While we certainly must pray for the legal protection of unborn children, we should also pray for our brothers and sisters caught up in the culture of death. We should pray that they may not want to kill unborn children in the first place, but instead come to cherish and welcome life by living according to God’s plan for human sexuality, marriage, and family life. This requires, as a starting point, purity of mind, heart, and body.
The celebration of the feast of St. Agnes on January 21 stands in stark contrast to the culture of contraception, perversity, paganism, abortion, and unhappiness in our own day. A virgin martyr, she gave her life for love of her Spouse, Jesus Christ, and for the preservation of holy purity. Like the other virgin martyrs, she is a model not only for youth, but for all who strive to live the virtue of chastity—which should be all of us. One essential element in ushering in a culture of life is the reclaiming of the virtue of chastity in society.
Today, then, we pray for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life, we do penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and we offer thanksgiving to God for the gift of human life.