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ADVENT 2011: MORNING OFFERING MIRRORS CHIRST OFFERING AS HE CAME INTO THE WORLD There is a wonderful tradition in Christendom of beginning each day by offering oneself and one's day to God. It has been called by some 'morning devotions' or more frequently in Catholicism a 'morning offering'. One of the traditional morning offering prayers is that promoted by the Apostleship of Prayer. The morning offering is a great way to start each day. I know when I make this offering as I begin my day I am often mindful of the offering Christ made to His Father, from Mary's womb, as He entered the world: "Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired; but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." (Hebrews 10:5-7) Pope Paul VI called this "...the fundamental offering that the Incarnate Word made to the Father when He entered the world (cf. Heb. 10:5-7)."Marialis Cultus, #20 For Advent 2011 we are featuring our 9 Day Stations of the Incarnation, designed as a rapid reflection and morning offering. Each day focuses on one event in the succession of events from the Annunciation/Incarnation to the Nativity.
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Were there to be no support in the whole history of ethical and moral thought, were there no acknowledged confirmation from medical science, were the history of legal opinion to the contrary, we would still have to conclude on the basis of God's Holy Word that the unborn child is a person in the sight of God. He is protected by the sanctity of life graciously given to each individual by the Creator, Who alone places His image upon man and grants them any right to life which they have.