Since 1973, the Catholic Church in the United States has observed October as “Respect Life Month," and the first Sunday of October is observed as Respect Life Sunday. As Catholics, we are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, and at every point in between. During the month of October, the Church asks us to reflect more deeply on the dignity of every human life. 

Walking with Moms in Need is a process by which Catholic parishes and communities “walk in the shoes" of local pregnant and parenting women in need to better support them. Take the pledge to prayerfully support pregnant and parenting women in your community and to get monthly stories about what's happening around the country in this nationwide effort. Learn more about this USCCB sponsored program here.

As Christians, we are called to what Pope St. John Paul II called “radical solidarity”1 with women who are pregnant or parenting in difficult circumstances—and with their children, born or preborn. Solidarity is the way in which we put our love for others into action. Pope Francis reminds us that solidarity “refers to something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mindset,”2 a transformation within our own hearts. As disciples of Christ, we are called to make a sacrificial gift of ourselves for the sake of our neighbor. Radical solidarity compels us to be at the side of vulnerable mothers in profound friendship, compassion, and support for both them and their preborn children. It requires us to address the fundamental challenges that lead an expectant mother to believe she is unable to welcome the child God has entrusted to her.
 
Radical solidarity can be lived out in countless ways, including volunteering at your local pregnancy help center; helping an expectant mother find stable housing; babysitting so a mom can work or take classes; providing encouragement and a listening ear to a mom without a support system; or launching Walking with Moms in Need ministry right here in our community.

In reaction to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, some areas of the country now protect the child in the womb, while others are doing all they can to increase access to abortion. At this critical moment, we have been entrusted with new opportunities and new responsibilities to build a civilization of authentic love. We must do all we can to help mothers and their children flourish. This cannot be accomplished by laws or policy alone, but requires the continual transformation of our own hearts, so that we may recognize in every person the face of Christ and place their needs before our own. We pray that we may be of one mind and one heart as we respond to the needs of mothers and their children. 

In reaction to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, some areas of the country now protect the child in the womb, while others are doing all they can to increase access to abortion. At this critical moment, we have been entrusted with new opportunities and new responsibilities to build a civilization of authentic love. We must do all we can to help mothers and their children flourish. This cannot be accomplished by laws or policy alone, but requires the continual transformation of our own hearts, so that we may recognize in every person the face of Christ and place their needs before our own. We pray that we may be of one mind and one heart as we respond to the needs of mothers and their children.

1 Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 207.
2 Pope Francis, Evangelii gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), no. 188.