Statement from Bishop Burbidge
on the March for Life 2018
January 8, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Throughout
the month of January we are provided with special opportunities to bear witness
to our belief in the dignity and value of all human life, especially the lives
of the unborn. The most public display of the Gospel of Life is the annual
March for Life. In advance, I thank all of our parishes that are
welcoming visitors from other dioceses and providing hospitality to March for
Life participants.
We also
remember that, with God’s grace, prayer and fasting are effective means of
changing hearts. I therefore encourage you to participate in the
USCCB’s Nine Days of Prayer, Penance and Pilgrimage from January
18 to 26 (see www.usccb.org). In
addition, please pray at Mass for a greater respect for the gift of human life.
I look
forward to seeing many of our youth at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax for our diocese’s Life Is VERY
Good Evening of Prayer (January 18, 7:30 p.m.) and Rally and Mass (January 19, 9 a.m.). The annual March
for Life rally begins on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., at noon on
January 19.
This year,
the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See has granted a plenary indulgence
that may be obtained, under the usual conditions, by those who participate in
the sacred celebrations carried out on January 18 and 19. The elderly,
sick and homebound may also gain a plenary indulgence if they spiritually unite
themselves to these events and make their prayer and penance an offering to
God.
Thank you for
your faithful witness to the dignity and value of all human life, and please be
assured of my prayers for you.
Sincerely in Christ,
Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge
Bishop of Arlington