In the warm days of summer, it seems an awful shame to have our thoughts directed towards the Fall, but as we all know, you have to plan for Fall activities. Here are nine ideas I would like to suggest for your Pro-Life and Evangelization and Outreach planning:

1) Not everyone has Catholic schools, but if you do have, how are you looking to either incorporate or coordinate pro-life education according to your curriculum? This is a good time to take an in depth look at family life curriculum to see how pro-life principles and education are being incorporated. What is your role? All too often we forget that Catholic schools’ family life curriculum incorporates pro-life principles and it’s a good chance to be able to bring forth the Church’s teachings to these young minds.

2) Do you have particular evangelization programs in your diocese or parish? If not, have you considered that part of the new evangelization is to incorporate the principles of the Gospel of Life. This can be a chance to look at setting up perhaps a small course on pro-life principles or apologetics. There are various programs that are available, and if you contact us, we can suggest ones that could work in your parish or diocese. With increased facility with zoom it’s also a chance to make these more widely available.

3) Hopefully, our parishes will have a Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program (RCIA). This is not the place to compare RCIA programs, but it should be remembered that in many of these programs not enough time is given to moral issues, especially sexual and life issues. These are contentious. Prospective candidates or converts may well be struggling with the Church’s teaching because they’re coming out of a totally different milieu. Leave enough time for these teachings.

4) Are there some particular courses being offered either online or in your area that you could tap into? Colleges or universities may or may not be in your area but their on-line courses are. These can be promoted and advertised.

5) It’s always a good thing to plan homilies and to see how they will fit together in an overarching plan to be able to present the Church’s teaching in a comprehensive fashion. Can you take a bit of time now to see how pro-life principles can be incorporated in your preaching for the next four months?

6) You may not have a home for women facing distressed pregnancies, but you are in a catchment area for pregnancy support services or such a home. How is your parish or diocese supporting this pro-life initiative? My parish has a Baby Bottle Boomerang where people are asked to take a baby bottle home and to fill it with change or just to bring back a cheque to support this work in a consistent financial manner. Have you got one of these in your parish? If not, would you consider reaching out to your pregnancy support centre to do something similar?

7) Priests for Life Canada is a strong supporter of the 40 Days for Life campaign. These campaigns start off in the fall or winter. We would strongly encourage any parishes to promote the 40 Days for Life campaigns. Be really active! Go out with your people and witness in as strong a way as possible to the reality of life and the ongoing battle with abortion in our hospitals.

8) Why not take advantage of our Priests for Life Canada Just for Life weekend kits? It is an easy and simple way to be able to highlight pro-life issues and to be able to educate in a non-confrontational and effective fashion. You don’t need much to set it up - a few volunteers at each mass and an extra table. This is a proven and effective way to be able to consistently bring the pro-life message to our people.

9) Are other Christian churches doing pro-life activities? Can you have your executive assistant phone around to see what initiatives they’re doing so that we can encourage our people to share in those initiatives? Not everything has to be done by ourselves and together there is strength in unity.

These are just some of the ideas that we can have for this Fall. It is a busy time! Let pro-life be a part and parcel of it.

Fr. Tom Lynch (PFLC National President)