Petitions on a NFP Theme for Prayers of the Faithful 

Fr. Matthew Habiger OSB

• That we be willing to bring our choices and deeds before the light of Christ, to discern if they are right or wrong, let us pray to the Lord …
• For a new springtime of unconditional spousal love, open to love and life …
• That we may understand that self-possession and self-mastery are part of self-maturity …
• That the spirit of generosity may pervade both parents and their children …
• That so-called “safe sex” and “safer sex” be recognized as unloving and irresponsible …
• That adolescence may be recognized as a time of apprenticeship in gaining self-possession …
• That husbands may love their wives as Jesus loves his bride, the Church …
• That wives may love their husbands by bringing out what is best in them as good fathers and generous husbands …
• That we may remember that God never asks the impossible from us, but only what is best for us, and the sometimes difficult
• That we may fully understand that nothing is impossible for God …
• That we may remember that a democracy without moral discipline is self-destructing …
• That we may remember that “If anyone keeps God’s commandments, then the authentic love of God is in him”
• That we may know “it would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalistic ethic and a shallow religiosity” (Novo Millennio Ineuente 31b) …
• That the Gospel may be presented to all peoples with confidence, without ever hiding the most radical demands of the Gospel message (NMI 40d) …
• That we may be confident that “to love God is to keep his commandments, and that his commandments are not heavy” (1 Jn 5:3)…
• That the Gospel of Life, which emphasizes the sanctity of all human life, will be part of the new evangelization …
• That we may understand that “lust is disordered desire for, or an inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure,” and that lust is one of the deadly capital sins (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2351) …
• That we may understand that “sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes” (CCC 2351) …
• That we may remind ourselves that “we are not the masters of the sources of human life, but rather only the minister of the design established by the Creator” (HV 13) …
• That we may understand God’s plan for marriage, “where they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mk 10:8-9) …
• For an openness to the child, as Jesus teaches, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives Him who sent me” (Lk 9:48) …
• That we may understand that man does not have unlimited dominion over his body, or over his generative faculties, because of their intrinsic ordination towards raising up life, of which God is the principle” (HV 13) …
• For an education in freedom and education in the right use of freedom …
• That we may be open to the need for permanent inner conversion …
• That moral laxity may be recognized for what it is …