SPIRITUAL ADOPTION

Follow the monthly development of your spiritually adopted baby in the bulletin, on the respect life table in church, or here!
 

JANUARY - THE JOURNEY BEGINS!
Countless precious babies have begun life this month and are dependent upon their mother’s bodies to nurture their development until the day they can be born. Each day, more than 4,000 unborn babies lose their right to continue to live because of abortion.  We ask you to “spiritually adopt” a newly conceived baby whose life might be threatened by abortion. The power of your prayer is great and can make the difference between life and death.  Prayer cards can be found on the Respect Life table. Please bring a card home and post it where you will be reminded to pray for your spiritually adopted baby. You will receive monthly reports through the bulletin describing your baby’s development. In the fall, we will have a baby shower to celebrate the birth of the baby you have kept safe through your prayers. Please share the love for life that God has given you.
 

FEBRUARY -  MONTH ONE
Your spiritually adopted baby has been quite active over the past month.  Already your baby is 10,000 times bigger than at conception.  Your baby has developed the foundations of his brain, spinal cord, and nervous system by the 20^th day.  His heart began to beat on the 21^st day.  His heart is pumping blood through his own circulatory system and the blood type can be different from his mother’s. Your baby is most vulnerable during the next month of being aborted.  Pray that the Lord of Life might move the heart of his mother to give him the most precious gift of all, the gift of life.
 

MARCH -  MONTH TWO
Your baby is making progress developing her external features and internal organs.  Her brain is functioning at 40 days.  Her mother can hear her heartbeat now on an ultrasonic stethoscope.  Milk-teeth buds are present at 6 ½ weeks.  And it has been reported that a two-month old baby can suck her thumb. From this moment, your spiritually adopted baby grows and refines her body.  But everything she needs to survive once she is born is already present by the end of the eighth week.

APRIL  - MONTH THREE
Your baby is quite active in the womb now - - although his mother won’t feel him for another couple of months.  If his mother’s womb had a window, you could watch your spiritually adopted baby squint, swallow and move his tongue.  He can make a tight fist if you touch his palm. He is breathing fluid which he continues until birth.   Your baby obtains the oxygen his body needs through the umbilical cord.  The baby you are praying for weighs one ounce.

MAY - MONTH FOUR
Well, your little baby now weighs six ounces.  She has fingernails and eyelashes.  She has her own unique fingerprints, which will remain the same until she dies.  Her taste buds are working. Her sense of hearing is developing and present at 14 weeks.  There are no major developments anymore.  Your spiritually adopted baby is already well-formed, internally and externally.  All she needs now is time to gain weight and grow strong.  What a miracle she is!

 
JUNE -  MONTH FIVE
Your spiritually adopted baby weighs over one pound now.  His mother can feel his movement. Before he was too small for her to feel.  Although he swam with ease in his watery world, he needed to be big and strong enough to kick hard against the outside wall and dent it. The inside wall of the uterus has no feeling.  We are mid-way through the pregnancy now.  Your prayers have helped your baby’s mother continue with her pregnancy and to seek the help she needs.

JULY - MONTH SIX
Your spiritually adopted baby is developing quite beautifully now.  Her weight is approaching 2 pounds.  Babies born prematurely at this time have a very good chance of surviving.  The medical advances in caring for extremely small newborn infants are extraordinary indeed.  Justice O’Connor has remarked that the Roe vs. Wade decision is on a collision course with itself.  Each passing year, we witness medical advances that allow medical professionals to save younger and younger premature infants.
 

AUGUST -  MONTH SEVEN
Beginning this month, the baby uses all four senses. During this time the baby will receive antibodies from his mother, providing him with immunity to a wide variety of diseases. He is gaining enough weight to make his mother uncomfortable with his size.  But she’s not worried.  In a short time, her baby will be born. Your baby’s mother appreciated the prayers you have said for her and her baby throughout the pregnancy.  It has not been easy, but your prayers have given her the grace she needed to bring her baby to term.

 
SEPTEMBER -  MONTH EIGHT
You are in the home stretch with your spiritually adopted baby.  His lungs are now fully developed. He is developing a layer of fat to keep him warm after he is born. He will now shift into a head-down position, preparing for birth. Your baby’s mother appreciated the prayers you have said for her and her baby throughout the pregnancy.  Your prayers have given her the grace she needed to bring her baby to term.

OCTOBER -   
HAPPY BIRTHDAY  to your SPIRTUALLY ADOPTED BABY!
Your spiritually adopted baby was born this month - - nine months after her mother conceived her.  The only change at birth is a change in the external life support system of the baby. She is no different now than before birth except that she breathes and eats differently. She is truly a miracle.  Never before in history, nor ever again, will anyone exist who is just like your spiritually adopted baby.  Your prayers saved her life. 

 Thank you on behalf of your spiritually adopted babies and their mothers!

Both labor and sex human trafficking occurs in the United States, affecting adult men and women, and underage boys and girls. The vast majority of our human trafficking cases involve sex trafficked women and underage girls.

Many victims have been sold by people they trusted, sometimes their own parents, up to 40 times per night. Psychological manipulation and fear continue to hold them captive even long after they have been separated from their abusers. Integral to their healing is showing each girl the love of God and teaching each one how to receive freedom through a relationship with Jesus Christ. If you would like to know more about human trafficking, especially in our local area, please call Yvette Fouchi at 504-874-9225.


INTERCESSORS OF ST. JOSEPHINE BAKHITA
   Although many are unaware, modern day slavery is happening right here in our community in startling numbers. In Louisiana, the highest rates of human trafficking occur in the following parishes:  Caddo, Orleans, Jefferson, East Baton Rouge, and St. Tammany. If you are concerned about this modern day slavery, please join us as we intercede for all human trafficking victims, survivors, and perpetrators. St. Josephine Bakhita was a former slave who later became a Canossian religious sister, and the Church has designated her as the patron saint of all human trafficking victims.
 
   Join us as we meet in church to pray immediatly following the  8:00 AM Mass on the second Sunday of every month, beginning on July 12. If you have any questions about our monthly human trafficking rosary, please call Cheryl Galland at (504) 883– 8021 or Sheri Schielder at (504) 491-9544.

                          Jesus promised that He would establish peace in families
       and bless every home in which an image of His Heart  is exposed and honored.

                      12 Promises Jesus gave to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
                                     for souls devoted to His Sacred Heart:

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless every place where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
12. The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in My disgrace,  nor without receiving their Sacraments;  My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge at this last hour.

 
An Enthronement is more than a blessing of the Sacred Heart image in a person’s home.  It is a way of life, requiring commitment to prayer, penance and the Sacraments. 
It carries no more commitment than faithfulness to our Baptismal Promises, but it deepens our relationship with the Source of all love and mercy, Jesus Christ.
If we sanctify the family through the Sacred Heart, we will sanctify all of society and we can offer reparation for the sins committed against God and all offenses committed against life from conception to death.
        For more information on enthroning your home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
                                           contact Yvette Fouchi at 874-9225.