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  • Writer's pictureProfiles in Catholicism
    • Sep 10, 2020
    • 20 min read

End of Life Challenges

Updated: Jul 1, 2023



A Message from the Editor


This has been a challenging time. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to take of thousands of lives daily. People are being evicted and becoming homeless, Children are starving to death globally.

Human Trafficking is increasing significantly. Clerical child sexual abuse and Domestic Violence are on the increase. Antisemitism is exploding in many countries.

Systemic Racism and White Supremacy are on the increase in the United States even though President Trump’s toady U.S. Attorney General William Barr has denied there is systemic racism.

There appears to be a general devaluation of human life in many countries often due to failed national leadership. For this reason, we have tried the address End of Life Challenges in this issue.

As we continue our focus on Catholicism and China, we are indebted to Mary Moran for her report from inside China by a leading journalist who discusses The Sino-Vatican Provisional Agreement. We also thank our Editorial Advisor Marco Los Russo for the video recording of his beautiful Ave Maria recorded at Teatro Vallarta in Mexico which is our final video in this issue.


Profiles in Catholicism is distributed to several thousand people in 68 countries. We rely on our readers for donations to continue and expand our mission. If you support our mission and find our publication of value, please make a tax-deductible donation.


A Quote to Remember

“When once you have departed this life, there is no longer any place for repentance, no way of making satisfaction. Here life is either lost or kept. Here, by the worship of God and by the fruit of faith, her by his sins or by his years from coming to obtain salvation. To him who still remains in this world there is no repentance that is too late.”

by St. Cyprian of Carthage


Special Prayer


O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour by the strong arms of Thy sacraments and the fragrance of thy consolations. Let Thy absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let Thine own body be my food and Thy blood my sprinkling; and let Thy Mother Mary come to me, and my angel whisper peace to me, and Thy glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile on me, that in and through them all I may die as I desire to live, in Thy Church, in Thy faith, and in Thy love. Amen.

by Saint John Henry Newman


Prayer for the Plowshares


Oh Lord, You have blessed this country and our world by inspiring non-violent seekers of Peace and Racial Justice. One such group is known as the Plowshares, taking its name from the Biblical book of Isaiah calling for turning weapons of war into plowshares to till the earth to grow food for the hungry.


The Plowshares, a group which finds its origins in the nonviolent activism of the Catholic Worker movement of Dorothy Day and Daniel and Philip Berrigan, continues to this day.

Oh Lord, a brave and Spirit-filled group of women and men recent entered a naval base to nonviolently and symbolically protest nuclear weapons.

Such actions find their origins in the life and teachings of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who nonviolently challenged the established power of His time, the power of the Roman Empire, cleansing the Temple run by the chief priests who were appointed by Rome and did the bidding of Pontius Pilate.


Like Jesus the blessed people of the Plowshares have been arrested and face the punishment of the state, though they committed no real harm to anyone and simply and nonviolently sought to urge their fellow Americans to think deeply about the injustices of racism and the great dangers of nuclear weapons.


Oh Lord, we pray that these prophetic witnesses

to Your teaching will be held in your Love.

May the American people listen to their witness, which is their testimony to the humanity of us all and to our hope for a better world for all. by Dr. Eugene Fisher Profiles in Catholicism

A Prayer for the Healing of Alexei Navalny:

In the Service of the Truth

Dear Lord of All, You are the Truth in Person!

The path through life varies with each one of us,

As does the call to public service, truth and transparency.

For some this path runs to the edge of the cliff,

As treading through the difficulties a society faces

Takes us where the ground crumbles and risks rise,

As the witness to the need for reform and change

Faces into the resistance to embrace a new beginning –

Have mercy on us! Enable us to persevere!

Dear Lord of All, You are Love expressed in Truth!

You know, better than we, the impact on each of us,

Our family and friends, the prospects for the future,

The hidden dangers and the harm that befalls us;

The people you send to help and the help we need,

The people whose fear mounts again against us,

The people whose hopes rise and fall, with what we do,

And those, world-wide, who echo what we are doing –

Have mercy on us! Overcome what overcomes us!

Dear Lord of All, Lead from truth to Truth!

No one is a stranger to you, neither enemy nor friend,

Everyone, as you know, has the possibility of being

Called together, in fellowship and the communion of the truth

Forgive our fallen ways, as we fall back from the fullness of a

Life lived in your overflowing Presence breaking upon the

Shore of all, leading, encouraging, healing, forgiving,

Mending and moulding a-new the pattern of love between us –

Have mercy on us! And lead us where we cannot go alone!

by Francis Etheredge Profiles in Catholicism

A Prayer for Those Who Have been Evicted Because They Lost Their Job Die to the Covid-19 Pandemic


Dear Lord,


We pray today for those having problems finding a place to call home because of the economic consequences of COVID 19. We ask you, Lord, to inspire all of us to help our neighbors in whatever way can. We also ask that this COVID experience inspire a renewed sense of the beauty and needs of our common humanity, one of your greatest gifts. Help us to put love for you and each other before quests for wealth, power and all else that fades in the light of eternity. by Denise Mackura Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer in Coronavirus Times


Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas: We fly to you today as your beloved children. We ask of you to intercede for us with your Son, as you did at the wedding in Cana.

Pray for us, loving Mother, and gain for our nation and our world ,and for all our families and our loved ones, the protection of your holy angels, that we may be spared the worst of this illness.


For those already afflicted, we ask from you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance. Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful,wipe away their tears, and help us to trust.


In this time of trial and testing, teach each of us in the Church to love one another and to be patient and kind.

Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.

We come to you with confidence, knowing that you truly are our compassionate Mother, health of the sick, cause of our joy.

Shelter us under the mantle of your protection, keep us in the embrace of your arms, help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. by Carmen Julia Rodríguez Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for Maira Shahbaz


Oh Lord, we come together to offer our prayers for Maira Shahbaz, a 13 year old Catholic girl forced into a false marriage in Pakistan with an older man.

Maira rightly fled for her life after being forced to “convert” to Islam.

To save her life and her faith she fled and has found a lawyer who is helping her.


We pray for Maira, her lawyer and for the Muslims of Pakistan, that she will be given the protection she needs to survive the death threats she has received for affirming her faith in You and in all Catholics.


We join with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in this prayer, for justice, truth and charity for Maira and all of those in such dire need of Your help and ours. by Dr. Eugene Fisher Profiles in Catholicism


A Prayer for Krista Rowan

Good and gracious God,


We are saddened by the death of Krista Rowan who was thoughtfully and carefully in the midst of your blessing of carrying a child.  She was young and recently married, living in Sligo, a beautiful section of Ireland. You welcomed her into her heavenly home with her child on August 31.2020. Please take care of her husband and family as they go through the grief of missing her and Ree, their child. 

We understand both the joy of knowing one will give birth and the sadness for her family as she is hit by a car and passes to her eternal home. Please bless her and her Canadian family so they may enjoy your peace Lord. We ask you this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen

by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism

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General Articles/Commentaries

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Feasting with the Saints

Closing Prayer

A Prayer for Those Who Have Made Donations to Profiles in Catholicism

God most kind,

Bless all those who have supported Profiles in Catholicism

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