Lord Jesus, today we pray for the mother and father whose lives may one day become forever connected to ours through the life of a child.
Perhaps we already know their names. Perhaps we have met them. Perhaps somewhere right now there is a mother carrying a baby who may someday become part of our family, and we do not yet know that either of them exists.
But You know them, Lord.
Before we ever pray that they might choose us, help us first to pray simply for them.
Bless this mother as Your beloved daughter. Protect her body, her heart, her mind, and her soul. If she is pregnant, protect the little life growing within her. Give her good medical care, adequate food, safe housing, supportive relationships, and people who will listen to her without judgment or pressure.
If she is frightened, comfort her.
If she feels alone, send someone trustworthy to stand beside her.
If she is struggling financially, provide what she needs.
If relationships around her are difficult or unsafe, protect her.
If she feels ashamed, remind her of her dignity.
If she does not know what to do, give her time, truthful information, wise counsel, and freedom to discern what is best for her child.
Lord, if she desires and is able to parent her baby, surround her with every support that could help her do so. Let adoption never be presented to her as something she owes another family simply because that family longs for a child.
And if, after careful and free discernment, she believes that adoption is the most loving path she can choose for her child, remain especially close to her.
Because her decision will not mean that she does not love her baby.
It may mean that she loves this child so deeply that she is willing to endure an unimaginable separation while seeking what she believes will be best for the little person she carried beneath her heart.
Lord, honor that love.
Protect her from anyone who would minimize her grief by telling her she should simply be happy for the adoptive family. Give her permission to mourn what she needs to mourn. Surround her with people who will remember that adoption can contain joy and sorrow at the same time.
And Lord, we pray for the child’s father.
He, too, is part of this child’s story.
Give him courage to face his responsibilities. Give him wisdom and honesty. Protect him from fear, anger, avoidance, or pressure. Help him seek the good of his child and treat the child’s mother with dignity and respect.
If these parents eventually choose us to raise their child, Lord, protect our hearts from ever thinking that their loss exists merely to fulfill our longing.
Teach us gratitude without entitlement.
Teach us joy without forgetting grief.
Teach us to honor rather than erase.
Help us speak about our child’s birth parents with reverence and truth. Never allow careless words, insecurity, jealousy, or fear to make us diminish the people through whom our child’s life came into being.
If circumstances permit a healthy relationship between our families, give us generosity and wisdom in nurturing it.
If circumstances require boundaries, give us prudence without bitterness.
If parts of our child’s story are painful, complicated, or unknown, help us protect the child’s dignity without rewriting the truth.
And as our child grows and begins asking questions, give us the words to say again and again:
You did not begin with us. Your story began before we met you, and every part of your story matters.
Mary, Mother of Jesus, remain close to every woman facing an unexpected or difficult pregnancy. Wrap her beneath your mantle and lead trustworthy people toward her.
St. Joseph, stand beside every father. Call him toward courage, responsibility, sacrifice, and love.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, protect mother and child together.
Blessed Fulton Sheen, who proclaimed the sacred dignity of human life, intercede for families facing difficult decisions.
And Jesus, if somewhere today the mother and father of the child who may someday join our family are living their ordinary lives without knowing anything about us, bless them now.
We do not need to know their names for You to hear this prayer.
Give them what they need today.
Protect them tonight.
Draw them closer to You.
And if someday our lives meet because of one precious child, let our first response toward them always be gratitude, humility, compassion, and love.
For before anyone becomes an adoptive mother or adoptive father, there is already a child with a story.
And within that story are a mother and father whose dignity must never be forgotten.
Jesus, bless them.
Mary, hold them.
Joseph, protect them.
And may every decision surrounding this child’s life be made freely, truthfully, peacefully, and always for the good of the child.
Always remember Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Holy Family! Help us to be a holy family and pray for us!
Amen.