Mary Queen

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Intercessory Prayer

As we begin a week of Prayer to End Human Trafficking, may we be inspired to act in our local communities to support and protect survivors of human trafficking, we pray to the Lord.

For reflection

• As Catholics, we believe in the dignity of every human life and vigorously oppose human trafficking and modern-day slavery as it contravenes basic human

• There are an estimated 40.3 million victims of modern-day slavery worldwide. Of these, 25 million are victims of labor or sex trafficking and 15 million are people trapped in forced marriages. In Texas, at any given time, there are approximately 234,000 victims of labor trafficking.

• Human trafficking happens in every community and can involve commercial sex, forced labor or domestic servitude. This video by the US Department of Homeland Security provides an overview.

Call to action

Distribute this prayer card dedicated to St. Josephine Bakhita, who was a victim of human trafficking.

Intercessory Prayer

For the innocents who suffer under the sinful abuse of slavery and for conversion of the utterly lost souls who hold them captive and exploit them, we pray to the Lord.

For reflection

• Human trafficking happens in every community. That means each of us can do something to stop it. As Pope Francis has stated: “Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ.”

• Human trafficking happens in big cities, in suburbs and small towns.

• Human trafficking is often confused with human smuggling, which involves illegal border crossings. In fact, the crime of human trafficking does not require any movement whatsoever. Survivors can be recruited and trafficked in their own hometowns, even their own homes.

• There are three types of human trafficking: sex trafficking, forced labor and domestic servitude.

• Truck stops, hotels and private homes are among the places where people are sold for commercial sex.

• Forced labor is when victims work for little or no pay. Factories, farms and construction work are all places where people are forced to make products or food we consume with no or little compensation.

• Domestic servitude includes nannies, maids or domestic help. Often women, these modern-day slaves are hidden in plain sight and held against their will because their identification papers and travel documents are taken by their traffickers.

Call to action

Review these Ten Ways to End Human Trafficking: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/about/ways-endtrafficking. How can you help end human trafficking?
 

Intercessory Prayer

For children, especially those in our own community, who are vulnerable to human trafficking and slavery, that loving and caring adults may help them find safety and healing, we pray to the Lord.

For reflection

• “It becomes easy for the trafficker to offer his own 'services' to the victims, who often do not even vaguely suspect what awaits them. In some cases, there are women and girls who are destined to be exploited almost like slaves in their work, and not infrequently in the sex industry too.” -- Pope Benedict XVI “Migration: A Sign of the Times,” Message for the World Day of Refugees and Migrants in 2006

• One of every four victims of modern slavery are children.

• Women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced labor, accounting for 99% of victims in the commercial sex industry and 58% in other sectors.

Call to action

Often children who are being trafficked or held in bondage are in plain sight: in our schools. Learn more about human trafficking in America's schools and how we can stop it.

Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth (CSEY) Advocacy is a critical component of the Texas approach to addressing child sex trafficking. Review this flyer more information on CSEY (pronounced “see-say”) Advocates. 
 

Intercessory Prayer

For survivors of human trafficking, that they might find the support they need to start a new life, we pray to the Lord.

For reflection

Helping someone escape from slavery is just a first step in their path toward healing. Often the survivor of human trafficking needs a community to support him/her. Victims may need help to pay off debts, secure housing, learn new skills and find and keep decent employment. Children may need a foster home to escape their abusers.

Call to action

Stop Human Trafficking and Exploitation. Protect, Help, Empower, and Restore Dignity (SHEPHERD) is a resource which educates lay and religious leaders about human trafficking from a Catholic perspective, equipping them with needed knowledge and skills to combat forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation at the local level.
 

Intercessory Prayer

For law enforcement, that God grant them the wisdom to recognize situations of forced labor and sexual slavery, while working to protect its victims and punish its perpetrators, we pray to the Lord.

For reflection

• Victim identification remains a significant challenge to U.S. efforts to prevent trafficking, prosecute perpetrators, and protect. The Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force has a comprehensive set of proposals to strengthen Texas law. Learn more by reviewing the 2020 Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force Report.

• Calculated as a 150-billion-dollar industry, modern day slavery has become the fastest growing source of illicit profit for criminals

• “Such situations are an affront to fundamental values which are shared by all cultures and peoples, values rooted in the very nature of the human person. The alarming increase in the trade in human beings…presents a serious threat to the security of individual nations and a question of international justice which cannot be deferred.” -- Pope John Paul II, Letter on the Occasion of the 2002 Conference: “Twenty-First Century Slavery – The Human Rights Dimension to Trafficking in Human Beings”

Call to action

You can report suspected human trafficking by calling the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or online at humantraffickinghotline.org.

Intercessory Prayer

For courage to initiate change in our hypersexualized and consumer-driven culture, to end exploitation of others, we pray to the Lord.

For reflection

• Sex trafficking would simply not be profitable without demand. Sex buyers drive the market for the illegal sex trade. From May 2019 – June 2020, CEASE Texas identified over 1 million unique online advertisements for commercial sex across six Texas cities. We should consider the roles of technology, pornography, sexually oriented businesses, and a hypersexualized culture in facilitating an environment that normalizes exploitation and facilitates demand.

• Labor trafficking is also impacted by demand. The demand for cheap goods and cheap labor can result in worker exploitation and slavery in supply chains. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor identified 155 goods from 77 countries produced by child or forced labor.

Call to action

Stop Human Trafficking and Exploitation. Protect, Help, Empower, and Restore Dignity (SHEPHERD) is a resource which educates lay and religious leaders about human trafficking from a Catholic perspective, equipping them with needed knowledge and skills to combat forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation at the local level.
 

Every Texan has an opportunity to join the fight against human trafficking, whether by educating friends, mentoring vulnerable youth, being a conscious consumer, financially supporting trusted organizations, or reporting suspicious activity.

Feb. 8 has been designated by the Vatican and the International Union of Superiors General as a World Day of Prayer, Reflection and Action against Human Trafficking.

Feb. 8 is the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery in Sudan and Italy. Eventually taught by Canossian nuns that she was created in the image of God and possessed human dignity, she asserted herself and refused to be enslaved. Josephine became a Canossian sister and dedicated her life to sharing her testament of deliverance from slavery and comforting the poor and suffering. She was canonized a saint in 2000.

An international organization of Catholic religious women, Talitha Kum, provides resources on how to commemorate the World Day of Prayer and stop human trafficking. “There have never been as many slaves in the world as there are today,” Gabriella Bottani, the international coordinator of Talitha Kum, reports. “Only together we can break the chain of trafficking and slavery.”
 

Feb. 8 has been designated by the Vatican and the International Union of Superiors General as a World Day of Prayer, Reflection and Action against Human Trafficking.

Feb. 8 is the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery in Sudan and Italy. Eventually taught by Canossian nuns that she was created in the image of God and possessed human dignity, she asserted herself and refused to be enslaved. Josephine became a Canossian sister and dedicated her life to sharing her testament of deliverance from slavery and comforting the poor and suffering. She was canonized a saint in 2000.

An international organization of Catholic religious women, Talitha Kum, provides resources on how to commemorate the World Day of Prayer and stop human trafficking. “There have never been as many slaves in the world as there are today,” Gabriella Bottani, the international coordinator of Talitha Kum, reports. “Only together we can break the chain of trafficking and slavery.”

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If you attend Mary Queen regularly and consider this your parish, we ask that you complete a Parish Registration form so that we can keep an accurate census for our church and the Archdiocese.  Registration forms can be found in the Church narthex and at the Reception Desk in the Parish Center. Click here to complete the Parish Registration Form online.  You must have the latest version of Adobe Reader to access the registration form.  Please stop by the Parish Office, we love meeting our new families. 
 

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The Spiritual Gifts Inventory can help you determine which spiritual gifts you have been blessed with and are challenged to use in living out your baptismal call to build up the Kingdom of God. It will take approximately 15-20 minutes to take the inventory but a whole lifetime to use your spiritual gifts. There are 115 statements that assess your gifts in twenty-three different areas. Once your scores are totaled for each of the gifts, you will be presented with your spiritual gifts. You can then use the List of Spiritual Gifts to deepen your understanding of these gifts and how they might be used. We’ve provided a list of some of the parish ministries and activities that need each of the 23 gifts and encourage you to explore the possibilities of using your gifts in one of these ministries. Click here to take the Spiritual Gifts Inventory.