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"Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless.”
Proverbs 31:8 |
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer |
"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it."
Martin Luther King, Jr. |
These are Sanctity of Life weekly bulletin reflections.
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12.26.2010 God comes at Christmas, to reveal that He is indeed on our side, that He conquers our enemies, and that what He expects of us is to follow the teachings of that child who grew up to proclaim the Gospel. We live in strange times, because even though God made Himself a little baby, some are even afraid of that. Abortion is the primordial evil of our day for many reasons. One reason is that it rejects even the child, the chosen way God invites His people to draw near to Him. The birth of every child reflects the joy of the birth of Christ, and the meaning of Christmas. Let this New Year bring the world closer to reverence for every birth, every child, and every life.
Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life |
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12.19.2010 The nine months Jesus spent in utero are in many ways so unique that they reverberate throughout salvation history – and yet they also include the very same experiences shared by every baby. Mary’s womb has become a holy temple in her Fiat to God’s call to participate in His plan of redemption, and so one can truly say that the Church’s first devotion is to Unborn Jesus. In honoring Unborn Jesus our Lord we are also reminded of the dignity of all unborn children created in God’s likeness and image.
12.12.2010 “...the mystery of the Incarnation of the Lord and the beginning of human life are intimately connected and in harmony with each other within the one saving plan of God, the Lord of life of each and every one of us. The Incarnation reveals to us, with intense light and in an amazing way, that every human life has an incomparable, a most elevated dignity." "With regard to the embryo in the womb, science itself highlights its autonomy capable of interaction with the mother, the coordination of biological processes, the continuity of development, the growing complexity of the organism. This is not an accumulation of biological material, but a new living being, dynamic and wonderfully ordered a new unique human being. So was Jesus in Mary's womb, so it was for all of us in our mother's womb. With the ancient Christian writer Tertullian we can say: “He who will be a man is already one. There is no reason not to consider him a person from conception." Pope Benedict XV
12.05.2010 “In order to silence the public discussion of the harms of contraception we have often been told that we are pushing our "Catholic" views on women. This has effectively kept many health care providers and pro-life groups silent on this issue. Do you know what has nothing to do with being Catholic? Experiencing breast cancer in your 30s, having a stroke in college, or having…permanent health damage these are each life-threatening side effects that visit women of all faiths.” Jenn Giroux, Exec. Dir. Human Life International
11.21.2010 Elected representatives can become defensive about their voting records on issues of human life, excusing their actions by stating they had never had an abortion or procured one. Jesus said to Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” John 19:11 The abortionist would have no power over the preborn child if it had not been given to him by the courts that made child-killing legal or by legislators who voted for law that funds the abortion industry. For this reason, the courts and legislators who have handed millions of babies over to the abortionist have the greater sin.
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11.14.2010 "The Pill" has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency on Research for Cancer, a research arm of the World Health Organization. The sad reality is that any woman who takes a hormonal contraceptive for four years prior to her first full term pregnancy increases her risk for breast cancer by 52%. It is worth noting that this same research arm of the World Health Organization also places "the Pill" in the same category with asbestos and cigarettes. This gives context to the 400% increase in "in situ" breast cancer in premenopausal women since 1975. Women deserve to know the truth. |
11.07.2010 "The deep misunderstanding of human sexuality that pervades our culture laid the foundation not only for my own pro-choice views but for the abortion movement as a whole. My own conversion on the issue is illustrative of what must happen in... our culture as a whole in order to turn the tide for life: If our society is ever to respect the unborn, we must first respect and fully understand the nature of the act that creates those unborn lives in the first place. As long as the connection between sexual activity and its life-giving potential is severed, the temptation to devalue human life will win out." Jennifer Fulwiler
10.31.2010 Fifty years ago this year, "the pill," was introduced. Among many broken promises its use was heralded as the liberation of women from male domination that would lead to fewer divorces and a steep decline in the number of unwanted pregnancies and in the number of abortions. The truth is, the pill kills families, the pill kills women, the pill kills babies and the pill kills the environment. Since the pill was approved as a contraceptive in 1960 by the FDA, the institution of marriage has become endangered. The number of unmarried cohabitating couples has increased tenfold, from 439,000 to 4.2 million. Divorce rates have soared. Births to unmarried women have tripled. Some 1.3 million children are born out of wedlock each year and 1.2 million children are surgically aborted. Contrast this to the fact (not an empty promise) that the divorce rate for U.S. couples who use natural family planning to space children is less than one percent.
10.31.2010 Fifty years ago this year, "the pill," was introduced. Among many broken promises its use was heralded as the liberation of women from male domination that would lead to fewer divorces and a steep decline in the number of unwanted pregnancies and in the number of abortions. The truth is, the pill kills families, the pill kills women, the pill kills babies and the pill kills the environment. Since the pill was approved as a contraceptive in 1960 by the FDA, the institution of marriage has become endangered. The number of unmarried cohabitating couples has increased tenfold, from 439,000 to 4.2 million. Divorce rates have soared. Births to unmarried women have tripled. Some 1.3 million children are born out of wedlock each year and 1.2 million children are surgically aborted. Contrast this to the fact (not an empty promise) that the divorce rate for U.S. couples who use natural family planning to space children is less than one percent.
10.24.2010 Civilized societies restrict individual freedoms when that "choice" would harm an innocent person. Does a man have the freedom to rape a woman if that is his choice? After all, it is his body, why do we have a right to tell him what to do with it? Why do we have a right to impose our morals on him? By emphasizing a rapist’s right to choose, we clearly are completely ignoring the rights of the woman. The pro-choice position always overlooks the victim’s right to choose. Women don’t choose rape. African Americans didn’t choose slavery. The Jews didn’t choose gas chambers. And babies don’t choose to be aborted.
10.17.2010 Bishop Olmsted of Phoenix has this to say about Holy Mother the Church. She, “in season and out of season, is a truth-telling institution and that for that reason, she often stands against the current opinions of the world.” The world has its loudly and publically proclaimed “opinions” in favor of abortion, contraception, adult stem cell research, cloning and euthanasia. Our Church teaches that each of these is an evil act. Faithful Catholics when considering the world’s opinions vs. Church teaching would do well to remember Bishop Fulton J. Sheen’s words, “The Truth is the Truth even if no one believes it and error is still error even if everyone believes it.”
10.10.2010 Will a society which has assumed the right to kill infants in the womb find any impediment to killing other human beings who are judged unwanted, deemed imperfect physically or mentally, or considered a social nuisance? Roe v. Wade case obscured the boundary to confer personhood on a human being and we now find ourselves on a precarious, slippery slope that leads us inevitably to the disposal of any “inconvenient” people. As our individual demand for affluence continues unabated and the economic crunch grows larger, the amount of compassion that the legislature, the courts and our culture will have for the old and infirm does not seem likely to be significant considering the precedent of the non-protection given to the unborn.
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09.26.2010 Using "verbal engineering" to mask reality, euthanasia proponents capture our attention and hide their true intent when they speak of "death with dignity" and a "right to die." Everyone believes in death with dignity. This movement is not really about the right to die. The truth is they are talking about a right to kill. Across the world, advocates of euthanasia are asking their governments and courts to step aside and allow "mercy killings." When the basic human right to life is denied to those whose continued existence is judged to be an inconvenience, the lives of the poor, vulnerable, weak and aged are at an increased risk. How we treat the elderly, the disabled and the unborn is not a measure of their humanity but of our own. Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation |
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09.19.2010 When a mother aborts her child, who is she loving most, God, the child, or herself? If we but put God first in all we do, everything else will fall into place. If we love God above all else, we will obey Him when He says, “Thou shall not kill.” We will stop being selfish and stop thinking about just ourselves. Once pregnant, a woman is already a mother and a man is already a father. Now the only choice left is whether to kill the baby or give him/her life. “Choose life that you and your descendants may live.” Deut. 30:19
Dr. Alveda King, Director of African-American Outreach for Priests for Life & Gospel of Life Ministries.
Dr. Alveda King, Director of African-American Outreach for Priests for Life & Gospel of Life Ministries.
09.12.2010 In a recent newspaper article covering the installation of the White Cross Memorial on St. Helen front lawn, the Executive Director of Planned Parenthood’s Preterm Clinic took exception to the description of the 5,432 abortions performed at her facility in 2009 as murder. Her quote was, "Certainly, it's not murder. It's not the same as killing a 2-year-old or adult". She does not deny that abortion kills. Homicide is defined as the taking of a human life by another human being. Homicide is still a homicide no matter how small the victim.
09.05.2010 "...He (Satan) was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Jn 8:44 NIV His "native language" is now woven into our common venacular. The lies of " a woman's right to choose", "reproductive rights", "planned parenthood" and "it's not really a baby" have now become our own native language. His evil purpose does not end with killing babies. His real agenda is to turn people into murderers so that he can drag them to hell.
09.02.2010 A sign in the window of Planned Parenthood's Preterm abortuary on Shaker Boulevard in Cleveland displays their motto - "Every Child a Wanted Child". It is meant to sound loving. The slogan actually reduces children to objects who have a right to exist only if someone "wants" them more than other "things": career, schooling or relationship. It makes aborted children victims, not of their own shortcomings, but of the self-centeredness of others. The measure of our humanity is not that there are no unwanted ones among us. The measure is what we do with those who are unwanted. Shall we care for them or, as Planned Parenthood does daily, kill them?