“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
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​"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it."
                  Martin Luther King, Jr.
THESE ARE OUR "SANCTITY OF LIFE" WEEKLY BULLETIN REFLECTIONS

03.18.2018     ​
03.11.2018     ​Each of the mass genocides in history have been the end result of dehumanization. In the same way, when seeking to justify abortion, it is an easy first step for today’s proponents of genocide as they attempt to invalidate the humanity of preborn children by calling them a “fetus”, “clump of tissue”, “the product of conception” and all of the other terms they have fashioned to deceive the culture about the sad reality of child dismemberment taking place in America’s death chambers. Father, forgive our nation. ​
03.04.2018     ​​According to their annual report, last year Planned Parenthood committed another 321,384 abortions. In performing an act they describe as “sacred” and a “blessing“, they murdered one baby every 98 seconds. We must not allow the myth that abortion is GOOD for anyone to be perpetuated. If the only way you support life is with your vote, you are not doing nearly enough. The goal must be not only to make abortion illegal, it must be made unthinkable. PRAY that the hearts of those in the business of profiting from abortion to be changed. Volunteer, give money, BE THERE in a practical way for the moms who choose life. 
02.25.2018     ​Politicians in both political parties urge people defending the sanctity of human life to work together to find "common ground" with pro-death advocates on the abortion issue. Such abstract rhetoric has no substance and abjectly denies the fact that there is no "common ground". What common ground could possibly exist when the humanity of a preborn  child isn’t recognized? There is no common ground between heaven and hell,  light and darkness, good and evil and certainly not between either defending or destroying innocent children. These concepts are contradictory by their very nature and have no common ground.  St. Paul tells us that "light and darkness have nothing in common" (2 Corinthians 6:14) Each and every day, we must preach the Truth of the Gospel of Life because light and darkness have everything in common if we allow the light to be eliminated.  
02.18.2018     Far too often today, Americans dismiss as "politics" issues such as abortion, same-sex attraction, and even religious freedom and refuse to admit that these subjects are not "politics" at all but are rather individual battlefields where our faith, freedoms and our families are being assaulted daily. We are losing these battles to the secular culture. Being apathetic and not engaging is fraught with risks for the individual and for our nation. A quote by Sr. Lucia's speaks to this point. "For the sin of the person, the person is responsible and pays for it, but for the sin of the nation all the people pay for it because rulers who enact unjust laws do so on behalf of the people who elected them." 
02.11.2018     Just as we constantly hear from the culture of death advocates referring to abortion and regardless of the assurances we hear from “assisted suicide” proponents, these evil acts are not health care.  Euthanasia amounts to curing the patient by killing him and abortion is shamelessly put forth as a solution for parents whose yet unborn children represent an inconvenience. This is the kind of thinking that comes from a half century of “legalized" murder.  Our society has been on this “slippery slope" for a long time now. Life on that precarious incline can be comfortable for pro- death advocates. It is  usually quite profitable. But it’s a dangerous piece of real estate for the rest of us.
02.04.2018     When  people make the statement “I am pro choice and it is the right of the mother to decide whether or not to abort”, Christians who favor protecting preborn innocent life should challenge them as to what they are really saying by asking for clarification. Ask,”Do you mean that you  favor allowing sharpened metal forceps be used to dismember a child who can survive outside the womb and that you favor ripping his limbs off one at a time, starting with his legs, while he is still alive?” This the reality of what abortion can be. 
01.28.2018     In Constitutional history, the rights of oppressed groups, such as women and blacks, have eventually been vindicated. As more evidence was presented to the Courts, they reversed prior decisions. In recent cases, more evidence is being admitted showing not only the preborn child's humanity, but also the harm abortion does to women and the pain the child suffers during an abortion. There is a growing mountain of medical, psychological and sociological evidence that abortion harms women and families. There is also more research linking abortion to higher incidences of breast cancer, mental illnesses, and infant mortality in subsequent pregnancies. ​
01.21.2018     Hardship or inconvenience to the life of the mother is often cited as justification for an abortion.  That same "logic" is being increasingly applied as a reason for ending  the life of elderly persons. Under the guise of palliative care, it is a growing  practice in some facilities, with or without the complicity of the families,  to administer "terminal sedation" or more accurately, "late term" abortion for the elderly. Antibiotics are delayed or not given for easily treatable infections. Add starvation, dehydration and terminal sedation. Abortion completed. Everyone is saved anxiety, money and hassle. Except, perhaps, the patient. But he is drugged, so whatever objections he may have had, no one ever has to hear them.  Welcome to the realities of the culture of death.
01.14.2018     Of the infinite number of God's creations, only one was so treasured that  the specification for this special creation included that it be made "in His image and Likeness".  We cannot even begin to imagine the hurt God must feel when mankind elects to dishonor Him by  allowing the mistreatment of  fellow humans through slavery and human trafficking, when allowing euthanasia because an elderly or disabled person is deemed too inconvenient or costly to care for, or when for forty five years tens of millions of innocent, preborn children are routinely and legally dismembered in the wombs of their mothers. The fact that these atrocities occur without outrage or even a second thought or by so many  members of His Church, the Body of Christ,  must amplify His pain.  This apathetic response is destructive to the Church and to individuals professing to be Christians.  Martin Luther King Jr's statement about the cost of that apathy to individuals  says it well:  "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
01.07.2018     As we become aware of each disturbing event in the daily news, we might find ourselves asking, "What has happened to us as a nation---as a society?" The answer is simple. Abortion has changed our culture.  Those who do not value the unborn, do not honor or value those who have been born.  Since abortion has been legalized, the rates of child abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and murder have grown exponentially.  God bless and strengthen those who seek to stem this tide;  who pray in front of abortion chambers; who work in pregnancy centers; who comfort those women who grieve their past  abortions.  Thank you for all you are doing to defeat this horrible practice.