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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 OUR "SANCTITY OF LIFE" WEEKLY BULLETIN REFLECTIONS
06.03.2018 Worldwide today, the effort to eradicate the gentle souls born with Down Syndrome marches onward. John Franklin Stephens, a man living with Down, recently told the United Nations that a world without people like him would be “a poorer world, a colder world, a less happy world.” Mr. Stephens told his audience that the most important thing that can be done to improve the lives of people with Down Syndrome is to remember their status as human beings, equal in dignity to everyone. “I am a man,” Stephens said. “See me as a human being, not a birth defect, not a syndrome. I don’t need to be eradicated. I don’t need to be cured. I need to be loved, valued, educated and, sometimes, helped.
05.27.2018 They’re calling it a "landslide". It is, in fact, a national tragedy. Ireland voted to repeal their 8th amendment, which protected the preborn child and gave equal rights to the life of a mother and a child. So now, what they have decided is that the stronger have the right to take the life of the weaker. At least 33% of the country got it right. Just because the majority who voted say that murdering the preborn should be legal, doesn’t mean that it‘s right. Just because the Hutus in Rwanda had a majority and wanted to kill all the Tutsis, that didn't make it right. During a dark time in our nation's history, the majority thought slavery was okay and should be legal, but that didn't make it right. No matter what country one lives in, everyone needs to remember that they will stand before God one day and give an account for their actions -- and it may be sooner than later.
05.20.2018 Seventy-four percent of the states in America have laws defending the preborn against acts of violence at any stage of development. These states declare it an act of homicide if the child is killed. Twenty-one of these states consider a non-fatal attack on the preborn a criminal offense. Fully half of the states also have passed Born Alive Infant Protection Acts, requiring that physicians treat an infant that is born alive at any stage of gestation. These are but a few of the many laws that protect the preborn and treat them as human beings with “inalienable rights.” That is, of course, if they are "wanted." If they are not wanted or if they are "unplanned", abortion at any point in pregnancy is considered an acceptable means of destroying that innocent life.
What could be more blatantly inconsistent than deciding someone’s worth (and life) solely on the basis of subjective opinion? If the child is killed when the mother intended to keep it, it is considered homicide and the perpetrator is a criminal. If the child is terminated when the mother does not intend to keep it, any of the most brutal means imaginable are legally used and few Church-goers or their clergy bat an eye.
What could be more blatantly inconsistent than deciding someone’s worth (and life) solely on the basis of subjective opinion? If the child is killed when the mother intended to keep it, it is considered homicide and the perpetrator is a criminal. If the child is terminated when the mother does not intend to keep it, any of the most brutal means imaginable are legally used and few Church-goers or their clergy bat an eye.
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05.13.2018 Anyone with eyes to see or ears to hear knows the Church is under attack. Any given day reveals new frontal assaults on Church teachings and religious liberty. None can deny that “the wolves are at the door”. Increasingly, Catholics in the pew accept the secular worldview that contraception and abortion are merely “a woman’s right” and not really a mortal sin. Choices in their lives are based on their own personal opinions rather than foundational, objective Truths. When we only look at the external threats, we fail to recognize the greater threat coming from within that attacks the very foundation of the Church. We concentrate on “the wolves at the door” and fail to recognize the greater threat of the “termites in the floor.”
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05.06.2018 Archbishop Charles Chaput questioned on Jan 18, 2018 "Are we troubled enough about what's wrong with the world - the killing of millions of unborn children through abortion; the neglect of the poor, the disabled, and the elderly? Do we really have the courage of our convictions to change those things?” Our Christian Faith teaches that there is a unique value upon all human life. This is why the humanity of every unborn child, every disabled person, every elderly person, and every poor person qualifies them for our love and protection. We are called to be “troubled enough” to live out that teaching by our actions.
04.29.2018 Abortion is the number one killer in America. More lives are lost each year through abortion than all deaths due to cancer, heart attacks, accidents, AIDS, natural disasters, wars, illness and diseases combined.
Women are denied critical information on the risks of an abortion, including increased risk of Breast Cancer, Post Abortion Syndrome, the sale of body parts etc. The truth about abortion has been censored by the media, silenced by our courts, politicized by our politicians and even silenced in our churches and schools. Babies in the womb have no voice except yours and mine. We cannot remain silent any longer!
Women are denied critical information on the risks of an abortion, including increased risk of Breast Cancer, Post Abortion Syndrome, the sale of body parts etc. The truth about abortion has been censored by the media, silenced by our courts, politicized by our politicians and even silenced in our churches and schools. Babies in the womb have no voice except yours and mine. We cannot remain silent any longer!
04.22.2018 Prior to Roe v. Wade in 1973, abortion advocates argued that the legalization of abortion would solve many social ills, including poverty, crime and child abuse. They argued that the removal of "unwanted children" would improve our society. Sixty million babies have been "removed" since that time…and tragically, the promised improvements have not come to fruition.
Clearly, abortion has undermined the dignity and value of human life with devastating consequences. Life has been devalued. Abortion inevitably changes a culture's focus from respecting and helping others to a focus on personal convenience and self. This in turn places all the weak, disabled, old and dependent in our society at serious risk and disadvantage.
Clearly, abortion has undermined the dignity and value of human life with devastating consequences. Life has been devalued. Abortion inevitably changes a culture's focus from respecting and helping others to a focus on personal convenience and self. This in turn places all the weak, disabled, old and dependent in our society at serious risk and disadvantage.
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04.15.2018 "What an irony that a society confronted with plastic bags filled with the remains of aborted babies should be more concerned about the problem of recycling the plastic.” Winifred Egan |
04.08.2018 Some people wrongly feel that it is futile to continue the debate over the issue of abortion because too many people feel strongly about it and have already made up their minds as to what they think. Throughout history people have changed their minds on vital social issues. When the United States was new, there was no suffrage or equal rights for women and racial minorities. Almost universally in the United States today, the general populace recognizes that this was wrong and that all women and all races are entitled to their basic human rights and our law recognizes it too. Victories were won and people certainly did change their minds. That is how change happens. Education is vital so that more people understand the struggle to protect innocent life in the womb and then stand ready to defend the rights of all living people, including the preborn. Change can happen, and change will happen, providing we work tirelessly to advocate change for a world where the weak and vulnerable are protected and not exploited and/or victimized.
04.01.2018 When was it decided that you would be male or female? When was the color of your skin or eyes decided? All at the moment of fertilization. This is not religious dogma; these are not quotes from the Bible or the Church. These are scientific facts that can be found in any biology book in the world!
Yet when we stand up and say that these babies should be protected from abortion, we are told it is just an opinion and that we are imposing our religion on others.
Since when is common biology a religious doctrine? Since when is it a matter of "opinion" to say that you may not kill a baby? Since when and why should we ignore the rights of others in the name of "freedom of choice?" Since when is killing a respectable or acceptable choice?
Yet when we stand up and say that these babies should be protected from abortion, we are told it is just an opinion and that we are imposing our religion on others.
Since when is common biology a religious doctrine? Since when is it a matter of "opinion" to say that you may not kill a baby? Since when and why should we ignore the rights of others in the name of "freedom of choice?" Since when is killing a respectable or acceptable choice?
03.25.2018 Well chosen words have power. Babies In The Womb Are “Pre-Born” . Consider how the pro-abortion advocates marketed and sold their endorsement of abortion. It is not called pro-murder. It is called pro-choice. They appealed to the culture’s mentality; a mentality that we had been exhibiting since the 1960s. We live in a cafeteria culture. Thus, the Madison Avenue advertising gurus cleverly chose “pro-choice” in promoting death, but also in concealing the truth that it is pro-murder.
Therefore, with the knowledge and scientific understanding that life begins at fertilization, and that we are living human beings in the womb, why don’t we all use the reference “preborn”? If we support life, and acknowledge that a child deserves our respect, support and protection while waiting comfortably in the womb until the birth process, why not give them the dignity they deserve and refer to them as preborn? Let’s proclaim life accurately. Because now that we know the truth, referring to them as anything less is not only unkind, it is also uninformed.
Therefore, with the knowledge and scientific understanding that life begins at fertilization, and that we are living human beings in the womb, why don’t we all use the reference “preborn”? If we support life, and acknowledge that a child deserves our respect, support and protection while waiting comfortably in the womb until the birth process, why not give them the dignity they deserve and refer to them as preborn? Let’s proclaim life accurately. Because now that we know the truth, referring to them as anything less is not only unkind, it is also uninformed.
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03.18.2018 Several government agencies recently put a dollar value on a single human life. The EPA says that one life is worth $9.1 million, the FDA $7.9 million, and the DOT $6 million. Taking the DOT's low-ball estimate of a mere $6 Million per person and multiplying it times 52 million, the number of surgical abortions since Roe v Wade, the total value of human life lost to our nation due to slaughtering our innocent children is $31,200,000,000,000 ($31.2 Trillion). If the number of lives lost and missing due to contraception were added, how many zeros would follow the number and what would we call that number? We cannot even imagine such numbers. Abortion and contraception are defined by our Church as being intrinsically evil. Whatever name we would give to a number with so many zeros, that unimaginable number is the cost of unimaginable evil.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.