The election this November will address many serious issues – probably the most important of these is the abortion issue.
The election is roughly nine months from now. And during the next nine months we can remind ourselves often of the plight of the unborn and pray for their rights .
Nine months, of course, symbolizes for pro-lifers that sacred period ordained by God for each unborn child to grow and develop according to the plan of God.
Let us pray that unborn children will be the real winners in this election – that is that their rights will become better understood and more fully protected through the political (and judicial) process.
During the next nine months we can show solidarity for the unborn in various ways – particularly by surrounding them with our love and praying fervently for their rights during this election cycle.
Happy St. Valentine’s feast day!
“You have come to the sprinkled blood” (cf. Heb 12: 22, 24): signs of hope and invitation to commitment.
Here are a few quotes from the Gospel of Life where John Paul II reminds us to have hope:
“The blood of Christ, while it reveals the grandeur of the Father’s love, shows how precious man is in God’s eyes and how priceless the value of his life….”
“It is from the blood of Christ that all draw the strength to commit themselves to promoting life. It is precisely this blood that is the most powerful source of hope, indeed it is the foundation of the absolute certitude that in God’s plan life will be victorious. ‘And death shall be no more’, exclaims the powerful voice which comes from the throne of God in the Heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:4)….”
“In effect, signs which point to this victory are not lacking in our societies and cultures, strongly marked though they are by the “culture of death….”
“Unfortunately it is often hard to see and recognize these positive signs, perhaps also because they do not receive sufficient attention in the communications media….”
Here are signs of hope for the Pro-life movement:
1. We all know that more states are passing Pro-life legislation. Each year Americans United for Life has an annual report on the progress made: Changing Law to Protect Human Life, State by State.
2. There are more Pro-life Pregnancy Crisis Centers in the U.S. than abortion providers. In an a pro-abortion article in the Palm Beach Post called The New War on Abortion it states:
“Abortion opponents are running thousands of centers, called crisis pregnancy centers — dispensing everything from baby clothes to free ultrasound pictures to prayer. There are as many as 4,000 crisis pregnancy centers in the U.S. and about 130 in Florida.
By comparison, about 1,800 centers in the U.S. provide abortions.”
3. Pro-lifers are coming up with new and innovative ways to bring the Pro-life message to our country. Here are four examples:
Truth Booth “TruthBooths” are kiosks or carts set up at local malls showing 3D and 4D ultrasound images of babies in the womb.
Bound4Life A group of young people who stand before abortion clinics, courts and other public places praying and fasting in silence with red duct tape across their mouths. On the duct tape is written only one word: LIFE
Silent No More The Silent No More Awareness Campaign is an effort to make the public aware of the devastation abortion brings to women, men, and their families. Women and Men whose lives have been affected by abortion speak out.
Crossroads Young people walking across America to save lives.
4. Embryonic stem cell research alternative:
As we have all heard scientists in Japan and Wisconsin were able to create embryonic-like stem cells from skin cells without the destruction of human life.
Here are two interesting quotes from articles on this subject:
Scientist at Work | Shinya Yamanaka
Risk Taking Is in His Genes
“When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my daughters,” said Dr. Yamanaka, 45, a father of two and now a professor at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences at Kyoto University. “I thought, we can’t keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way.”
After years of searching, and at times almost giving up in despair, Dr. Yamanaka may have found that alternative. Last month, his was one of two groups of researchers that independently announced they had successfully turned adult skin cells into the equivalent of human embryonic stem cells without using an actual embryo…
And just this week scientists at UCLA have replicated this research -Here is what one of the scientists at UCLA had to say about this research:
Kathrin Plath, an assistant professor of biological chemistry at UCLA and lead author of the study, told the Daily Breeze that the stem cells they created “were virtually indistinguishable from human embryonic stem cells.” “We’re very excited about the implications of this,” she said. Full story at LifeNews.com.
There are many more new signs of hope but we thought we would highlight a few – we all need a dose of hope.
In yesterday’s post we talked about the number 40 (Noah, Moses, Jesus and so on).
But we didn’t mention all of the forty-something episodes. There are more than one would expect. (For example, the prophet Elijah was sent by God to Mount Horeb which was a 40 day journey; I Kg 19:8).
Interestingly, often the 40 days (or years) is linked to a journey or a time of enduring. So we were appropriately stunned today when one of our Newsletter subscribers (Thanks M_____!) pointed out that a pregnancy is typically 40 weeks long (actually the normal range is 38 to 42 weeks). This is fascinating when one considers that our faith holds up for us the 40 years the people of Israel wandered in the desert and the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness as critical periods of formation for a people and a Person. So, in pregnancy we see that every growing unborn/preborn human is specially “formed” for his or her mission in life in those first 40 weeks. And the mother experiences a challenge also (Thanks Eve!).
The unborn baby and the mother are undergoing a primordial preparation TOGETHER! This is an incredible aspect of pregnancy, too obvious sometimes to appreciate, that mother and child together are striving towards a shared goal at the end of the 40 weeks. Both persons – in their bodies and in their souls – are being formed, prepared, challenged. God wants to help the woman through this time by providing her with the example of Christ (in the wilderness for 40 days) and also with a “communion of saints” of Israelites who endured the famous 40 year trek and all women past and present who have gone through this journey of pregnancy.
To carry a baby for 40 weeks and then give birth to him or her is a near mystical experience. During this 40 weeks of preparation, God heaps upon the woman opportunities to discover life’s tender and timeless mysteries. And for the unborn baby, well, Unborn Jesus is watching over this little one in supernatural solidarity!
Finally, the Pope’s Lenten Message (2008) can speak to the pregnant woman’s heart, for pregnancy, like Lent, is a “process of interior renewal” which “stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God” and can help us to “learn to make of our lives a total gift”. Benedict reminds us that: “When we do things out of love, we express the truth of our being; indeed, we have been created not for ourselves but for God and our brothers and sisters (cf. 2 Cor 5,15).”
Filed under: Pro-life
Father Pavone has a talk he gives called Twelve Reasons the Pro-life Movement is winning. One of the twelve reasons he cites is:
‘More and more women who have had abortions are standing up and saying, “I regret my abortion!” (And the more abortions there are, the more women are standing up against what they have done.)’
At the March for Life, the presence of these women is felt. Each year at the March, the group Silent No More, speaks out in front of the Supreme Court. ‘Men and women who have lost children to abortion gather in front of the Supreme Court and publicly share their testimonies of pain and healing.’ About fifty-seven people got up this year and gave their testimonies. Silent No More is a joint project of Priests for Life and Anglicans for Life.
Another group that had a booth at the March for Life convention was Operation Outcry. I happened to have been assigned a seat at their table at the Rose Dinner so I was able to speak to these wonderful people. I was seated next to Lisa Dudley who is the Director of Outreach and Rebecca Porter the Florida State Leader for this group. Operation Outcry is a project of the Justice Foundation.
The Justice Foundation represents Norma McCorvey, who was “Jane Roe” in Roe v. Wade, and Sandra Cano, who was “Mary Doe” in Doe v. Bolton, in their legal efforts to reverse their 1973 Supreme Court rulings that made abortion on demand legal in America.
After reading testimonies of women who regret their abortions, the Supreme Court acknowledged that women have been hurt by abortion but ‘stated it had “no reliable data to measure” the extent of the problem.’ The Justice Foundation decided that an effective way to show the Court the magnitude of the problem was to collect a much larger number of testimonies.’ They are now trying to collect a million testimonies of women who have been hurt by abortion to present to the Court.
Besides reaching out to assist women who have had abortions Operation Outcry is working to help The Justice Foundation collect these testimonies to present to the Supreme Court. Please visit their website to learn more.
One final note – the Silent No More website has a page with resources to help women who have had abortions.
Resources for Help After Abortion
Filed under: Pro-life
I got back from the March for Life late last night. It was a great experience to be in Washington D.C. with so many wonderful pro-life people.
One thing that really impressed me were all of the different groups that are fighting abortion and how many of these groups are fighting for the unborn in creative and new ways. I will be highlighting some of these organizations in the next week or so.
The March for Life is probably one of the largest protest events to take place annually yet the news media largely ignores it. I asked Nellie Gray if she knew how many people were at the March – she told me that they were trying to estimate the numbers and would put it on their website in a few days. She told me that the police no longer give an estimate because a few years ago a liberal group who had a rally on the Mall was disgruntled by the low estimate that the Police had given and really made a lot of trouble for the Police department.The result is that the Washington D.C. Police no longer give estimates for any march in Washington.
Here are some statistics from past years:
| The Marchers Keep Marching | |
| The First March 1974 | 20,000 |
| March 1975 | 50,000 |
| March 1976 | 65,000 |
| Marches 1977-1998 | Up to 100,000 |
| The 25th March 1998 | 225,000 |
| March 1999 | 125,000 |
| March 2000 | 100,000 |
| March 2001 | 225,000 |
| March 2002 | 100,000 |
| Marches 2003 – 2006 | 200,000 |
Nellie Gray also told me that her organization no longer prepares press releases after the March because the press never has given the March any coverage. In the past they sent out press packets and found it very frustrating when they were ignored.
People bus and fly into the March from locations all over the country. I met people who had been traveling by bus for 12, 15 and even 25 hours to get to the March. What an inspiration!
While us old folks just marched – the young people in the crowd added the real energy. As I walked in the march – it was the enthusiasm of these young marchers that made me smile with their chants and songs.
As a Catholic I was really impressed with the young priests, seminarians and sisters that were sprinkled throughout the crowd. Also at the beginning of the March – they read off the names of the Bishops and Cardinals that were marching – I got the impression that there were at least 15 or 20 there. I’m going to try and get a list so I can post it in the future.
At the beginning of the March there are wonderful speakers of all denominations. The March is truly an ecumenical event. President Bush addressed the crowd – I believe – from the White House. Quite a few members of Congress and the Senate got up and spoke. One Presidential Candidate, Ron Paul spoke to the crowd and Senator Sam Brownback read a message of support for the March from Presidential Candidate John McCain. We had a bit of a scare when Nellie Gray fell and had to be taken to the Emergency Room but she has recovered and is back to work doing post March wrap up.
The march then followed a route which started at the Ellipse of the National Mall and continued down Constitution Avenue. The march formally ends at the Supreme Court building. It was a truly wonderful event that I felt was a privilege to attend.
Here is a picture of what you find at the Supreme Court (which is barricaded so no one can go up the steps). A little startling – isn’t it?
Filed under: Pro-life
Theme for March for Life January 22, 2008:
“Build Unity on the Life Principles throughout America.
No Exception! No Compromise!“
The March for Life, in Washington, D.C., is on January 22. This is the 35th year for this March. In a previous blog, I mentioned that I attended the March for Life in 1980. Well, Unborn Word Alliance will be having a booth at the March for Life Convention (Sunday-Tuesday, January 20-22) this year so I will be there. I’m pretty excited about being able to attend the March this year. The Convention and Rose Dinner are held at the Hyatt-Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill.
I won’t be posting for a number of days because I am leaving for the Convention and the March today. If any of you who receive the newsletter or read the blog are attending – please drop by the booth – I would love to meet you.
I wanted to also mention that while the March for Life is the big event on January 22 there are many other pro-life activities besides the March and March for Life Convention happening in Washington during the days surrounding the sad anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Here is a list of many of the different pro-life conventions and activities:
March for Life 2008 Conference and Activities Schedule
Filed under: Pro-life
Yesterday was the feast day of Epiphany which recalls the visit of the three kings to the newborn baby Jesus in Bethlehem (Mt 2:1-18). The visit of the three kings to the newborn baby and His parents reminds me of the people I have met over the years who have been involved with helping distressed pregnant women in need of medical, social and other Pro-Life services. From the early 1970’s to the present day there have been hundreds of thousands of people who have tried to help pregnant women in need, particularly women ambivalent about the pregnancy, those contemplating abortion or those actually going into abortion facilities to obtain abortions. Primarily, these pro-life volunteers have worked in Pregnancy Counseling Centers (and with their pregnancy hotlines) or have been sidewalk counselors who peacefully congregate in front of abortion facilities to try and reach out to those about to kill their unborn children.
Let’s look at the Gospel story. First we have three differing types of Kings: Jesus “king of the Jews” (verse 2), king Herod who wants Jesus killed (v. 13) and the three kings who come to give homage to Jesus (v. 2, 11). So kingship is defined by its relationship to the innocent baby. Consider the following:
The three kings are inspired by God and led by a Star as they seek the Holy Child. – Those in Pro-Life services are led by the Spirit of God to help the unborn child.
The kings are inspired to seek and worship the promised Child even before His birth. – Those in Pro-Life services are inspired to reverence the dignity of every unborn child.
The kings are filled with awe and genuine excitement at the prospect of seeing the Child. – Those in Pro-Life services have humility & good will as they turn to the unborn child.
The kings are opposed and deceived by the Government of Herod and society’s leaders. – Those in Pro-Life services are hindered in their good works by Government and others.
The kings protect the Child from Herod and this Government that is hostile to children. – Those in Pro-Life services protect unborn children from hostile Government and others.
The kings offer the Child (and His parents) gifts of “gold, frankincense and myrrh”. – Those in Pro-Life services offer unborn children and their parents resources, time & love.
The three kings of olden days are as patron saints and models to those today who take up the mission to unborn and newborn babies and their parents, through the holy ministry of Pro-Life services. If you are one of these chosen Pro-Life volunteers, know that you have been guided by Divine Light to where you are today, and give thanks to God for the privilege of serving – and trying to save the lives – of His little ones at risk and in need.
Thanks be to God for the three kings and Pro-Life Services volunteers!!!
Filed under: Pro-life
Most of you know that on January 22 each year there is an annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.. Having lived in Canada and California for much of my adult life I was only able to attend one March for Life. In 1980, right after Ronald Reagan became President, and when I was six months pregnant with my first daughter, I flew to D.C. for the March. (Since my husband worked full-time in the right to life movement in Montreal and we couldn’t afford a hotel room I flew back home that night.) We were so excited to have a pro-life president that George and I decided that one of us just had to go.
It was a fantastic event, and as luck would have it, I ran into my parents next door neighbors from Virginia and spent the day with them.
It is really great that we now have a Walk for Life on the West Coast. Last year I attended the Walk for Life in San Francisco. I was able to hitch a ride on a chartered bus with a terrific group started in the Philippines called Couples for Christ. They were the perfect group to travel with – positive, fun and very organized and even though I don’t belong to their organization I felt really welcomed by them.
It was a wonderful event, the city is really beautiful and the walk is right through the historic wharf district. The speakers were inspiring and I ran into a number of people I knew from Southern California. It is always really encouraging to be with fellow pro-lifers. (Unfortunately, there was a much smaller counter-demonstration by the weirdest group of pro-abortion protesters that I have ever seen.)
Each year the Walk for Life has grown and they had about 20,000 come out last year. This year the Walk for Life in San Francisco will be on SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2008. (mark your calendars)
The speakers this year will be:
Dr. Alveda King, of the Martin Luther King, Jr. family and Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life
Gianna Jessen, abortion survivor
Rev. Clenard Childress, Director of LEARN
Jesse Romero,Radio Host and Evangelist
Fr. Frank Pavone from Priests for Life
And special invited speaker: Eduardo Verástegui, star of Bella
I want to thank the organizers of the Walk for Life for giving us this opportunity on the west coast to march in solidarity with the unborn as we remember that sad day, January 22, 1973, when unborn children were stripped of their human rights.
In this painting by William Holman Hunt – The Triumph of the Innocents – The Innocents are seen with the Holy Family, in spirit, during the Family‘s Flight to Egypt. Today, we ask them to be with and pray for the unborn of our day.
Today, December 28th is the feast day of the Holy Innocents. Throughout history the Church has honored these little ones with great reverence. For instance in his Letter to Families, John Paul II quotes a poet from the 2nd century:
“In the liturgy of their Feast, which has its origins in the fifth century, the Church turns to the Holy Innocents, invoking them with the words of the poet Prudentius (c. 105) as ‘the flowers of the martyrs whom, at the very threshold of their lives, the persecutor of Christ cut down as the whirlwind does to roses still in bud’ ”
St. Augustine (354-430) said of these Holy Innocents, that they are the “flowers of the martyrs” – “the first buds of the Church killed by the frost of persecution; they died not only for Christ but in His stead.”(St. Aug., Sermo 10us de sanctis)
The Venerable Bede (673-735) in A Hymn for Martyrs Sweetly Sing (translated by Joan Mason Neale) remembers these little martyrs.
1. A Hymn for Martyrs sweetly sing;
For Innocents your praises bring;
Of whom in tears was earth bereaved,
Whom heaven with songs of joy received…
4. After brief taste of earthly woe
Eternal triumph now they know;
For whom, by cruel torments rent,
A voice from Ramah was there sent.
5. And every tear is wiped away
By your dear Father’s hands for aye:
Death hath no power to hurt you more;
Your own is life’s eternal shore….
The following was taken from the Woman of Faith and Family
website:
The Coventry Carol
This beautiful English lullaby carol originated in the Coventry Corpus Christi Mystery Plays performed in the 15th century. In a play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, the women of Bethlehem sing this song just before Herod’s soldiers come to slaughter their children. It tells the story of the murder of the Holy Innocents, and is sung on December 28, the feast of those tiny martyrs.
Lully, Lullay, thou little tiny child.
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Lullay thou little tiny child
Bye, bye, lully, lullay
O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing
Bye, bye lully, lullay
Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.
Then woe is me, poor child, for thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
Bye, bye lully, lullay.
Today many in the pro-life movement invoke these Holy Innocents to help protect the young of our day who are being slaughtered. Here is a quote from A Pro-Life Homily for the Feast of the Holy Innocents on the Priests for Life website.
“Jesus took on our human flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was born for us at Bethlehem and died for us in Jerusalem so that our sins would be forgiven and we might have everlasting life. There is no sin too big that God is unable or unwilling to forgive if we repent and turn back to Him. Ask the Holy Innocents to intercede for us that we may bring about a renewed respect for human life in our society, to build a culture of life, protect the innocents in our day and comfort those who mourn.“
“Redeemer in the Womb”
St. Francis Xavier Cabrini church in Crestline*
Yesterday, we had a post – The End of Advent. We are trying to encourage others as well as ourselves – not to let the superficial ‘Christmas gobble up Advent’ this year. We also are offering free pro-life prayer cards. As these cards have an Advent theme they are a way to connect this Advent with prayer for the Unborn. Just click the icon below to request a free set of these cards (in English or Spanish).
*MARY WALKS IN CRESTLINE. This statue (above)of the Virgin Mary was dedicated on Gaudete Sunday, December 15, 2003 at St. Francis Xavier Cabrini church in Crestline. The statue, called “Redeemer in the Womb,” was commissioned by the parish’s pastor, the Rev. Amaro Saumell; it portrays Mary, at full term of pregnancy, as if she were walking through the church garden. The statue was meant to convey a pro-life message. “The Redeemer in the Womb,” Father Saumell told the December 19-25 Alpenhorn News, “is a statement of pro-life, the value of life in all of life’s stages, even in the womb.”
Filed under: Pro-life
‘Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, 1 will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?’ Isaiah 43:18-19
November 14, 2007 will go down as a great day for the unborn – in the document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship the Bishops of the U.S. have placed the Right to Life as the preeminent issue for Catholic voters to consider.
Some might complain that it wasn’t done sooner. Yes, we all know that past statements by the Bishops while pro-life were more ambiguous but many of us also had parents and fellow-parishioners who while sincerely against abortion – just didn’t get it. What didn’t they get – that with the legalization of abortion our world had fundamentally changed.
But God says: ‘Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.’
And He also says: ‘Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?’
In the last two weeks I have encountered two people (sincere Catholics) who have recently decided to place the unborn at the top of their list when it came to voting. I could see the Holy Spirit working in the lives of these people and now with the Bishop’s statement I honestly believe’ a new thing’ is happening.
Here are a few quotes from the Bishops statement:
1. ‘There are some things that we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. These intrinsically evil acts must always be rejected and never supported. A preeminent example is the intentional taking of human life through abortion.’
2. ‘A legal system that allows the right to life to be violated on grounds of choice is fundamentally flawed.’
3. ‘Similarly, direct threats to the dignity of human life such as euthanasia, human cloning, and destructive research on human embryos are always intrinsically evil and must be opposed.’
4. ‘As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate’s position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter’s support. Yet a candidate’s position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support.’
The bishops have issued similar documents prior to each presidential election since 1976, but this year decided to place a special emphasis on the importance of opposition to abortion and by the way the document was supported by 221 of the 226 bishops who voted.
Of course I have picked things out of the document. Other issues like immigration, poverty, and war are highlighted (as they should be) in the document. But ‘something new’ has definitely happened – the right to life has been given first place.
These two pictures show a hand reaching to touch another. The first is God’s hand reaching towards Adam’s. Dr. DeMarco in his article The Hand of Hope points out that in the first picture:
” Michelangelo depicts God the Creator vigorously thrusting the index finger of his right hand toward a reclining Adam, whose own hand withdraws just enough that a gap appears separating the author of life from his somewhat indecisive recipient. This gap symbolizes the drama of God and man, the divine and the human, the source of life and our hesitation in welcoming it.”
In commenting on the second picture Dr. DeMarco says:
“But such hesitation or reluctance does not apply to Samuel Alexander Armas. In a photograph which some observers say should be the “picture of the decade,” we see the tiny hand of Samuel when he was a 21-week-old fetus reaching up through an incision in his mother’s uterus and grabbing and squeezing the finger of the surgeon who had just performed a life-saving, though not life-forming, procedure.”
When Michael Clancy the photographer talked to the attending nurse about what had happened, she replied, rather matter-of-factly, “Oh, they do that all the time.”
Could little Samuel’s hand, and the hands of other unborn babies reaching out to touch us, be another way God’s hand is reaching out to a hesitant humanity? Or as Doctor DeMarco suggests in his article: “He represents life uncompromised. He is our pro-life role model.” A ‘little child shall lead us'(Is. 11:6). Samuel’s hand, grabbing hold of his physician’s hand, is a symbol of how our hands should reach out to grab The Divine Physician’s hand in love for life.
Christ is the light and center point of the Culture of Life. He embodies in Himself the good news of this Culture of Life; He is the Gospel of Life!
To the culture of death, which surrounds us, He is the counterpoint:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined…
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.'”
The people of the culture of death are afraid of children and afraid of this Light.
The people of the Culture of Life are emboldened by this Light.
When Gabriel appeared to Zechariah to announce the conception and birth of John, he said: “Do not be afraid Zechariah…” Lk 1:13
When Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the conception and birth of Jesus, he said:“Do not be afraid Mary…” Lk 1:30
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph to announce the conception and birth of Jesus, he said: “…do not fear…” Mt 1:20
When the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds in Bethlehem to announce the birth of Jesus, he said: “Be not afraid…” Lk 2:10
As Christ was coming into the world as a baby, a star appeared in the East to lead gentiles to Christ, ‘the Light of the World’ (Mt 2:1-12, Jn 8:12). Christ is our Light and Life today as well. In Christ we find a resounding call to courage, hope and confidence, which strengthens us to proclaim His Gospel of Life and to welcome children into our world.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jn 1:5
General view of the open-air mass conducted by Pope Benedict XVI in the vast explanade of the National Sanctuary of Aparecida, in Aparecida do Norte, Brazil.
Popes have been using the Apostleship of Prayer as a dedicated prayer group for about 120 years. . Each month this group encourages us to pray for the monthly intentions of the Holy Father
Pope Benedict’s intention for November, 2007 is Respect for Life. That medical researchers and legislators may have a deep respect for human life from its beginning to its natural conclusion.
Each month the Apostleship of Prayer offers a monthly reflection on the the Holy Fathers intentions:
Something that many parents will appreciate is that they offer a reflection for children each month too.
The Apostleship of Prayer also encourages the morning offering. Their motto is a simple profound way of life. Father Raoul Plus, S. J. in his book Christ in Our Time explains:
“As all activity is offered to God in the morning, with occasional renewals during the day, all work is undertaken solely for the Glory of the Master, and rises to Heaven like a prayer…To pray always-that is what it means. That is not to say that the soul should always be in the act of prayer, but rather that it should live in a state of elevation. It is to live always with the implicit desire strongly formed in the soul to render to God, in every passing moment the glory which is His due.”
Filed under: Pro-life
Yesterday we had a post about the Launching of the Benenson Society – For more information here is a link to Catholic News.com about the Benenson Society: Schools set up Amnesty pro-life alternative
The good news is that Catholic schools around the world are opting out of Amnesty because of their new pro-abortion policy. Here are a few stories:
Click here for Lifesite News Story
From Scotland:
Click Here for Link to Scottish Catholic Observer News Page
Here is another story from Lifesite News
Irish Diocese Advises Catholic School to Suspend Amnesty Chapter
The BBC Reports:
Schools ‘cut links with Amnesty’ (from Ireland)
I find all of this very encouraging although I have not been able to find any information on schools in the U.S. or England. And it seems that the Canadian Bishops are delaying their decision about Amnesty until November. I know because of a pro-life administration my daughter’s school in California has cut ties with Amnesty. It is my hope that many other schools are quietly severing their ties with Amnesty.
White Rose*
On September 3, we had a post School Severs Ties with Amnesty and Starts a New Group Called Benenson Society.
Last week one of our readers in a comment asked:
Todays word of the day put me in mind of why I no longer support Amnesty International. Has anyone heard anything further on the Benenson Society?
Well I am happy to say that Fr Chris Middleton, S.J. has sent an email out announcing the official launching of the Benenson Society.
Benenson Society Information Page (St. Aloysius’ College)
On this page you will find:
- Charter of the Benenson Society
- Withdrawal from Amnesty and Establishment of the Benenson Society
- Register as an individual or Chapter
- Comments and Feedback
Father Chris explains in his email:
“We are now inviting groups and individuals to affiliate, especially existing Amnesty groups in schools or universities. The aim would be to allow groups to continue to do much as they are already doing and keep their autonomy while allowing the sharing of resources through an email group list and arrangements with human rights organizations…
As of Friday schools or individuals were able to go on the St Aloysius website and register membership. Initially Aloysius and Loreto here in Sydney will sponsor the Society, but hopefully once it is up and running it might be rotated around schools. Already schools in Brisbane and Perth and individuals in England have registered.”
*The Benenson Society has as its symbol a stylized white rose. This symbol draws inspiration from the White Rose Society, a group of Catholic and Protestant students and teachers at Munich University, who opposed Nazism with letters and pamphlets, with nine paying the ultimate price of being guillotined for their stand for human rights.
October is Respect Life Month in the U.S. Catholic Church. Each year the bishops choose a different theme for this special month. Cardinal Justin Rigali – Chairman, USCCB Committee for Pro-Life – explains this year’s theme in his Statement for Respect Life Sunday, 2007.
“The theme of the 2007 Respect Life Program – The Infant in My Womb Leaped for Joy – calls to mind an extraordinary scene in Luke’s Gospel (1:39-56). Mary, newly pregnant with the Lord Jesus, is visiting her elderly cousin Elizabeth whose son, John, will soon be born. The moment Mary’s greeting reaches Elizabeth’s ears and John’s, the tiny prophet announces to his mother the Messiah’s arrival, as if his entire being were exclaiming: Behold! The Lamb of God! There was no confusion as to what and who were nestled under their mothers’ hearts. Yet 2,000 years later, many well-educated people do not know – or claim they do not know – the truth about human life before birth.”
In their 2007-2008 Respect Life Program Flyer they explain further:
“Elizabeth, too, is filled with the Holy Spirit, and recognizes Mary as the blessed tabernacle of our Lord and Savior. Through the evangelical witness and sacrificial love of Mary, Jesus and John, the work of our salvation has begun.”
For more information about this program:
2007-2008 Respect Life Program
UNBORN WORD of the day 
