NATIONAL SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE DAY, 2015

by Reverend Katherine Marple

KeepLifeLegal

PASTORS & FRIENDS: This Sunday, January 18th, is 2015’s National Sanctity of Human Life Day. Typically it is the 3rd Sunday of January, usually the Sunday before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. President Ronald Reagan designated this day in remembrance and reflection of the sacred life of every person, born and unborn; the sanctity of LIFE:

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

AND: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1Corinthians 3:16-17)

PASTORS, will you preach a message of Life to your church January 18th? My fear is that Pastors will shrug the responsibility of this day AGAIN because they simply will not preach against sexual sin and abortion. We are a woeful nation that will not stand up or in the gap of every unborn child doomed to legal execution.

continue reading at http://keeplifelegal.com

FROM THE PASTOR'S CORNER - I HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED!

by Fr. George W. Rutler

There was a theologian who, when discouraged, would keep repeating to himself, “I have been baptized.” Since the Prince of Lies has discouragement as his chief strategy and purpose, the Rite of Baptism includes an exorcism: an explicit renunciation of Satan, and all his works, and all his empty promises.

Jesus our Encourager did not have to be baptized, for he had no sin to wash away, but by plunging into the waters of the Jordan and rising up, he was setting an example of dying and rising, which in daily life is played out by overcoming obstacles and refuting naysayers. This is modeled in the famous legend of the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce. As Sir Walter Scott told it, the Bruce withdrew to a cave after six defeats in battle, and one rainy day, deeply depressed, he watched a spider weaving a web. Six times the spider’s thread broke, and six times the spider resumed its weaving until it succeeded the seventh time. The Bruce rallied and won his great victory at Bannockburn, and the crown of Scotland along with it.

Ever since the legalization of abortion in our country, the Church has resisted the temptation to discouragement in defending innocent life. January 22 will mark the 41st annual March for Life in Washington. The March has gone on in weather fair and foul, whether government administrations have been friend or foe. In those years, more than 56 million babies in our country alone have been destroyed in their mothers’ wombs. We lament the loss of at least 110 million soldiers and civilians worldwide in the two World Wars, and can barely imagine with what talent and invention so many of them might have endowed the arts and science. The same dirge can be intoned for all those babies.

Last year at this time, I cited a statistical abstract using the ratio of professions to population and the number of infants aborted. The resulting estimate showed that in the last 35 years, those lives destroyed could have included: two U.S. presidents; seven Supreme Court justices; 102 U.S. senators and 589 congressmen; 8,123 judges; 31 Nobel Prize laureates; 328 Olympic medalists; 6,092 professional athletes; 134,841 physicians and surgeons; 392,500 registered nurses; 70,669 clergy, including 6,852 Catholic priests and 11,010 nuns; 1,102,443 elementary and high-school teachers; 553,821 truck drivers; 224,518 maids and housekeepers; 33,939 janitors; 134,028 farmers and ranchers; 109,984 police officers; and 39,477 firefighters.

None of those infants lived to be baptized, and they are entrusted to the mercy of God. Our nation now has the lowest birthrate in its history, and may be approaching the demographic winter that is destroying many other countries. The good news is that contending for life year in and year out has raised consciences, and the rate of abortions is at an all-time low. So when facing Satan and all his works and all his empty promises, say with good courage: I have been baptized.

The Rev. George William Rutler is pastor of St. Michael's located in New York City. Father Rutler has made documentary films in the United States and England, contributes to numerous scholarly and popular journals and has published 16 books on theology, history, cultural issues, and the lives of the saints, and also one book on sports, as a member of the U.S. Squash Racquets Association.


Use this link for more info on Father Rutler or to subscribe to his columns

Lily's Gift - A Program for Those with a Poor Prenatal Diagnosis

Lily’s Gift is a network of concerned parents and professionals who have experienced or worked closely with issues surrounding poor prenatal diagnosis. Modeled and trained by Be Not Afraid, volunteers from Lily’s Gift offer a free service of practical guidance and compassionate care focusing on meeting the needs of expectant parents as they seek to honor the life of their baby no matter how frail or how brief.

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with Sister Kathleen Schipani, IHM about this program to find out more information for our local  pro-life group, the Bucks County Pro-Life Coalition.  

Located in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's Pastoral center, Lily's Gift  is a collaboration of the Office for Persons with Disabilities, the Office for Life and Family and Catholic Social Services.  Each of these offices has in the past assisted families in ways related to Poor Prenatal Diagnosis (PPD).  

Lily's Gift was started about fourteen months ago and to date, they have served ten families.  Sister noted that each of the couples they have supported would say they have been successful in providing them support at a time they feel very alone; in a cultures which pressures them to discard their unborn baby.  

The services provided through Lily's Gift include resource materials, assistance with writing birth plans, birth support persons as requested and referrals to other community based services and support groups.  When contacted, they appoint a 'peer' to be the lead person offering spiritual, emotional and practical support through visits, texts, e-mail and phone conversations.

According to Sister Kathleen, a peer is someone who has gone through a similar situation and can relate to these parents. Most often a team is set in place to help with all aspects of the pregnancy, birth and at times death. 

Sister Kathleen says this program is promoted mainly through parish announcements, palm cards at churches and also in some hospitals and pregnancy centers. She  said that many Catholic nurses promote this program in the hospitals where they work when they come across someone with PPD.

While the initial funding for this program came from the Office for Life and Family, and  Catholic Social Services, the main funding comes through private donations.  

If you would like to help Lily's Gift with a donation, please use this link.

If you are someone looking for support from this program,  please use this link.

Anniversary of "Roe vs. Wade"‏

By Bernard Byrne


To paraphrase, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt speech, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, "January 22, 1973" is without any doubt , "A day that will live in Infamy" in the hearts and minds, of more and more of our Country's Citizens, each passing year. The opposition to this horrific law ,is what grows, rather than it's acceptance.

Since 1973, almost 60 Million babies have been Aborted in this country alone. The numbers are truly mind-bog-gling. The seven members of the U.S. Supreme Court, who voted to make Abortion, legal, stated as their primary reason, the "protection of a women's privacy. " Are you kidding me? We've Aborted almost 60 million of our fellow human beings, all in the name of privacy for women. Over half of those Aborted, would now have been women citizens of our country. What happened to their right to privacy and their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Abortion is a cancer that has been eating away at the moral fiber of our country and the only way to treat it, is to destroy it. Children who are born and unwanted by their birth mother and/or their biological father can be cared for by our society and have their chance at the blessings and opportunities that our country holds for all.

 Most of us,,have at sometime or other in our life, done something we were ashamed or not proud of,, or the minute we had done it, we wished we could take it make. This is what I believe is the problem that most Pro-Abortion people have. They have been sold a bill of goods by the Abortion industry that has meant the death of over 60 million boys and girls. This is a horrible thing to come to terms with. But the only way to correct a mistake, is to admit to it and vow to never make it again. There is nothing in this world that a person can not be forgiven for, but they have to look past their own feelings and do what is right.


Instead of a "Day of Infamy", let us all look forward to a "Day of Celebration", marking the end to Abortion in our great country.

Bernard Byrne is a member of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish Respect Life Committee.  He and his wife, Barbara live in Doylestown, PA. 

Archdiocese of Philadelphia to Host Pro-Life Summit on January 17, 2015

A pro-life summit will be held on Saturday, January 17, 2015 in center city Philadelphia, Pennsylvania beginning with prayer at the center city Planned Parenthood and ending with a meeting at the Archdiocese Pastoral Center. Events for the day are as follows:

The day begins as pro-lifers gather for prayer outside the Planned Parenthood at 12th & Locust Streets from 7:30 - 8:30 am.

Mass will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in the Chapel at 18th and Locusts Streets.

Immediately following the Mass, the Summit will be held at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center located at 222 N. 17th Street.

Topic of this summit is "Ministries of Healing" offered through the Pro-Life Movement.

This summit is sponsored jointly by the Office for Life and Family and the Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia.

For more information, contact the Pro-Life Union of Greater Philadelphia at 215-885-8150 or The Office for Life and Family at their website using this link.

Note:  The regularly scheduled Helpers Mass will be offered at 7:00 am at St. John the Evangelist Church.

First Abortion Facility in 2015 Halts Abortion Services‏

By Cheryl Sullenger
Operation Rescue
Dallas, TX - As the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals considers the constitutionality of Texas abortion safety laws, Operation Rescue has confirmed that Northpark Medical Group, an abortion facility in Dallas, Texas, has halted all abortions after the hospital that provided its two abortionists with privileges closed.

This represents the first abortion clinic to terminate abortion services in 2015, leaving just 549 surgical abortion clinics in America after clinic numbers hit a high-water mark on 1991 with 2,176 surgical abortion clinics. Last year, 73 abortion clinics nationwide closed or halted abortion services for at least part of the year - 60 of them permanently according to a survey conducted by Operation Rescue.

In Texas, 16 surgical abortion clinics remain, down from 44 in 2013, before Texas passed HB2, the law requiring abortion facilities to meet minimum safety standards.


Continue reading this encouraging report here!

Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America.Operation Rescue is now headquartered in a former abortion clinic that it bought and closed in 2006. From there, Operation Rescue launches its innovative new strategies across the nation, exposing and closing abortion clinics through peaceful, legal means. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to stop abortion and ultimately restore legal personhood to the pre-born in obedience to biblical mandates. Click here to support Operation Rescue. Click here to make a secure donation online.

Please Attend Jan 14th Event to Commence Pro-Life Activities for the World Meeting of Families

When: January 14th

Time: 10:00 AM

Where: Planned Parenthood at 12th & Locust Streets in center-city Philadelphia

From Mike McMonagle
Philly Alive

Since late November 2014, some leaders in the pro-life movement at the local, regional and national levels have been meeting to discuss and plan possible activities before, during, and after the World Meeting of Families (WMF) and Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia during the last week in September 2015.

We are doing so:

1) to seize the opportunity to spread the pro-life message and grow the pro-life movement and

2) to fulfill the moral obligation to use this event and visit to focus the attention of the Church and the secular culture on the killing of approximately 300 children by abortion each week in Philadelphia and to do our best to mitigate this killing.


We are considering numerous activities, which will be presented in future correspondence.

We have agreed that our spiritual activities are as equally important as our outreach activities, and our activities during the week of the WMF. We have also agreed that the principal component of our spiritual activities will be an appeal to Divine Mercy for ourselves, our families, our Church, our city and the world through consecration to our Blessed Mother under the title of the Immaculate Conception, followed by an appeal to perform works of Mercy, such as protecting mothers and children from abortion.

Our activities commence with an appeal to the owners and operators of the abortion chambers in Philadelphia to close during the WMF. I am attaching a draft of a letter from Rev. Patrick Mahoney (a Presbyterian minister, who lives in the D.C. area) that makes this appeal.

On Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 10:00 AM Philly Alive will conduct a press conference and public witness at Planned Parenthood's abortion chamber at 12th and Locust Streets to present this appeal. Kim Savage has agreed to serve as our local spokeswoman and Pat Stanton will lead the public witness. I am attaching the draft of a sign that we will be displaying at this event that summarizes the message of Philly Alive.

Please attend this event and pray for its success. Also, please contact me if you are interested in participating in the activities of Philly Alive.


Please like our page on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhillyAlive

Good News for Pro-lifers: Guttmacher says 18 States “Extremely Hostile” to Abortion

by Susan Michelle

Live Action News
Pro-abortion research think-tank the Guttmacher Institutereleased a report Monday on the state of abortion rights in the nation, and its takeaway is that hostility toward abortion is growing. That means that babies are being allowed to live. And the reason? Pro-life legislation. Guttmacher reports:


During the 2014 state legislative session, lawmakers introduced 335 provisions aimed at restricting access to abortion. By the end of the year, 15 states had enacted 26 new abortion restrictions. Including these new provisions, states have adopted 231 new abortion restrictions since the 2010 midterm elections swept abortion opponents into power in state capitals across the country.

Continue reading →

Susan Michelle was born in Bethlehem to an unwed mother and rescued by Catholic nuns who took her to an orphanage in Bethlehem, which still helps single moms and rescues babies. Today she's an outspoken advocate for LIFE and speaks and writes about pro-life issues nationwide.

First-Ever National Strike For Life Calls for an End to Abortion on Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

From Operation Rescue

Albuquerque, NM - Operation Rescue is encouraging those who oppose abortion to participate in a special kind of protest on January 22-23, 2015, in order to raise awareness of abortion at the local state and national level and call for an end to the barbaric practice.


This first-ever protest is the National Strike for Life, which is a two-day abortion protest launched by Fr. Stephen Imbarrato of ProtestABQ in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the largest late-term abortion clinic in America is taking the lives of babies throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

Get the details! View the Video!

#IPraytoEndAbortion Prayer Witness Campaign‏

"A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world."~St. John Paul II 

Join the #IPraytoEndAbortion Prayer Witness Campaign by making a video or picture which shows you holding a sign with the hashtag #IPraytoEndAbortion and letting us know why you pray to end abortion. Also, choose at least two people to join the #IPraytoEndAbortion Prayer Witness Campaign at the end of your video.

By being a Prayer Witness we hope to encourage as many people as we can to pray to end abortion.

more at http://www.theendofabortionmovement.com