Issue 53
August 2015
Greetings,

   The recent release of individuals in the Planned Parenthood videos negotiating baby body parts for money is an atrocity and crime against human dignity and human life at the highest level. Bishop Murphy's immediate and timely released four point plan here on how to take action to defund Planned Parenthood provides excellent direction for the Church or anyone who is horrified by these evils.  
We believe life must be respected and protected at all times and we encourage everyone to take action and defend life in every step and phase of the human condition where life is threatened and disrespected through the educational resources provided and networks specifically designed for the Catholic communities. The Diocese of Rockville Centre website and Long Island Catholic are both resources with timely up to date information. You can receive daily e blasts and subscribe here. Stay involved with the Catholic Action Network, otherwise known as The New York State Catholic Conference  here and the NCHLA National Committee for a Human Life Amendment here. Resources and programs that support life issues can also be found on the Respect Life Office website and social media. Additionally, prayers of the faithful are said at every Mass for respect and protection of the dignity and sanctity of every life from the unborn through natural death and for those not allowed to be born through abortion loss. Also available monthly for each parish are specific Word of Life intentions for every Sunday of the year to be prayed for all life as one Universal Church across the United States here.  The Gospel of Life is foundational to the mission of the Respect Life Office as is an active prayer life of a faithful united community.
 

Prayer to Our Lady
 
 
 
O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life. Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy. Grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life. Amen 


 
Cardinal O'Malley: Planned Parenthood's work reflects 'throwaway culture'
  
Human life is not a consumer commodity to be thrown away when it is less than optimal. Death is part of life; not a taboo. Were we to think, feel, say or act as if there was no value or meaning to death, we would be abandoning Christ on the cross. Jesus "loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end." (Jn 13:1 NABre) And that "end" was when he bowed his head on the cross and gave up his spirit.WASHINGTON-Cardinal Seán O'Malley, OFM Cap., archbishop of Boston and chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), responded, July 29, to recent videos showing leaders from Planned Parenthood discussing the provision of fetal organs, tissues, and body parts from their abortion clinics.

Full text of Cardinal O'Malley's statement follows:

Pope Francis has called abortion the product of a "widespread mentality of profit, the throwaway culture, which has today enslaved the hearts and minds of so many." The recent news stories concerning Planned Parenthood direct our attention to two larger issues involving many institutions in our society. The first is abortion itself: a direct attack on human life in its most vulnerable condition. The second is the now standard practice of obtaining fetal organs and tissues though abortion. Both actions fail to respect the humanity and dignity of human life. This fact should be the center of attention in the present public controversy.

If the Planned Parenthood news coverage has caused anyone to experience revived trauma from their own involvement in abortion, be assured that any and all persons will be welcomed with compassion and assistance though the Church's post-abortion healing ministry, Project Rachel. If you or someone you know would like confidential, nonjudgmental help, please visit hopeafterabortion.com.
 

Bishop Murphy's Response to Planned Parenthood

Four points of action recommended in response to Planned Parenthood

The week-long controversy in the media about Planned Parenthood's apparent practice of harvesting organs and parts of a child's body for sale during late term abortions should not end with a shrug of the shoulders and business as usual. The tragic reality of abortion on demand in our nation is a black mark on us as a society and an evil that can never be overlooked. Now this practice of the taking of innocent life in the womb is being compounded by the largest abortion provider in our nation by a practice that should horrify us all, even the abortion providers themselves.
The women on the tapes who described the procedures of late term abortion and suggested "better ways" might be found to kill the child so that "more organs can be harvested for sale" brings them and us to a new low in a society already become coarse in its difference to abortion, euthanasia and teenage suicide, not to mention the senseless killings that have been increasing in frequency across our land.

I would suggest that four things need to be done.

First, the U.S. government should be called upon to stop financing Planned Parenthood with taxpayers dollars, some $500 million according to one source.
Second, Planned Parenthood should "come clean," admit they were wrong, ask for an outside audit and, without our accepting what they do for a living, promise us and our society that they will cease this practice of making money from acts that compound the horrific evil of abortion itself.
Third, every citizen, and especially we who are Catholics, should demand of every candidate for public office that he or she take a public stand on whether or not they support or oppose Planned Parenthood's heinous and cynical profit making from the tragedy of aborted children. Read more

For more information or to view Bishop Murphy's Blog visit licatholic.org 


Follow-up needed on Planned Parenthood funding

Although a procedural vote in the Senate last week stopped legislation that would have barred all federal funds for Planned Parenthood, pro-life leaders are urging  people to continue to contact their representatives on the issue.  In a memo to diocesan Respect Life coordinators, Amy McInerny,  executive director of The National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, Inc., reminded voters it is important to express their views on funding for Planned Parenthood. Read more
 
TAKE ACTION

Action Alert: Follow-up to Defunding Planned Parenthood here
Register now to keep up with the latest legislative issues in New York State and let your lawmakers know where you stand, sign up for the Catholic Action Network, New York State Catholic Conference (CAN) here.

To keep up with the latest pro-life legislation in the United States, sign up for The National Committee for a Human Life Amendment (NCHLA) here.
In the Spotlight
Providing Children By Discarding Them?
By: Richard M. Doerflinger
 
En Español

The breaking news about Planned Parenthood's trafficking in the body parts of aborted children has attracted many appalled reactions, and rightly so.  PP's medical director was caught on video, discoursing callously over lunch about adapting the killing procedure to obtain the "intact" organs that researchers want.  More such videos are being released that will deserve a response - not least, perhaps, by Congress.

But even as that scandal garnered public attention, a smaller drama involving human life unfolded in Washington D.C. - smaller because few people "outside the Beltway" knew of it, and because it concerned the smallest of our fellow humans.

For a while this past month it seemed the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee would urge Congress, for the first time in history, to require American taxpayers to pay for creating, manipulating and destroying human embryos in the laboratory.

This of course was not how the proposal was described by its sponsor, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). She said her bill, S. 469, would give wounded veterans "the opportunity to have children."  But the VA health system already covers all forms of fertility assistance - including some, like artificial insemination, not accepted by Catholic moral teaching. The one exception is that the VA system, like Medicaid and other federal health programs, does not cover in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The reasons for treating IVF differently are many.  Most private health plans don't cover it (except in the minority of states that require such coverage), because it is a very costly "elective" procedure with a high failure rate.  There are also more important problems, having to do with the dignity of children, women and families. Read More
I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion... do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope...the Father of mercies is ready to give you His forgiveness and His peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation."
 (Evangelium Vitae no. 99, John Paul II)

Project Rachel Hope After Abortion website or call the Respect Life Office's confidential hotline: 1-888-456-HOPE (se habla espanol) to begin healing after abortion loss.
 
Prayer for the Ministry of Project Rachel
 
Father, source of healing and forgiveness, we pray for all parents overwhelmed by grief and sorrow at the loss of their son or daughter to abortion:
You never abandon those who hope in you; so we pray that the hearts of those wounded by their abortion might be open to your Divine Mercy that they would know the grace of repentance and so experience the embrace of the Father.
We pray that Jesus, the Good Shepherd,
so rich in love and compassion, may hear the cry and see the tears of each of these mothers and fathers so He may heal their broken hearts and restore them to life.
Give these grieving mothers and fathers the consolation of believing and trusting that her child is now living in the Lord that this may soothe the terror of their soul.
We pray that the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of all tenderness and our Mother,
may strengthen their faith in You.
We ask this through Christ our Lord,
who conquered sin and death,
and who lives with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. 
 Amen.
 


  • Bulletin Insert
  • Project Rachel Prayer - Printable Prayer 8.5 x 11. Printable Prayer Card
  • A Prayer To Our Lady Of Guadalupe (En Español)
  • Post Abortion book-list resource

    • Book Resources
    • Generation Roe: Inside the Future of the Pro-Choice Movement, by Sarah Erdreich
    • Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, by Katha Pollitt
    • Every Third Woman in America: How Legal Abortion Transformed Our Nation by David A. Grimes M.D. with Linda G. Brandon
    Respect for Human Life
    Blog: Chyva's Corner-Words to the Youth
       
    You missed your menstrual cycle this month, you take a test and get the most startling news. You are pregnant! You didn't see it coming. What about college? What will your family and friends say? How will this fit in with your plans? Are there are other options?
                    These are real life questions many young girls and young women are forced to answer when dealing with an unplanned pregnancy.  In 2011, the New York Times reported, "41 percent of pregnancies, excluding miscarriages, in 2009 ended in abortion" in New York City.[1] This staggering percentage shows that many women are making the decision to have an abortion instead of looking into other options. What do you do if you are pregnant and not ready for motherhood, but also want to protect the life given to you? 
    The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves" (2271)[2] .  God communicates to us our role in human life once conception has happened. We are to respect and give dignity to every life. Read More

    To read our other blog posts visit our website
     
    Post-Abortion Retreats
    Prayer and Healing Retreats, help those suffering the effects of abortion. We offer a safe place, a way out of the pain, in a non-judgmental atmosphere. All retreats are led by the Sisters of Life and women who have experienced both the suffering of abortion and the joy of healing in Christ. For more information visit our website


    Entering Canaan
    DAYS OF PRAYER & HEALING
    for women

    Saturday, October 24, 2015
    Saturday, November 7, 2015
    Saturday, January '16, 2016
    Saturday, February 13, 2016
    Saturday, February 27, 2016 
    (in Spanish / Español)
    Saturday, March 19, 2016
    Saturday, April 30, 2016
    Saturday, May 28, 2016
    Saturday, June 25, 2016
    For more information or to register contact 

    Sisters of Life
    866.575.0075 (toll free) 

    or 

    Theresa Bonopartis
    877.586.4621 (toll free) 

    Entering Canaan
    DAY OF PRAYER & HEALING
    for Men

    October 17, 2015
    For more information or to register contact

     Lumina 
    877.586.4621 (toll free) 


     
    Respect Life Upcoming Events
    14th Annual Youth Respect Life Contest this years theme
    "Every Life is Worth Living" 

    The Diocesan Respect Life Office is excited to announce the 14th Annual Youth Respect Life Contest for grades 7-8 Level ONE, and grades 9-12 Level TWO. We welcome all Catholic youth in the Rockville Centre Diocese attending Catholic Elementary, High Schools or parish programs including religious education, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, youth groups, youth choirs to participate. We encourage children with special needs to also participate.

    More information or resources

    The Respect Life Office invites all parishioners to unite in prayer and participate in this special program for life.  During respect life month in support of all life  join us in prayer for like. All life is sacred and deserving of respect.
    The program consists of having three parishes each day - one in each vicariate - offer Eucharistic Adoration and Rosary for Life beginning on 
    October 1st through October 31st.
    Back to Basics  Respect Life Ministry Training - Fall 2015

    Fall training starts September 3, 2015


    The Culture project is Coming to the Diocese. 
    Presentations are given to youth on human dignity and sexual integrity.

    October 25 - 31, 2015

    Religious Education Programs, High Schools, Youth Ministry, College Campuses, Parish Communities, Ministries and Catholic Schools.

    The Culture Project International is an initiative of young people set out to restore culture through the experience of virtue. Members of the team enter into a program where they live, pray in community, receive formation and are sent out on missions nationally and internationally. Presentations are given to youth on human dignity and sexual integrity.
    PATIENTS' RIGHTS ACTION FUND 
    Training Webinar
    Pro-Patient, Anti-Assisted Suicide
    Foundational Basics in Opposing
    the Legalization of Assisted Suicide

    August 18, 2015 | 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
    Cost: Free

    Featuring:
    Alex Schadenberg
    Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
    Marilyn Golden
    Senior Policy Analyst, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
    Tim Rosales
    Political Director, Patients Rights Action Fund
     
     

    HELP STOP ASSISTED SUICIDE
    A training conference for Catholics

    Saturday, November 7, 2015, 
    10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
    St. Pius X Church Parish Hall, 
    23 Crumitie Road, Loudonville, NY 12211

    COST: $10 per person covers materials and lunch

    Learn the best medical, legal and ethical arguments against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. Be inspired by a young father battling cancer. Be enlightened by those who care for the aged and infirm. Arm yourself with the facts about dangerous legislation.

    Questions?
    Contact: Cindy Miller at 518-434-6195, or cmiller@nyscatholic.org

    Spiritual Adoption Program

    The Purpose of the Spiritual Adoption Program is threefold:

    • Encourage parishes, schools and other communities to pray for babies in danger of abortion.
    • Educate adults and children about the development of the pre-born child.
    • Provide mothers in need with assistance at a 'baby shower' of donated baby gifts, or simply celebrate with a 'birthday party' at the conclusion of the program. In some schools a crib was bought with monetary gifts and the children filled a crib with gifts for expectant Mothers.

    This is done by encouraging people to "spiritually adopt" an unborn baby, and to follow their baby along the path to being born. read more

     

    Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home
    On Care for Our Common Home (Laudato Si') is the new appeal from Pope Francis addressed to "every person living on this planet" for an inclusive dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. Pope Francis calls the Church and the world to acknowledge the urgency of our environmental challenges and to join him in embarking on a new path. This encyclical is written with both hope and resolve, looking to our common future with candor and humility. Read Encyclical
    Resources:
     WORD OF LIFE
      
    Word of Life Palabra de Vida 

      English                                Español

                                      

    Liturgical Prayers for Life 

     

    Including a Prayer for a Mother Before Childbirth and Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary for an Expectant Mother 


     

    "Blessing for a Child in the Womb" to buy (click here)

    Please include these in your Sunday Bulletin.   


    DEUS CARITAS EST ...  GOD IS LOVE

    THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CONTINUED MISSION TO SERVE LIFE! 

       

    Allison O'Brien, Director

    S. Elizabeth A. Geraghty, CSJ Project Rachel Ministry Coordinator

    Diana Tellis, Ministry/Dept. Assistant

    ______________________________________

     

    Ashley Foster, Media Specialist

        
    CONTACT US

     

    RESPECT LIFE OFFICE

    50 North Park Ave.

    F: (516) 536-3473

    Rockville Ctr., NY 11570

    P: (516) 678-5800

    Exts.626 & 381

     


     

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    CALENDAR

    August
    14

    15
    Solemnity of the Assumption of the 
    Blessed Virgin Mary
    "Blessed are you among women,
    and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Luke 1:42
    25

    September
    1
    Fall Respect Life Training Back to Basics
    1


    Bulletin Inserts - For Parish Respect Life
     

        

    Further Bulletin Inserts 

    Project Rachel

    Post Abortion Retreats

    Gospel of Life Prayer

     

    Please add these to your bulletin announcements. 

     
    Gabriel's Courage Information for Bulletin Announcements
    If you would like more information on Gabriel's Courage visit our website, www.respectlife.drvc.org

    Now and at the Hour of Our DeathCatholic Guidance for End-of-Life Decision MakingBulletin Announcements
    For more information on Now and at the Hour of Our Death Catholic Guidance for End-of-Life Decision Making visit www.respectlife.drvc.org or www.CatholicEndofLife.org 

    Suggested Summer Reading 

    From The Respect Life Office 

     

    Summer has come and we are blessed with this warmth and wonderful weather.  Enjoy this time by reading while your relaxing by the beach, pool or outdoors. 

    Check out our recommended list for 

    great summer reading. 

    View List

     

      
    OUR OFFICE