6/5/14 - Public Witness at Governor Corbett's Southeast Pa Office
6/7/14 - "The Pill Kills"
6/8/14 Trinity Sunday - "Marriage Sunday"
“We live in a world short on love. Today, love is too often understood as romantic sentimentality rather than unbreakable commitment. But sentimentality is unsatisfying. Material things, and comfort, and pleasure bring only fleeting happiness. The truth is that we are all searching for real love, because we are all searching for meaning….
“Today, our culture rejects love when it rejects the gift of new life, through the use of contraception
“Husbands and wives are made to freely offer themselves as gifts to one another in friendship, and to share in the life-giving love of God.
“He created marriage to be unifying and procreative. To join husband and wife inseparably in the mission of love, and to bring forth from that love something new….
“God made us to love and to be loved. He made us to delight in the power of sexual love to bring forth new human beings, children of God, created with immortal souls. Our Church has always taught that rejecting the gift of children erodes the love between husband and wife: it distorts the unitive and procreative nature of marriage. The use of contraception gravely and seriously disrupts the sacrificial, holy, and loving meaning of marriage itself….
“God is present in every marriage, and present during every marital embrace. He created sexuality so that males and females could mirror the Trinity: forming, in their sexual union, the life-long bonds of family. God chose to make spouses cooperators with him in creating new human lives, destined for eternity. Those who use contraception diminish their power to unite and they give up the opportunity to cooperate with God in the creation of life….
“The sexual intimacy of marriage, the most intimate kind of human friendship, is a pathway to sharing in God’s own life. It is a pathway to the fullness of our own human life; it is a means of participating in the incredible love of God. Contraception impedes our share in God’s creative love. And thus it impedes our joy….
“Of course, there are some true and legitimate reasons why, at certain times, families may discern being called to the sacrifice of delaying children. For families with serious mental, physical, or emotional health problems, or who are experiencing dire financial troubles, bearing children might best be delayed. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that couples must have ‘just’ reasons to delay childbearing. For couples facing difficulties of various kinds, the Church recommends Natural Family Planning: a method for making choices about engaging in fruitful sexual relations.
“Natural Family Planning does not destroy the power to give life: instead, it challenges couples to discern prayerfully when to engage in life-giving sexual acts. It is an integrated, organic and holistic approach to fertility care….
“I encourage all couples who use Natural Family Planning to be very open with each other concerning the reasons they think it right to limit their family size, to take their thoughts to God, and to pray for his guidance….
“I would like to address in a special way Catholic physicians, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals….
“No Catholic healthcare provider, in good conscience, should engage in the practice of medicine by undermining the gift of fertility. There is no legitimate medical reason to aid in the acts of contraception or sterilization….
“the effects of contraception often mask the underlying conditions that endanger women’s health. Today, there are safe, natural means of correcting hormonal imbalances, and solving the conditions that are often treated by contraception….
“The good example of a physician who refuses to prescribe contraceptives and perform sterilizations or a pharmacist who refuses to distribute contraceptives in spite of antagonism, financial loss, or professional pressure is an opportunity to participate in the suffering of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the Catholic physicians and pharmacists who evangelize their patients and colleagues through a commitment to the truth….
“Dear brother priests, I encourage you to preach about the dangers of contraception, and to visit with families in your parish about this issue….
“Today, openness to children is rarely celebrated, rarely understood, and rarely supported. To many, the Church’s teachings on life seem oppressive or old-fashioned. Many believe that the Church asks too great a sacrifice.
As per the Pennsylvania Pro Life Coalition, "The observance of Trinity Sunday...provides a very appropriate and timely opportunity for clergy to educate on the true nature of marriage and to urge contact with Gov. Corbett....This Sunday can also serve to promote attendance at the June 19, 2014 March for Marriage in Washington, DC....Please ask your Bishop and Pastor to conduct such activities on this Sunday, respectively, in their Diocese or Church."
“But sacrifice is the language of love. And in sacrifice, we speak the language of God himself. I am calling you, dear brothers and sisters, to encounter Christ in your love for one another. I am calling you to rich and abundant family life. I am calling you to rejoice in the love, and the sacrifice, for which you were made. I am calling your family to share in the creative, active love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Bishop James Conley, The Language of Love, 3/25/14).
6/19/14 - Gov. Corbett's deadline for appealing the decision and the March for Marriage
- "I am greatly disappointed in the Federal Court ruling overturning Pennsylvania's Defense of Marriage Act and redefining marriage. I am also disappointed that you have chosen to give up the fight and not to appeal this ruling. The Defense of Marriage law, declaring that marriage in Pennsylvania is the union of one man and one woman, was enacted by an overwhelming vote of the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tom Ridge. It was wrong of Attorney General Kane not to defend it against the ACLU challenge, and I am asking you to not do the same thing.
"Children have a right to a mother and a father and that is a right that government is bound to respect and encourage. This ruling short-circuits the public debate and casts aside the will of the people of Pennsylvania and our elected representatives.
"I strongly urge you to reconsider your decision not to appeal the ruling and to ask the court to prevent issuance of licenses to same-sex couples while the case is on appeal. I look forward to your reply." (Click this Pa Family Institute link, to send the preceding message to the governor.)
- "The annual March for Marriage will take place on Thursday, June 19, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., on the U.S. Capitol grounds, First Street NW and Constitution Ave., in Washington, D.C. This is a crucial opportunity for Philadelphia Catholics to show their support for the family and for marriage as a permanent union of one man and one woman. Buses will leave from St. Raymond Parish in Philadelphia; St. Andrew Parish in Newtown (Bucks County); SS. Simon and Jude Parish, West Chester (Chester County); St. Pius X Parish, Broomall (Delaware County) and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Parish, Limerick (Montgomery County). Cultures change when people change. And people change through the word and witness of other people. This is a moment to show our support for the nature of the family and the integrity of marriage as foundation stones of our life as a nation. Please make every effort this year to join the March for Marriage" (Archbishop Chaput, 5/30/14).
7/20/14 - 7/26/14 - National NFP Awareness Week
DON'T FORGET THE FEDERAL LEVEL....
Immediately to our East, Congressman Chris Smith is the primary sponsor of HR 3279, as well as a co-sponsor of HJRes51, HR3133, and HR 3829. In what Fitzpatrick has indicated would be his last term in the House, would he stand with the USCCB and oppose HR 1755? Would he work to de-fund Planned Parenthood?
Should Catholics vote for someone who is not up to the task of standing up for life/marriage or seek a write-in?
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