in Pennsylvania's First Congressional District
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania's_1st_congressional_district http://archphila.org/pastplan/MAPS/Arch.pdf
and the Central Garden State

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Just Like Pope Francis, Let's Rally and Pray for Marriage/Family...

When?  TODAY (noon - 1pm)
Where? Our Lady of Good Counsel Church (137 West Upper Ferry Rd, West Trenton, N.J.) - in front of the Our Lady of Fatima Statue.

While the media may be largely ignoring it, Pope Francis has been paying acute attention to marriage/family in his  general audiences, which take place each Wednesday that he is in the Vatican (What follows are merely excerpts.):


  • "Today’s catechesis is dedicated to a central aspect of the subject of the family: that of the great gift that God made to humanity with the creation of man and woman and with the Sacrament of Marriage. This catechesis and the next are concerned with the difference and complementarity between man and woman, who are at the summit of the divine creation; the two following ones will be on Marriage....I wonder...if the so-called gender theory is not also an expression of a frustration and of a resignation, which aims to cancel the sexual difference....The removal of the difference, in fact, is the problem, not the solution...The matrimonial and family bond is something serious, and it is for everyone, not only for believers. I would like to exhort the intellectuals not to abandon this topic, as if it had become secondary for the commitment in favor of a freer and more just society" (Pope Francis, 4/15/15 General Audience).
  • "In the previous catechesis on the family, I reflected on the first passage of the creation of the human being, in the first chapter of Genesis, where it is written: 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them'....The social devaluation of the stable and generative alliance of man and woman is certainly a loss for all....And the Bible says a beautiful thing: man finds woman, they find one another, and man must leave something to find her fully. And for this, man will leave his father and his mother to go with her. It is beautiful! This means to begin a journey. Man is all for woman and woman is all for man.  The care of this alliance of man and woman -- also if they are sinners and are wounded, confused or humiliated, mistrustful and uncertain -- is therefore for us believers a demanding and exciting vocation, in the present condition" (Pope Francis, 4/22/15 General Audience).

  • "The most persuasive testimony of the blessing of Christian marriage is the good life of Christian spouses and of the family. There is no better way to describe the beauty of the Sacrament! Marriage consecrated by God  to safeguard that bond between man and woman that God has blessed since the creation of the world; and it is source of peace and of goodness for the whole of conjugal and family life....I will speak of this beautiful vocation of marriage also in the next catechesis" (Pope Francis, 4/29/15 General Audience).
  • This "is what the Apostle Paul summarizes in his well-known expression: 'This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church' (Ephesians 5:32). Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul affirms that the love between spouses is an image of the love between Christ and the Church – an unthinkable dignity! However, in reality it is inscribed in the creative design of God, and with the grace of Christ innumerable Christian couples, although with their limitations and their sins, have realized it!....we must ask ourselves seriously: do we ourselves, as believers and as pastors, fully accept this indissoluble bond of the history of Christ and of the Church with the history of marriage and of the human family? Are we prepared to assume this responsibility seriously, namely, that every marriage goes on the way of love that Christ has with the Church?.... Saint Paul was right: this is in fact a 'great mystery'! Men and women who are sufficiently courageous to carry this treasure in the 'clay pots' of our humanity – these very courageous men and women are an essential resource for the Church, also for the whole world! May God bless them a thousand times for this!" (Pope Francis, 5/6/15 General Audience). 
  • "Today’s catechesis is like an entrance door to a series of reflections on the life of the family, its real life, with its times and its circumstances. Written above this entrance door are three words, which I have already used several times. And these words are: may I, thank you, pardon. In fact, these words open the way to live well in the family. They are simple words, but not so simple to put into practice. They enclose a great strength: the strength to take care of the home, including through thousands of difficulties and trials. However, its absence opens cracks that can even make it collapse....And now I invite all to repeat these three words together: 'permission, thank you, pardon' ... all together! 'Permission, thank you, pardon.' They are three words to enter really in the love of the family, so that the family will be well. Now repeat all together the advice I have given: never end the day without making peace. Everyone. 'Never end the day without making peace'" (Pope Francis, 5/13/15 General Audience, 5/13/15).
  • "Today we pause to reflect on an essential characteristic of the family, namely, its natural vocation to educate the children so that they grow in responsibility for themselves and for others...'Critical' intellectuals of all kinds have silenced parents in a thousand ways, to defend the young generations from harm -- real or imagined -- of family education. Among other things, the family has been accused of authoritarianism, favoritism, conformism, and of emotional repression that generates conflicts....a rupture has been opened between the family and society, between the family and school; today the educational pact has been broken. And thus, the educational alliance of society with the family has entered into crisis because reciprocal trust has been undermined....The  so-called 'experts' have multiplied, who have taken the role of parents even in the most intimate aspects of education. On emotional life, on personality and on development, on rights and duties the 'experts' know everything....How have we arrived at this point? There is no doubt that parents, or better, certain educational models of the past had some limitations, there’s no doubt. However, it is also true that there are mistakes that only parents are allowed to make, because they can compensate for them in a way that is impossible for anyone else. On the other hand, we know it well, life has become stingy of time to talk, to reflect, to deal with one another. Many parents are 'kidnapped' by work – father and mother must work – and by other preoccupations, hampered by the new needs of the children and the complexity of present-day life....The Christian communities are called to offer support to the educational mission of families, and they do so first of all with the light of the Word of God....How many wonderful examples we have of Christian parents full of human wisdom! They show that a good family education is the spinal cord of humanism. Their social radiation is the resource that makes it possible to compensate for the lacunae, the wounds, the voids of paternity and maternity that touch less fortunate children. This radiation can do genuine miracles. And these miracles happen every day in the Church...."It is time that fathers and mothers return from their exile – because they have exiled themselves from the education of their children --, and reassume fully their educational role. We hope that the Lord will give parents this grace: not to exile themselves from the education of their children. And only love, tenderness and patience can do this" (Pope Francis, 5/20/15 General Audience).
  • "The time of engagement can truly become a time of initiation, to what? To surprise! -- to the surprise of spiritual gifts with which the Lord, through the Church, enriches the horizon of the new family that prepares to live in his blessing" (Pope Francis, 5/27/15 General Audience)
  • "The lack or loss of work, or its strong precariousness, has serious implications on family life, severely testing relationships. The living conditions in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, with housing and transportation problems, as well as the reduction of social, health and educational services, causes further difficulty" (Pope Francis, 6/3/15 General.Audience)
  • "The Christian community knows well that, in the trial of sickness, the family is not left alone. And we must say thank you to the Lord for those beautiful experiences of ecclesial fraternity that help families to go through the difficult moments of pain and suffering. This Christian closeness, of family to family, is a real treasure for the parish -- a treasure of wisdom that helps families in difficult moments and makes the Kingdom of God understood better than many discourses! They are caresses of God" (Pope Francis, 6/10/15 General Audience)

NOT Just a "Wednesday" Concern!  Excerpts from Just a Few Other Recent Addresses

  • "today, in many countries, Mother's Day is celebrated. We remember with gratitude and affection all mothers. Now I turn to all the mothers. Are there some of them here, here in the square? Are there? An applause for the mommies in the square. And this applause embraces all the mothers, all our dear mothers, those that live with us physically, but also those that live with us spiritually ... May the Lord bless them all, and may the Mother of God, to whom this month is dedicated, watch over them all" (Pope Francis, 5/10/15).
  • "Marriage and the family are going through a serious cultural crisis. But this does not mean that they have lost importance, but that their need is felt all the more. The family is the place where one learns to live together in differences, to forgive and to experience forgiveness, and where parents transmit values to their children and, singularly, the faith. Marriage 'seen as a mere form of affective gratification,' ceases to be an 'indispensable contribution' to society (cf. Evangelii gaudium, 66)....'ample catechesis on the Christian ideal of conjugal communion and of family life is urgent, which includes a spirituality of paternity and of maternity. It is necessary to give greater pastoral attention to the role of men as husbands and fathers, as well as to the responsibility they share with their wives in relation to marriage, the family and the education of the children' (Ecclesia in America, 42). Let us continue to present the beauty of Christian marriage: 'to be married in the Lord' is an act of faith and love, in which the spouses, through their free consent, become transmitters of the blessing and grace of God for the Church and for society" (Pope Francis to the Bishops of the Dominican, 5/28/15).
  • "Allow me to call your attention to the value and beauty of marriage. The complementarity of man and woman, summit of divine creation, is being questioned by the so-called gender ideology, in the name of a more free and just society. The differences between man and woman are not for opposition or subordination, but for communion and generation, always in the 'image and likeness' of God. Without mutual self-giving, neither one can understand the other in depth (cf. General Audience, April 15, 2015). The Sacrament of Marriage is a sign of the love of God for humanity and of Christ’s giving Himself for His Bride, the Church. Look after this treasure, one of the 'most important of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples' (Aparecida, 433)" (Pope Francis to the Bishops of Puerto Rico, 6/8/15).

Translating Concern about Human Life and Marriage/Family into action....

As per the USCCB*and/or the Pa Catholic Conference,
(Oppose use of family detention: http://capwiz.com/justiceforimmigrants/issues/alert/?alertid=63454631&queueid=%5bcapwiz:queue_id
Support "a path to citizenship and to oppose repealing or undoing laws that protect vulnerable children, families and refugees": http://www.votervoice.net/groups/pacc/Advocacy/?SiteID=-1&IssueID=33031).
*In addition to "ALERTS CENTRAL" the USCCB notes that "Action alerts for pro-life issues can also be found through our partner organization, the National Committee for the Human Life Amendment" and "Action alerts for issues related to immigration reform can be found through the USCCB-led Catholic coalition,Justice for Immigrants."

As per the Pa Catholic Conference ,
  • Support "Supportive, Comprehensive End of Life Care" [i.e., Oppose "doctor-prescribed suicide." While the battle rages over assisted suicide, many forget that in 1990, the United States Supreme Court allowed euthanasia by dehydration and starvation. First, by declaring artificially-administered food and water (ANH) as a form of 'life support' and then, granting third parties the ability to remove ANH (feeding tubes) from persons with disabilities, it became effectively legal to deny a human being food and water against their will in the United States....Anyone requiring only a feeding tube is not brain dead, but often brain injured....Even fully-conscious people may require tube feeding" (Dr. Jacqueline C. Harvey)]


As per the American Life League, 

  • The purpose of the Life at Conception Act (HR 816): is "'to implement equal protection under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.'  The bill says: 'Congress hereby declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being. . . . For purposes of this Act: The terms "human person" and "human being" include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.'  There are no exceptions in this bill. It declares that every preborn human being, from the first moment of their existence, has the right to life" (American Life League, 5/15/15).  Ask our congressman (mikefitzpatrickpa08@live.com/)) to become a co-sponsor of HR 816.
As per the Pennsylvania Family Institute, 
 As per the Pa Pro Life Federation,
  • "The Governor’s budget proposed a 0 percent increase for the state’s Alternatives to Abortion program, which is administered by Real Alternatives (listed in the Governor’s budget under the Department of Human Services as 'women’s service programs'). The program funds pregnancy help centers throughout Pennsylvania.  Without an increase in funding, women in crisis will go unserved and, tragically, babies will die.  Please contact the chairman of the PA House Appropriations Committee, Rep. William Adolph, and the  pro-life caucus leaders—Rep. Kathy Rapp, Rep. Bryan Cutler, Rep. Matthew Baker, Rep. Bryan Barbin, and Rep. Pam Snyder--with this urgent message: 'Please increase funding for the state’s Alternatives to Abortion program in the state budget. We need to save babies and their mothers from the harm of abortion.'  The contact information for the representatives is below:
    Rep. William Adolph--  wadolph@pahousegop.com; 717-787-1248
    Rep. Kathy Rapp-- klrapp@pahousegop.com; 717-787-1367
    Rep. Bryan Cutler-- bcutler@pahousegop.com;  717-783-6424
    Rep. Matthew Baker-- mbaker@pahousegop.com; 717-772-5371
    Rep. Bryan Barbin-- bbarbin@pahouse.net; 717-783-1491
    Rep. Pam Snyder-- psnyder@pahouse.net;  717-783-3797"
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