"With your conjugal relationship, exercising paternity and maternity, you give your life and are proof that it is possible to live the Gospel: it is possible to live the Gospel and it renders one happy....
"The Lord has chosen you to love one another and transmit life. These two things are the vocation of parents. This is a most beautiful call because it makes us be, in an altogether special way, in the image and likeness of God. To become a father and a mother truly means to be completely fulfilled, because it is to become similar to God. This is not said in the newspapers, it does not appear, but it is the truth of love. To become a father and a mother makes us much more similar to God....
"Children look. They look so much and when they see that father and mother love each other, the children grow in that atmosphere of love, of happiness and also of security, because they are not afraid....They scrutinize you -- they don’t only look at you, they scrutinize you -- to see if it’s possible to be good and if it’s true that with mutual love every difficulty is surmounted....
"God is communion in the diversity of the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. One’s being parents is founded in the diversity of being, as the Bible reminds, male and female. This is the 'first' and most fundamental difference, constitutive of the human being. It is a richness. Differences are riches. There are so many people who are afraid of differences, but they are riches. And this difference is the 'first' and fundamental difference, constitutive of the human being. When engaged couples come to be married, I like to say to him, after speaking of the Gospel: 'But don’t forget that your vocation is to render your wife more woman!'; and I say to her: 'your vocation is to render your husband more man!' And thus they love one another, but they love one another in the differences, more man and more woman. And this is the craftsmanship of marriage, of the family, every day; to make the other grow, to think of the other: the husband of the wife and the wife of the husband. This is communion....
"It is very painful when a family lives a tension that can’t be resolved, a break that they don’t succeed in healing. It is painful. When there are the first signs of this, a father and a mother have the duty to themselves and to their children to ask for help, to be supported.... The Lord will give you the strength to understand that evil can be surmounted, that unity is greater than conflict, that the wounds we have inflicted in one another can be healed, in the name of a greater love, of that Love that He has called you to live with the Sacrament of Marriage....
"when separation...seems inevitable, know that the Church carries you in her heart....Never, never speak badly of the other to the children! Never! -- because they are the first victims of this fight and -- allow me the word -- also of this so often hatred between the two. Children are sacred. Don’t wound them!....
"there is also the way of forgiveness. Forgive one another and take up mutually your limitations, which will also help you to understand and accept the fragilities and weaknesses of your children....
"the gift of marriage, which is so beautiful, is also a mission. A mission that is very important.
"You are collaborators of the Holy Spirit who whispers to you Jesus’ words! Be so also for your children! Be missionaries of your children....
"And I don’t want to end without saying a word to grandparents, to our grandparents....do grandparents, who are the wisdom of a people, who are the memory of a people, who are the wisdom of the family, have a worthy place? The grandparents who have saved the faith in so many countries where it was prohibited to practice religion and took children secretly to have them baptized, and grandparents who taught prayers.... They give us wisdom, prudence, they help us so much. And when they get sick they ask us for so many sacrifices, it’s true. Sometimes there isn’t another solution than to take them to a rest home. But may it be the last, the last thing that is done. Grandparents at home are a richness" .... (Pope Francis, 6/14/15 Address to Rome Conference on Parents as Witnesses of the Beauty of Life)
- Pope Francis, 4/15/15 General Audience
- Pope Francis, 4/22/15 General Audience
- Pope Francis, 4/29/15 General Audience
- Pope Francis, 5/6/15 General Audience
- Pope Francis, 5/13/15 General Audience
- Pope Francis, 5/20/15 General Audience
- Pope Francis, 5/27/15 General Audience
- Pope Francis, 6/3/15 General Audience
- Pope Francis, 6/10/15 General Audience
- Pope Francis, Regina Coeli, 5/10/15
- Pope Francis to the Bishops of the Dominican, 5/28/15
- Pope Francis to the Bishops of Puerto Rico, 6/8/15
- Pope Francis, 6/13/15 Address to the Italian Superior Council of the Judiciary
- Pope Francis’ 6/14/15 Address to Rome Conference on Parents as Witnesses of the Beauty of Life
Translating Concern about Human Life and Marriage/Family into local action....
As per the USCCB*and/or the Pa Catholic Conference,
- Support the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (S 946): http://cqrcengage.com/catholicbishops/app/write-a-letter?1&engagementId=42752
- Support the Health Care Conscience Rights Act (HR 940): https://www.votervoice.net/PACC/Campaigns/37647/Respond
- Support the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act: https://www.votervoice.net/PACC/Campaigns/37647/Respond
- Support the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (HR 36): https://www.votervoice.net/PACC/Campaigns/38163/Respond
- Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act of 2015 (HR 1299/S 667; The Family Research Council has an action link: https://www.votervoice.net/FRCA/campaigns/39176/respond)
- Support "just and compassionate immigration reform": http://www.capwiz.com/justiceforimmigrants/issues/alert/?alertid=14503781&type=CO
(Oppose use of family detention: http://capwiz.com/justiceforimmigrants/issues/alert/?alertid=63454631&queueid=%5bcapwiz:queue_idSupport "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).
- Support the State Marriage Defense Act of 2015 (HR 824, S 435): http://cqrcengage.com/catholicbishops/app/make-a-call?2&engagementId=81348
- Protect Poor Households and Promote Diplomatic Relations with Cuba: http://cqrcengage.com/catholicbishops/app/write-a-letter?2&engagementId=106675
*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)]
- Oppose the death penalty; thank the governor for the death penalty moratorium.): http://www.votervoice.net/groups/pacc/Advocacy/?SiteID=-1&IssueID=29560
- Oppose HB 300 / SB 300 (As the Pa Catholic Conference explains, "In other states, this law has shuttered Catholic adoption agencies and trampled religious liberty….Simply put, this legislation is intolerant and prejudiced against people of faith."): https://www.votervoice.net/PACC/Campaigns/33451/Respond
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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