“I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.”

July 17th, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The USCCB's NFP Awareness Week [July 24 - 30]

• Quick Explanation re Catholic Teaching and Contraception  

• Alliance Natural Family Planning Network

• How "The Pill" works as an Abortifacient   

• How the Pill Kills

• The USCCB sometimes allows potential abortifacients in Catholic hospitals??? Come on, you're kidding me, right? (3/5/16)

 

USCCB Legislative Advocacy

• YES to  the Russell amendment, HR4828/S2927, HR1299/S667, HR2802/S1598; NO to "the Separation Wall in the Cremisan Valley."

Pa’s Delegation in D.C.	The 2016 Omnibus spending bill did NOT  include ANDA, but passed  the   House and  Senate.	As per the USCCB,  Support the Con-science Protec-tion Act  (HR 4828/S 2927)	As per the USCCB, Support CWPIA (Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act; HR 1299/ S667)	“If passed, the [Maloney] amendments could infringe upon religious liberty of federal contractors, critics say” (CNA / EWTN News, 5/27/16).		As per the USCCB, Support FADA (First Amend-ment Defense Act; HR2802/ S1598)	As per the USCCB, support the Russell Amend-ment to the National Defense Authori-zation Act.	As per the USCCB, Oppose “confi-scation of Christian lands in Cremisan Valley”
				See Final Vote Results for Roll Call 226	See Final Vote Results for Roll Call 258
1.    Bob Brady (D)	Voted Yea			Voted Yea	Voted Yea
2.    Chaka Fattah (D)	Voted Yea
3.    Mike Kelly (R)	Voted Noe	Co- Sponsor	Sponsor	Voted Noe	Voted Noe	Co- Sponsor
4.    Scott Perry (R)	Voted Noe			Voted Noe	Voted Noe	Co- Sponsor
5.    Glenn Thompson (R)	Voted Yea		Co-Sponsor	Voted Noe	Voted Noe	Co- Sponsor
6.    Ryan Costello (R)	Voted Yea			Voted Yea	Voted Yea
7.    Pat Meehan  (R)	Voted Noe			Voted Yea	Voted Yea
8.    Mike  Fitzpatrick (R)	Voted Yea	Co- Sponsor	Co-Sponsor	Voted Yea	Voted Yea
9.    Bill Shuster (R)	Voted Noe			Voted Noe	Voted Noe
10.  Tom Marino  (R)	Voted Noe		Co-Sponsor	Voted Noe	Voted Noe	Co- Sponsor
11.  Lou Barletta  (R)	Voted Noe		Co-Sponsor	Voted Noe	Voted Noe
12.  Keith Rothfus (R)	Voted Noe	Co- Sponsor	Co-Sponsor	Voted Noe	Voted Noe	Co- Sponsor
13.  Brendan Boyle (D)	Voted Yea			Voted Yea	Voted Yea
14.  Michael Doyle (D)	Voted Yea			Voted Yea	Voted Yea
15.  Charlie Dent  (R)	Voted Yea			Voted Yea	Voted Yea
16.  Joseph Pitts   (R)	Voted Yea	Co- Sponsor	Co-Sponsor	Voted Noe	Voted Noe	Co- Sponsor
17.  Matthew Cartwright (D)	Voted Yea			Voted Yea	Voted Yea
18.  Tim Murphy  (R)	Voted Yea	Co- Sponsor	Co-Sponsor	Voted Noe	Voted Noe	Co- Sponsor
·     Bob Casey (D)	Voted Yea
·     Pat Toomey   (R)	Voted Noe

• Click to Email Pa's Congressional Delegation, asking for support of positions backed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

 

Advocacy in Harrisburg on pro life and pro marriage/family legislation....

• YES to HB1623, HB1948 /SB888; NO to Planned Parenthood, repealing Act 122 of 2011, repealing Act 13 of 2013, HB1336, HB1510/SB 974/SB 1306/SB1307/SB 1316, HB 1947, HB 162, and doctor prescribed suicide.):  
• Click to Email the governor, as well as all of Bucks County's representatives and senators in Harrisburg, on pro life and pro marriage / family concerns.

 

Also in the news....

•  Free to Serve (USCCB, July 2016) 

• Marriage: Unique for a Reason (USCCB, July 2016) 

• People of Life (USCCB, July 2016)  

• Pastoral Guidelines for Implementing Amoris Laetitia (Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 7/1/16)
• "The guidelines state, 'Undertaking to live as brother and sister is necessary for the divorced and civilly-remarried to receive reconciliation in the Sacrament of Penance, which could then open the way to the Eucharist.'   Excerpts from Amoris Laetitia are restated in the guidelines, showing how priests should help parties understand their situation according to the teaching of the Church....What is not publicized in the United States is that when those united by Catholic marriage separate (with any civil divorce or civil separation), the Church (not the divorce court) has competence to determine a separation plan that is in accord with divine law (canon 1692 §2).  Even for those with an invalid marriage, the Church has competence to determine the obligations of the parties. A Catholic decree invalidating parties' marriage should include instructions of the parties’ obligations toward each other and their children (Motu Proprio canon 1691 §1)" (Bai Macfarlane, 7/7/16).

• ...one "More" look... (7/4/16)

• Call to Prayer (USCCB, 7/8/16)  

• "I Know the Pain of Being Left by a Gay Husband: An Open Letter to Lauren Pearson" (Public Discourse, 7/8/16)
• "When Christian rock star Trey Pearson announced he was coming out of the closet and separating from his wife and their two children after seven and a half years of marriage, he said that his wife had been his 'biggest supporter' and that 'she just hugged me and cried and said how proud of me she was.'  If this account is exactly true, it is troubling. Think about the degree of social decay required—especially within Christianity—for a Christian wife to be so conditioned by popular culture that she immediately congratulates her husband for abandoning her and their children, rather than reaching out for help to preserve their marriage and family. A man who walks away from a marriage because of same-sex attraction is no different from a man who abdicates his role as husband and father for sex with other women. We shouldn’t view Trey Pearson’s actions as heroically true-to-self, but as simply selfish.  I should know. I walked away from my marriage nearly twenty years ago because of my same-sex attraction. I made a stunning error in judgment" (Doug Mainwaring, 7/11/16).  

• Letter to Argentina on its 200th anniversary of independence (Pope Francis, 7/9/16 (via Google translate))

• Truth and Charity Forum (Human Life International, 7/11/16)

• July 14, 2016, Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin
• "Kateri made her own pilgrimage when she traveled from her Mohawk home in New York to the Christian settlement in Quebec where, as we know, she completed her brief life growing in love of and service to her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and His Church. She did not leave her Native identity, culture, or heritage behind her when on that journey; rather, she grew into her new Native Catholic identity, fully blossoming as the Lily of the Mohawks....the message we must proclaim to our friends and neighbors is the same one St. Kateri herself announced joyfully to her companions every day of her life, and on her death bed itself: 'Jesus, I love you'" (Cardinal Dolan, 7/26/2012). 

• FridayFax (C-Fam, 7/15/16)

• Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Summit: Sept 29 - Oct 1 (National Center on Sexual Exploitation)