"For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control."

10/2/16, Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

"For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control."

• "The theme of the 2016-17 Respect Life Program is 'Moved by Mercy' (usccb.org/respectlife)...From each tiny child waiting to be born, to individuals nearing death, all are precious and deserve our care and protection....Let's ask God to make us channels of his loving mercy: Lord, help us to receive your mercy and turn to you each moment. And please guide us in extending your mercy to others today. Now is the time for mercy" (Timothy Cardinal Dolan, USCCB 2016 Respect Life Statement).

• Life Chain Bucks County (10/2/16, 2:00 - 3:00, Street Rd and Louis Drive, Warminster)

• Life Chain Northeast Philadelphia (10/2/16, 2:00 - 3:00, Roosevelt Blvd and Comley Rd)

• Life Chain Mercer County, NJ (10/2/16, 1:30 - 3:30)
• Prayer Vigil and Jericho March for Life (10/15/16, 11:00 - 1:00) 

• Marriage Unique for a Reason (USCCB, October 2016 Newsletter)

• "Congressional Republicans removed a pro-life provision from a bill that would have prevented Planned Parenthood from receiving funds meant to combat the Zika virus....On Wednesday, the Senate passed a $1.1 trillion continuing resolution (CR) that funds the government through December 9, 72-26" (LifeSiteNews, 9/29/16).  This begs the question of whether National Right to Life is asleep at the wheel regarding its "scorecards" or posing inadequate questions?

• U.S. Senators from Pa	U.S. Senate Scorecard (2013-2014)
  Bob Casey (D-PA)	25%
  Patrick Toomey (R-PA)	100%

  BOTH SENATORS CASEY AND TOOMEY VOTED "YEA" ON THE CR!!!

• U.S. Representatives from Pa	U.S. House Scorecard (2015-2016)
  1. Robert Brady (D-PA-1)	0%
  2. Chaka Fattah (D-PA-2)	0%
  3. Mike Kelly (R-PA-3)	100%
  4. Scott Perry (R-PA-4)	100%
  5. Glenn Thompson (R-PA-5)	100%
  6. Ryan Costello (R-PA-6)	86%
  7. Patrick Meehan (R-PA-7)	86%
  8. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA-8)	100%
  9. Bill Shuster (R-PA-9)	100%
  10. Tom Marino (R-PA-10)	100%
  11. Lou Barletta (R-PA-11)	100%
  12. Keith Rothfus (R-PA-12)	100%
  13. Brendan Boyle (D-PA-13)	0%
  14. Mike Doyle (D-PA-14)	6%
  15. Charlie Dent (R-PA-15)	66%
  16. Joe Pitts (R-PA-16)	100%
  17. Matt Cartwright (D-PA-17)	13%
  18. Tim Murphy (R-PA-18)	100%

  Joining in the "YEA" votes were Representatives LOU BARLETTA, RYAN COSTELLO, CHARLIE DENT, MIKE FITZPATRICK , PAT MEEHAN, TIM MURPHY, BILL SHUSTER, and GLENN THOMPSON !!!

• Kudos to Representatives Mike Kelly, Tom Marino, Scott Perry, Joe Pitts, and Keith Rothfus for voting AGAINST the CR. Bravo!

• Call to Prayer (USCCB, 9/30/16)

• FridayFax (C-Fam, 9/29/16) 

• "Alexis Arquette (formerly Robert Arquette), a transgender performer and activist, returned to living as a man before his death on September 11, 2016....Regret often comes years later when the realization sets in that falsely claiming to be an alternate gender persona did not resolve the deep issues with which we struggled..... My transgenderism was a hiding place until I received proper psychotherapy, then set my sights on God. Slowly but steadily, God’s love redeemed my life. I no longer needed a hiding place. I have been restored to a new life that is better and brighter than ever" (Public Discourse, 9/27/16).

• "Canonized during this Year of Mercy, St. Teresa of Calcutta once remarked, 'We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other'.... There can be no reasonable doubt, as Pope Francis has affirmed, that 'the right to life is the first among human rights'" (Bishop David O'Connell (Bucks native), 9/27/16).

• "We are only one justice away from losing our most basic rights, and the next president will appoint as many as four new justices. We know, without a doubt, that every Clinton appointee would be a left-wing ideologue. Trump, in contrast, has promised to appoint justices 'in the mold of Scalia'....Our country is in crisis. Hillary Clinton is manifestly unfit to be president, and her policies would harm millions of Americans. And Donald Trump is the only thing standing in her way" (Sen. Ted Cruz, 9/23/16).
  
  
• Free to Serve (USCCB, 9/20/16) 

• "As a gay man, allow me to make what is perhaps a startling declaration: same-sex marriage is a great coup for the devil....Same-sex marriage mocks Christ’s relationship with his Bride, the Church.... Marriage represents to humanity a taste of heaven, a blueprint of the eternity that awaits all who belong to Jesus Christ.... With complementarity evacuated from the language of our culture and expunged from our minds, it is almost impossible to perceive the fullness of God’s purposes.... Marriage—the real thing—is an inestimable gift from God, expressed and experienced in and through complementarity. Marriage is a bright ensign, beckoning us not only in this world, but preparing us for and ushering us toward the great eternal wedding feast" (Public Discourse, 9/19/16).  

• "being truly 'prolife' doesn't end with defending the unborn child.  But it does and it must begin there" (Archbishop Charles Chaput at Notre Dame, 9/15/16)

• "our opponents believe once they destroy the family, once they destroy the churches, they can re-create society in their own image and their own likeness.  That, my friends, is not just political.  That is diabolical" (Rev. Michael Orsi (originally of the Camden Diocese), 9/10/16) 

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

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.