"Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

1/29/17, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

• Contact and encourage President Trump on his pro life and pro marriage/family promises:
"1. Trump promises to appoint pro-life judges....
2. Trump promises to defund Planned Parenthood....
3. Trump promises Christians can 'trust' him to defend 'traditional marriage’....
4. Trump promises religious liberty....
5. Trump promises to repeal Johnson amendment....
6. Trump promises to repeal Obamacare" (LifeSiteNews, 1/20/17)
• "a repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act ought not be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for the millions of people who now rely upon it for their wellbeing" (Bishop Frank J. Dewane, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, 1/18/17).
In addition, as per Melanie Israel of the Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society (1/22/17), we should:
• seek President Trump's opposition to embryonic stem cell research, "3 parent" embryos, and the United Nations Population Fund;
• seek President Trump's enforcement of the Weldon Amendment, "the Helms amendment and other longstanding prohibitions on funding abortion in international programs....[as well as in the] federal grant process ...[NON discrimination] against faith-based, life-affirming organizations";
• seek President Trump's support for pro life legislation, "states' freedom to exclude abortion providers from state Medicaid programs," pro life updating of Title X regulations, and conscience protections

• Click to Email Pa's congressional delegation, regarding federal positions backed by our bishops (cf., Pa Catholic Conference, USCCB, USCCB's Justice for Immigrants, Human Life Action, Human Life Action's 12/16/16 email.)
• It should be noted that Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has NOT signed on as a co-sponsor of
  H.J.Res.27 ("Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016."),  
  H.R. 490 ("To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable."),
  H.R.586 ("To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization."), or 
• It should be noted that Neither Senator Casey NOR Senator Toomey has signed on as co-sponsor of S.J. Res.4 ("A joint resolution disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Death with Dignity Act of 2016." )

• Click to Email all of Bucks County's representatives and senators in Harrisburg, asking for support of issues/legislation backed by the Pa Catholic Conference and/or the Pa Pro Life Federation.

• Act now to stop assisted suicide (Diocese of Trenton, 11/4/16)


• Boycott Target and boycotts/actions from America Needs Fatima and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation

Catholic Medical Ethics

• From well meaning pro life sources, we hear that there have been 59 million+ abortions in the United States, since the horrific 1/22/1973 Roe v Wade Supreme Court decisions (cf, www.numberofabortions.com/).  Not even close!  Pharmacists for Life International reports 308 million (when chemical and mechanical means are properly counted).  Jesus' love abounds for each and every one of us - and for each and every one of those 308 million.  We do our tiny brothers and sisters an injustice, when we fail to even count them.
  Say NO to Providers of Abortifacients/Contraceptives (1/7/17)
• Fertility awareness / NaPro Technology 
• Email USCCB President Cardinal DiNardo, USCCB Pro Life Chair Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop Chaput, and National Catholic Bioethics Center President John Haas, PhD, STL
• Email Archbishop Chaput about our "Catholic" hospitals
• "Please send a message to the AMA today asking them to support the dignity of every person and the need for supportive and comprehensive end of life care" (Pa Catholic Conference).
• "The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought." (Psalm 32: 22)

Say, Hasn't the Church Already Said a Few Things about Marriage/Family/Sexuality?

• "I must repeat the need for a 'new catechumenate' in preparation for marriage....the preparation for marriage should become an integral part of all the sacramental procedure of marriage, as an antidote that prevents the proliferation of null or inconsistent marriage celebrations.  A second remedy is that of helping newly-weds to follow the path of faith and in the Church also after the celebration of marriage....as I have said to you many times, it takes great courage to marry in the times in which we live. And those who have the strength and the joy to take this important step must feel the affection and the concrete closeness of the Church next to them" (Pope Francis to the Roman Rota, 1/21/17).
• Statement Calling for Constitutional Resistance to Obergefell v. Hodges (American Principles Project, 10/8/15)
• Study Guide to St. Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" (5/26/14)

Catholic Social Teaching

• Holocaust calls us to have 'respect for the dignity of every person' (EWTN News/CNA, 1/27/17) 
• US Bishops Release Road Map to Improve Race Relations (National Catholic Register, 1/26/17)
• USCCB Committee on Migration Chair Responds to Trump Administration Sanctuary City Executive Order (USCCB, 1/24/17)
• USCCB Committee on Migration Chair Strongly Opposes Executive Order Because It Harms Vulnerable Refugee and Immigrant Families (USCCB, 1/26/17)
• USCCB Committee on Migration Chair Responds to Trump Administration Sanctuary City Executive Order (USCCB, 1/24/17)
• Committee on Migration Chair Strongly Opposes Administration’s Announcement to Build a Wall at U.S.-Mexico Border, Increase Detention and Deportation Forces (USCCB, 1/23/17)
• USCCB Pro Life Chairman Applauds Reestablishment of Mexico City Policy (USCCB, 1/23/17) 
• "The inviolability of the person which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, fínds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights-for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture- is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination." (Pope John Paul II, 12/30/1988)

Also Newsworthy

• 9 Days for Life (USCCB, 1/21/17 - 1/29/17)
• Call to Prayer (USCCB, 1/27/17)
• Marriage: Unique for a Reason (USCCB, 1/17/17)