"a novena to honor the proper and balanced Catholic teaching on the body, to teach and celebrate the importance of human incarnation"

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 8/11/19

(signed homily)

• "Two important religious holy days occur in August: the feast of the Transfiguration [link added] on Aug. 6, and the Solemnity of the Assumption [link added], on Aug. 15.  Those holy days are feasts of the body.
  
  "In the Transfiguration, Jesus gives us a foretaste of the resurrected body....
  
  "In...the Assumption, Mary 'at the end of her earthly life,' was taken body and soul into heaven. Not just soul. Body and soul....
  
  "The Assumption, in other words, like the Transfiguration, is not meant only to communicate a special privilege given to Mary as the Mother of God; this mysterious event also serves as a signpost pointing to our own ultimate destiny — body and soul — beyond this earthly life.... 
  
  "On the one hand, we live in an era that attaches seemingly overweening attention to the body....
  
  "On the other hand, as a culture we are children of the West and of Descartes, reducing the person, the 'I' to consciousness and thought, and treating the body as sub-personal, a tool attached to 'me' that has no intrinsic or inherent meanings other than the ones I give them. So 'parenthood' becomes whomever you have the most affection for: the gamete donor, the womb incubator or the college tuition payer. Sex is 'only' biological, while one’s 'authentic' identity is a state of mind....
  
  "Pope St. John Paul II tried to focus our attention...with his 'theology of the body' [See this link.]....
  
  "Unfortunately, the effort to renew a Christian humanism in the years since John Paul II’s death have somewhat cooled.....
  
  "Nine days separate the Transfiguration and the Assumption. Would it not be an appropriate time to initiate a novena to honor the proper and balanced Catholic teaching on the body, to teach and celebrate the importance of human incarnation?" (National Catholic Register, 8/5/19).

• "My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink." (8/3/19) 

• What the Philadelphia foster care case could mean for the Supreme Court (Catholic World Report, 8/1/19)

Take Action Nationally

• Let Doctors Practice Medicine, Not Abortion (Human Life Action - Comment to HHS by August 13.).
• Oppose the Misleadingly named Do No Harm Act (cf, American Life League)
• Oppose the Misnamed Equality Act (Human Life Action)
• Support the Heartbeat Bill, HR 3985 (cf, LifeSite)
• Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (USCCB)
• Born-Alive Legislation Deserves a Vote in the People's House (USCCB) 
• Tell the Senate to Reject Religion Tests for Judicial Nominees (USCCB)
• Contact your U.S. senators and representatives today and ask them to support the LIFT for Charities Act! (USCCB)

Take Action for Pa

(Pa Catholic Conference Legislative Review and Voter Voice)

• Please contact your Rep, Senator, and the Governor to ask for a religious exemption for Catholic adoptions (Pa Catholic Conf)
• (See also the Pa Family Council link.)
• Call for Funding Increase for Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) (Pa Catholic Conference) 

Take Action for NJ

• Support the NJ Born Alive Survivors Protection Act A5287/S3905 (NJRTL)
• Vote No on A5508/ S3804 (NJ Catholic Conf)
• Protect Viable [New Jersey] Babies in the Womb (http://protectviablebabies.com/take-action/)

On the right side of the home page, you will find links to email Church leadership about "Catholic" health care, Bucks country representation in DC, Bucks County representation in Harrisburg, Central NJ representation in DC and Central NJ in Trenton.