Tragedy in Advance of the Feast of the Holy Family

• Nigeria: Over 140 people killed in Christmas Eve attacks on remote villages (Vatican News, 12/27/23)
• Nigerian bishop describes persecution and killings of Catholics: ‘It has become a daily occurrence’ (CNA, 6/19/23)

• Protestant theologian, Catholic layman, and priest respond to Fiducia Supplicans (Catholic World Report, 12/21/2023)

Holy Family / Solemnity of the BVM

Homily of the late Deacon Manny Garcia (RIP):

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (sign/voice)

2202 A man and a woman united in marriage, together with their children, form a family. This institution is prior to any recognition by public authority, which has an obligation to recognize it. It should be considered the normal reference point by which the different forms of family relationship are to be evaluated. (Catechism of the Catholic Church).

1613 On the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign - at his mother's request - during a wedding feast [See John 2: 1-11].  The Church attaches great importance to Jesus' presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence. (Catechism of the Catholic Church).

• The Cost of “Making a Mess” (Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, 12/22/23) 

• Nigerian Bishops: ‘No Possibility in the Church of Blessing Same-Sex Unions’ (CatholicVote org, 12/21/23)

Solemnity of the Mother of God (sign/voice, 1, 2, 3)

Solemnity of the BVM,  Mother of God,, Octave of Christmas

St John Neumann  (1/5) St Elizabeth Ann Seton  (1/4) St Thomas Becket  (12/29) The Holy Innocents  (12/28) St Stephen  (12/26)

4th Sunday of Advent/Christmas

(Sign/Voice)

(O Holy Night)

The Shepherd's Field

Bethlehem

(more from Bethlehem 2017)

THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (CHRISTMAS) - MASS DURING THE DAY (Sign/Voice)

• Our Lady of Fatima – Her Prophecies and Warnings Remain as Essential as Ever! (Msgr Charles Pope, 12/15/23) 

• Human Rights Leaders Call for Nigeria to be Redesignated as Religious Freedom Violator (National Catholic Register, 12/14/23)
• Catholics Ask: Is the Vatican Covering Up for Islamic Radicalism? (The Stream, 12/14/23)

• The Murder of a Marriage (Mary's Advocates, 12/14/23)

• The REAL miracle of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Catholic Culture, 12/12/23)

• What Attracts Homosexuals to the Priesthood? (Crisis Magazine, 12/12/23)

• Bukonavic for President

URGENT Action to defeat NJ S2918

Take Action Now to Stop Expanded Abortion Access (NJ Catholic Conference)

3rd Sunday of Advent: "the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord’"

(Sign/Voice)

Advertisers in Parish Bulletins:
A Reflection for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe 

• EVERYONE'S OPINIONS WANTED (except for your own, of course) (Catholic Stand, 12/11/23)

• No Menorahs, Please (Wall Street Journal, 12/10/23)

• "You have no enemies, you say?... You’ve never turned the wrong to right, you’ve been a coward in the fight."

Oppose Pa House Bill 1888

From: Maria <Gallagher@paprolife.org>
Date: Wed, Dec 6, 2023 at 4:20 PM
Subject: Contact your state Rep now to stop this dangerous abortion bill
To: <gallagher@paprolife.org>

Dear Pro-Life Leaders,

We have just learned that pro-abortion Democrats are likely trying to ram through a Constitutional Amendment in the PA House, similar to what was passed in Ohio.

We need you to act now!

Please send an immediate message to your state Representative and state Senator urging them to oppose House Bill 1888, the pro-abortion Constitutional Amendment. You can send an immediate message to your lawmakers by clicking here  (https://oneclickpolitics.global.ssl.fastly.net/messages/edit?promo_id=18546 ).

Please share this email with all appropriate lists.

Please share the link on your social media.

I will be in touch!

Take care,

Maria V. Gallagher

Legislative Director

Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation

www.paprolife.org

717-541-0034

Take Action: Biden's Proposed Rule Will Drive Christians from Foster Care (AFA, 12/6/23)

As per today's correspondence from the American Family Association, 

The Biden administration is proposing yet another rule that directly targets the Christian faith.

 

The rule, the euphemistically-named “Safe and Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements,” will require foster parents to “utilize the child’s identified pronouns, chosen name, and allow the child to dress in an age-appropriate manner that the child believes reflects their self-identified gender identity and expression.”

 

Those who do not “affirm” the LGBTQ rules because of their Christian faith will be deemed “unsafe” by the Biden administration and ultimately rejected as foster parent candidates.

 

In response to the proposed rule, attorneys general from 19 states have written a letter, [NOT signed by NJ or Pa's attorney general] urging the Biden administration to reverse course because it would effectively disqualify Christian families from serving as foster parents, putting an additional strain on an already over-burdened foster care system nationwide.

Use this link to contact your attorney general: 

https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/AFA/Campaigns/109445/Respond

2nd Sunday of Advent, "One mightier than I is coming after me."

 NOT a Dark Knight, December 14

Advertisers in Parish Bulletins:
A Reflection for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

(Sign/Voice)

The Immaculate Conception & Other Conceptions

• Putin, Desperate To Reverse Russia’s Demographic Collapse, Moves To Restrict Abortions and Pardon Female Inmates Who Conceive During Marital Visits (The New York Sun, 12/1/23)

• Joan Andrews Bell’s husband shares updates on imprisoned wife: ‘Spirits are very strong’ (LifeSite, 11/30/23)

• BREAKING: Henry Kissinger, architect of population control, dies aged 100 (LifeSite, 11/30/23)

• Can I Trust Hallow?  - The Voice of Liam Neeson and the Voice Heard in Ramah (SpiritualDirection.com, 11/30/23)

• That They Might Have Life (Archdiocese of Denver, 11/10/23)

• The Two-Parent Privilege is both quite insightful and very lacking (John Grondelski, PhD, 11/9/23)

•  "The big problem among diocesan clergy today that separates one priest from another is sexual orientation. When only straight priests were ordained in the past, a priest did not have to worry about another priest hitting on him. In a similar vein, in the past, straight priests did not have to worry about gay clerics being openly hostile to them simply because they were straight" (Rev Paul Kalchik, 11/9/23)
• Response to Cardinal Dolan on Gay Rights Group in St. Patrick’s Parade (Hon. Marshall, 2015)

1st Sunday of Advent: "Why do You let us wander, O Lord"

The Immaculate Conception & Other Conceptions

(Sign/Voice)

 Saint Francis Xavier & "Silence," December 3

Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle, November 30

• Celebrating Christ the King: 12 Interesting Facts About Christ the Redeemer Statue (National Catholic Register, 11/26/23)

• Chris Slattery, Direct Assistance to Moms & Changing Laws, RIP (Catholic 365, 11/24/23)

• Dublin archbishop responds to stabbing of 3 children that sparked violent riots (CNA, 11/24/23)

• An important look at the Israeli perspective...

• Report: Nigeria Is the ‘Most Dangerous Place’ to Be a Christian (Thomas Williams, PhD, 11/19/23)

• ‘Anti-Christian hate crimes’ in Europe up 44% in past year, watchdog group says (Catholic World Report, 11/17/23)

• Squeezing the World's Vulnerable People (Victor Davis Hanson, 11/9/23)

"what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for Me" (Christ the King, 11/26)

 

(sign/voice)

• "In this house of ours, which is the world, everyone has a right to experience the light of charity; no one must be deprived of that light. May the steadfast love of Saint Therese stir our hearts on this World Day of the Poor, and help us not to 'turn our face away from anyone who is poor', but to keep it always focused on the human and divine face of Jesus Christ our Lord" (Pope Francis, message for the 11/19/23 World Day of the Poor).

• AFRICA/NIGERIA - National Missionary Congress calls for the canonization of those killed in odium fidei" and protection strategies from the violence affecting the ecclesial community (Agenzia Fides, 11/18/23)

• November 18 was the 45th anniversary of the US Bishops' pastoral on people with disabilities:
• Our Treatment of People with Disabilities 

• Ukraine Sure Doesn't Look Like a Democracy Anymore | Opinion (Newsweek, 11/17/23)

• "Twenty years and one day ago, there was not a single state in the Union that considered it proper—or possible—for one man to be married to another" (The American Conservative, 11/18/23)

• Capitol Police: Anti-Israel DNC Riot Was 'Not Peaceful' (CatholicVote org, 11/17/23)
• Hundreds of Thousands Flood DC to March [peacefully] for Israel (DailySignal, 11/14/23)
The Strickland Dismissal (World Over, 11/16/23)

Silence in the Face of the Homosexual Infestation of the Clergy (Crisis Magazine, 11/16/23)

Catholic-Funded Org Has Direct Ties to Marxists, Abortion Providers, and LGBTQ Activism (The Lepanto Institute, 11/12/23)

11/19 : "an unfailing prize" (33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)

When one finds a worthy wife,
her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her,
has an unfailing prize.
She brings him good, and not evil,
all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax
and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting;
the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors,
& let her works praise her at the city gates

(sign/voice for 33rd Sunday) 

Our Treatment of People with Disabilities 

• In rare move, Pope forcibly removes conservative Texas bishop (AP News, 11/11/23)

• Sign language tools corresponding to the A cycle of Sunday/Christmas Mass readings (Catholic365, 11/11/23)

• Hong Kong government: 10 bishops' appeal for Jimmy Lai is 'Contempt of Court' (asianews, 11/10/23)
• Senior Catholic leaders sign petition calling for immediate release of Jimmy Lai (Doughty Street Chambers, 11/7/23)

• Catholics and pot: Denver archbishop speaks out against marijuana use, U.S. drug culture (Catholic News Agency, 11/10/23)

• BREAKING: Pro-Life Hero Mark Houck Sues Biden DOJ That Targeted Him (CatholicVote org, 11/8/23)

• No votes for people who are ok with slaughtering human infants or who think it's ok to mutilate kids' gonads.  No votes for people who pretend that supporting monogamous heterosexual marriage is a hate crime (Catholic 365, 11/8/23)

• Media Attacks Speaker Johnson, Son for Avoiding Pornography (DailySignal, 11/7/23)

11/12: "Resplendent and unfading is wisdom"

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sign/Voice) 

• Same Sex Attraction (Catechism in a Year, 11/4/23)
• “New Ways” and a Very Old Proclivity (Catholic Stand, 11/4/23)

(Very graphic:)

• Nigerian bishop: Tens of thousands spent to rescue kidnapped priests, seminarians (Catholic News Agency, 11/3/23)

• U.S. Bishops Ignore Embarrassing [sic] Papal Letter on ‘Climate Crisis’ (Thomas Williams, PhD, 11/1/23)
• Laudato Si, Laudate Deum, & "Climate Change" (Catholic365, 10/4/23)

• Speaker Johnson Slams FBI Over Targeting of Religious Americans (Daily Signal, 11/1/23)

• Being Signs of Contradiction (Catholic365, 10/30/23)

11/5: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

"do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.  For they preach but they do not practice" (11/5/23 sign/voice).

All Souls Day

All Saints Day

• Being Signs of Contradiction (Catholic365, 10/30/23)

• The invocation for peace continues without interruption on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem (The Custody in the Holy Land, 10/28/23)

• Introducing the Other Catholics (Catholic365, 10/25/23)

• Monk Shot, Body “thrown into a river” following Kidnapping at a Nigerian Monastery (aciafrica, 10/24/23)
• Expert says Nigeria has more Christian martyrs than anywhere else on earth (Crux, 9/1/2023)

• New Book: The Brain Death Fallacy (The Healthcare Advocacy & Leadership Organization, 10/23/23)

• Which Cosmetics Use Fetal Cells (Human Life International)

Worldwide Day of Fasting & Prayer for Peace (10/27/23)

• Nigeria & others need to be added to our prayers....
• Monk Shot, Body “thrown into a river” following Kidnapping at a Nigerian Monastery (aciafrica, 10/24/23)
• Expert says Nigeria has more Christian martyrs than anywhere else on earth (Crux, 9/1/2023)0

• Just-war theory allows for no blank checks in Ukraine (Catholic Culture, 8/18/2023)

New Book: The Brain Death Fallacy (The Healthcare Advocacy & Leadership Organization, 10/23/23)

10/29: "The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments"

(10/29/23, sign/voice).

Happiness in Marriage (10/28)

 

• Eucharistic Procession (Trenton, 10/20/23)
• The state of the pro-life movement in New Jersey (Catholic World Report, 10/18/23)

• Scenes from the Pa March for Life, 10/16/23
• The Ideology of Gender Harms Children (Catholic Medical Association, 10/16/23 rev)
• Which Cosmetics Use Fetal Cells (Human Life International)

“In the present cultural context, there is a particularly urgent need to defend marriage and the family, which can be adequately met only if one is convinced of the unique and singular value of these two realities for an authentic development of human society” 

(St. Pope John Paul II, 1981)

Scorecard - SBA Pro-Life America

We MUST Promote Recognition of the Sanctity of Life & the Sanctity of Marriage/Family/Human Sexuality (10/15/23 edition)

Scientific documentation abortion [including so called "contraceptives" that are abortifacient] kills living human beings/persons (Diane Irving, PhD, 6/26/22)

Advertisers in Parish Bulletins

Letters to Pharmaceutical Companies ["to protest the use of abortion-derived cell lines and advocate for the development of vaccines with no connection to abortion."]  (USCCB)

Children of God for Life

President Joe Biden Has Turned a Blind Eye to the Killing of Christians in Nigeria.

The Bible in a Year

The Catechism in a Year

Eucharistic Procession (Trenton, 7/20/23)

 

 

 

Scenes from the Pa March for Life, 10/16/23