Events and More for “Respect Life Month”

Oct 4
Prayer Chain. Sunday, October 4 is Respect Life Sunday. Check the area where you live for details about participating in the annual Silent Prayer Chain for Life.

 

Ongoing through November 1
40 Days for Life. You can follow (at http://40daysforlife.com) the amazing stories of babies saved, and of mothers and employees converted (and maybe you’ll want to sign up to receive the daily updates in your email). Also, consider participating in a vigil near you (see http://40daysforlife.com/location.cfm). Even if you aren’t near a specific vigil location, consider praying and fasting in union with all the participants across the country.

 

Oct 16-18
Worldwide Rosary for the Unborn. This has become an annual event that has related events in January and May. This “event” is something you can do wherever you are, i.e., without having to be in a certain place at a specific time. Participation is simply to pray the rosary (at any time during those three days, and as many times as you like) for the following intention: “For an end to the surgical and non-surgical killing of unborn human persons“.

This event and the others similar to it were started by the same person who provides the beautiful bumper stickers saying “Pray the Rosary for the Protection of Unborn Human Persons” and showing the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Learn more at www.saintmichaelthearchangelorganization.org.

I don’t think it is merely a coincidence that October is both “Respect Life Month” and the “Month of the Holy Rosary” (with Oct 7 being the specific feast day for Our Lady of the Rosary). We know that Our Lady certainly cares about the unborn children, the disabled, the elderly, and those who suffer with terminal illnesses. All human life is sacred and she is ready, willing, and able to help us defend it.

 

Ongoing
Eucharistic Adoration. While I’m at it, may I also encourage you to consider signing up for an hour of Eucharistic adoration? Making visits (brief ones at random, or a full holy hour on a weekly basis) is one of the most powerful ways to pray for pro-life, pro-marriage, and pro-family concerns. Check with your own parish or others nearby to learn the days and times that the church or chapel provides access for prayer in front of Jesus visibly in the monstrance or hidden in the tabernacle. 

 

Ongoing
Health Care Legislation. Please continue praying about the outcome of the legislative process of health care reform. I won’t use this message to discuss the legislation in full detail, and I can’t keep you updated frequently because the news changes quickly and my time is limited, but it does seem that this month is likely to be critical in determining what will happen in Congress, especially with a significant step that can happen on or near Oct 15 regarding something called “reconciliation” which can affect the number of votes needed to pass or stop legislation. (AUL Action has a description at http://blog.aul.org/2009/09/08/back-to-the-hill-guide-what-to-expect-next/# that may be helpful to you even though parts of that page are outdated now.)

Here’s a quick description of the Church’s stance as I understand it (please send corrections/clarifications if you have better information):

The Church does advocate for “universal” coverage of all people, based upon the dignity inherent in every human being since we are all created in the image and likeness of God. But that coverage does not mean that all possible treatments/procedures/etc must be covered, nor does it mean that the government must be the provider.

Thus, there is a great need for the legislation to have an explicit exclusion for abortion (i.e., stating that abortion will not be provided nor funded by any new legislation).

The legislation also needs clear and firm protection for the conscience rights of health care workers and institutions.

And it needs protection for the elderly and others who could be subjected to “counseling” that might sway them into choosing death not life-giving options when they are in difficult decisions about end-of-life care.

In addition to prayer, please consider signing up for any of the various information sources that I’ve mentioned in the past, and to try motivating people in other states to contact their legislators, especially if those legislators are ones who might be sitting somewhere in the middle regarding the important points. Also, keep alert to times when contacting your own legislators will be helpful. I have found AUL (Americans United for Life) to be pretty reliable at keeping subscribers informed (via free email updates). At the end of this message, I’ll give you the update they sent tonight (regarding some of the amendments discussed this week). See also http://blog.aul.org/2009/09/30/leading-pro-life-group-outraged-by-the-defeat-of-key-pro-life-amendments-in-senate-finance-committee/# .

 

General Notes.

• October is also National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Perhaps you are not aware that one of the most well-known organizations does provide some funding to Planned Parenthood. Please do research before you make contributions (including purchases of “pink ribbon” merchandise), especially if you are considering donating to or helping to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. (It has changed names over the years, so I generally refer to it as simply the Komen foundation.) Let me know if you want more information about the Komen connection to PP. Here is a link to some organizations that you might prefer to support: www.bdfund.org/breastcancerorgs.asp. (And notice the link at the bottom of that page to take you to www.bdfund.org/breastcancer.
  asp with an explanation about the K-PP connection.) Many organization use the pink ribbon symbol as an incentive; the labeling details vary and can make it difficult to identify whom is actually being supported by the purchase.

• There is SO MUCH happening in the news (i.e., much of it you may not hear/read if you only use the mainstream media) that needs prayer and action. Threats to the sanctity of life and marriage seem to be growing at an increasing rate, including threats affecting children in schools and even affecting homeschooling families. So if anyone wants to help me keep track for the purpose of deciding what to share with others, please feel free to offer your assistance.

• Prayer from www.priestsforlife.org/prayercampaign/ 

Prayer for our Nation’s Health Care Reform

Lord Jesus, you are the Divine Physician,

And the source of all life and health.

Guide our nation at this critical moment,

As our government seeks health care reforms.

Give our elected officials the humility to know

That they are servants, not masters.

Give them the wisdom to realize

That every life has equal value.

Give them the strength to resist the idea

That some lives can be sacrificed to save others

Or that killing the unborn is a part of health care.

Give your people the courage to speak up

And to hold public officials accountable for their actions.

Save us, Lord Jesus, from a culture of death,

And let every reform in our public policy

Be based on the reform of our hearts and minds

In the light of your Gospel,

For you are Lord forever and ever. Amen.

—————————————————————————————————————–

The remainder of this message is from an email sent by AUL Action.

You can sign up (at http://action.aul.org/site/PageNavigator/Index ) to receive similar messages directly from them.

—————————————————————————————————————–

—– Original Message —–

Sent: 10/2/2009 6:58:48 PM

Subject: Pro-Life Amendments Defeated. Help Us Fight.

Dear Friend,

On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee’s vote of 10-13 to defeat the Hatch Amendment ( http://blog.aul.org/2009/09/30/update-amendments-in-senate-finance-committee-mark-up/# ) proved the pro-life community correct: The talk from the White House and the Congressional leadership of avoiding funding of abortions in health care is just that — talk.

The amendment sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) would have explicitly prohibited federal funding and coverage of abortions. Also defeated by the committee was another amendment by Sen. Hatch that would have prevented discrimination against any individual or organization who refused to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.

So what does this mean? Since the start of the health care debate, including at our White House meeting last month ( http://blog.aul.org/
2009/09/19/leading-pro-life-group-concerned-by-white-house-meeting-on-abortion/# ), Americans United for Life Action has argued consistently that rhetorical assurances that abortion funding will not be included in health care reform are not enough. Rhetoric must be matched with action, with the addition in the bills of specific language prohibiting abortion. Since all five committees have rejected pro-life amendments which would ban abortion funding and coverage in health care, it is clear that we MUST keep questioning the gap between reality and the rhetorical assurances we are hearing from President Obama, Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi.

The AUL legal team has documented for you the facts behind their myth that the Hyde Amendment ( http://www.realhealthcare
respectslife.com/?page_id=388# ) would adequately prevent federal funding and coverage of abortion in health care reform. We want you to have the facts to make it easy to speak up.

Now that committee consideration of health care reform is over, the “behind the scenes” negotiations begin. At this crucial stage, the Congressional leadership is going to be negotiating backroom deals with your legislators. Be aware that the next page in the pro-abortion playbook will be that Pelosi and Reid are going to try to make a deal like the anti-life Capps Amendment ( http://blog.aul.org/2009/09/22/
the-capps-amendment-a-pro-life-analysis/# ) approach, which we oppose. The anti-life Capps Amendment approach is not acceptable because for the first time in history, the federal government will require that there be a health insurance plan that covers abortion in every area. Furthermore, the anti-life Capps Amendment permits federal money to go to insurance plans that cover abortion.

I assure you, we are hearing that the “deals” being discussed by Congressional Leadership on Capitol Hill are merely anti-life initiatives in the guise of ‘compromise,’ such as the Capps Amendment approach, and this will NOT protect pro-lifers from subsidizing abortion in health care reform.

This is where you come in.

YOU need to tell your congressman and senator ( http://action.
aul.org/site/PageNavigator/Index ) that you will ONLY accept health care reform that includes an explicit prohibition on federal funding and coverage of abortion, much like the pro-life Stupak-Pitts and Hatch amendments that were defeated in Committees.

Thank you for all your support during this extremely busy time as we work to show Congress and all Americans that “Real Health Care Respects Life”!

For Life,

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D.

President & CEO

P.S.

Please help us continue fighting through supporting our efforts to protect and defend life by following this link to a secure donation page (http://action.aul.org/site/PageNavigator/Index ).

P.S.S.

Let me know what you think! You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook, and follow AUL on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. We’re also reachable by e-mail at info@aul.org.

Respect Life Sunday

The first Sunday in October is Respect Life Sunday. On this special day, please reflect with gratitude on God’s priceless gift of human life. While you are at church, you can help make a difference by printing and handing out several copies of our flyer (http://www.real
healthcarerespectslife.com/RealHealthCareRespectsLife.
pdf ) to help educate your friends and family that Real Health Care Respects Life!

Understand the Abortion Mandate

Please print and send your friends this flowchart

[PDF sheet http://www.realhealthcarerespectslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/AUL-abortion-mandate-flow-chart-final-PDF.pdf ]

[JPG image http://www.realhealthcarerespectslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/flow-chart-full.jpg ]

which demonstrates how the abortion mandate will work without an explicit, proactive exclusion of abortion from health care reform. Please let your friends know about these efforts to mandate taxpayer-funded abortions as a part of the current health care proposals.

AUL Action

The Legislative Arm of Americans United for Life

Chicago: 310 S Peoria Street | Ste 500 | Chicago, IL 60607

Washington, DC: 655 15th St NW | Ste 410 | Washington, DC 20005

Mother Teresa’s Anniversary

This feast day, the twelfth anniversary of her death, is a fitting day to take a look at (or listen to) Mother Teresa’s words at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994.

http://www.priestsforlife.org/mother-teresa/breakfast-letter.htm

 

 

 

Here are links to other items I found while trying to verify that this date is her feast day. (Not all blesseds and saints have their feast days on the anniversary of their deaths, i.e., the anniversary of their entrance into Heaven), but in this case the two dates are the same.)

http://deaconjohn1987.blogspot.com/2008/09/maryvitamin-blessed-teresa-of-calcutta.html

http://www.motherteresa.org/Novena/MadreTeresa_feast_2008.html

The feast day of a saint or a blessed is a day set apart by the Church at the time of Beatification for giving special honor to the particular saint or blessed. On this day, we celebrate the memory of the Blessed or Saint, honouring his or her life, work and virtue and offer thanks to God for the wonders He has accomplished in history through this particular saint. In commemorating the feast of a Blessed or a Saint, we rejoice in the gift of his/her life lived for God in the service of His people and his/ her birth into heaven. We also draw inspiration and strength from the example of their virtues and unique gifts. The main celebration of a feast day lies in the Mass and other prayers where the Blessed or the Saint is mentioned by name or honoured; since they are closely united to God in heaven, we ask them to intercede for our needs before the throne of God and to help us on our path to union with Him. The joy of the celebration of a feast is also expressed in other festive ways (including religious and cultural events and offering something special to the poor ).

The feast of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta is on September 5th. Our preparation for her feast includes nine days of prayer at her tomb. We look to her as a model of love for God and neighbor, a beacon of light and hope, a friend and intercessor and most of all, as our Mother whose, help and guidance we can still count on.

http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/2007/09/07/marking-the-feast-of-blessed-mother-teresa-of-calcutta/

http://www.priestsforlife.org/mother-teresa/

All of the above portions of this post were prepared more than a week ago, and scheduled for publication on MT’s feast day. Here is a link to something that I found more recently http://www.lifenews.com/int1312.html

About the Bill HR 3200

In case anybody you talk with tries to dispute that abortion will be covered in the currently proposed health care legislation, here are some links that can help you discuss that. Sorry, I don’t have time to provide excerpts.

http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA09H17#WA09H17  
(has good balance of brevity and detail, as well as the image used in this post)

http://www.lifenews.com/nat5390.html
Time Magazine Confirms Health Care Bills Include Taxpayer-Funded Abortions

http://www.lifenews.com/nat5388.html 
Nonpartisan FactCheck Web Site: Obama Wrong, Abortion Funding in Health Care

Blessed Mother Teresa Novena

This novena, apparently initiated by Priests for Life, starts tomorrow.

Mother Teresa truly is a renown pro-life hero unafraid of speaking the truth. ( See example at http://www.priestsforlife.org/mother-teresa/breakfast-letter.htm. ) We can ask her intercession for our country at this challenging time.

Mother Teresa was called from this world on September 5, 1997. As we approach the anniversary of her death, we invite you to say this special prayer each day.

We would also like to hear from you about how Mother Teresa impacted your life with her example and teaching. Please share with us why you are grateful to God for Mother Teresa, and what you learned from her. If you had an opportunity to meet her or be in her presence, we also invite you to share what that was like.

 

Father of Life,

You always defend the poor and oppressed.

In Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, You raised up a voice for the voiceless

And a friend to the poorest of the poor, the unborn child.

She brought women away from the despair of abortion clinics

To the hope of a loving community

That cared for her and her child.

She spoke the truth to men and women of power,

Asking them how we could tell people not to kill one another

While allowing a mother to kill her own child.

Father, as we honor this humble and faithful woman,

We ask you to give us the grace To follow her example.

May we be bold in word and generous in action

To love and serve the unborn

And to awaken our world to know, as Mother Teresa said,

That the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.

Fill us with love, bring us peace, and let us share your life forever.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

You can find a Spanish translation for the above text, along with other links about Mother Teresa, and the opportunity to submit your description of “how Mother Teresa has impacted your life” by going to http://www.priestsforlife.org/novenas/mother-teresa-novena.aspx. The novena begins Friday, August 28th.

Letter from a Bishop

This letter was mentioned on the EWTN program “The World Over” by host Raymond Arroyo.

Voice Your Concern Over Healthcare Reform

Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless

Bishop of Sioux City [Iowa]

The current national debate about health care reform should concern all of us. There is much at stake in this political struggle, and also much confusion and inaccurate information being thrown around. My brother bishops have described some clear “goal-posts” to mark out what is acceptable reform, and what must be rejected. First and most important, the Church will not accept any legislation that mandates coverage, public or private, for abortion, euthanasia, or embryonic stem-cell research. We refuse to be made complicit in these evils, which frankly contradict what “health care” should mean.

[That part is at the home page of http://www.scdiocese.org/.
The remainder is at http://www.scdiocese.org/Stewardship/
/tabid/416/Default.aspx.]

We refuse to allow our own parish, school, and diocesan health insurance plans to be forced to include these evils. As a corollary of this, we insist equally on adequate protection of individual rights of conscience for patients and health care providers not to be made complicit in these evils. A so-called reform that imposes these evils on us would be far worse than keeping the health care system we now have.

Second, the Catholic Church does not teach that “health care” as such, without distinction, is a natural right. The “natural right” of health care is the divine bounty of food, water, and air without which all of us quickly die. This bounty comes from God directly. None of us own it, and none of us can morally withhold it from others. The remainder of health care is a political, not a natural, right, because it comes from our human efforts, creativity, and compassion. As a political right, health care should be apportioned according to need, not ability to pay or to benefit from the care. We reject the rationing of care. Those who are sickest should get the most care, regardless of age, status, or wealth. But how to do this is not self-evident. The decisions that we must collectively make about how to administer health care therefore fall under “prudential judgment.”

Third, in that category of prudential judgment, the Catholic Church does not teach that government should directly provide health care. Unlike a prudential concern like national defense, for which government monopolization is objectively good – it both limits violence overall and prevents the obvious abuses to which private armies are susceptible – health care should not be subject to federal monopolization. Preserving patient choice (through a flourishing private sector) is the only way to prevent a health care monopoly from denying care arbitrarily, as we learned from HMOs in the recent past. While a government monopoly would not be motivated by profit, it would be motivated by such bureaucratic standards as quotas and defined “best procedures,” which are equally beyond the influence of most citizens. The proper role of the government is to regulate the private sector, in order to foster healthy competition and to curtail abuses. Therefore any legislation that undermines the viability of the private sector is suspect. Private, religious hospitals and nursing homes, in particular, should be protected, because these are the ones most vigorously offering actual health care to the poorest of the poor.

The best way in practice to approach this balance of public and private roles is to spread the risks and costs of health care over the largest number of people. This is the principle underlying Medicaid and Medicare taxes, for example. But this principle assumes that the pool of taxable workers is sufficiently large, compared to those who draw the benefits, to be reasonably inexpensive and just. This assumption is at root a pro-life assumption! Indeed, we were a culture of life when such programs began. Only if we again foster a culture of life can we perpetuate the economic justice of taxing workers to pay health care for the poor. Without a growing population of youth, our growing population of retirees is outstripping our distribution systems. In a culture of death such as we have now, taxation to redistribute costs of medical care becomes both unjust and unsustainable.

Fourth, preventative care is a moral obligation of the individual to God and to his or her family and loved ones, not a right to be demanded from society. The gift of life comes only from God; to spurn that gift by seriously mistreating our own health is morally wrong. The most effective preventative care for most people is essentially free – good diet, moderate exercise, and sufficient sleep. But pre-natal and neo-natal care are examples of preventative care requiring medical expertise, and therefore cost; and this sort of care should be made available to all as far as possible.

Within these limits, the Church has been advocating for decades that health care be made more accessible to all, especially to the poor. Will the current health care reform proposals achieve these goals?

The current House reform bill, HR 3200, does not meet the first or the fourth standard. As Cardinal Justin Rigali has written for the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-life Activities, this bill circumvents the Hyde amendment (which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions) by drawing funding from new sources not covered by the Hyde amendment, and by creatively manipulating how federal funds covered by the Hyde amendment are accounted. It also provides a “public insurance option” without adequate limits, so that smaller employers especially will have a financial incentive to push all their employees into this public insurance. This will effectively prevent those employees from choosing any private insurance plans. This will saddle the working classes with additional taxes for inefficient and immoral entitlements. The Senate bill, HELP, is better than the House bill, as I understand it. It subsidizes care for the poor, rather than tending to monopolize care. But, it designates the limit of four times federal poverty level for the public insurance option, which still includes more than half of all workers. This would impinge on the vitality of the private sector. It also does not meet the first standard of explicitly excluding mandatory abortion coverage.

I encourage all of you to make you voice heard to our representatives in Congress. Tell them what they need to hear from us: no health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform. Insist that they not permit themselves to be railroaded into the current too-costly and pro-abortion health care proposals. Insist on their support for proposals that respect the life and dignity of every human person, especially the unborn. And above all, pray for them, and for our country. (Please see the website for the Iowa Catholic Conference at www.iowacatholicconference.org and www.usccb.org/healthcare for more information)

Your brother in Christ,

Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless

Bishop of Sioux City

You can contact your legislators via the following Web sites

http://www.senate.gov/

http://www.house.gov/

 and/or the U.S. Capitol Switchboard

at 202-224-3121