Consider this… Science and Pro-Life
From Daybreak TV Productions
Bishop Richard Malone tells a story about a science student’s discovery under a microscope.
Celebration of Life
From: Western New York Catholic
Justice Perspective: Celebration of Life
By Deacon Don Weigel
During this month of October we take time to remind ourselves that as Catholics we respect life, life in all its forms, life as the greatest gift of God. And we declare October to be Respect Life month. What a great celebration it should be – expressing our gratitude for the immeasurable variety of life, and how the human person participates in the light and power of the Spirit of God. Our celebration of life is, of course, marred by those events and practices that we recognize to be a part of a culture of death, and not a culture of life. And in this month, we particularly pay attention to the tragedy and the scandal of the presence of legalized abortion in our country.
As part of our celebration of life, we join in so many positive activities. There is a Mass and procession to the abortion clinic on Main Street to silently protest abortion and stand in witness to our respect for life. We gather together along Niagara Falls Boulevard in a “life chain” to demonstrate the number of us who are proudly pro-life, and call others to the same defense of life. Many gather in front of the abortion clinic for “40 Days for Life,” creating a constant series of prayers for an end to abortion and a greater respect for all life.
Those who are involved in each of these activities would quickly admit that if all of these actions saved only one life, then their efforts were worth it. This underscores a deep principle behind the teaching of the Church on life – that each and every life has an infinite value. Because each human being is created in God’s likeness, and is a marvelous unity of body and soul, each life has infinite value in the eyes of God.
This is true of each person, regardless of their condition, or their circumstances, or their past. I am reminded of this each time I visit Collins Correctional Facility and talk with the men inside. Sometimes I am speaking with men who have done some horrible things that have landed them in prison. If we still had the death penalty in New York, some of the men I talk to would have been executed for their crime. Thankfully they are still alive to turn their lives around and to walk a different path – one that is a journey based on their faith in Jesus.
This is, perhaps, the hardest part of our profession of respect for all life – to assert the transcendent dignity of each human person, no matter who they are. All of our pro-life activities stand or fall on this truth. It is critical for us to be unwavering in our defense of unborn life. The abortion of so many human lives every day is a disgrace to our culture and an indignity to who we profess to be as 21st century Americans. But our defense must be based on the unyielding principle of the infinite value of each and every human life.
Each time we take action to reduce the number of abortions, we are celebrating life. Each time another state bans the death penalty, we are celebrating life. Each time we insist on not using military means, but instead finding non-violent solutions to problems, we are celebrating life.
This month is Respect Life month. We are called to defend, advance and uphold the sanctity of each and every human life and to declare each person to have infinite value. That is how we celebrate life.
Deacon Don Weigel is the associate public policy coordinator at Catholic Charities of Buffalo and an instructor at Christ the King Seminary. He may be reached via email.
Knights of Columbus’ ‘heroic’ pro-life work wins Notre Dame prize
Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson. Credit: Knights of Columbus.
.- The Knights of Columbus and Supreme Knight Carl Anderson have been named the recipients of a University of Notre Dame institute’s 2015 Evangelium Vitae medal in recognition of their pro-life efforts.
“Since its inception, the Knights of Columbus has protected and supported the most vulnerable among us,” Carter Snead, director of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, said Oct. 5.
“Supreme Knight Carl Anderson and the Knights of Columbus richly deserve to be recognized as heroic contributors to the pro-life cause; they embody the spirit of the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal,” Snead said in an announcement from the ethics center.
“They have tirelessly volunteered, educated, advocated, donated, and prayed on behalf of every human life from conception to natural death.”
Since 2011, the Evangelium Vitae Medal has been awarded annually by the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture to those who have worked to help build a culture of life and respect for the sanctity of life from its earliest stages. The medal was inspired by St. John Paul II’s 1995 papal encyclical “Evangelium Vitae.”
The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal order, was founded in New Haven, Conn., in 1882 by Venerable Michael J. McGivney, a parish priest. It has 1.8 million members worldwide who perform volunteer service and advance the order’s key principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.
The organization has contributed $1.4 billion to charity in the last 14 years and its members have performed 664 million hours of community service. It has donated more than 268 ultrasound machines worth an estimated $14 million to pregnancy resource centers in 44 U.S. states and in Canada.
Anderson has headed the Knights of Columbus for 14 years.
Snead said Knights of Columbus members have been “at the forefront of the struggle to promote a culture of life through their work at the local, national, and international levels.”
The award is announced on the first Sunday of October, Respect Life Sunday. It consists of a specially commissioned medal and a $10,000 prize. It will be presented at a spring banquet on April 26 of next year.
Previous recipients of the prize have included the Sisters of Life, George Mason University law professor Helen M. Alvaré, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and the U.S. bishops’ conference pro-life activities official, Richard Doerflinger.
40 Days For Life-Buffalo
From: Office of Pro-life – Diocese of Buffalo
“This Weeks Campaign Launch Events”
Wednesday, September 24, 2014 7:30 pm
Holy Mass will be celebrated by the Consolata Fathers today Wednesday to help kick-off the Fall Campaign!
Campaign Kick-off Mass Consolata Fathers Missionaries, 35 Brompton Road, Williamsville, N.Y. 14221
40 Days for Life-Buffalo KICKOFF RALLY – Friday September 26, 2014 7:30 – 9:00 pm
Lancaster Presbyterian Church, 5461 Broadway, Lancaster, NY
- Rev. Jason J. McGuire, Executive Director of the New Yorker’s Family Research Foundation http://www.newyorkfamilies.org/jason-mcguire will be our keynote speaker. Rev. McGuire is a passionate defender of Christian principles, and he fervently believes that these principles can only be lived out if the hearts of men and women turn to God.
- If you can help with food, setup, or clean up, contact our Events Coordinator Delphine Verdi at 868-2049 or email her at dollyverdi@gmail.com
A GOOD WILL OFFERING WILL BE COLLECTED AT THE EVENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF REVEREND JASON McGUIRE AND NEW YORKER’S FAMILY RESEARCH FOUNDATION.
For more information on 40 Days contact Peter @ (716) 684-2277.
Rosary Novena for Life Mass: Saturday, September 27
- Come join Reverend Dan Young, pastor of Good Shepherd Parish, and us to pray for a Culture of Life at 8:00am on Saturday, September 27 at the Rosary Novena for Life Mass at St. Rose of Lima Parish (between Parker & Winston). All priests and deacons are invited to concelebrate and vest Mass. After Mass we welcome all to peacefully and prayerfully walk to the local abortion clinic silently praying the rosary for mothers, fathers, their unborn children and the ultimate end to abortion.
National Life Chain
Respect Life Sunday
National Life Chain
October 5, 2014
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
LIFE CHAIN is a peaceful and prayerful public witness of pro-life individuals standing for 60 minutes praying for our nation and for an end to abortion. It is a visual statement of solidarity by the Christian community that abortion kills children and that the Church supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death.
1. Pro Life Committee of Chautauqua County (PLCCC) (representing – Blessed Mary Angela, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton of Dunkirk – St. Anthony’s, Holy Trinity & St. Josephs of Fredonia – Our Lady of Mt Carmel of Silver Creek and Forestville, St. Dominic’s of Brocton & Westfield. Will stand from 2:00-3:00 pm at Blessed Mary Angela (St. Hyacinth’s location) on route 5, Dunkirk heading west to Route 60 (Central Avenue). Continuing up Route 60 to Fredonia State College. Refreshments to follow at Blessed Mary Angela Lyceum on Route 5. All are welcome to make a statement for life by standing with us for one hour, whether you are Catholic or non-Catholic. For more information contact Pat at (716) 207-6509.
2. St. Josaphat, Cheektowaga will stand from 2:00-3:00 pm at “the Battery Store” across the street from the Original Pancake House near the 290.
3. St. Martha, Depew will stand from 2 to 3 P.M. on Niagara Falls Blvd and Erie Ave., North Tonawanda, on the Southeast Corner of that location. In front of the Tim Horton’s Coffee Shop.
4. St. Bernadette, Orchard Park will stand from 2:00-3:00 pm at the beginning Main and Niagara Falls Blvd.
5. St. Mary, Canaseraga will stand 5 from 2-3 pm on the corner of route 70 and North Church St., Canaseraga. Meet at Creekside Family Medicine to receive signs. Contact Jen Spoth 607-295-8206.
6. St. Leo the Great, Amherst will stand from 2:00 – 3:00 pm on the west side of Niagara Falls Blvd., corner of Tonawanda Creek Rd. (White Chapel Memorial Park cemetery), West Amherst, NY.
7. St. Michael, Warsaw will stand from 2:00-3:00 pm along Main St/Rte. 19, Warsaw.
8. St. Mary’s on the Hill, Lancaster will stand from 2:00-3:00pm on Niagara Falls Blvd between Draden Lane and Edward White Streets.
9. Our Lady of Pompeii Church, Lancaster will stand from 2:00-3:00 pm on Niagara Falls Blvd. between Draden Lane and Edward White Streets.
10. Most Precious Blood Church, Angola will stand from 2:00-3:00 pm in Derby NY Route 5 (Erie Rd.) at the corner of Nettle Creek Rd.
11. Immaculate Conception Church, Ransomville will stand from 2:00-3:00 pm on Niagara Falls Boulevard in the Town of Niagara at 100th street.
12. St Mary, Holley from 2-3 pm. The Rosary will be recited before our weekend Masses at both St Mary in Holley and St Mark in Kendall in October.
13. Blessed John Paul II, Lake View will stand from 2:00-3:00 pm, between Willow Ridge and Draedon (right turn off the Youngman/290 and one block down on the right side towards Niagara Falls).
14. St. Jude the Apostle, North Tonawanda will stand from 2:00-3:00 pm near Erie Ave. and Shawnee Road with a reception at 3 pm in our new Parish Center. For more information contact Stella at 693-5760.
15. Blessed Sacrament, Tonawanda will meet at Father Cotter’s hall at 1:30 pm to get signs and pray. We will be standing at Niagara Falls Blvd and Longmeadow between 2:00- 3:00pm.
16. St. Mary’s Church, Holley will stand from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. from the parish driveway on NYS Route 31 eastward then Southerly along Main St. NYS Route 237.
We invite you, your church, your family, your friends, and your organization!
Call us and let us know which area of our route you will be covering!
Please call Pat Morelle 965-2738, Phil & Sue Scherer 673-1237
N. Chautauqua Life Chain sponsored by the Pro Life Committee of N. Chautauqua.
Visit us at www.prolifechautauquaco.org