Gianna Jessen – Abortion Survivor Speaks

Election Rosary Novena Begins!

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta urged us to understand: “But I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing, direct murder by the mother herself.”

 

Fr. Corapi Calls for Novena:

 

Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

 

Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.

 

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

 

I strongly urge every one of you to make a Novena and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory between October 27th and Election Day, November 4th. Pray that God’s will be done and the most innocent and utterly vulnerable of our brothers and sisters will be protected from this barbaric and grossly sinful blight on society that is abortion. No woman, and no man, has the right to choose to murder an innocent human being.

 

May God grant us the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and counsel to form our conscience in accordance with authentic Catholic teaching, and then vote that well‐formed Catholic conscience.

 

Please copy, email, link and distribute this article freely.

 

God Bless You

 

Fr. John Corapi 

www.fathercorapi.com

Advertisement

Just Look

The following is a letter from Cardinal Egan which appeared in Catholic New York. Read it. It’s the single best pro-life plea I’ve read in a long time. Here it is:

Just Look

The picture on this page is an untouched photograph of a being that has been within its mother for 20 weeks. Please do me the favor of looking at it carefully.

Have you any doubt that it is a human being?

If you do not have any such doubt, have you any doubt that it is an innocent human being?

If you have no doubt about this either, have you any doubt that the authorities in a civilized society are duty-bound to protect this innocent human being if anyone were to wish to kill it?

If your answer to this last query is negative, that is, if you have no doubt that the authorities in a civilized society would be duty-bound to protect this innocent human being if someone were to wish to kill it, I would suggest—even insist—that there is not a lot more to be said about the issue of abortion in our society. It is wrong, and it cannot—must not—be tolerated.

But you might protest that all of this is too easy. Why, you might inquire, have I not delved into the opinion of philosophers and theologians about the matter? And even worse: Why have I not raised the usual questions about what a “human being” is, what a “person” is, what it means to be “living,” and such? People who write books and articles about abortion always concern themselves with these kinds of things. Even the justices of the Supreme Court who gave us “Roe v. Wade” address them. Why do I neglect philosophers and theologians? Why do I not get into defining “human being,” defining “person,” defining “living,” and the rest? Because, I respond, I am sound of mind and endowed with a fine set of eyes, into which I do not believe it is well to cast sand. I looked at the photograph, and I have no doubt about what I saw and what are the duties of a civilized society if what I saw is in danger of being killed by someone who wishes to kill it or, if you prefer, someone who “chooses” to kill it. In brief: I looked, and I know what I saw.

But what about the being that has been in its mother for only 15 weeks or only 10? Have you photographs of that too? Yes, I do. However, I hardly think it necessary to show them. For if we agree that the being in the photograph printed on this page is an innocent human being, you have no choice but to admit that it may not be legitimately killed even before 20 weeks unless you can indicate with scientific proof the point in the development of the being before which it was other than an innocent human being and, therefore, available to be legitimately killed. Nor have Aristotle, Aquinas or even the most brilliant embryologists of our era or any other era been able to do so. If there is a time when something less than a human being in a mother morphs into a human being, it is not a time that anyone has ever been able to identify, though many have made guesses. However, guesses are of no help. A man with a shotgun who decides to shoot a being that he believes may be a human being is properly hauled before a judge. And hopefully, the judge in question knows what a “human being” is and what the implications of someone’s wishing to kill it are. The word “incarceration” comes to mind.

However, we must not stop here. The matter becomes even clearer and simpler if you obtain from the National Geographic Society two extraordinary DVDs. One is entitled “In the Womb” and illustrates in color and in motion the development of one innocent human being within its mother. The other is entitled “In the Womb—Multiples” and in color and motion shows the development of two innocent human beings—twin boys—within their mother. If you have ever allowed yourself to wonder, for example, what “living” means, these two DVDs will be a great help. The one innocent human being squirms about, waves its arms, sucks its thumb, smiles broadly and even yawns; and the two innocent human beings do all of that and more: They fight each other. One gives his brother a kick, and the other responds with a sock to the jaw. If you can convince yourself that these beings are something other than living and innocent human beings, something, for example, such as “mere clusters of tissues,” you have a problem far more basic than merely not appreciating the wrongness of abortion. And that problem is—forgive me—self-deceit in a most extreme form.

Adolf Hitler convinced himself and his subjects that Jews and homosexuals were other than human beings. Joseph Stalin did the same as regards Cossacks and Russian aristocrats. And this despite the fact that Hitler and his subjects had seen both Jews and homosexuals with their own eyes, and Stalin and his subjects had seen both Cossacks and Russian aristocrats with theirs. Happily, there are few today who would hesitate to condemn in the roundest terms the self-deceit of Hitler, Stalin or even their subjects to the extent that the subjects could have done something to end the madness and protect living, innocent human beings.

It is high time to stop pretending that we do not know what this nation of ours is allowing—and approving—with the killing each year of more than 1,600,000 innocent human beings within their mothers. We know full well that to kill what is clearly seen to be an innocent human being or what cannot be proved to be other than an innocent human being is as wrong as wrong gets. Nor can we honorably cover our shame (1) by appealing to the thoughts of Aristotle or Aquinas on the subject, inasmuch as we are all well aware that their understanding of matters embryological was hopelessly mistaken, (2) by suggesting that “killing” and “choosing to kill” are somehow distinct ethically, morally or criminally, (3) by feigning ignorance of the meaning of “human being,” “person,” “living,” and such, (4) by maintaining that among the acts covered by the right to privacy is the act of killing an innocent human being, and (5) by claiming that the being within the mother is “part” of the mother, so as to sustain the oft-repeated slogan that a mother may kill or authorize the killing of the being within her “because she is free to do as she wishes with her own body.”

One day, please God, when the stranglehold on public opinion in the United States has been released by the extremists for whom abortion is the center of their political and moral life, our nation will, in my judgment, look back on what we have been doing to innocent human beings within their mothers as a crime no less heinous than what was approved by the Supreme Court in the “Dred Scott Case” in the 19th century, and no less heinous than what was perpetrated by Hitler and Stalin in the 20th. There is nothing at all complicated about the utter wrongness of abortion, and making it all seem complicated mitigates that wrongness not at all. On the contrary, it intensifies it.

Do me a favor. Look at the photograph again. Look and decide with honesty and decency what the Lord expects of you and me as the horror of “legalized” abortion continues to erode the honor of our nation. Look, and do not absolve yourself if you refuse to act.

Edward Cardinal Egan
Archbishop of New York

Pulpits Are Thundering for Life As Election Day Nears

From Catholic Online:

 

Doug Kmeic and others can say what they want. Many pulpits in America are thundering the real truth – as Catholics we must stand for life when we vote.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) – Sunday our pastor finished his homily to the sound of applause from the congregation gathered. It didn’t just happen in one Mass, either. Basically, Father William Saunders just preached the truth and presented the clear teaching of the Church concerning the issues of life and the issues of the election. Some were uneasy, I’m sure; but the truth had been proclaimed and the enthusiasm was electric. He had touched a major chord in our hearts.Standing on the shoulders of so many courageous Catholics across the centuries, we, as the Church, are called to stand for the truth and represent the faith that we are called to affirm when we exercise our citizenship. We are challenged to stand for life.Frankly, I am weary to the point of disgust with all the finger pointing currently taking place, that so-and-so is not standing strong enough for truth. Accusations concerning perceived sins of omission are easy to pontificate.

Could we be doing more? Absolutely! I know of no one who can say that they are doing all that could be done to affirm the stand for life in this election. Certainly some a more bold, while others appear timid or silent. There are even some whose actions may cause some to turn away from our message of life.Could more bishops and other clergy speak up about these issues with greater courage and fortitude? Certainly! Would that every one of their voices proclaimed it from the housetops. Nothing breeds hope in the heart like a courageous message from our diocesan and parish leaders.

Still, as Catholics, we must celebrate the boldness of our Church regarding the issues of life in this Presidential election. Let’s affirm the prophetic voices that have been speaking loud and long, trying to wake up the frog that is starting to boil in the kettle. Without these voices, the cries of the unborn and the infirm may never have been heard at all.

Throughout the entire campaign process voices for life have been heard everywhere, in both parties. Whether it was a Giuliani, a Biden, or an Obama, the warnings were coming from the very beginning.As the field narrowed, the issue of life was certainly a major point of division between the two parties both in platform and presidential candidates.

During the conventions this past summer the voices became stronger. A number of bishops condemned “Catholic” politicians who were mutilating the Magisterium. It was an immediate correction, loud and strong.

Right now, nothing separates our two presidential candidates more than the issue of life. While there are many other important differences between the two, when we view each through the lens of our Churches teachings, this position stands out significantly.

As momentum continues to gather toward Election Day in November, Catholic voices are thundering even more loudly. The voices are coming from across the entire tapestry of the Church. Bishops, like Martino, Finn, and Chaput are calling upon the faithful to be faithful.

In Texas, Bishops Kevin Farrell of Dallas and Kevin Vann of Fort Worth said that they seek to “dispel any confusion or misunderstanding that may be present among you concerning the teaching contained in” the U.S. bishops document on faithful citizenship.

“As Catholics we are morally obligated to pray, to act and to vote to abolish the evil of abortion in America, limiting it as much as we can until it is finally abolished.”

Bishop Gracida has recorded and made available a radio ad, declaring that Catholics must vote for Life and cannot vote for a Pro-Abortion Candidate. He then stated that Barack Obama was a Pro-abortion candidate.

Further, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU) has now singled out Bishop Serratelli, of the Diocese of Paterson (NJ), as their newest target. They have requested an investigation by the IRS for his vocal opposition to the Freedom of Choice Act and his staunch defense of Catholic Teaching on Life with regard to the election.

Randall Terry, a recent convert and founder of Operation Rescue – the leading voice in the Pro-life movement for the past three decades, observed, “Like millions of the faithful, I have been thrilled by the sudden and forceful rise of various Bishops’ voices against the errors decimating the hearts of the Faithful in this election cycle.”

Fr. Saunders is only one of countless priests in all our dioceses that are proclaiming the truth from their pulpits and teaching their parishioners what the church means regarding a properly formed conscience. Deacons, like Catholic Online’s Deacon Keith Fournier, are declaring a message of life when they teach, preach, and minister in their parishes.

The Church has also empowered a massive choir of prolife voices among the laity. From veteran Pro-life leaders like Randall Terry to brothers and sisters in local parishes, a great army has been proclaiming a message of life in diverse and wonderful ways. Randall’s coverage of Pope John Paul’s teachings on life in his brochure “Faithful Catholic Citizens” has received a great response.

We are living in an age where religion – especially the Christian faith – has become the only target left not considered a hate crime. This is a time when a sitting president – no matter what you may think of him – is made a point of ridicule in a motion picture. We are experiencing a culture where name-calling has become an accepted argument and a valid indictment when referring to another with whom one disagrees.

Yet, the voices are continuing to thunder. I believe – no matter what happens in November – these voices will not be stilled. The Church’s prophetic mantle is being tested as never before in America, and the sound is growing stronger. A new movement is gaining momentum.

In just a few short weeks a decision will be reached by the citizens of our nation that will not just affect change for next for years, but set us on a trajectory for the future. This is a life and death decision for those yet to be born and for others who lives may be considered no longer viable. This could also be a life and death decision regarding many of our freedoms.

So how should we respond? What can we do to support the prophets among us?

Stand for life in your parishes. When your pastor preaches a courageous message, let your amen’s and your applause fill the building. Get involved in your parish’s Pro-life efforts and organizations.

Stand for life in your daily discussions. This is not a single-issue mentality; life is at the heart of all issues. It is out of this worldview that a true Christian humanism can develop. Be bold, talking about it calmly but boldly when others share their ideas with you.

Stand for life on Election Day. This would be the true change. Imagine what it would be like for the thundering voice for the unborn and the infirm to echo across America, calling for a complete rehabilitation of our national heart and mind. Bottom line: We cannot vote for anyone who stands for the culture of death.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor in Germany during World War II, was imprisoned and, eventually, killed for his faith. In his writings, he stated that one of the reasons for Hitler’s rise to power was the silence of German pulpits. Many of our pulpits are not silent. Lets affirm these voices that refuse to remain silent. In doing so we may encourage others to join choir.