January-February 2012 Newsletter
December 28, 2011
I’m happy to send you the Priests for Life January-February newsletter in
which you will find important updates about our work. But first let me give
you some other exciting information.
Three new volumes of my homilies from the EWTN televised Mass are now
available. Volumes 19-21 containing seven new homilies can be purchased from
the Priests for Life online store at
www.PriestsForLife.org/store.
Please join us for a novena in reparation for Roe vs. Wade from January
14-22. You can find the text and order prayer cards at
www.prayercampaign.org.
We are gearing up for the January Pro-Life events in Washington, DC and
San Francisco, CA. Please join me for the 18th Annual National Memorial for
the Preborn and Their Mothers and Fathers on January 23, the day of the
March for Life, on Capitol Hill in the Capitol Visitor Center, Rm. HVC-201.
The doors will open at 8:30am and we will begin the service shortly
thereafter. Seating is limited and security is tight and the line gets long
so attendees are encouraged to get there early. The event is open to the
public and clergy of all denominations are invited to take part in reciting
the prayers and reading scripture passages. Any clergy who are interested in
participating should email
memorial@priestsforlife.org. Our special musical guest will be Kelly
Clinger, recording artist and spokesperson for the Silent No More Awareness
Campaign. For information on how to get to the Capitol Visitor Center and on
the security restrictions see
www.visitthecapitol.gov.
Priests for Life has prepared a special video and prayer cards for buses
going to Washington DC for the March for Life and to San Francisco for the
Walk for Life. Please let us know if you are organizing a bus for either of
these events by emailing
director@priestsforlife.org and we will give you more details!
We need your extra help with donations. Would you be able to make an end
of the year gift to Priests for Life at
www.priestsforlife.org/donate? You will be giving to the Church's
largest pro-life ministry!
Finally, view my latest YouTube video at
http://youtu.be/MYZso2jZs2Y on which I talk about fighting abortion in
2012.
Blessings,
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director
Thank you for…the multiple and highly well-deserving initiatives of
Priests for Life in the defense of human life and in the promotion of the
pastoral work in this field so fundamental and crucial today….The
collaboration of Priests for Life is always valuable and precious. --
Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, President, Pontifical Council for the Family,
Vatican City, September 16, 2008.
January-February 2012 Newsletter
The 2012 Question
Some day, when they see protection restored to the unborn, our
grandchildren and great-grandchildren will ask us what we did to stop the
abortion holocaust. One of the key moments of that battle will have been the
elections of 2012, as a result of which the Supreme Court will move either
in the direction of restoring protection to the unborn or of continuing the
holocaust.
Moreover, elections on the state level will help to determine which
states will become abortion free. In 2012, Priests for Life will advance
with boldness the effort to mobilize pro-life voters, and will be working
with dozens of other groups to bring about states in which there are no
longer any abortion mills, and in which laws are in place that make it next
to impossible for such killing centers to open again.
Visit
www.PoliticalResponsibility.com to learn how you can overcome the fears
and excuses that threaten to stop effective pro-life activity.
Left: Fr. Frank Pavone with marchers at the 2011 March for Life
in Washington, DC
New Evangelization and Child-Killing
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director
Recently, at the invitation of Vatican officials, our Priests for Life team
prepared some input for next year's Synod of Bishops on the topic of the New
Evangelization.
Every few years, representatives of bishops' conferences from around the
world gather for several weeks of deliberations in Rome concerning one or
another aspect of the Church's work. In order to guide their deliberations,
a working document is prepared, and the input of the entire Church is
sought.
The topic of the "New Evangelization," is one about which Blessed John Paul
II spoke often. It refers to a new fervor in proclaiming the unchanging
Gospel, especially in places where, the Gospel having once been proclaimed
and accepted, there are powerful forces of secularization that cause people
to forget God.
In forgetting the Creator, moreover, as the Second Vatican Council taught,
the creature becomes unintelligible. As Pope Benedict pointed out recently
in creating a new office at the Vatican for promoting the New
Evangelization,
"… [T]here has been a troubling loss of the sense of the sacred, which has
even called into question foundations once deemed unshakeable such as … a
common understanding of basic human experiences: i.e., birth, death, life in
a family, and reference to a natural moral law." (Decree Ubicumque et
Semper, Sept. 21, 2010).
By far the most destructive and offensive manifestation of this obscuring of
the meaning of birth, life, and death is abortion. Therefore our Priests for
Life team compiled reflections on how the pro-life mission of the Church
intersects with the New Evangelization.
One of the contributors to these reflections was my friend, Rev. John Ensor,
and he pointed out that Satan has always used child-killing to try to slow
or stop the advance of the Gospel of Christ.
The attempt is seen in Egypt (see Exodus 1), when mass child-killing is used
to try to snuff out the life and work of Moses.
Then, as God's people live in the Promised Land, Satan allures them into
mingling with the surrounding nations in practices of idolatry, including
the sacrifice of their sons and daughters to demons in the fire (see Psalm
106:37-38). This practice leads to the exile.
History moves on to the Incarnation, and the life of Jesus is targeted in
the mass child-killing ordered by Herod.
Finally, in our day, abortion kills countless future disciples and
evangelists. As Rev. 12:17 indicates, the war against Christ and his Church
is symbolized in the attempt to kill a child, and the triumph of the Gospel
is seen in the victory of life.
The Word of God is clear: "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back
those staggering toward slaughter" (Proverbs 24:11); "Seek justice, rescue
the oppressed" (Isaiah 1:17). The entire Church is under obedience to this
Divine command to stop the killing. We can hardly be credible in proclaiming
that the destiny of the human person is to be on the throne with Christ
(Rev. 3:21) if we ignore those persons thrown in the garbage.
Silent No More Awareness Campaign: New Spokesperson and
Partnering
For 36 years, Julia Holcomb kept quiet about her three-year relationship
with the Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler -- now an "American Idol" judge --
and the abortion he pressured her to have when she was just 17. But Ms.
Holcomb has just become a new spokeswoman for the Silent No More Awareness
Campaign. She shared her full story with Janet Morana, co-founder of the
Campaign, and a video excerpt of that interview can be seen at
www.silentnomoreawareness.org. Ms. Holcomb is sharing her dramatic
testimony at this year's March for Life in Washington, D.C. If you have a
testimony and would like to march with the Campaign either in Washington, DC
or San Francisco each January, let us know by emailing
mail@silentnomoreawareness.org. You can give your testimony or just
march holding a sign.
Partner with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign!
The Campaign invites individuals, churches, schools, dioceses, pregnancy
resource centers and organizations to partner with it. A “partner” of the
Campaign agrees that the message of healing is integral to the abortion
debate, and commits to spreading the message of the harm abortion does, the
healing that is available, and the testimonies that have been given. For
more information see
www.silentnomoreawareness.org/partner.
Praying Pro-Life!
Join the largest prayer group in history on Facebook at
www.ProLifePrayers.com. And we encourage you to remember the following
intentions:
January intention: That the faithful more deeply study the words and
actions of Christ, to know how to care for the least of our brothers and
sisters.
February intention: That God may bless and strengthen the pro-life
efforts of college students.
Please join us at
www.PrayerCampaign.org in praying and promoting the following campaigns:
January 14-22: Novena of Reparation in preparation for Roe vs. Wade
February 22- April 5, 2012: Lenten Prayer for Life
Priests for Life is Supported only by You!
Priests for Life is not subsidized by dioceses, the Bishops’ Conference, or
the Vatican. We rely completely on donations from individuals like you!
All contributions are tax-deductible, and may be designated for specific
projects if you so choose.
You may donate at
www.priestsforlife.org/donate. On that web page you will find several
options:
1. Make a one-time donation by credit card, or by electronic charging of
your checking or savings account.
2. Allow us to charge your credit card, checking, or savings account each
month.
3. Sign up for monthly mailings that will remind you to send your donation.
4. Call us at 718-980-4400, ext. 232 to discuss other options, including
remembering Priests for Life as a beneficiary when you do your financial
planning.
At any time, of course, you may write a check payable to “Priests for Life”
and mail it to PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314.
Featured Products
Order at
www.priestsforlife.org/store or call us at 1-888-735-3448.
Partners in Healing Brochure
Learn how to partner with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, so that
through your own pro-life work the message of healing may reach and bless
many! (#3069) at $00.20 each
What Comes Next? Brochure
Once someone is healed of the pain of abortion, what comes next? Can healing
turn into mission? This brochure explains the opportunities God gives many
through the Silent No More Awareness Campaign! (#3068) at $00.20 each
Spiritual Bouquet cards for the living and Mass cards for the
deceased
When you use a card, send us the name, with your offering.
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