Planned Parenthood - Praying Twice!

Today I had two opportunities to pray outside Planned Parenthood.

This morning I joined the regular group at the Planned Parenthood in Greece, N.Y., to pray. We said a Rosary and a Divine Chaplet, among other prayers.

Then this afternoon I joined with another group to march through downtown Rochester to Planned Parenthood's headquarters on University Avenue. Another Rosary!

There are so many committed, prayerful people here: Planned Parenthood doesn't stand a chance!

Limerick: Obama and Planned Parenthood

All babies are a punishment?
That's probably not what he meant.
But Planned Parenthood
still thinks that it's good
Obama's our President.

A pro-life country song - "The Call"

Nice. It's amazing the positive effects a phone call, an e-mail, a card, a kind word can have on someone's life.

March for Life to include White House rally

This year's March for Life events in Washington will include something that is warranted given President Obama's radical pro-choice agenda: A rally outside the White House.

Organizers of the March have scheduled a two-hour rally January 21 from 6-8 p.m. at Lafayette Park, across from the White House (that's the evening before the March).

This is being described as an attempt to demonstrate participants' commitment to the pro-life movement to President Barack Obama, who continues to push for abortion - including in health care reform - despite the fact that a majority of Americans now identify themselves as pro-life.

The January 21 rally is being called a "mini-rally" because the permit limits the gathering to 3,000 demonstrators. How many will show up is a guess. Unfortunately, many people (including the people on the buses from Rochester) will still be en route to take part in the March on the 22nd.

I will not be able to go this year. But next year, when the March is on Saturday, I will be able to participate in Washington for the first time. I am looking forward to that. Even better, though, would be if President Obama had a change of heart, and the Supreme Court overturned Roe before next January 22nd, making the March unnecessary. (Yeah, I know I'm dreaming.)

I wonder if there are any rallies or prayer vigils planned in Rochester for the 22nd? Anyone know of any?

Manhattan Declaration: Support Life and Faith

The Manhattan Declaration is a document initially signed by a group of prominent Christians (Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical) to defend the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife, and the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Since the initial signatures by many religious leaders and prominent Christians (I'm including a list of some of the Catholic signatories at the bottom of this post), and the Declaration's release on November 20, more than 250,000 people (including myself) have signed.

The Declaration reads in part:

"We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, have gathered, beginning in New York on September 28, 2009, to make the following declaration, which we sign as individuals, not on behalf of our organizations, but speaking to and from our communities. We act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God of holiness and love, who has laid total claim on our lives and by that claim calls us with believers in all ages and all nations to seek and defend the good of all who bear his image. We set forth this declaration in light of the truth that is grounded in Holy Scripture, in natural human reason (which is itself, in our view, the gift of a beneficent God), and in the very nature of the human person. We call upon all people of goodwill, believers and non-believers alike, to consider carefully and reflect critically on the issues we here address as we, with St. Paul, commend this appeal to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

While the whole scope of Christian moral concern, including a special concern for the poor and vulnerable, claims our attention, we are especially troubled that in our nation today the lives of the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly are severely threatened; that the institution of marriage, already buffeted by promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, is in jeopardy of being redefined to accommodate fashionable ideologies; that freedom of religion and the rights of conscience are gravely jeopardized by those who would use the instruments of coercion to compel persons of faith to compromise their deepest convictions.

Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we are compelled by our Christian faith to speak and act in their defense. In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from the creation, and historically understood by believers and non-believers alike, to be the most basic institution in society and; 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image.

We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right—and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. May God help us not to fail in that duty."

The Declaration goes on to declare that the signatories will not comply with laws that violate their beliefs. Civil disobedience could be the result!

"Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s."

Imagine if we can get 500,000 or a million signatures?

Here's some of the original signatories who are Catholic:

Bishop Sam Aquila (Diocese of Fargo), Archbishop Charles J. Chaput (Archdiocese of Denver), Timothy A. Chichester (Catholic Family Association of America), Bishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone (Diocese of Oakland, CA), Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio (Diocese of Brooklyn), Bishop Timothy Dolan (Diocese of New York) Dr. William Donohue (Catholic League), Fr. Joseph D. Fessio (Ignatius Press), Dr. Peter Kreeft (Boston College), Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz (Archdiocese of Louisville), Adam Cardinal Maida (Archbishop Emeritus, Diocese of Detroit), Bishop Richard J. Malone (Diocese of Portland), Bishop Robert C. Morlino (Diocese of Madison), Archbishop John J. Myers (Archdiocese of Newark), Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann (Diocese of Kansas City), Archbishop John Nienstedt (Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis), Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted (Diocese of Phoenix), Justin Cardinal Rigali (Archdiocese of Philadelphia), Bishop Michael J. Sheridan (Diocese of Colorado Springs), Father Peter M.J. Stravinskas (The Catholic Response), George Weigel (Ethics and Public Policy Center), Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl (Archdiocese of Washington),Bishop David A. Zubik (Diocese of Pittsburgh).

Good company. Consider joining them

Go here to read the full Declaration, and to sign the petition.

Life: Imagine the Potential (part 2)

Another great positive pro-life video from the folks at CatholicVote.org

Stations for Life

There was no snow or rain. Temperatures were brisk - mid 40s - but not biting. The sun was shining.

This year's Stations of the Cross in Reparation for Abortion was one of the largest in a long time - perhaps in part due to the good weather, and maybe also because of the policies of the current administration.

More than 200 people processed from McQuaid Jesuit High School to a doctor's office where abortion are performed. We were led by ten priests and deacons, and a representative of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester.

Before the march, there was a prayer service in the high school's packed chapel. Students at the school have a tradition of praying a rosary twice a week outside the doctor's office as well - and an invitation was issued to all of us to join them.

The emphasis today was on youth - with many young people in evidence at the service and march. Several of the young people spoke briefly about taking part in the March for Life in Washington earlier this year, describing it as an incredible experience.

Then we marched, praying the stations.

We prayed for the victims of abortion - the babies, the women, the fathers, their families, society - and for the doctor and his staff in the office.

We prayed for victims of other forms of violence - euthanasia, economic exploitation, war, neglect, injustice, the death penalty.

We prayed for seniors, prisoners, the poor, pro-lifers dealing with discouragement, the unwanted, those we view as enemies, and so many more.

As we prayed, a few people drove by and honked their horns. Amen.

But some also blared their horns. I saw one woman give us - including the children - the finger. One man slowed down and began yelling as he drove past something that sounded like, "Your God is an abortion."

I prayed for all of them.

And I prayed for the violence in myself. I have also helped to nail Him to the Cross by my words, actions, and thoughts. Forgive me Lord.

Praying for Life - Dealing with a Dilemma

I went down to Planned Parenthood this morning for the pro-life prayer rally to be lead by Pastor Luke Robinson.

It was a cold, miserable day - 35 with mixed rain and snow, and a biting wind.

About 25 pro-lifers braved the weather to offer prayers and hymns, and to hear a few words from Pastor Robinson.

The last time we gathered there - when the weather was nicer - we had more than 100 people taking part in a prayer vigil. There were about 30 counter-protesters.

This time, the other side was represented by ...

(Hear any crickets?)

Pastor Robinson proclaimed "We are here, oh Lord, for every baby that is saved by people who stand (outside the clinics)."

He offered prayers not only for the victims of abortion - the women and the babies killed -but also the victims of violence, including those who died in the recent nursing home shooting, and the killing Friday of 13 people at a center for new immigrants in Binghamton.

He also prayed that the politicians who support abortion, the personnel in the clinics might themselves experience the mental anguish, the trouble sleep, the problems that some many women who have had abortions face so that they might begin to understand what they are doing and turn from the killing of babies.

And he asked God to shut down this Planned Parenthood clinic, and vowed that he would return to join us for a celebration when it does close.

Amen.

I enjoyed the prayers. I was happy to say a rosary with some of the the other people there.

But I left saddened, and thinking.

I stopped taking pictures when a couple of the people brought out the aborted baby pictures. I prayed from that point on with my eyes closed or averted.

I don't like such images. They offend me on many levels.

The offend me because of the violence they reveal, the horrible things done to the poor babies.

They offend me because they are so horrible. I don't like graphic images (I've even been known to walk out of or turn off some movies).

But they also offend me because they are violent, and I don't want to be part of violence.

Yes, I know there are arguments for them. They do reveal what an abortion is like - and some people need images to help shock them into thinking about what is being done. People too often hide from reality, they seek to escape it - after all, isn't abortion on one level just another way to avoid dealing with a reality one does not want to face? So such graphic images may help to get some people to turn.

But in confronting, isn't there a danger that we are closing minds? Aren't we making it harder for others to convert?

As I watched vehicles go by, I thought about the children in some of them. As a parent I would have been angry had someone showed such things to my daughters when they were young.

And, sadly, when I have seen people display such images, there seems to be such anger on some of their faces.

Is this the most loving thing we can do?

I'm sure that there are people who will argue that it is. Sometimes you need to be hard to break through closed minds. We are trying to save lives and souls.

Indeed, I could easily fall into using such tactics myself -a part of myself that I don't like. I can come across as such an angry guy.

But I battle that tendency in myself, and I believe it is the wrong approach in the fight for life.

In my own stumbling way, I want to try to witness to God's love in all that I do and say.

Pro-life march draws a response

"Hey, Obama, take a stand.

Free abortion on demand."

A telling chant offered up by a small group of pro-choice protesters who gathered outside Planned Parenthood in Rochester February 28. (I have a strong suspicion for whom most of them voted - those who were old enough to vote, anyway.)

The mostly young - and largely male!? - group of about 30 were there to try to counter the more than 100 pro-life marchers who processed from Our Lady of Victory Church to Planned Parenthood through the cold (18-20 degrees) and the light snow of downtown Rochester in relative silence (well, as silent as you can get with a group that included children and people who actively greeted people on the streets). The march came after a Mass that packed the small church, and it ended with people praying the rosary and singing hymns.

There were anti-religion and anti-Catholic type chants and stereotyping in some of the slogans the pro-choicers kept repeating as they tried to drown out praying pro-lifers. I wonder if some of them recognized that they were trying to overcome prayers.

Indeed, one chant from the pro-choicers began, "Tell your church ... " suggesting that they do not view themselves as part of the church and that those involved with church are pro-life. Wonder what pro-abortion Catholics would say to that?

And then there was the ironic little ditty that went "Pro-life, that's a lie, you don't care if women die" yelled at a group that included women who'd had abortions and now regretted it, women and men who help the surviving victims of abortion - the mothers and fathers who had lost their unborn children - people who have taken in and supported pregnant women, people who have supported and volunteered at agencies that help women and children, and so many more.

One pro-lifer commented that this is the first time in recent years that the pro-choice crowd had attempted to respond to praying pro-lifers (many of who are veterans of last fall's 40 Days campaign and of a smaller march last October) here in Rochester. She suggested that we are beginning to worry them.

Worry? They have nothing to fear, unless they are afraid that they might being to see the horror of what they are supporting

As for us, some of our prayers were for them. And they were said with love - not chanted with anger and fear.

Rochester pro-life march

The good folks behind the local 40 Days for Life effort had some "bad" news, and some good news.

The bad news is that for a variety of reasons, we will not have a local 40 Days effort during the up coming campaign that begins Feb. 25 - though we will be part of the one in the fall.

The good news is that they are organizing a March for February 28. That march will include at least seven members of Silent No More - women who have had abortions and now speak out against abortion.

There will be a 12:10 Mass at Our Lady of Victory Church, 210 Pleasant Street, then the march will begin in the parking lot at 1:00 with people from various denominations joining us. We will proceed silently through downtown Rochester to Planned Parenthood's headquarters, where we will pray for healing and conversion, and that lives will be spared.

Jose Rivera, who is organizing the effort, is hoping to get the word out to as many churches and pro-life groups as possible, including the Knights of Columbus (of which he is a member). His dream is to draw some 200 people. Maybe that will get some media attention. Only the diocesan newspaper covered us last time we marched - but that was a smaller group.

I will be contacting local media outlets hoping to stir up some interest.

Vigil for Life at the Cathedral

Unable to make it to Washington for the March for Life, I went to Sacred Heart Cathedral tonight for a "Silent Vigil in Reparation for Roe v. Wade."

About 50 people were there (many other area pro-lifers were able to go to Washington, and some were at a protest at the Unitarian Church). My wife was at the Cathedral, as was Bishop Matthew Clark, still showing effects from his surgery last year.

We sat in silence in Eucharistic adoration. Some read prayer books. Some said rosaries. Some simply sat. The only sound was the trickling of water in the baptismal pool.

It was so peaceful that I decided not to take a picture in the church proper; I did not want to break the mood. So the only image of the night was of a table displaying pro-life items.

As I sat there, I prayed for Anthony, the unborn child I have spiritually adopted for the next nine months. I prayed for all the unborn children at risk of losing their lives, and for their mothers and fathers that they will find the strength and support they need.

We concluded with St. Francis' s Prayer for Peace.

On the way home, I listened to an EWTN report about the March. So many young people. So full of enthusiasm and energy. The election has provided a spur to the movement.

I pray tonight for the conversion of Barack Obama, and the healing of our nation.

Pro-life events in Rochester

In addition to the pro-life prayer vigil at Sacred Heart Cathedral tomorrow night at 7, I've gotten notice of two other events in Rochester for those who can't make it to Washington for the March for Life.

From 1- 3 p.m there will be prayers outside Planned Parenthood's headquarters at 114University Avenue (I'll be at work at that time).

At 7 p.m. the First Unitarian Church at 220 S. Winton Road will be hosting a "Roe v. Wade 36th Anniversary Program" featuring Bill Baird, who is sometimes described as "the Father of Abortion and Birth Control." He'll be speaking, prolifers be protesting outside. They will be gathering at 6:15 to begin their protest.

I wish I could make all three, but given my schedule and the proximity, I'll likely be at the Cathedral praying.

In two years when the March for Life falls on a Saturday I'll finally be able to go as I no longer (after 21 years!) work on Saturdays. I look forward to that.

Spiritual Adoption: Pray for an unborn child

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” - (Jeremiah 1:5)

Today there is a pro-life retreat in Rochester. I had hoped to attend, but I'm ill - I couldn't even make it late enough last night to watch the new Battlestar Galactica episode! - and I have school work to do to prepare for next week's exams.

I will be there for the next 40 Days campaign that begins in February.

This week is also the annual March for Life - just two days after the most pro-abortion regime in the history of the U.S. takes over in Washington. Obama's election may actually do a lot to help the pro-life movement to grow if he carries out his agenda (the economy and other issues may slow him down).

I have never been to a March for Life. I've always been working at the time of the March and unable to get time to go, and in my years as a teacher it always seems to fall during January exams.

I do take part in the annual Good Friday prayer march here in Rochester. I plan to do so again this Good Friday.

This year I hope to do more for life. Letters to the editor. Help with publicity for 40 Days. Praying at the clinics. Praying.

There are many people who for a variety of reasons can't be out there marching or praying outside clinics. One alternative way to fight for life for has ties to a former Rochester Bishop - spiritual adoption.

The late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen encouraged people to spiritually adopt an unborn children. To do this, you simply pray for a particular but unknown child’s life that the child not be aborted and be allowed to continue to live. You can give the child a name, which may help to make it easier to focus on the child as you pray.

As part of the effort, you are encouraged to say each day for nine months this prayer by Archbishop Sheen:

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of [baby’s name] the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.”

That's it. Simple. But powerful. The 40 Days campaign last fall helped save more than 400 lives through prayer. How many more can be saved through taking part in this prayer campaign?

It can be done individually, but whole groups can be involved. Maybe this is something prayer groups, schools, even parishes can try. Just go to the site linked above for more information.

40 Days for Life in Rochester (2)

On this Feast of St. Padre Pio, I attended the kickoff rally for 40 Days for Life in Rochester. I think the good Capuchin would have approved.

The nationwide prayer campaign begins at midnight tonight and runs until November 2. The local effort will take place outside the Planned Parenthood Killing Center at 114 University Avenue here in Rochester.

The campaign has two goals, said local coordinator Joe Rivera: "To bring an end to abortion, but also to bring healing."

The Knight of Columbus cited national and local statistics, noting that it's important for people to realize how many babies die here. In our county, Monroe County, in 2006 (the latest figures available) there were 3,468 abortions. Planned Parenthood, the billion-dollar abortion business, accounted for more than 2,600 of those County deaths.

"This is a problem that will continue to grow unless we do something about it," he said.

The rally and prayer service featured prayers, a talk by a deacon on Margaret Sanger (Planned Parenthood's founder), and two women from Silent No More who talked movingly about their own abortions and the emotional/psychological/physical scars they left.

There was also a fiery talk by Father Joe Catanise (who's parish I'll be visiting for a Secular Franciscan Mass October 3).

"I truly believe you can't be Christian if you believe in abortion," Father declared.

He noted that we've heard many homilies on such topics as the death penalty and war - and rightly so - but not enough on abortion. "We've been silent too long."

He also offered encouragement.

"Remember: Believe in your heart that you are doing God's work."

I signed up for an hour shift this weekend (work gets in the way!). A friend saw that I had signed up and signed on with me. Then she asked if I would be willing to do a second hour with her. I happily agreed to do so.

Hey, it's doing God's work!

I'll be taking on additional shifts in the coming weeks.

Cardinal Egan thumps Pelosi

A number of members of the hierarchy have taken Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to task for misstating Catholic teachings about abortion on Meet the Press Sunday.

New York's Cardinal Egan issues a particularly strong one:

STATEMENT OF HIS EMINENCE, EDWARD CARDINAL EGAN CONCERNING REMARKS MADE BY THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Like many other citizens of this nation, I was shocked to learn that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America would make the kind of statements that were made to Mr. Tom Brokaw of NBC-TV on Sunday, August 24, 2008. What the Speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly incredible in this day and age.

We are blessed in the 21st century with crystal-clear photographs and action films of the living realities within their pregnant mothers. No one with the slightest measure of integrity or honor could fail to know what these marvelous beings manifestly, clearly, and obviously are, as they smile and wave into the world outside the womb. In simplest terms, they are human beings with an inalienable right to live, a right that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is bound to defend at all costs for the most basic of ethical reasons. They are not parts of their mothers, and what they are depends not at all upon the opinions of theologians of any faith. Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being “chooses” to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name.

Edward Cardinal Egan
Archbishop of New York
August 26, 2008

I think the last line can also be applied to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I can't in good conscience vote for this ticket, and I can't imagine any pro-lifer or orthodox Catholic doing so.