"Help me, Lord, to do Your Will as did Saint John the Baptist."

Tribulation Times

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/august.asp?version=63&startmmdd=0101

August 31, 2009    

(Joh 3:29-30) He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase: but I must decrease.

FROM THE MAILBAG

Image by lant_70 via Flickr

Reflection by Father Ted – August 29, 2009

Help me, dearest Jesus, help us to do what You want us to do. Help us to have the courage, to have the love for Your people that John the Baptist had – whose martyrdom we celebrated today.

He had love for his king. And because of that love for him – for his eternal salvation, John was not afraid to tell King Herod that it for was wrong for him to live with the wife of his own brother.

Because he spoke out even publicly, John was put into prison – to silence him.

Yet even in prison he did not keep silent.

The king visited him – how many times, we do not know. But what we do know is that John spoke to him about his, the king's own immoral behavior.

The king did not want to hear what John said. Yet he knew that what John said was the truth. He knew that John spoke the truth because of his love for him.

John had courage. John loved.

Do I, Lord, have such courage? Do I have such love?

Am I willing to speak out the truth to my brothers and sisters in love? Even when they do not want to hear the truth?

Sometimes, I have.

You know that.

And yet, sometimes I have not.

You know that, too.

When I have not, has that been because I was afraid?

I wish that I could say – no. But would I not be kidding myself?

When I remain silent when You want me to speak out, I do not love my brothers and sisters as You want me too.

Lord, give me the grace; give me the strength that I need; give me the courage that I need to speak out in love to these brothers and sisters of mine, Your beloved children – when You want me to – for their salvation.

Help me, Lord, to do Your Will as did Saint John the Baptist.

Angel with head of St. John the Baptist. Image by Sebastián-Dario via Flickr

Saint John, pray for me!

Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 22- "On the many forms of vainglory"

13. I have seen people mourning who, on being praised, flared up in anger; and as at a public gathering one passion gave place to another.   

---

Prayer request?  Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com

This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.

FROM LIFENEWS.COM: TODAY'S PRO-LIFE HEADLINES (Monday)

LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Tuesday, September 1, 2009

For news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com.

Current Headlines

• Newsweek's Clift Wrong: Hyde Amdt Doesn't Stop Abortion in Health Care
• White House Reality Check Web Site Still Silent on Abortion in Health Care
• Kennedy's Death Further Used to Promote Pro-Abortion Health Care Bills
• Obama Hits New Low Approval Rating, Analyst Says Abortion Causing It
• Quit Using Kennedy's Death to Advance the Pro-Abortion Health Care
• More Analysts Predict Pro-Life Gains in Congress in 2010 Elections
• Schindler Family, Pro-Lifers Pay Respects to Terri Schiavo's Father
• Generic Morning After Pill Gets Final Go-Ahead From Food and Drug Admin
• Judge Says Pro-Life Groups Lack Standing to Challenge Selling Plan B
• Roeder Wants Justifiable Homicide Defense in George Tiller Abortion Case
• Illinois Pro-Life Advocates Want Parental Notification on Abortion Enforced

Is your Right to Life group or pregnancy center looking for an affordable speaker? Need a speaker for a conference, convention, church presentation or on short notice? Consider LifeNews.com Editor Steven Ertelt. Email us for details.

Newsweek's Eleanor Clift Wrong: Hyde Amdt Doesn't Stop Abortion in Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In the latest example of the mainstream media covering up what pro-life advocates already know and some media outlets have admitted, Newsweek's Eleanor Clift maintains that the Hyde amendment would stop abortion funding in health care. But a pro-life expert says that's not the case. Clift's weekend column for the weekly magazine claims "opposition forces" have been trying to 'spread misconceptions" about the government-run health care plan funding abortions. Clift's contention is that the Hyde Amendment, passed in the 1970s to stop abortion funding only in the Medicare program, will block abortion funding in the health care bill. "There has been no serious effort in the last three decades to dislodge the Hyde amendment, and it is certainly not part of the current health-care debate. But that hasn't stopped critics from suspecting that Democrats are looking for a back-door way to fund abortions," Clift claims. Douglas Johnson, the legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, says "Clift's observations about the Hyde Amendment are, I am afraid, a big red herring," he tells LifeNews.com. "The Hyde Amendment is not a government-wide law. It is a limitation, renewed year to year, that applies only to funds that flow through the annual Health and Human Services appropriations bill -- most importantly, funds for the long-established Medicaid program," Johnson explains. Johnson says the government-run health care bills in the House and Senate create new programs that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Hyde Amendment. Full story at LifeNews.com
ACTION: Contact members of the House and Senate and urge strong support for any amendment to exclude abortion and rationing from their health care bills. Ask them to oppose any health care bill that allows abortion funding or rationing. Call 202-224-3121 or go to http://www.House.gov and http://www.Senate.gov for specific contact information.

White House Reality Check Web Site Still Silent on Abortion in Health Care
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Obama administration released a new web site earlier this month supposedly debunking myths opponents are using to criticize the government-run health care plan he supports. Though President Barack Obama himself has accused pro-life advocates of lying about abortion funding in the bills, the White House web site was silent on the subject. "You've heard that this is all going to mean government funding of abortion," he said recently. "Not true." Three weeks later, nothing has changed at the Reality Check web site (which replaces the controversial flag@whitehouse.govemail address), even though the web site has been updated several times since its initial launch. A refutation of the analysis from pro-life groups and several media outlets that the legislation includes abortion funding still doesn't exist on the site. Dan Gilgoff, a reporter on faith-based issues for U.S. News and World Report, noticed the omission. "It's a stunning omission, given how much the government-funded abortion allegation has dominated this month's congressional town hall meetings on healthcare reform—and given that President Obama himself has called the charge a myth," he writes. Full story at LifeNews.com

Ted Kennedy's Death Further Used to Promote Pro-Abortion Health Care Bills
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Ted Kennedy's death continues to be used as a springboard to promote the pro-abortion health care bills pending in Congress. Numerous elected officials and activists invoked his name over the weekend changing the term "Obamacare" into "Kennedycare," which may not attract more support. Al Gore and Bill Clinton were in Tennessee to pump up Democratic activists and share their conviction that Ted Kennedy’s dream of government-run health care indeed will never die. Clinton urged Democrats to counter pro-life advocates who oppose the bills and attempted to rebut one of the criticism of the legislation. “I'm not a very good politician any more; I just say what I think,” Clinton said. “But I have been waiting for this for 40 years ... to recreate the American dream.” Gore extolled Kennedy and called him “by far the most effective member of the United States Senate that I ever served with.” He played off of the focus of the Kennedy funeral in telling the crowd that Congress must pass the health care bill to “the least of us." Full story at LifeNews.com




Barack Obama Hits New Low Approval Rating, Analyst Says Abortion Causing It
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The news story has repeated itself over and over again: President Barack Obama has hit another new low approval rating. One analyst knows why and says the issue of taxpayer-funding of abortions in the health care bills in Congress is hurting Obama's numbers. The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll released today reveals 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Obama's performance as president while 53 percent now disapprove. The 46 percent figure is the lowest level of total approval yet measured for Obama in the Rasmussen poll since he took over the White House in January. The new survey also shows 30% of the nation's voters strongly approve of Obama's performance while 41 percent strongly disapprove -- giving Obama a negative 11 percent rating among the most passionate voters on either side. Dr. Michael New, a political science professor at the University of Alabama, explains how the more Americans realize that Obama's health care plan includes taxpayer abortion funding the more people oppose him. "Regardless of their views on sanctity of life issues, many Americans do not want their tax dollars subsidizing abortion," he says in a new National Review column. "As such, mandated abortion coverage has the ability to jeopardize health-care reform by driving a wedge between moderate voters and President Obama’s liberal base."Full story at LifeNews.com

Quit Using Ted Kennedy's Death to Advance the Pro-Abortion Health Care Agenda
by Dave Andrusko 
I am so ancient that I was there when the plaster was still hardening. I was in college when the myth of Camelot and President John F. Kennedy was created from the charisma of the young White House couple and their extended family. Although not caught up in the same way millions of people were (on meeting the President, violinist Isaac Stern said, "I felt as though I were inside a golden coach drawn by four pure-bred white horses into the glitter of mythic Camelot"), I fully understand the almost magical allure of the term Jackie Kennedy used to characterize her husband's administration. I mention that only because I know some pro-abortionists will willfully distort what I say. What follows is neither an attempt to debunk the notion that there was "one brief, shining moment," even less a "personal attack" on the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, JFK's brother. It is instead a critique of the cynical use of Sen. Kennedy's death to attempt to pass a health care "reform" bill that is unacceptable to massive sectors of the American public, including pro-lifers. But it is also important to take a moment to address another example of pro-abortion grotesque distortion of the historical record. It refers specifically to Sen. Kennedy, but it also applies more generally to a number of Democrats who sold out on abortion to move up the party ladder. Full story at LifeNews.com




More Political Analysts Predict Pro-Life Gains in Congress in 2010 Elections
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Advancing a pro-abortion health care bill that could lead to rationing medical care and having a pro-abortion president who is making taxpayers fund abortions appears to come at a cost for the abortion advocates who lead Congress. More political analysts are predicting pro-life gains after the 2010 elections. As LifeNews.com already noted, top political analyst Charlie Cook already highlighted how the "situation this summer has slipped completely out of control for President Obama and congressional Democrats" thanks to the health care situation. Cook predicted that Democrats could lose as many as 20 seats in the House, and with most Democrats taking a pro-abortion position and most Republicans pro-life, that's good news for the pro-life movement. Now, Nate Silver, a Democratic analyst respected on both sides of the aisle for his statistical analysis says he thinks Republicans will win as many as 20 to 50 seats next election. He gives the GOP a 25-33 percent chance of winning the 40 seats necessary to retake control of the House, which would put the chamber in pro-life hands and stop the advance of abortion that Republicans, and pro-life Democrats, can't currently contain. Full story at LifeNews.com

Schindler Family, Pro-Life Advocates Pay Respects to Terri Schiavo's Father
St. Petersburg, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The Schindler family and pro-life advocates are paying their respects to Robert Schindler, the father of Terri Schiavo -- the woman whose life and death has been a rallying cry to protect the disabled. Schindler and his family have taken it upon themselves to help other disabled patients and their families. Bobby Schindler commented on his father's death with moving words. "I am heartbroken over the loss of my father and yet I know at this moment he is rejoicing with my sister, Terri," he said in a statement to LifeNews.com. "My dad was a man of integrity, character and compassion who was blessed with a close and loving family. He taught all three of his children to respect and value life and to love our fellow man," he added. "Even at the height of the battle to save my sister Terri’s life, when his patience and temperance was near exhaustion, he managed to display a gentleness of spirit. Yet it was his unfathomable strength that allowed him to shoulder up his own heartache and lead us through our darkest hour," Bobby Schindler added. "What greater legacy could a man leave behind?" Full story at LifeNews.com

Join the greatest network of life-saving help since the Underground Railroad. Put this sign in your car and help connect women to the FREE help they need. The back lists numerous life-affirming resources so they don't have to choose between their life and their baby's. www.CandleInTheWindow.org

Generic Morning After Pill Gets Final Go-Ahead From Food and Drug Administration
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Food and Drug Administration has given the final go-ahead for Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. to sell its generic version of the morning after pill. That is the drug that can either prevent a pregnancy or can sometimes result in an abortion of a unique human being hours after conception has occurred. Barr Pharmaceuticals, through its unit Duramed, is the maker of the current over-the-counter Plan B drug that abortion advocates have aggressively promoted. Now, with the FDA approval, Watson will be able to sell its version, called Next Choice, at a reduced cost. Watson said U.S. sales of Plan B reached $135 million during the 12 months that ended on June 30. The new generic of the so-called emergency contraceptive will be available in a 0.75 mg dosage. Like the non-generic levonorgestrel drug, the generic Plan B pill will be available over the counter to all women aged 17 or older and by prescription to younger teenagers. Full story at LifeNews.com

Judge Says Pro-Life Groups Lack Standing to Challenge Selling Plan B to Girls
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A federal judge has issued a ruling saying a collection of pro-life groups don't have standing to file a lawsuit against the FDA over its decision allowing the sales of the morning after pill to minors. The groups wanted to reverse the Food and Drug Administration ruling opening the morning after pill to 17-year-olds. The Alliance Defense fund filed legal papers representing three pro-life groups challenging a federal court order that required the FDA to allow the Plan B drug to be sold to minor girls. The groups included Concerned Women for America, the Christian Medical and Dental Association, and Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International. The organizations contend the order disregards parental rights and the safety of teenage girls. But Judge Edward R. Korman of the Eastern District of New York issued an opinion saying the groups failed to show they were directly harmed by his March 23 ruling and thus lacked legal standing to challenge it. Full story at LifeNews.com




Scott Roeder Wants Justifiable Homicide Defense in George Tiller Abortion Case
Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) -- Militia activist Scott Roeder says he wants to use a justifiable homicide defense in connection with charges that he shot and killed late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller. Roeder, who has no affiliations with any pro-life groups, may employ an attorney who helped another man who killed an abortion practitioner. Roeder, a 51-year-old resident of Kansas City, is also charged with aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two members of Tiller's church as he fled the scene. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and the aggravated assault charges in the May 31 shooting. Roeder has told the Associated Press that Tiller's killing was justified to save "the lives of unborn children' even though it appears Tiller may have hurt himself by allegedly violating state law and doing illegal late-term abortions. Now, although Roeder has court-appointed defense attorneys, he wants Michael Hirsh, the lawyer who represented Paul Hill on appeal for killing a Florida abortion practitioner, to represent him. Full story at LifeNews.com

Illinois Pro-Life Advocates Want Parental Notification on Abortion Enforced Now
Springfield, IL (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life legal group has filed a challenge against state officials in Illinois who have put off for 90 days a federal court order to began enforcing the state's parental notification law on abortion. The law would allow parents to know when their teen daughters are requesting an abortion. In July, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appealsdissolved the federal injunction against the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act. Then, in August, the Medical Disciplinary Board voted to give abortion practitioners more time to understand their obligation under the new state law and decided to give them a 90-day moratorium. Tom Brejcha, the president of the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based pro-life legal group that sued to get the law to go into effect, says abortion practitioners have already had 14 years to prepare for the law and the grace period isn't needed. “Physicians who perform abortions in Illinois have had fourteen years to ‘get ready’ and ‘gear up’ to implement the law, more than enough time to comply with the law. This further delay is a clear usurpation of power and an affront to the people of Illinois," he said. Full story at LifeNews.com

Encourage Friends to Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com

declining birth rates and a rapidly aging population are playing in Japan's ongoing economic crisis.

In Analysis of Japanese Election -- Falling Birth Rates and a Rapidly Aging Population are Overlooked

MEDIA ADVISORY, Aug. 31 /Christian Newswire/ -- In Japan's historic election on Sunday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost power for only the second time in the post-World War II era. The opposition Democrats swept to p

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

ower, winning 308 of 480 seats in the lower house of parliament.

Lost in election analysis is the role declining birth rates and a rapidly aging population are playing in Japan's ongoing economic crisis.

According to a story in today's New York Times: "Many Japanese saw the vote as the final below to the island nation's postwar order, which has been slowly unraveling since the economy collapsed in the early 1990s." In that period, Japan's stock market fell 80% from its all-time high. Its real estate market lost 60% of its value.

Barry McLerran, producer of both "Demographic Winter" and the just-released sequel, "Demographic Bomb," noted Japan has one of the 10 lowest birthrates in the world - 1.25 children per woman, with a birth rate of 2.13 needed to replace current population.

Said McLerran: "The proportion of Japanese over 60 years of age went from 11.6% in 1989 to 21.2% today - the highest in the world. This impacts everything from the nation's tax base to productivity and pensions."

McLerran: "In the 1990s, the sun began to set on the Japanese economic miracle. But the worst is yet to come, as the nation desperately seeks solutions to its demographic crisis. The incoming government has announced it will pay a $270-per month subsidy to families for every child. Russia, which has a birth rate of 1.17, has been doing something similar for several years, without significant results."

"Demographic Winter" describes the causes and consequences of plummeting birth rates worldwide (down more than 50% in the past 40 years). "Demographic Bomb" focuses on the role demographic winter has played in the worldwide recession, as well as the contribution of the international population-control movement. It specifically discusses the role of demographics in Japan's economic decline.

For more information on both "Demographic Winter" and "Demographic Bomb," go to www.demographicwinter.com.

To schedule an interview with a spokesman for the documentaries, contact Don Feder at 508-405-1337 or dfeder@rcn.com

Thomas More Society of Chicago Demands Immediate Enforcement of Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act

Illinois Supreme Court Urged to, Without Delay, Enforce Federal Law Requiring Physicians to Notify Minor's Parents before Performing an Abortion

CHICAGO, Aug. 31 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today, the Thomas More Society, a public interest law firm based in Chicago, has filed in the Illinois Supreme Court an original action for "writ of mandamus," asking the Justices to order the immediate enforcement, without further delay, of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 ("Parental Notice Act" or "the Act"), and directing the members of the Illinois State Medical Disciplinary Board, the Acting Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, and the Director of the Division of Professional Regulation to expunge and negate their recommendation and order, handed down earlier this month, suspending enforcement of the Parental Notice Act for ninety days. The Society alleges that these administrative officials acted without legal authority and in defiance of legally required procedures in unilaterally announcing that they would wait three months before enforcing this duly enacted Illinois law and that their illegal action could only be remedied - on a timely basis - by the Supreme Court's direct and immediate intervention.

The Act requires a physician to notify one of the minor's parents (legal guardian, step-parent or grandparent living in the same household) before he or she performs an abortion upon a minor, unless the minor petitions the circuit court for a waiver of the notice requirement. Waivers may be granted if the minor can establish, in a "bypass hearing," that she is mature enough to make a decision to obtain an abortion without notifying her parents or that notice would not be in her best interests. Enacted in 1995, the parental notice law was in legal limbo for over a decade until, on September 20, 2006, the Illinois Supreme Court adopted a rule, constitutionally required under federal law, providing for expedited, confidential "bypass" appeals. Once the new Rule 303A was adopted and after further litigation, on July 14, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the Act and the Illinois Supreme Court's implementing rule. A few weeks later, when the Court of Appeals issued its mandate, the Parental Notice Act became fully effective and enforceable.

Yet, on August 4, the members of the Illinois State Medical Disciplinary Board, which is responsible for enforcing the Parental Notice Act against physicians who willfully violate it, issued a recommendation that the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation suspend enforcement of the law for ninety days, beginning on August 5, 2009. The only stated reason was to give physicians more time to comply with the law. The very next day, this recommendation was adopted by the Acting Secretary of the Department and the Director of the Division of Professional Regulation.

The Thomas More Society's complaint for writ of mandamus was brought on behalf of ten Illinois citizens and taxpayers, several of whom are also the parents of minor daughters of child bearing age who would want to be notified before their daughters had an abortion. The Society alleges that the defendants acted without any legal authority and, further, that their action constituted a "rule" that could not take effect without prior compliance with the notice and public comment provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. "The performance of an abortion upon a minor in Illinois without first notifying one of her parents is illegal," said Tom Brejcha, President & Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Society. "Physicians who perform abortions in Illinois have had fourteen years to 'get ready' and 'gear up' to implement the law, more than enough time to comply with the law. This further delay is a clear usurpation of power and an affront to the People of Illinois, the Illinois General Assembly, Governor Edgar who signed this bipartisan law and the Illinois Supreme Court which adopted Rule 303A in 2006." The lawsuit asks the Illinois Supreme Court to enter a writ of mandamus directing the defendants to expunge their order suspending enforcement of the law and to enforce the law without further delay.

The Thomas More Society is a public interest law firm that counsels and defends those who work to protect innocent human life, defends those who proclaim faith-based values in our nation's public square, and strives to protect the institution of marriage as a union of man and woman formed to beget, bear and nurture new human lives. For more information, please visit: www.thomasmoresociety.org.

Women Proclaim Freedom from Shame

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life

"We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us" (1 Jn. 1:3). With these words, John spells out the basis on which the Gospel was announced to the world: personal testimony. Peter proclaimed, "We are witnesses of everything he did …God raised him from the dead …and caused him to be seen … by witnesses whom God had already chosen - by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed …" (Acts 10:39-42).

God takes personal testimony seriously. It's the way he has spread his word from the beginning. He intervenes in the lives of his people, and then he commands that those who have experienced his intervention tell others about it.

The Old Testament Patriarchs encountered God in a variety of surprising ways, and the advancement of salvation history depended upon their sharing that witness, starting with Abraham's sharing of the encounter by which God told him to relocate his family and trust in a promise of fruitfulness that seemed impossible. The prophets likewise, through words and symbolic actions, told the people what God spoke to them. And the central event of the Old Testament, the Exodus, comes to us through generations of personal testimony to the mighty intervention of God.

Jesus Christ himself is the testimony of the Father. "I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence," Jesus explained"For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth" (John 18:37).

Cover of The Confessions of St. Augustine

Paul's conversion experience on the road to Damascus is one of the most famous testimonies in Christianity. And it does not stop with the Bible. Whether it's through the Confessions of St. Augustine, or the writings of Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, or Ignatius of Loyola, this much is clear: personal testimony is an essential tool of evangelization.

It's not surprising, therefore, that one of today's most powerful pro-life developments is the movement by which women and men who have lost children to abortion are speaking out about their pain and healing. The Silent No More Awareness Campaign, a project of Priests for Life and Anglicans for Life, gives these individuals opportunities to witness in churches, in the media, and in public rallies around the world. They reveal the hidden horror of abortion, and they proclaim that for those alienated by sin – whether abortion or not -- there is a Savior.

It's time for the Church and for each of us to hear and spread the testimonies of these men and women. Let's match their courage with ours, by confronting the world with the word of their testimony, which can be found at www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org and on You Tube at www.youtube.com/silentnomorecampaign. Even the Supreme Court in 2007 acknowledged the significance of such testimony. And that's only the beginning. (John 8:38).

Cardinal Mahony calls Kennedy a champion of the powerless

The L.A Times story and the Comments

From the Los Angeles Times website on August 26, 2009, 11:00 am: 

Cardinal Roger Mahony issued a statement today calling the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) a champion of "the voiceless, the powerless and the most needy of our citizens." 

For the entire story, click here. 

Most interesting were some of the initial comments from readers on the L.A. Timeswebsite: 

Read more here: http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=9c215b63-2963-4ed8-b217-1569db0a3461

40 Days for Life Comes to San Diego

September 23 to November 1

The 40 Days for Life campaign, which incorporates prayer, fasting and outreach at local abortion clinics, will make its first appearance in San Diego. 

Local leaders will target the San Marcos Care Center, where abortionist George Kung practices, and the Palomar Pomerado Health building in San Marcos. 

For more information, click here. 
Gene Villinski - sanmarcos40daysforlife@gmail.com or Elena DiVentra - 760.438.2860 

Join us for the first San Diego County

Pray to end abortion

September 23 — November 1

40 days of prayer and fasting to end abortion

40 days of continuous prayer vigil

40 days of educational outreach in the community

Prayer vigils to be held outside Dr. Kung's abortion clinic at the

Palomar Pomerado Health Building

Corner of Twin Oaks Valley & Craven Roads

120 Craven Road, San Marcos

Learn more at www.40daysforlife.com/sanmarcos

To sign up for specific vigil hours, or to let us know how you feel called to

serve God in this effort, please contact the local 40 Days for Life leadership

team:

sanmarcos40daysforlife@gmail.com or 760.438.2860

"Keep it Closed" campaign continues to bear fruit

 

Successful Event Exposes Illegal Activity at Cahart's Abortion Mill, Saves A Life

August 30, 2009

Bellevue, NE - Amid pro-abortion hysteria and media over-hype, Operation Rescue, Nebraskans United for Life, and Rescue the Heartland conducted two days of peaceful activities in the Omaha Metro area, which successfully drew attention to accusations of illegal activities at LeRoy Carhart's Bellevue abortion clinic that have been alleged by four of his former employees.
The event was bolstered by an investigative report printed in the Omaha World-Herald on Friday morning that broke the story that the former abortion workers had voluntarily come forward to blow the whistle on Carhart's illegal practices, which they said included allowing unlicensed staff to perform medical duties, and the existence of filthy conditions, such as dried blood on surgical instruments laid out to be used during abortions.
Those women also contacted Operation Rescue and Rescue the Heartland and are working with the groups to get their information to the appropriate authorities. (Read previous story.)
Press conference and a "staggering" list of allegations

The three pro-life groups held a press conference on Friday afternoon and released a list of allegations that one news station called "staggering," detailing the allegations and the applicable Nebraska Criminal Statutes and Regulations. Because media attendance at the press conference exceeded expectations, the conference had to be moved to a larger space. ("Must see" news report and video.)
Representatives from Operation Rescue and Rescue the Heartland then met with the Bellevue Police Department, which was very cooperative. At Operation Rescue's request, the police agreed to keep pro-abortion counter-protesters separated from the pro-life groups, because of security concerns on the part of the pro-lifers. Operation Rescue staff members have received dozens of death threats, a concern that was raised with the police.
A Vision for Victory
Friday evening about 100 supporters attended a rally at St. Cecelia's Cathedral where Opertion Rescue President Troy Newman encouraged the Omaha area pro-life community to press on with their already fruitful efforts to save the lives of innocent children from abortion and to make their community abortion free through the use of peaceful, legal means. Newman imparted a well-received vision for victory to the group.
Much anticipated "protest"

Saturday morning two Truth Trucks joined about fifty pro-lifers outside Carhart's dilapidated abortion clinic in Bellevue where pro-abortion counter-protesters had been bussed in by national abortion groups. While pro-lifers prayed and sang hymns, abortion supporters chanted "Welcome, welcome. This clinic stays open!" and cheered each time a women entered the clinic to kill her pre-born child.
"It's pretty sick when someone cheers the fact that an innocent child is about to die," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "These people desperately need Jesus to help them rediscover their moral compasses."
The outreach was never promoted as a large protest by the participating pro-life groups. It was instead an outreach to offer abortion-bound women help, compassion, and practical help, and to be a witness to the community to the devastating effects of abortion.
"Misguided abortion folks seemed to process our peaceful intentions through their hysteria filter and the result was overreaction and amped up rhetoric that completely missed the mark of what was really going on. Even at that, their predicted hundreds of counter-protesters never materialized, while we drew over twice as many people as we predicted on our side," said Newman.
"The news about the clinic workers blowing the whistle on Carhart's dangerous and illegal abortion business really took the wind out of their sails."
A baby saved and privacy violated

Carhart did not inform his patients that there would be protesters at his clinic. One woman who had scheduled an abortion was frightened by the pro-abortion protesters who repeatedly screamed and called her name over a bullhorn. A pro-life sidewalk counselor was able to ask the woman and her friend to pull into the crisis pregnancy center across the street from Carhart's clinic, which they did.
The woman received support and counseling from the staff of the pro-life help center and made the decision not to abort her baby. She signed a written release authorizing the distribution of a sonographic image of her pre-born baby to protesters and indicated she was interested in filing a complaint against Carhart's clinic for violating her right to privacy by making her name available to pro-abortion protesters and others.
"So much for a woman's right to privacy," said Newman. "This woman felt violated by the lack of consideration for her privacy on the part of the abortion clinic supporters. In the end, they drove her to us where we were able to get her the help and support she needed to make the decision to keep her child."
Blind to the truth

Newman attempted to distribute the sonogram images of the saved baby to abortion supporters, but each time his words seemed to strike a nerve, the pro-aborts began to chant.
"They couldn't even look at the picture of that precious baby. They simply are blind to the truth. The fact that they can stand in front of that dump of an abortion clinic, which has been accused of committing illegal and unsafe acts that have endangered the lives and safety of women, shows that they are not willing to face reality. The look of the place alone should have scared them away," said Newman.
"It shows that this blind support for Carhart amongst radical abortion groups is not about what is best for women. It is about perpetuating abortion at any cost, even if it means breaking the law and hurting the women whose so-called rights they pretend to support. If they really cared about women, they would be joining us in calling for the closure of Carhart's shoddy abortion business."
Closed-door training session
After a morning of peaceful outreach at the abortion clinic, Operation Rescue met with local activists at an undisclosed location for a closed-door training session on how to employ the legal tools that are available to close abortion clinics. The session was well attended and received with energy and enthusiasm.
Improper detention

During the training session, police wrongly detained two of Operation Rescue's Truth Truck drivers in the parking lot of a public school that was closed for the day, where they had parked due to lack of street parking. The pair was threatened with arrest for trespassing on the public property. Several people watching a local air show were also parked in the lot, but they were not detained or threatened with arrest. However, cooler heads soon prevailed, and the drivers were released without being charged and without further incident.
Success exceeded expectations
"This event was all about two things. First we wanted to expose the criminal and unsafe conditions at Carhart's abortion clinic, which was done successful beyond expectations," said Newman. "Secondly, we wanted to identify and train a core group of leaders who could continue to work within the legal system in Nebraska to bring Carhart to justice and see his clinic closed through peaceful, legal means. That goal was accomplished. The pro-life community in Nebraska are amazingly dedicated people who we are proud to work with.
"Then to have a baby saved at our morning outreach in spite of ranting pro-abortions, police SWAT teams, cordoned off streets, and every other impediment, we can confidently say that this was an amazing event that exceeded expectations. God was with us at every turn. We look forward to going back at some future time to continue our efforts."
Photo gallery and event videos coming soon!

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About Operation Rescue®

Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation.  Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America.  Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates. Click here to make a secure donation online.
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Web site: www.operationrescue.org

E-mail: info@operationrescue.org

Pro-Life Resources

From http://rochestercatholic.com/

One of the core missions of CREDO is to spread the message of the gospel of life. Our group takes seriously the instruction of the Church in regard to being defenders of life. We are especially active in the fight to end abortion, euthanasia, and embryonic stem cell research. We hold as a biological and religious truth that life begins at conception. We believe that this fight for life must be engaged on multiple fronts. Our focus at CREDO is to bring about a moral and intellectual conversion in this fight. It is our hope that the many links on this page will provide you with the information you need to become a fellow defender of life.

•   American Life League  
•   Lifesite News  
•   Life Dynamics  
•   Pro-life America  
•   RU-486  
•   The first nine months  
•   Stop Planned Parenthood  
•   The Truth About Margaret Sanger  
•   Pro-LifeSearch  
•   ProLife.com  
•   Pro-Life Action League  
•   USCCB  
•   Celebrate Life Magazine  
•   Baby Body Parts For Sale  
•   Abort73.com  
•   Human Life International  
•   Life Issues  
•   Rachel's Vineyard  
•   Pregnant and Scared?  
•   Euthanasia  

Judie Brown Gets It Right: Her Letter to Sean Cardinal O'Malley

The following is a copy of the letter sent by ALL president Judie Brown to Sean Cardinal O'Malley:

August 27, 2009

His Eminence Sean Cardinal O'Malley 
Archdiocese of Boston 
2121 Commonwealth Ave. 
Boston, MA 02135

Your Eminence:

We are aware of the impending disaster that is about to take place at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in your Archdiocese. We are positive that you are aware that Senator Edward Kennedy spent the past 30 years doing all he could to advocate and support the act of procured abortion, and yet he continued to call himself Catholic. We know that you are also aware of his divorce, remarriage, et cetera. These are public matters, not private.

We are therefore astounded that you are permitting a funeral Mass for this man at the Basilica, and that you have obviously approved the appearance of President Barack Obama, the United States president who has done more to facilitate the direct killing of innocent children before birth than any president in the history of this nation.

There is still time to stop this scandal, Your Eminence. The truth does not change because of the respect the world is paying to this man. The Catholic principles which you have sworn to uphold have not disappeared because of Senator Kennedy's death.

As I have told several reporters, if this funeral Mass proceeds as planned, Senator Edward Kennedy will have spit one more time on Christ, this time from a casket.

Please, Your Eminence. Stop the travesty.

Sincerely yours in the Lord Who IS Life,

Judie Brown, President 
American Life League, Inc.

Part III: Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Pro-life Movement by Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life

Image of Our Lady of Guadulupe

Continued from Part II

The Image and the Pro-life Movement

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which converted the Aztecs has been replicated and travels the United States on an explicit mission to end abortion. It is carried into Churches and it is brought in front of abortion clinics nationwide. I have been with the image many times in these settings. In one instance in Florida, a Catholic girl who was already in the clinic's waiting room looked outside and saw us praying, and decided to cancel her abortion. She came out to talk to us. We arranged for all the assistance she needed, and later that year I had the joy of baptizing her baby, whom she named "Guadalupe."
 

The image speaks to these girls a message of hope. It also speaks to the pro-life people a message about the task before us. We who fight abortion do not see abortion walking down the street. Instead, we see a girl, frightened and in the grip of despair. We, the Church, are to reach out to her in what is

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

 the most critical pastoral mission of our day.
That mission is illustrated by the Annunciation and the Visitation. When Mary is told she will be the Mother of Christ, she does not get wrapped up in herself, thinking about what has just been said and isolating herself from others in order to absorb some unique spiritual experience. Rather, she seems to pay more attention to what Gabriel said about Elisabeth, Mary's cousin, than about Mary! She runs in haste into the hill country and tends to Elisabeth's needs during her pregnancy. The message for us is that authentic religious experience and true worship never turn us in on ourselves. Rather, the more real our encounter is with God, the more attentive and responsive we are to the needs of our brothers and sisters.
 

Our Lady of Guadalupe has been declared the "Patroness of the Unborn." They will be saved by the message of hope she brings, and by the message of concrete charity with which she challenges the Church. Among the many and varied groups that carry out this pro-life mission, one of special note in this context is "Indians for Life." The outreach department of the National Right to Life Committee, as well as Priests for Life, have fostered and encouraged the growth of this yet small organization, coordinated by Clementine "Little Hawk" Hernandez. Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap., has been among the strong supporters of this effort, which gives concrete expression to the reverence of Native Americans for the gift of life.

Conclusion: For the little ones, for us

Image via Wikipedia Juan Diego

When Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego, she addressed him as "Juanito" (signifying the weakest or smallest member of the family), and as "Son", and spoke of herself as both his "Mother" and the "Mother of the One, True living God." All of this indicates another reason why Our Lady of Guadalupe should be entrusted with the unborn. Today she addresses to us who defend life the same words she addressed to Juan Diego:
 

"Hear and let it penetrate your hearts, my dear little ones. Let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you; let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Do not fear vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here, your Mother? Are you not in the folds of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else that you need?"