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Dear
e-link
Subscriber,
Membership for e-link is close to 1,150. Welcome new
members! And don't forget to share e-link with those who might
like to join with us as we promote a culture of life in the
Diocese of San Diego.
Please see important information on the Pacific Surge
Student Chastity Conference set for July 6th and 7th
below.
As always, we remind current members and inform new members that
past e-link bulletins and this current bulletin can be viewed at
www.osmelink.org.
God Bless!
     
Thursday, June 7, 2007 OSM e-link
Bulletin #60
Table of Contents
Remarks from Kent on why the OSM is
making Pacific Surge a priority for the summer of 2007
Key Upcoming Culture-of-Life
Gatherings/Projects (please join us)
1) Pacific Surge Chastity Conference set for July 6 and 7,
2007, at the Sports
Arena in San Diego - for high school and college
age youth (14 to 24)
2) Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice to participate in
"Justice for Janitors
Day" Celebration on Friday, June 15, 2007, at 12:45 p.m.
at the Genesee
Executive Plaza (9333 Genesee Ave., San Diego)
3) Friends of Fair Trade San Diego, a group dedicated to
increasing fair-trade
activity in San Diego County, to hold informational
meeting on Wednesday,
June 20, 2007, 7:00 p.m., 4761 Cass St., San Diego
Short Reports on Office for Social
Ministry Related Issues/Events
- Article from the Southern Cross on the National Alliance
on Mental
Illness Walk held on April 21, 2007
Advocacy Request X
2
LIFE Last chance to stop the AB 374 in the California
Assembly
DIGNITY Last chance to enact comprehensive immigration
reform in the U.S.
Senate
Advocacy Reportback
Denise Ebipane reports on an e-mail sent to
Senator Feinstein
Web and e-mail-based Resources
- Word is getting out. "Bella," Metanoia Films' first full
length feature movie,
is on its way to San Diego. To be
released in mid-August, San Diego is
one of only five cities slated for this special early
release. A tale of
challenge and opportunity, filled with life, family and
adoption-friendly values,
you won't want to miss it. Watch for posters in your
parish. The Knights of
Columbus will be selling tickets to special
pre-screenings three days prior to
"Bella's" opening weekend.
www.bellathemovie.com
Local and Regional
Events/Gatherings/Projects
1. North-County prayer witness at the Carlsbad Planned
Parenthood Clinic
scheduled for every third Monday of the month from
10:00 to 10:30 a.m.
2. Prayerful witness for life at two locations in San Diego
County - every
Saturday at Sixth and Palm in San Diego and every
second Saturday of
the month at Pomerado Road in Poway
3. St. Dismas Guild sponsors two weekly hours of prayer
for the unborn in
North County
4. St. John the Evangelist Parish in Encinitas Pro-Life
Mass and Rosary held on
the first Monday of each month
5. Most Precious Blood Parish Rosary Prayer Vigils held
on Wednesdays each
week at 8:45 a.m.
6. The ministry of prayer and sidewalk counseling at the
Clinica Medica abortion
facility in Chula Vista is seeking sidewalk counselors
for Wednesday mornings
7. Join neighbors and friends to pray in front of the new
Planned Parenthood
facility in El Cajon
8. The Goretti Group is offering a chastity prayer
gathering and a speaker
training monthly
Article/Statement for June 7, 2007
- Article by Richard Doerflinger, Deputy Director of the
Secretariat for Pro-Life
Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "A
Court that has Begun to
See," on the April 18, 2007 Supreme Court decision,
Gonzales vs. Planned
Parenthood
Remarks from Kent Peters
Pacific Surge Student Conference... Solving the Worlds'
Social Ills One Youth at a Time
Why would the Office for Social Ministry commit to making the
Pacific Surge Student Chastity Conference, scheduled for July 6
and 7 at the San Diego Sports Arena, one of its highest
priorities for the summer of 2007? A social ministry office is
generally thought of as a diocesan entity that works on creating
a culture of life and dignity for those who suffer.
The answer is simple.
Back in my high school days, 1981 to 1989 (not as a student but
as a religion teacher at St. Thomas Academy in St. Paul,
Minnesota), following a multi-week unit on chastity, we would
dedicate an entire class to the discussion of one simple topic.
A question was posed, "What would the social ills of our country
look like if every citizen, young and old, lived up to the
standards set by the Catholic Church (and we're not alone on
this issue) regarding human sexuality?"
It was never easy, but the students would have to imagine a
world where full expressions of sexual activity would be
reserved for loving and respectful embraces within committed
marriages, for that, in a nutshell, is what the Catholic Church
teaches.
Each of my classes would then grapple with chastity's profound potential
impact on society.
There were the easy topics: crisis pregnancies, abortion, STDs,
AIDS, single parenthood, and broken hearts... All pretty much
eradicated by chastity and not at all a bad start.
But then there were the more remote topics like: poverty,
divorce, drug and alcohol abuse, and gang violence. The
students would eventually conclude that, over time, even these
ills would be greatly impacted and significantly reduced as
healthy and intact families became the norm, not the exception.
They realized that the most basic healing response to the
societal ills of today, loving mothers and fathers raising
families together (what the Church has historically called the
most basic unit of society, the family) could eventually
transform the whole of society. There is a lifestyle that leads
to circumstances where it is much more likely that children will
thrive, develop virtue, and eventually become good parents
themselves. The students were challenged to embrace that
lifestyle, not just for themselves, but for the good of the
community.
The formula was simple: Social ills + family = a thriving
society.
Chastity is definitely part of a long-term solution to our
world's problems.
Won't you join the Office for Social Ministry in making Pacific
Surge "The" event of the summer, a mountain-top, shot-in- the-arm
experience of chastity education that will compliment the
messages shared by so many caring parents, priests, deacons,
youth ministers, and teachers in our diocese?
We have room for 6,000 students at the conference. Let us
imagine those thousands of youth and young adults making a
deeper commitment to chastity and what that very decision might
mean for the health of the larger community, setting the
foundation for stronger families, and thus reducing poverty,
gang influence, etc.
Please tell every family you know that has a child between the
ages of 12 and 14 about the middle school Pacific Surge
Conference on July 7th and every family that has a child between
the ages of 14 and 24 about the high school and college Pacific
Surge on July 6th and 7th.
The Social Ministry Office has a mandate to participate in the
alleviation of the suffering of those in the community who are
marginalized socially or economically, and we see Pacific
Surge as THE most effective poverty and violence prevention
program available!
Please see the Upcoming Events section below for more details
about Pacific Surge or you can go directly to
www.pacificsurge.com
to learn more.
Thank you and God bless! |
| |
Key
Upcoming Culture-of-Life
Gatherings/Projects
Number 1:
The Pacific Surge Student Chastity
Conference has been scheduled for July 6 and
7, 2007, at the San Diego Sports Arena and is for any young adult
between the ages of 14 and 24. All they need is an interest in
reflecting on chastity. You won't want to miss a bit of Pacific
Surge!
Take a look at just a few
of the conference participants:
And then there are the four
Pacific Surge concerts:
Leeland ***
Rebecca St. James *** Steps of Praise *** Phil Wickham
Here's the schedule:
You can both view a complete
registration brochure and register for the Pacific Surge Student
Conference online at:
www.pacificsurge.org
And, don't forget to forward the
www.pacificsurge.org link
to all your friends.
We'll see you there!
Number 2:
The Interfaith Committee for Worker
Justice invites all members of the faith community to participate in
"Justice for Janitors Day" on Friday, June 15, 2007, at 12:45 p.m.
at the Genesee Executive Plaza (9333 Genesee Ave., San Diego)
Join the OSM for "Justice for Janitors Day"
For 17
years, June 15 has been observed as “Justice for Janitors Day”
following a successful strike in 1990 by mainly immigrant cleaners
in Century City. Striking janitors,
 members
of SEIU, were holding a peaceful protest against their employer when
they were beaten by the police. The incident provoked a public
outcry in the U.S. and abroad. Workers eventually won the strike
and secured better wages and benefits.
Continuing the Struggle for Justice… This June 15th, hundreds of
janitors in San Diego will march to launch their 2008 Contract
negotiations and to bring justice to janitors working for Pegasus
Building Services & Professional Maintenance Systems. These workers
continue to struggle with poverty wages and little or no benefits.
The Janitors will begin their Walk for Justice at Noon from SAIC,
and at 12:45 p.m. ICWJ will welcome them in prayer and celebration
at Genesee Executive Plaza.
**FREE PARKING INFORMATION**
Good Samaritan Episcopal Church has offered to let us park in their
parish parking lot. The church is located at: 4321 Eastgate Mall,
San Diego, CA 92121 (at the corner of Eastgate Mall and Genesee
Avenue; from there, take Genesee one block to Genesee Executive
Plaza).
For
more information about the Justice for Janitors’ Day ICWJ Prayer
Vigil, please contact Bet Lawrence at 619-584-5744, ext. 60 or
e-mail Bet@ICWJ.org.
Justice for Janitors Day
Friday, June 15, 2007, 12:45 p.m.
Genesee Executive Plaza
9333 Genesee Ave.
San Diego
Free Parking available at Good Samaritan Episcopal Church at 4321
Eastgate Mall
Number 3:
San Diego Friends of Fair Trade (SDFFT)
to hold major organizing and recruitment meeting on Wednesday, June
20, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. at Open Door Books, 4761 Cass St., San Diego
(in Pacific Beach - across the street from St. Brigid Parish)
Learn more about the San Diego Friends of Fair Trade
Coalition with a view to joining the coalition
San
Diego Friends of Fair Trade works to promote awareness about and use
of fair trade in the San Diego region. It is spreading the word
about how congregations or organizations can serve or sell Fair
Trade products. SDFFT has speakers, resources, and free samples!
Contact SDFFT at
fairtradesandiego@gmail.com or simply attend the meeting.
New friends are always welcome!
Short
Reports on OSM Related Issues/Events
Number 1: Follow the link below
to an article in the Southern Cross by Denis Grasska on the April
21st National Alliance on Mental Illness of San Diego Walk for the
Mind of America
By By Denis Grasska - The Southern Cross
(St. Luke's NAMI Team)
SAN DIEGO -– On April 21, parishioners from St. Luke’s Parish in El
Cajon joined with San Diego County’s four local National Alliance on
Mental Illness (NAMI) chapters for the county’s third annual NAMI
Walk in Balboa Park.
The walk is expected to raise about $112,000, which will provide
funding for NAMI’s support groups, education programs, presentations
and outreach countywide...
Read the complete story:
http://www.thesoutherncross.org/default.asp?issueid=03-sept-11&cid=1&aid=227
NAMI San Diego web site:
http://www.namisandiego.org/
e-link Advocacy
REQUEST
Our goal has been to always
include two advocacy actions in e-link. The last few days have
been interesting in that at both the state and federal levels, two
pieces of legislation that we have asked you to act upon in the
past are being considered within the next few hours. AB 374, the
Physician Assisted Suicide bill has until tomorrow to make it out
of the California State Assembly and S.1348, the Border Security
and Immigration Reform Act, is facing a major test today in the
U.S. Senate.
So we ask that you contact your State Assembly members and ask
them to vote against AB 374. And contact Senators Feinstein and
Boxer and ask them to support family reunification amendments and
support a workable comprehensive immigration bill.
Life Request:
We ask that they call your California Assembly
Member to encourage a vote against AB 374, the bill to legalize
Physician Assisted Suicide - The message is simple... Please Vote
NO!
For a complete briefing on AB 374, visit the California Catholic
Conference website at:
http://cacatholic.org/ab374.html
To determine just who your California Assembly Member is, go to:
www.vote-smart.org Be
ready to enter your 9-digit Zip Code number on the left side of the
home page.
Please call your Assembly Member's Sacramento Office.
Dignity Request:
The current immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed.
Immigrants today have few safe, orderly or legal options to migrate
to the U.S., resulting in increased abuses and exploitation of
migrants, and thousands of deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Families continue to be separated for years by extensive backlogs in
the immigration system.
In the next few days or even hours there is a chance that Congress
will enact comprehensive immigration reform.
Please call both California U.S. Senators, Feinstein and Boxer with
the message:
"Support family reunification amendments
and support a workable comprehensive immigration bill."
Senator Feinstein's DC office:
202-224-3841
Senator Boxer's DC office: 202-224-3553
Thank you!
e-link Advocacy REPORTBACK
An e-mail from Denise Ebipane on a response from Senator Feinstein
on Embryonic Stem Cell Research and a report on her work to defeat
AB 374, the bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide -
 On
another subject, I got a response from Sen. Feinstein regarding my
letter on embryonic stem cell research. Of course she defends her
views on it. "I understand that many people have different opinions
on the issue of stem cell research and some opposition to the
research is rooted in deeply held religious and moral
convictions...To be clear, while I support embryonic stem cell
research and somatic cell nuclear transplantation research, I oppose
human reproductive cloning. I believe that human reproductive
cloning is immoral and must be made illegal with severe penalties."
I plan to write to her again, and ask her why destroying life at its
earliest developemnent is less immoral and unethical...
(photo: Denise at the 2006 Life Chain)
Going over the lives of unborn human beings is as appalling as
cloning...When is it ever right to destroy life in the hope of
helping others? It has nothing to do with religious convictions,
MORAL, Yes! Where is the logic of condemning cloning, and then
embracing destruction of life at its earliest stage? Everyone will
one day have to answer to the Creator of all Life! Stand for "life"
and inspire others to do the same...(If you have the opportunity to
see the move Amazing Grace, you will not regret it - about the
abolition of the slave trade in England)
I contacted everyone concerned about Assisted Suicide, including
Maria Salas. Mimi Walters and Joel Anderson are against it. We
know G. Plescia is. I forwarded your June 5 Action Alert to the
Knights of C.
God bless, Denise Ebipane
Thanks, Denise. You're the greatest!
Web and
e-mail-based Resources
"Bella", the movie...
AFI (American Film Institute) Movie Review - Dallas
Life is really, really hard; thank God it's so beautiful - it's one
of those rare films that catches you by the emotional short hairs
and refuses to let go. By the time the final reel plays, you're
going to be weeping tears of commingled sadness and joy - unless you
happen to have blocked tear ducts. (And, if you do, you might
consider a viewing of this movie as a possible cure.) Bella is
really not so much a love story (in the sense of two people falling
head over heels) as it is a story about love and how it can heal
psychic wounds and enrich our lives. -John P. Meyer, AFI Dallas.
Following are three links related to the
movie Bella:
1) the official Bella web site:
http://www.bellathemovie.com/
2) Bella Resources - posters, images,
articles, reviews, web tools, and other cool stuff:
http://www.bellaresources.com/
3) View the incredible story behind Bella and
support Bella:
http://www.moviemails.com/moh/moviemail/view?buzzmailId=93664
At the web address just
above... Be sure to watch the making of the Bella and Eduardo's
story. You'll see; the Holy Spirit is alive and moving in the
hearts of great artists today!
New
Local/Regional Events and
Gatherings
If you are planning an event that falls within the mission of social
ministry, send the particulars four to five weeks in advance to the
Office for Social Ministry via e-mail,
osmelink@diocese-sdiego.org. The OSM reserves the right to
publish or not to publish any proposed event information. We hope
this will assist your local efforts to re-build a culture of life.
1. North-County prayer witness at the Carlsbad Planned
Parenthood Clinic
North County parishioners meet the third Monday of every month
from 10:00 to 10:30 a.m. to peacefully pray the rosary in front of
the Carlsbad Planned Parenthood Clinic. The clinic is located at
1820 Marron Rd. (in the shopping center just west of Plaza Camino
Real Mall). For more information contact Jahna White of St.
Margaret Parish at 760-586-6356.
2. Prayerful witness for life at two locations (Sixth and
Palm in San Diego and Pomerado Road in Poway) in San Diego County
Helpers of God’s Precious Infants weekly rosary prayer vigil from
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. every Saturday at Family Planning Associates
2850 Sixth Ave, at Palm, across from Balboa Park. Prayer warriors
also needed as early as 7:30 a.m.
Call Sue Lopez 619/990-1341 for more information.
2nd Saturday of the month: 20 decades of the Rosary are prayed in
procession past 4 clinics following the 7:30 a.m. Mass, 15546
Pomerado Road, Poway. For more information, call 858-748-2109.
3. St. Dismas Guild sponsors two weekly hours of prayer for
the unborn in North County
Join members of St. Dismas Guild for a rosary picket at Womancare,
120 S. Craven Way, San Marcos, (across from Cal State San Marcos),
Tuesdays, 9-10 a.m.
The Guild also sponsors prayer (the rosary) in front of PayLess
at Mission Avenue and Escondido Blvd. 347 W. Mission on Thursdays,
10:30-11:30 a.m. For information on these prayer vigils, call
760-751-8541.
4. St. John the Evangelist Parish in Encinitas Pro-Life Mass
and Rosary held on the first Monday of each month
The first Monday of every month is designated Pro-Life
Monday at St. John the Evangelist Church, 1001 Encinitas Blvd,
Encinitas. The 8:00 a.m. Mass will be followed by a Rosary for
Life. For more information, please call Helene McIlhon at
858-756-0622.
5. Most Precious Blood Parish Rosary Prayer Vigils held on
Wednesdays each week
The Pro-Life Prayer Group from Most Precious Blood sponsors a
Rosary Prayer Vigil in front of the Clinica Medica abortion facility
at 1550 Broadway, Chula Vista every Wednesday at 8:45 a.m. For more
information, please call Shirley Henry at 619-420-7096 or Luis
Mendoza at 619-300-5563.
6. The ministry associated with the Clinica Medica
abortion facility in Chula Vista is seeking sidewalk counselors for
Wednesday mornings and some Friday mornings - training will be
provided
The CLINICA MEDICA abortion facility in Chula Vista is now
performing abortions on Wednesday mornings, some Friday mornings and
occasionally on Saturdays. Please contact Luis Mendoza, a
Missionary of The Gospel of Life Lay Associate, at 619-300-5563,
with questions or to share interest in this ministry.
7. There is a new Planned Parenthood facility located at
1685 East Main, just off the Greenfield Drive exit in El Cajon -
join friends and neighbors in prayer
According to the PP website, chemical (RU-486) abortions
only are done at this location - not surgical abortions. They do
refer women for abortions to their surgical center on First Ave.
Join the group each Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Contact:
Debbie 619-933-7776.
8. The Goretti Group is offering a chastity prayer and
speaker training monthly
Every 4th Wednesday of the month: Culture of Life Praise
and Prayer @ Our Lady of the Rosary, Giovanni Room, 7:00 p.m. -
Praise the Lord to live music, join in praying the rosary, and hear
a witness on living the virtue of chastity!
Every 2nd Wednesday of the month: ChasteMasters Meeting @ Our
Lady of the Rosary, Giovanni Room, 7:00 p.m. - Please join us in
prayer, a roundtable discussion, and providing feedback as chastity
speakers refine their talks.
For more info please visit:
www.thegorettigroup.org
Watch for OSM e-link bulletin
#61 around Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Article/Statement for June 7, 2007
The following article by Richard Doerflinger is the first in a
series that will hope will provide insight and clarity on the April
18, 2007 Supreme Court decision, Gonzales vs. Planed Parenthood,
letting stand the ban on partial-birth abortion.
A COURT THAT HAS BEGUN TO SEE
By Richard M. Doerflinger
The Supreme Court’s new ruling on partial-birth abortion has
near-term and long-term implications. Both should give us new hope
in the struggle to build a culture of life.
The immediate impact is that after a decade of political and legal
struggle, Congress is finally allowed to forbid a late-term abortion
procedure “so horrible that the most clinical description of it
evokes a shudder of revulsion.” (The quote is from Justice Antonin
Scalia, dissenting from the Court’s ruling seven years ago allowing
partial-birth abortions to continue – and if you think he
exaggerates, find Justice Kennedy’s new majority opinion in Gonzales
v. Carhart online and read the first three pages.) By allowing a
ban on the deliberate delivery and direct killing of the mostly-born
child, the Court has at least prevented abortion from sliding
entirely over into infanticide.
But as many have said, the ban itself will not prevent many
abortions. More important in the long run are the signs that “the
abortion distortion” – the Court’s past refusal to apply the same
rules of decisionmaking in abortion cases as in other cases – may be
a thing of the past. No longer will protective laws be struck down
simply because the legislators are motivated by ethical concerns, or
because their factual findings were disputed by some abortion
doctors, or because a plaintiff cobbled together a hypothetical
future case where the law may someday have an untoward result. What
Justice Scalia has called the Court’s “ad hoc nullification machine”
for abortion laws is replaced by the usual presumption that a duly
enacted law is constitutional unless shown otherwise.
Most encouraging of all is the way the Court has begun to deliver on
a promise made in its 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision. At
that time the Court’s plurality opinion upheld the basic core of Roe
v. Wade on the ground that it had been a judicial precedent for so
long, but admitted that Roe may not have given enough attention to a
key factor in the abortion dilemma: the value of the unborn child’s
life. The new decision sets aside past evasions about not knowing
“when human life begins,” and simply acknowledges that, “by common
understanding and scientific terminology, a fetus is a living
organism while within the womb, whether or not it is viable outside
the womb.” The Court calls the victim of abortion an unborn child,
and clearly recognizes abortion as a form of killing.
Nor does the Court ignore the plight of the pregnant woman. Rather,
it emphasizes how wrenching her situation is, and how terribly wrong
it is for an abortionist to hide the reality of abortion from her
until it is too late to act differently. On this point the Court
cites a “friend of the court” brief filed by 180 women who
personally experienced grief, sorrow and depression after abortion.
From a legal viewpoint, the new decision is narrow in its impact.
Roe v. Wade still stands, and the vast majority of abortions remain
legal. But this Court has begun to take off the blinders and see
abortion, recognizing its harm to children, women, the medical
profession, and all of society. Advocates for the sanctity of human
life should take encouragement from this clearer vision.
(Mr. Doerflinger is Deputy Director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life
Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.) |
