|
Dear
e-link
Subscriber,
This will be the last e-link bulletin published prior to the
October 20, 2008 deadline to register to vote in
California. If you are eligible to vote but have not
registered, or if you have moved since the last election,
please visit your parish office to register to vote
prior to October 20th.
On September 10, 2008, the California bishops released a
statement supporting Proposition 4, Sarah's Law. To read the
statement and download support materials for Proposition 4,
visit:
http://www.cacatholic.org/news/catholic-bishops-support-proposition-4.html.
The November 2008 voter aid produced by the Office for Social
Ministry, "As a Catholic... How Do I Decide?"
is now available online in both English and Spanish.
We are also pleased to announce
that 75,000 printed English voter aids and 25,000 printed
Spanish voter aids will be delivered to parishes starting next
week.
Online versions of both the English and Spanish voter aids,
including larger print black and white English and Spanish
versions, can be found at:
www.osmelink.org/vote.
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!
     
Tuesday, September 23, 2008, OSM e-link
Bulletin #71
Table of Contents
Remarks from Charles J. Chaput,
Archbishop of Denver - "On Catholics and Obama"
Key Upcoming Culture-of-Life
Gatherings/Projects (please join us)
1) Join us for an “Evening with Dale O’Leary,”
author of "One Man,
One Woman, A Catholic's Guide to Defending Marriage,"
on Wednesday,
September 24, 2008, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the
Diocesan Pastoral
Center, 3888 Paducah Drive in San Diego -
tomorrow evening
2) October is "Fair Trade Month" - Join
San Diego Friends of Fair Trade for a
concert plus a fair trade chocolate and wine tasting on
Friday, October 17,
2008, at Christ Lutheran Church in Pacific Beach
3) Join with hundreds of faithful "witness for life" at the
2008 "Life Chain" on
Sunday, October 5, 2007, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. on Balboa
Ave. and Genesee
4) Join with the San Diego Organizing
Project to take a stand for youth on
Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. at the San Diego
Convention
Center in Downtown San Diego - learn more at
www.sdop.net
5) Spend an evening with Cardinal Theodore E.
McCarrick, Archbishop
Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Washington DC on the
topic of immigration
on Monday, October 13, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. at the Joan
B. Kroc Institute
for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego
6) Join others from around the Diocese at St Brigid's
Parish as we broadcast live
via satellite a forum to discuss Proposition 8 -
Wednesday, October 1, 2008,
from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
7) This year's Not-to-be-Forgotten Rally
to be held on Wednesday, October 1,
2008, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. - to remember those
victims who have
died as a result of domestic violence and to bring
Awareness about
Domestic Violence through outreach to San Diego
Community - at the San
Diego Civic Center Plaza on 3rd Ave. and B St.
Short Reports on Office for Social
Ministry Related Issues/Events
- The 54-day Novena for the Protection of Life and Marriage
was begun at St.
Ephrem's Maronite Catholic Church on November 4th with
hundreds in
attendance - a new Memorial to the Unborn was also
dedicated that evening
by Bishop Salvatore Cordileone
Web and
e-mail-based Resources
- Please watch this three-minute video from the Yes on 4
Campaign - If you
are unsure about supporting Proposition 4, this video
will surely help. Please
forward the link to this video to any and everyone you
know
Local and Regional
Events/Gatherings/Projects
1. Attend the San Diego Friends of Fair Trade
meeting on Wednesday,
October 1, at 6:00 p.m. at the Open Door Book Store in
Pacific Beach
2. "Get Acquainted with Detention Ministry"
monthly information/training
session offered by Deacon Walsh at the Pastoral Center
- October 14th
3. 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.
4. Prayerful witness for life at two locations in
San Diego County - every
Saturday and Wednesday at 7340 Miramar Road, just East
of the Pyramid
Building, adjacent to Carroll Road and the second
Saturday of every
month at 15546 Pomerado Road in Poway
5. St. Dismas Guild sponsors two weekly hours of
prayer for the unborn in
North County
6. St. John the Evangelist Parish in Encinitas
Pro-Life Mass and Rosary held on
the first Monday of each month
7. Most Precious Blood Parish in Chula Vista
Rosary Prayer Vigils held every
Wednesday at 8:45 a.m.
8. Contact Luis Mendoza to learn more
about a physician in Chula Vista who
performs abortions at his medical facility a few
mornings each week
9. Join neighbors and friends to pray in front of
the new Planned Parenthood
facility in El Cajon on Fridays and Saturdays
10. The Goretti Group is offering a chastity prayer
gathering and a speaker
training monthly along with a Mass to celebrate
chastity
Article/Statement for September 23, 2008
- U.S. Catholic Bishops Respond to Senator Biden's
Statements Regarding Church Teaching on Abortion
Remarks from Charles J. Chaput,
Archbishop of Denver
Thoughts on "Roman Catholics for Obama
'08"
By Charles J.
Chaput O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Denver, CO
Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 5:47 AM
Forty years ago this month, Bobby Kennedy was still alive and
running for the Democratic party’s 1968 presidential nomination.
I was a seminarian in Washington, D.C. I was also an active
volunteer in Kennedy’s campaign. I can still remember helping
with secretarial work in the same room where Edward Kennedy and
Pierre Salinger labored away on the campaign’s strategy. It was
my first involvement in elective politics, and, after the
Vietnam Tet Offensive in February and Martin Luther King Jr.’s
murder on April 4, Kennedy’s cause seemed urgent. Then, on June
5, Kennedy was gunned down himself.
After Robert Kennedy died, the meaning of the 1968 election
seemed to evaporate. I lost interest in politics. I didn’t get
involved again until the rise of Jimmy Carter. Carter fascinated
me because he seemed like an untypical politician. He was plain
spoken, honest, a serious Christian and a Washington outsider.
So I supported him during his 1976 campaign when I was a young
priest working in Pennsylvania. After his election as president,
I came to Denver as pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Thornton in
1977. I eventually got involved with the 1980 Colorado campaign
for Carter’s re-election on the invitation of a parishioner and
Democratic party activist—Polly Baca, who was and remains a good
friend.
Carter had one serious strike against him. The U.S. Supreme
Court had legalized abortion on demand in its 1973 Roe v. Wade
decision, and Carter the candidate waffled about restricting it.
At the time, I knew Carter was wrong in his views about Roe and
soft toward permissive abortion. But even as a priest, I
justified working for him because he wasn’t aggressively
“pro-choice.” True, he held a bad position on a vital issue, but
I believed he was right on so many more of the “Catholic” issues
than his opponent seemed to be. The moral calculus looked easy.
I thought we could remedy the abortion problem after Carter was
safely returned to office.
Carter lost his bid for re-election, but even with an
avowedly prolife Ronald Reagan as president, the belligerence,
dishonesty, and inflexibility of the pro-choice lobby has
stymied almost every effort to protect unborn human life since.
In the years after the Carter loss, I began to notice that
very few of the people, including Catholics, who claimed to be
“personally opposed” to abortion really did anything about it.
Nor did they intend to. For most, their personal opposition was
little more than pious hand-wringing and a convenient
excuse—exactly as it is today. In fact, I can’t name any
pro-choice Catholic politician who has been active, in a
sustained public way, in trying to discourage abortion and to
protect unborn human life—not one. Some talk about it, and some
may mean well, but there’s very little action. In the United
States in 2008, abortion is an acceptable form of homicide. And
it will remain that way until Catholics force their political
parties and elected officials to act differently.
Why do I mention this now? Earlier this spring, a group
called “Roman Catholics for Obama ’08” quoted my own published
words in the following way:
So can a Catholic in good conscience vote for a pro-choice
candidate? The answer is: I can’t, and I won’t. But I do know
some serious Catholics— people whom I admire—who may. I think
their reasoning is mistaken, but at least they sincerely
struggle with the abortion issue, and it causes them real
pain. And most important: They don’t keep quiet about it; they
don’t give up; they keep lobbying their party and their
representatives to change their pro-abortion views and protect
the unborn. Catholics can vote for pro-choice candidates if
they vote for them despite—not because of—their pro-choice
views.
What’s interesting about this quotation—which is accurate but
incomplete—is the wording that was left out. The very next
sentences in the article of mine they selected, which Roman
Catholics for Obama neglected to quote, run as follows:
But [Catholics who support pro-choice candidates] also need
a compelling proportionate reason to justify it. What is a
“proportionate” reason when it comes to the abortion issue?
It’s the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a
clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face
to face in the next life—which we most certainly will. If
we’re confident that these victims will accept our motives as
something more than an alibi, then we can proceed.
On their website, Roman Catholics for Obama stress that:
After faithful thought and prayer, we have arrived at the
conclusion that Senator Obama is the candidate whose views are
most compatible with the Catholic outlook, and we will vote
for him because of that—and because of his other outstanding
qualities—despite our disagreements with him in specific
areas.
I’m familiar with this reasoning. It sounds a lot like me
thirty years ago. And thirty years later, we still have about a
million abortions a year. Maybe Roman Catholics for Obama will
do a better job at influencing their candidate. It could happen.
And I sincerely hope it does, since Planned Parenthood of the
Chicago area, as recently as February 2008, noted that Senator
Barack Obama “has a 100 percent pro-choice voting record both in
the U.S. Senate and the Illinois Senate.”
Changing the views of “pro-choice” candidates takes a lot
more than verbal gymnastics, good alibis, and pious talk about
“personal opposition” to killing unborn children. I’m sure Roman
Catholics for Obama know that, and I wish them good luck.
They’ll need it.
Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., is Archbishop of Denver. |
Key
Upcoming Culture-of-Life
Gatherings/Projects
Number 1:
Join us tonight for "An Evening with
Dale O’Leary” author
of "One Man, One Woman, A Catholic's Guide to Defending Marriage"
An
Evening with Dale O'Leary
Wednesday, September 24, 2008,
7:00
p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
At the Diocesan Pastoral
Center
3888 Paducah Drive in San Diego
Come meet Dale O’Leary, author of the new book, "One Man, One Woman,
A Catholic's Guide to Defending Marriage." If you see yourself as
part of the struggle to protect marriage through the passage of
Proposition 8, this gathering is for you!
Dale O’Leary is an award-winning journalist and an internationally
known lecturer on marriage, feminism, life issues, and the Culture
War. Her previous book, The Gender Agenda: Redefining Equality, has
been published in three languages.
Here is what one reviewer had to say about One Man, One Woman.
"...the battle over marriage is far from over, and it is unclear
which side will prevail. But for those concerned about protecting
marriage and family, this book is an important part of our arsenal
and deserves careful reading."
One Man, One Woman will be available for sale at the event, and Dale
has agreed to sign copies purchased that evening.
Join us at the Pastoral Center on Wednesday,
September 24th at 7:00 p.m.
For more information on this event contact the
Office for Social Ministry at 858-490-8324
To order "One Man, One Woman" on Amazon.com see below.
http://www.amazon.com/One-Man-Woman-Catholics-Defending/dp/1933184299/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212608336&sr=8-1
Number 2:
Sounds Like Fair Trade Month! To celebrate Fair Trade Month in
October, please join us for a Courtyard Concert featuring acclaimed
acoustic band, Berkley Hart, plus fair trade wine and chocolate
tasting!
A Courtyard Concert with Berkley Heart at Christ
Lutheran Church in Pacific Beach
Christ Lutheran Church
4761 Cass Street in Pacific Beach
San Diego, CA 92109
Friday, October 17, 2008
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for tasting
Concert starts at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets - $20 - going fast
The San Diego Friends of Fair Trade will host a Fair Trade Wine and
Chocolate Tasting one hour before the concert starts, at
intermission, and following the end of the second set.
Berkley Heart
Hailed as masters of both two part harmony and dazzling song craft,
over the past ten years, Berkley Hart have established themselves as
one of the premier acoustic duos touring the country. In concert the
duo shines, the obvious camaraderie between these two top
songwriters driving each performance. Add in virtuoso playing from
both Jeff Berkley (guitar, percussion) and Calman Hart (guitar,
harmonica) as well as their good natured humor and it’s easy to see
why the two have become live favorites."
Tickets: $20 with Very
limited seating, call 858-483-2300 or email
clcsd@sbcglobal.net
for tickets.
www.berkleyhart.com
Number 3: Join hundreds
of faithful Christians to "witness for life" at the 2008 Life
Chain - Sunday, October 5, 2007, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. on Balboa Ave.
and Genesee
"If My people, who are called
by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and
turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will
forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chron 7:14
The 2008 Life Chain, where the Gospel meets the road…. In Clairemont,
along Balboa Avenue, between Genesee and I-805. Life Chain signs
only - no Graphic
Abortion Pictures or signs. Collect signs for this important event
at the Northeast corner of Balboa & Genesee, near the Starbucks.
The Life Chain is a prayer service. Upon arrival warmly greet your
fellow Chainers and then begin to pray. As we join a thousand
LifeChains across America and Canada, let each of us trust
 wholly
in our Lord and not in ourselves or our numbers.
Our
own efforts have failed to end or to substantially reduce the
numbers of unborn children lost in the abortion holocaust. May God
intervene with power and mercy. May He forgive our past
indifference and shallow commitment. May he fill us with compassion
that we might move the world to embrace the unborn, their mothers,
and their fathers.
Pray alone or in groups spaced 10 feet apart. Please be mindful of
local businesses and their parking lots - keep sidewalks accessible
to pedestrians. Please do not block driveways. Stand back from the
street on the sidewalk. Do not extend your sign beyond the curb.
Obey all traffic rules and do not hold up traffic. Small children
only should eat or drink during the Life Chain. In the Imitation of
Christ, meet any misconduct from a passersby with silence and a kind
smile.
For more information contact Sue Lopez: 619-276-7525 or
sue.lopez@earthlink.net.
For other Life Chain locations see
www.lifechain.net
Life Chain 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Start at the corner of Balboa Ave. and Genesee
Number 4:
Join with members of the San Diego Organizing Project as we take a
stand for youth!
www.sdop.net
After experiencing too many stories of young people falling victim
to violence, struggling to survive in a failing education system,
and feeling an overwhelming sense of hopelessness, the members of
San Diego Organizing Project say, “Enough!”
As a result, San Diego Organizing Project’s 25 faith
communities, which represent 43,000 families, have decided to
declare 2008 the “Year of Our Youth”.
As people of
faith, join us as we take a stand for youth.
Sunday October 12, 2008
2:30 p.m. Registration, 3:00 p.m. Convention
San Diego Convention Center, 111 W. Harbor Drive
The convention will be preceded by an outdoor
Catholic Mass in Chicano Park in Logan Heights at 12:00 p.m. At the
conclusion of Mass, we will march together to the Convention Center
to create a vision of Hope and Opportunity for our Youth.
SDOP Congregations, officials from cities, San Diego County,
school officials, state legislators, and congress members will join
to create a new vision of Hope and Opportunity for our Youth. We
are asking for:
-More after-school programs
-Improved graduation rates in area high schools
-Early intervention efforts to identify and help youth who are
falling behind
-Arts and sports programs
-Jobs and job training for teens
-Tutoring and mentoring programs
-Street outreach workers to decrease gang violence and improve
neighborhood safety
For more information and registration:
www.sdop.net
Number 5:
Spend an evening with Cardinal Theodore E.
McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Washington DC,
on the topic of immigration, on Monday, October 13, 2008, at 7:00
p.m. at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the
University of San Diego
“Families of migrants…should be able to find a homeland everywhere
in the Church”
Pope John Paul II, Message for World Migration Day
1993
REFLECTIONS ON JUSTICE FOR IMMIGRANTS, The U.S. Bishops' Program on
Immigration Reform
and the
PROSPECTS FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM TODAY
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2008
7:00 p.m.
Joan B. Kroc Institute for
Peace and Justice
University of San Diego
Co-sponsored by:
Catholic Charities,
University of San Diego, Diocesan Committee, Justice for Immigrants
Campaign, the Office for Social Ministry
“We judge ourselves as a community
of faith by the way we treat the most vulnerable among us”.
“Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope”
Contact Catholic Charities for more information:
619-231-2828
Number 6:
Join other young adults from around the Diocese at St Brigid's
Parish, 4735 Cass Street in Pacific Beach, as we broadcast live, via
satellite, a forum to discuss Proposition 8 - Wednesday, October 1,
2008, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
-What is Prop 8?
-Why vote YES on Prop 8?
-What is your responsibility?
-Where
do you draw the line?
Music for this "Yes on 8" event will be provided by the Katinas and
Stellar Kart. Other activities include a panel discussion with
special guests, Ron Luce (Teenmania), Sean McDowell (Worldview
Ministries), Brian Summer (Professional Skateboarder), and Kyle Loza
(X Games Gold Medalist-Motocross Rider)
FR. ANTHONY SAROKI will be the evening's Emcee at St Brigid’s and
will be available to answer questions you might have!!!
For more info contact Carrie at
carrie@stbrigid-sandiego.org or 858-483-3416
Proposition 8 is simple and straightforward. It contains the same
14 words that were previously approved in 2000 by over 61% of
California voters: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid
or recognized in California."
Because four activist judges in San Francisco
wrongly overturned the people's vote, we need to pass this measure
as a constitutional amendment to restore the definition of marriage
between a man and a woman.
Voting YES on Proposition 8 does 3 simple
things:
1. It restores the definition of marriage to what the vast majority
of California voters already approved and what Californians agree
should be supported, not undermined.
2. It overturns the outrageous decision of four
activist Supreme Court judges who ignored the will of the people.
3. It protects our children from being taught in
public schools that "same-sex marriage" is the same as traditional
marriage.
We hope to see all young adults at St.
Brigid on Wednesday, October 1, 2008!
Number 7: This
Year's Not-to-be-Forgotten Rally to be held on Wednesday, October 1,
2008, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We remember those who have lost
their lives because of domestic violence
Not-to-be-Forgotten Rally
When? Wednesday, October 1, 2008
10:30 a.m. -2:00 p.m.
Where? Civic Center Plaza - 1200 3rd Ave. (at B St.) Downtown, San
Diego
Why? To Remember those victims who have died as a result of
domestic violence and to
bring Awareness about Domestic Violence through
outreach to the San Diego
Community. Exhibits to include: Silent Witness
Silhouettes Clothesline Project,
Hands are not for Hitting and more.
Who? You, your friends, your
family, your co-workers, your class-mates.
Event Includes:
- Mini "Awareness Walk," 11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
from the Family Justice
Center to the Plaza
- Meet at the Southwest corner of 8th &
Broadway
- Participants will receive a free T-Shirt while supplies last!
- Speakers & Presentation of Awards - 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
at the Plaza
- Resource Fair
- Domestic Violence Exhibits, Resource Tables
- Open at 10:30 a.m.
Music & Food!
For More information about the "Not-to-be-Forgotten Rally" contact:
Kent Peters at 858-490-8324
Short
Reports on OSM Related Issues/Events
Number 1: The 54-day Novena for the
Protection of Life and Marriage was begun at St. Ephrem's Maronite
Catholic Church on November 4th with hundreds in attendance - a new
Memorial to the Unborn was also dedicated that evening
September 8th, the Feast the Nativity of Mary, was the occasion of
the commencement of the 54-day Rosary Novena
 for
the protection of Life and Marriage in the Nov. 4th election. It
was held at St. Ephrem Maronite Catholic Church in El Cajon. The
Rosary procession was held on the Church grounds and was followed by
an outdoor celebration of the Mass in Mariam, Mother of life Shrine,
by Bishop Cordileone and Fr. Nabil Mouannes.
Thirty members of the Knights of Columbus participated in the
procession and stood guard as Bishop Cordileone blessed and
dedicated the new Memorial for the Unborn. Although located at
Mother of Life Shrine, this symbolic Memorial belongs to all who are
engaged in the battle to defend Life. Nearly 400 attended this
moving event which was followed by the celebration of Mary's
Nativity with traditional birthday cake.
Donations for the Memorial can be made to St. Ehprem-Memorial for
the Unborn, 750 Medford St., El Cajon, CA. 92020
Thank you - Patricia Hansen 619-445-3822
St. Ephrem Sanctity of Life Group
Web and
e-mail-based Resources
Please watch this three-minute video
from the Yes on 4 Campaign - If you are unsure about supporting
Proposition 4, this video will surely help. Following your viewing,
please forward the link to this video to any and everyone you know.
It can be found below the video screen.
You'll want to see this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D84LtdZiQL4&eurl=http://yeson4.net/video.aspx
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. Attend the San Diego "Friends of Fair Trade" monthly
meeting
San Diego Friends of Fair Trade is a coalition of non-profit
organizations and congregations attempting to advance the cause of
fair trade. They work to insure that all individuals who toil, both
at home and around the world, to provide consumers with commodities
are paid a living wage, one that can sustain a life with dignity.
The next SD Friends of Fair Trade meeting will be on Wednesday,
October 1, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. at the Open Door Book Store on 4761
Cass St., Pacific Beach - For more information please contact
Carolyn Lief at
fairtradesandiego@gmail.com
2. Get Acquainted with Detention Ministry in the Diocese
of San Diego
Join Deacon Jim Walsh each month for an Information and Training
Seminar on detention ministry and restorative justice at
the Diocesan Pastoral Center, 3888 Paducah Drive, San Diego, 92117
For the month of October...
Information and Training Seminar for this month will take place on
Tuesday, October 14, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Pastoral
Center. Visit the web site periodically for additional details and
a map to the Pastoral Center:
www.diocese-sdiego.org/restore
Contact Deacon Jim Walsh for reservations or questions: 858-490-8375
or e-mail Deacon Jim
jwalsh@diocese-sdiego.org
3. 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.
4. Prayerful witness for life at two locations (7340 Miramar
Road in San Diego and 15546 Pomerado Road in Poway) in San Diego
County
Helpers of God’s Precious Infants weekly rosary prayer vigil from
7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. every Saturday and Wednesday at 7340
Miramar Road, directly above Metro Flooring in the complex with the
Pyramid Building, adjacent to Carroll Road. Prayer
warriors also needed as early as 7:30 a.m.
Call Sue Lopez 619/990-1341 for more information.
Second 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Prayer partners are needed mornings at the office of
Feliciano Rios M.D., 1079 Third Ave., suite 3, in Chula Vista - Dr.
Rios will perform abortions at his medical facility in the a.m.
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 prayer ministry.
9. 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 Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and Saturday
from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Contact: Debbie 619-933-7776.
10. The Goretti Group offers chastity prayer and speaker
training monthly
Every First Friday of the month the Goretti Group
will Celebrate a St. Maria Goretti Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary,
1654 State Street, at 6:15 p.m.
Every Second Monday of the month: ChasteMasters Meeting at 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 or call David at: 619-733-8439
Watch for OSM e-link bulletin
#24 around Friday, October 24, 2008
Article/Statement for September 23,
2008
BISHOPS RESPOND TO SENATOR BIDEN’S STATEMENTS REGARDING CHURCH
TEACHING ON ABORTION
WASHINGTON—Cardinal Justin F. Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’
Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop William E. Lori,
chairman, U.S. Bishops Committee on Doctrine, issued the following
statement:
Recently we had a duty to clarify the Catholic Church’s constant
teaching against abortion, to correct misrepresentations of that
teaching by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on “Meet the Press” (see
www.usccb.org/prolife/whatsnew.shtml). On September 7, again
on “Meet the Press,” Senator Joseph Biden made some statements about
that teaching that also deserve a response.
Senator Biden did not claim that Catholic teaching allows or has
ever allowed abortion. He said rightly that human life begins “at
the moment of conception,” and that Catholics and others who
recognize this should not be required by others to pay for abortions
with their taxes.
However, the Senator’s claim that the beginning of human life is a
“personal and private” matter of religious faith, one which cannot
be “imposed” on others, does not reflect the truth of the matter.
The Church recognizes that the obligation to protect unborn human
life rests on the answer to two questions, neither of which is
private or specifically religious.
The first is a biological question: When does a new human life
begin? When is there a new living organism of the human species,
distinct from mother and father and ready to develop and mature if
given a nurturing environment? While ancient thinkers had little
verifiable knowledge to help them answer this question, today
embryology textbooks confirm that a new human life begins at
conception (see
www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/bioethic/fact298.shtml). The
Catholic Church does not teach this as a matter of faith; it
acknowledges it as a matter of objective fact.
The second is a moral question, with legal and political
consequences: Which living members of the human species should be
seen as having fundamental human rights, such as a right not to be
killed? The Catholic Church’s answer is: Everybody. No human being
should be treated as lacking human rights, and we have no business
dividing humanity into those who are valuable enough to warrant
protection and those who are not. This is not solely a Catholic
teaching, but a principle of natural law accessible to all people of
good will. The framers of the Declaration of Independence pointed
to the same basic truth by speaking of inalienable rights, bestowed
on all members of the human race not by any human power, but by
their Creator. Those who hold a narrower and more exclusionary view
have the burden of explaining why we should divide humanity into
those who have moral value and those who do not and why their
particular choice of where to draw that line can be sustained in a
pluralistic society. Such views pose a serious threat to the
dignity and rights of other poor and vulnerable members of the human
family who need and deserve our respect and protection.
While in past centuries biological knowledge was often inaccurate,
modern science leaves no excuse for anyone to deny the humanity of
the unborn child. Protection of innocent human life is not an
imposition of personal religious conviction but a demand of justice. |