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Pregnant? Need support and guidance? We encourage you to call:
Catholic Charities, 585/268-5180 (Belmont Office), or 585/593-2015 (Scio)
Birthright of Hornell, 607/281-1084. Offer a free, self-administered pregnancy test.
For post-abortive help, dealing with guilt and depression: Project Rachel 1-877-HOPE-4ME
Susan Button, Parish Pro-Life Committee, 585/593-4845 – will try to help supply needy mothers with used infant clothing/furniture. Email: [email protected]
It is vital that Catholics, in these trying times, become informed in all life issues: abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide. We encourage you to subscribe to the following website. www.LifeSiteNews.com is a free pro-life, pro-family news service originally launched in 1997. It covers important developments in the U.S.A., Canada and around the world.
Other helpful websites that offer books, audio tapes and DVDs on life issues:
www.hli.org - Human Life International was founded in 1981 by the latest Father Paul Marx. HLI has sponsored more than 70 international conferences and over 50 in the USA. HLI trains, organizes and equips pro-life leadership globally. While faithful to the Pope and Magisterium, NLI is ecumenical and works with peoples of all faiths to advance the cause of life. It has a large online book store of materials on life issues and natural family planning.
www.priestsforlife.org - Offers a variety of ministries, including Deacons for Life, Seminarians for Life, Youth Outreach, Silent No More Awareness Campaign (for those who have already lost a child to abortion), and Rachel’s Vineyard (for post-abortive healing.) Priests for Life has television and radio programs as well, and offers a variety of solid audio and video materials.
Post Abortive Websites:
www.hopeafterabortion.com
www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org
www.RachelsVineyard.org
What has God revealed about abortion, through Scriptures and the Magisterium of the Church? (As quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church)
Paragraph 6, Section 355) “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27) (Sec. 357) “Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone.” (362) The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual…Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God. (366) The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God—it is not “produced” by the parents—and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.”
God implants the immortal soul into the united sperm and egg at the moment of conception. Its combination of DNA is unique and unrepeatable. Abortion not only violently (and often painfully) deprives the tiny child of its life, but deprives the soul of the sacrament of Baptism.
(1261- Catechism) “As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God.”
(2258-Catechsim) “Human Life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.”
Genesis 9:P5-6 “For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning…Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in His own image.”
Exodus 23-7: “Do not slay the innocent and the righteous.”
(2268- Catechism): “The fifth commandment forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful. The murderer and those who cooperate voluntarily in murder commit a sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance…Infanticide, fratricide, patricide, and the murder of a spouse are especially grave crimes by reason of the natural bonds which they break.”
(2270-Catechism): “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person—among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.
(2322-2323-Catechsim): “From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a ‘criminal’ practice, gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life. Because it should be treated as a person from conception, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed like every other human being.”
The Bible makes this clear: (Jer.1:P5, cf. Job 10:8-12, Ps 22:10-11, Ps 139:15): “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you… My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.”
What does the Church teach about euthanasia (so called “mercy killing”) and suicide?
(2324-25 -Catechism): Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his creator…Suicide is seriously contrary to justice, hope, and charity. It is forbidden by the fifth commandment.”
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES FOR LIFE:
Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally in Buffalo is set for Friday, June 8th at 12 Noon. Go to: www.standupforreligiousfreedom.com for more information.
St. Mary’s Parish Pro-Life Group: Planned Parenthood is America’s LARGEST abortion provider. Peaceful prayer for life at Planned Parenthood’s new location: 111 Seneca Street, Hornell, NY (across from the high school) Members of St. Mary’s Pro-Life ministry pray every Monday from 10 am to 11 am for the end of abortion. (The exception to this schedule is major holidays.) With the opening of their new Planned Parenthood facility we are concerned about chemical and surgical abortions, extended hours of operation and easy access to high school students. Please join them!