Respect Life
Mission:
The Respect Life Committee of St. Pascal
Parish is resolved to serve the people of
God by working to promote a respect for all
human life from conception to
a natural
death. We are dedicated to speaking the
truth in love through both education
and
action. We support and welcome the work of
the Respect Life Office and bring its
initiatives of prayer, education,
legislative action, and ministerial outreach
to
St. Pascal.
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PLEASE JOIN US!
THE RESPECT LIFE
AND PRAYER SHAWL
MINISTRIES NEED
YOU! |
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Saint Pascal
Respect Life |
CALL TO PRAYERThe Catholic Bishops of the United States have called for a
nationwide effort to advance a movement for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty through prayer, penance, and sacrifice.
"Pray for our nation. Pray for life, marriage and religious liberty.
We are in need of spiritual stamina during this time of unprecedented challenges." Join the movement --
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Monthly Eucharistic Holy Hours in Parishes
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Daily Rosary by families and individuals
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Special Prayers of the Faithful at all Masses
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Fasting and abstinence from meat on Fridays
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A Fortnight for Freedom in June/July 2013
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The U.S. Catholic bishops have launched a
pastoral strategy addressing critical life,
marriage and religious liberty concerns.
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The overall focus is to invite Catholics to pray
for rebuilding a culture favorable to life and
marriage and for increased protection of religious
liberty. The five-part strategy of the call to prayer
includes monthly Eucharistic Holy Hours, a daily
family rosary, special prayers of the faithful at
all Masses, fasting and abstinence on Fridays, and the
second observance of a Fortnight for Freedom.
Resources can be found at:
www.usccb.org/life-marriage-liberty.
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Prayer for life by Pope John Paul II
O Mary, bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause of life:
Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers
of babies to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely,
in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.
~~ Pope John Paul II
Encyclical Letter "The Gospel of Life"
Given in Rome, on March 25,
the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord,
in the year 1995.
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www.respectlifechicago.org
Let us love our faith,
defend our faith, and live
our faith!
A primary task for the
pro-life movement is to draw
society into deeper
reflection about the
mystery, wonder and value of
human life. We need to
promote an alternative to
the technological outlook
which seeks to control and
manipulate birth and death,
to reduce nature to
"matter", to elevate having
over being, to depersonalize
the body and sexuality, and
to replace the criterion of
personal dignity with the
criterion of efficiency,
functionality and
usefulness. Our task is to
call our brothers and
sisters' hearts and minds to
wonder and awe.
~Cardinal George Pell,
Archbishop of Sydney,
"Mystery of Life Grand Prix
Award Address,” January 17,
2008 U.S. Conference |
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Abortion:
“The right to life does not depend, and must not be
declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone
else, not even a parent or a sovereign.” - Mother
Teresa of Calcutta
Post-abortion
aftermath: “I would now like to say a
special word to women who have had an abortion…do
not give in to discouragement and do not lose
hope…The Father of mercies is ready to give you his
forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation.” – Pope John Paul II
Chastity:
“Chastity presupposes respect for the rights of the
person, in particular the right to receive
information and an education that respect the moral
and spiritual dimensions of human life.” – Catechism
of the Catholic Church
Capital
Punishment: “The new evangelization
calls for followers of Christ who are
unconditionally pro-life… A sign of hope is the
increasing recognition that the dignity of human
life must never be taken away, even in the case of
someone who has done great evil.” – Pope John Paul
II
Artificial
contraception: “Marriage and conjugal
love are by their nature ordained toward the
begetting and educating of children. Children are
really the supreme gift of marriage and contribute
very substantially to the welfare of their parents."
– Second Vatican Council
Euthanasia:
“…suffering, especially suffering in the last
moments of life, has a special place in God’s saving
plan; it is in fact a sharing in Christ’s passion
and a union with the redeeming sacrifice which He
offered in obedience to the Father’s will.” –
Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Embryonic
stem cell research and Human cloning:
“No objective, even though noble in itself, such as
a foreseeable advantage to science, to other human
beings, or to society, can in any way justify
experimentation on living human embryos or fetuses,
whether viable or not, either inside or outside the
mother’s body.” - Vatican Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith
Vaccines
developed from the tissue of aborted babies:
“By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God,
which urges him to do what is right and avoid what
is evil.” – Catechism of the Catholic Church
“The upright conscience calls good and evil by their
proper names.” - Second Vatican Council
Good Links:
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