40 Pro-lifers took part in the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 12th.
The weather was perfect with spring-like temperatures. Those who marched wore green scarves. This has been an annual tradition going back to the leadership of the late John Stanton.
Even many of the attendees cheered on pro-lifers along Market Street.
It was a day to honor a great saint who emphasized the trinity with the shamrock and ensured the pro-life message was spread to the thousands who were in attendance
The first National March for Life in a Post-Roe society will take place on Friday, January 20th, 2023 in Washington, DC.
During a live press conference, the organization announced the theme and have two speakers in the lineup for the event. The theme is Next Steps: Marching Forward in A Post-Roe Society. It comes as we navigate the aftermath of the Dobbs v Jackson decision last June, which sent the abortion issue back to the states with nearly half of them banning abortion.
“There’s a lot of confusion about the inherent dignity of the unborn child,” said Jeanne Mancini, President of the March for Life Foundation. Mancini shared that the route will now be different unlike marches past. Instead of the route to the steps of the Supreme Court, it will end on the steps of the capitol building that houses the House of Representatives and Senators.
“Your testimony marching in Washington, D.C., shutting down this city every year for the largest annual human rights demonstration worldwide has borne fruit,” she said. “It’s absolutely borne fruit in the overturn of Roe.”
In addition to announcing its theme and the new march route, a band and two speakers have been confirmed for the rally on the National Mall. The speakers (so far) are Jonathan Roumie, the star of The Chosen series, and former NFL Head Coach and analyst Tony Dungy. We The Messengers will provide music during interfaith praise and worship with an 11:30 AM start.
Now is the time to begin planning to attend this annual event. It is a great way for pro-lifers to converge and renew their commitment to building a Culture of Life from womb to tomb.
Are you ready to march forward in the post-Roe society?
Dr. Monique Ruberu offers a reflection from this past weekend outside of both abortion facilities in Philadelphia.
This past Saturday once again we showed up and prayed outside of 777 and 12th. At 777 we covered the street and sidewalks with exorcised salt and anointed all the prayer warriors with exorcised oil…
Heather as usual showed up with her sage but we continued praying for them all.
I heard from another prayer warrior who said the following :
“A year ago, I stole an idea from a woman who participated with us Helpers a few times a few years ago. I bring Holy Water with me and bless the space right in front of the gate at 12th/Locust: three Crosses for Father/Son/Holy Spirit. The first time that I did it at 777 was this past Spring. We’d gotten an early dismissal from work, so I went over there to pray. The guard saw that and came out and smudged the entire area. The same thing happened again this summer and I blessed the area again. And the guard came out again. Or rather, she PLANNED to do so. I watched through the window as she tried .. and tried .. and tried .. and tried .. and tried to light the sage bundle .. but it WOULDN’T take, it just wouldn’t stay lit. Holy Water – 1; Sage Bundle – 0.” Thanks R!!!
At 12th there was a pro choice protest outside the Community Women’s Center. Our faithful prayer warriors continued the vigil outside of 12th and locust while they were there… these protests will come and go… even though they block the doors and act the fool the police may not even step in but God sees everything and He alone will make a way for us. We continue our work because we work for Him.
Monique Ruberu offered a reflection on her recent experience outside of the Philadelphia Women’s Center on August 27th.
Last Saturday our friends at 777 appletree took a lot of trouble to collect dog feces, transport it in a car and bring it to 777 where they graciously littered it over the sidewalk where we pray.
So what did we do? We swept it away and continued praying… and then I sprinkled exorcised blessed salt all over the entire street and both sidewalks including the entryway to the abortion center =) God always wins =)
When we continue to show up with love despite the persecution, despite the anger and upset, God continues to shine through us… Babies continue to have a glimmer of hope for survival. Their precious lives are honored by someone. We can close our eyes knowing that we tried.
Pat sent me the message that a few days ago there was a turnaround at 12th and locust – Such a blessing!
Pray that our continued presence helps to turn the hearts and minds of these moms toward our sweet Jesus. May they feel His love and kindness.
A few weeks ago Mayor Kinney, mayor of Philadelphia, announced that the city would be giving $500,000 to a fund to pay for abortions, abortion travel, and other abortion support services.
Chuck and Theresa Kuhar stood with the Thomas More Society and sued Mayor Kenney and the city
LEARN MORE HERE
The following is an email from Aimee Murphy, the founder of Rehumanize International. To learn about this pro-human organization, visit here.
I can hardly believe that I leave in less than 36 hours to begin my 90-day, nationwide book tour for my debut solo book, Rehumanize: A Vision to Secure Human Rights for All! Knowing that “all politics is local,” as part of our ongoing outreach, I’ll be traveling to 40+ cities, giving low/no-cost lectures to community groups, schools, churches, and more to share this all-too-necessary message of human rights for all human beings to integrate this vital ethos and rehumanizing work into your local communities.
My first week has back-to-back-to-back events: Detroit on Tuesday 8/23, then South Bend on Wednesday 8/24, Chicago on Thursday 8/25, Madison (WI) on Friday 8/26, and Omaha on Saturday 8/27. After that, we’ll hit up Denver, Salt Lake City, Helena (MT), Seattle, Reno, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Topeka, and St. Louis. (Stay tuned for more details on those events in the coming weeks, friends!) I hope if you live near any of these cities, you’ll join me for some excellent events where we crack the spine on my book and talk about this vital message of our shared, inherent human dignity—no matter the circumstance!
Help jumpstart my 13,400-mile BOOK TOUR!
It will be a grueling 3+ months on the road, and I need your help to cover gas, some meals, and some other travel expenses. We still have $3,000 left to raise!
If you’d like to specifically help with gas or groceries to keep us moving and fed healthy meals, you can also donate gift cards for nationwide gas or grocery chains!
Oh, and if you want to meet up along the tour, check out my slated schedule and send me a message: aimee@rehumanizeintl.org.
Thank you so much for following and supporting our work to create a more peaceful world, where every human is respected, valued, and protected. I’m so grateful for your support and friendship.
For peace and life,
Aimee Murphy
Founder, Rehumanize International
After a three-year hiatus, the Knights of Columbus annual convention, held in Nashville, was back in person. For the first time in person, they were addressed by the 14th elected Supreme Knight, Patrick Kelly. He opened his address reflecting on being a part of a family legacy that is now embedded in him as he leads the order. He credited both his grandfather and father on what it means to be a knight.
Reflecting on their examples, Supreme Knight Kelly summed up what it means to be a knight in the Catholic brotherhood.
“A knight is a leader who stands in the breach.” Kelly emphasized. “We defend the faith. We protect the family. And when a need arises, we meet it with charity, unity, and fraternity.
Correlating his message to the recent overturn of the Roe v Wade decision, he stresses the need to “win the fight for life.”
“Abortion was never in the constitution and by its overturning, the Supreme Court has right the worst injustice in American history.”
Roe is overturned, but “we have much work to do.” While it is a crucial milestone, it is not the end. He saw it as a sign of hope and knights must continue to double down on the defense of human life.
Since 1974, the Knights of Columbus were instrumental in the growth of the annual March for Life in Washington, DC. In addition to Washington, D.C., they have sponsored marches in Canada, Philippines, Poland, and all 50 states in the United States.
He continued to highlight the ultrasound machine initiative, which first began in 2009 and has made it possible to have 1566 machines in pregnancy centers in all 50 states and other parts of the world. The ultrasound has been a proven vessel in the fight to show the humanity of the unborn child.
They also have been the pioneers in a program that assists mothers who look to help at pregnancy resource centers by offering an initiative to donate to these essential places to help a scared mother choose life while matching the amount from any council.
These men called knights are what we need to fight against abortion. Indeed, men can have a say in the abortion debate when they are willing to help a society nurture and protect life from womb to tomb.
In the days following the Dobb v Jackson case, a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer reached out to activists on both sides of the debate.
In the article (see here) they shared their conversations with friends, family, and at time co-workers on how they engaged on the issues before and after the decision.
Local activists Pete and Mickey were featured in the article for the pro-life side. Kudos to both taking time to do this, particularly Mickey, one of the many young adults involved in the Greater Philadelphia area.
On a recent episode of EWTN’ Pro-Life Weekly episode, Prudence Robertson interviewed Biking for Babies missionaries who are touring the country while visiting pro-life pregnancy centers across the nation.
Chris Massaro, a local missionary, was one of the interviewees featured in the episode. You can view it here.
EWTN’s Pro-Life Weekly airs every Thursday evening at 10PM.
The following is an article written by Tom Stoopes, a writer in residence at Benedictine College in Atchinson, KS.
Jesus tells the Good Samaritan story in the Gospel for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, and it comes just in time for us to learn what we are supposed to do in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
God is demanding that we be willing not just to preach what is right, but to act on it — even with those who we don’t naturally get along with; even with those who actively oppose what we stand for. Because that is what he did for us.
Before we apply it to our times, notice what the Good Samaritan story meant in the First Century.
As Jesus tells the story, a man “falls victim to robbers” on the rough downhill road from Jerusalem to Jericho. People looking for money violated him and didn’t care what happened next in his life — “They stripped him and beat him and left him half-dead.”
A priest and Levite passed by without helping him. We think of them as haughty, uncaring people, but in the First Century context they could easily have had very good reason not to stop.
They may have needed to avoid ritual uncleanness because of their duties to God and their congregations. Touching a dead person would put a priest out of commission for a week. They also may have feared for their safety. The road to Jericho was notoriously unsafe. Robbers could be lying in wait for someone to stop to help the injured man, or the victim might even have been a decoy placed to attract do-gooders who could themselves be robbed.
We can guess that the priest and Levite are like the scholar Jesus tells the parable to. He knows the law. He knows that “You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” The scholar sees the commandment clearly — especially, perhaps, the “love him with your mind” part — but is unclear about the service part, asking “Who is my neighbor?” The priest and Levite in the story are “know-it-alls” who fail in the same way.
But a Samaritan traveler comes and “moved with compassion at the sight” pours oil and wine over the wounds of the victim, bandages him, carries him on his own mount, and pays for him to stay at an inn.
There are two ways to think of the parable. Applying it to ourselves, we are the Good Samaritan and need to “go and do likewise,” as Jesus puts it, serving others in crisis. Applying it to the Church, all humanity is the victim of the rebellious angels, Christ is the Good Samaritan and the Church is the Inn where we recover while we await his Second Coming.
But here’s another way to think of the parable after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
What if women who are pregnant in difficult circumstances are the victim in the story? They too were often used by men and then discarded, and many faced a financial crisis as a result. For them, we have made our whole world like the rough road from Jerusalem to Jericho, where we expect women to be sexually available outside of the protection of marriage, and allow men to walk away from their responsibility once women, inevitably, become pregnant. Corporations that eagerly pay for their abortions make matters worse, paying to get rid of the child so that nothing will interfere with their workers’ hours in the office.
So, if abortion-minded women are the victims, men who use women for sex and corporations who use them for their own profit are the robbers.
And who are we? Too often we are the priest and Levite in the story.
On the matter of abortion, many of us are experts in God’s law. It is crystal clear to us that an unborn child should never be killed. But we forget the second commandment.
One woman I spoke with said that seeing a priest holding an “Abortion Is Murder” sign actually made her more likely to have an abortion because it only made the shame of her situation feel overwhelming. On the other hand, the same woman was moved by her sister’s “Choose Life” sign and found her greatest healing by finally confessing her sins to a priest.
In other words, pro-life messages were only effective for her when she heard them from people who simultaneously believed the truth about the right to life and loved her personality, and treated her mercifully.
Then, notice what the Good Samaritan in the story offers the victim: costly, lengthy, hands-on help. That kind of personal care is the only form of service that works when you are dealing with a person in crisis.
Another woman who had an abortion told me that many pregnancy resource centers she called offered her a pro-life message and a list of phone numbers where she could find help. Her desperate state of mind made it impossible for her to face the exercise of organizing help from various quarters, so she headed to the abortion clinic. It was only when a pro-life woman called her and pledged to help her each step of the way, before and after giving birth, that she turned away from abortion.
Frankly, we could all do a lot more for women who face crisis pregnancies.
It is absolutely true that pro-abortion voices willfully ignore the many wonderful things the pro-life movement is doing to serve women. And it is also true that no matter what, it is wrong to kill a human being and abortion should be illegal.
But at the same time, it is undeniable that pro-lifers could give more money, offer more hours, make more phone calls, and post more encouragement and love for women facing difficult circumstances.
We not only can do more but to be authentic followers of Jesus, imitators of the Good Samaritan worthy of eternal life, we must. “You have answered correctly” Jesus is saying to pro-lifers. But now “do this and you will live.”
It’s not knowing the truth, but doing it that matters. “For this command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you,” the First Reading, from Deuteronomy, says. “No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.”
But through it all, never forget that Jesus is the true Good Samaritan.
We Christians are not God’s gift to the universe. Far from it. We are all victims of sin and death, the world’s robbers and only Christ can save us. The whole Second Reading is a beautiful meditation on the radical Christ-centeredness that is the essence of Christianity. “Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,” St. Paul writes. “[A]ll things were created through him and for him.”
He is the Good Samaritan who came from heaven, a stranger in our streets, and gave us costly service to restore us to health, “making peace by the blood of his cross.” He left us in the hands of the Inn, his Church, where he pours out the “oil and wine” of his sacraments for our healing and guards us in his safe house.
We serve those who have fallen victim to evil not because we are better than them, but because we stand together with them in need of a savior.
Voices for Life 