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2010 'MO LIFE'
Pilgrimages!
37th Annual
March for Life in Washington DC...
As you know by now, in
the early evening hours last Saturday January 23, three buses
arrived at St. John LaLande Church in Blue Springs after traveling
over 2200 miles in a little over two and a half days. In
that short time, the 160+ pilgrims aboard had travelled to
Washington DC and back to participate in both a pro-life Mass at
the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
and the 37th Annual March for Life.
In addition to Mass and
the March, the pilgrimage included educational, spiritual, and
social activities. Our youngest pilgrim was 12 years old and
our most senior pilgrim was 81 years young. Regardless of
age or experience we were all part of a single team of over 300,000
unknown soldiers who carried with us the voice of a nation and
the future of a generation of fellow Americans.
Thank you to all the
faithful pro-life warriors who endured sleepless nights, early
morning stops, cramped quarters, and unplanned site-seeing tours
through the IL countryside and residential Bethesda, MD. Most
remarkable, was the support shown for our Respect Life
Director who had never been on a diocese bus pilgrimage
before, let alone organized one and acted as bus captain
and activity leader. We had a great group of
experienced leaders to whom all of the credit goes.
Thank you St. John
LaLande and St. James Parishes. The early morning Masses were
wonderful and a great way to kick-off the pilgrimage.
Thank you St. John
LaLande Respect Life team for the coffee and snacks for the
trip.
Thank you Youth for
Mary for not only the 20 generous scholarships this year, but also
for the support you have shown all the years you have helped sponsor
the pilgrimage.
Thank you to all
the Knights of Columbus councils who provided
scholarships, sponsored individual pilgrims, donated funds to
the diocese Respect Life Office March for Life Fund,
and especially those who joined us on the
trip.
A special thank you to
all those pilgrims touched by the Holy Spirit who gave
witness to us all to the impact this March for Life Pilgrimage
had on you.
Annual Downtown Rally for Life in Kansas City...
Approximately
one hundred of our faithful pro-life brothers and sisters gathered at
Ilus Davis Plaza, 400 East 9th Street, in front of the federal
courthouse in downtown Kansas City Friday January 22. In a
show of support for the pilgrims in Washington DC, those in
attendance proudly carried banners and signs
proclaiming the sanctity of all human life and their opposition
to the infamous Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling 37 years ago.
The
group chanted, many peacefully prayed the rosary, and some took
the opportunity to sign a petition of opposition to be sent to at
least one U.S. Senator from Missouri
who has demonstrated a record of consistently voting
for pro-abortion legislation.
A
highlight of the event was a post-abortive testimonial from a local
representative of Silent No More, the national
organization jointly created by Anglicans for Life and Priests for Life to make the public
aware of the devastation abortion brings to women, men, and their
families.
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Planned
Barrenhood...
 As Haiti struggles to recover from the
devastation of the January 12 earthquake and as hundreds
of thousand around the world struggle to deliver food,
clean water, and medical supplies to a country that is over 80%
Catholic, one organization has found a way to "cash in" on
the pain and suffering...
On
our trip home from Washington DC last week one group of
50 adult pilgrims had the opportunity to watch and discuss
the movie Maafa21,
a documentary of the eugenic history of Margaret Sanger, the founder
of Planned Parenthood, and its principle of "weeding
out the weaker members of our society" upon which this billion
dollar organization was founded in the early 1900's. The
movie is specifically about the history and the ongoing genocide
of the African American race and other minorities via
forced sterilization, abortion, and
contraception. Although made over a year ago, a
hypothetical example was used in the movie of a natural
disaster in Haiti. The movie proposed that Planned Parenthood
would respond immediately with an all-out effort to make
sure every women had access to contraception and every man had
access to condoms!
For
more information on what you can do, or to ensure your donations
are being used to assist with the relief effort, contact
the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph Human Rights Office or the
Respect Life Office or go to the Catholic Relief Services website.
For
the most recent comments from USCCB on the situation in Haiti,
click here.
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(Fox News, January 26, 2010) College
football phenom Tim Tebow is about to become one of the biggest stars
of Super Bowl XLIV - and he's not even playing in the game.
Tebow, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback
for the University of Florida, and his mother Pam will appear in a
pro-life commercial that tells the story of his risky birth 22 years ago.
In the past few days,
pro-abortion groups have generated over 120,000 letters asking for
the ad to be scrapped. Now a pro-life petition has been launched,
whereby pro-lifers can express their support to CBS for its decision
to air the ad and ask the network not to cave to the pro-abortion
pressure.
Show Your Support for the
Tim Tebow Ad!
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Wednesday February 10: Moral Principles of End of Life
Issues, 7:00-9:00 p.m. St.
Patrick Church, 1080 North 94th Street, Kansas City, KS.
Fr. Tad Pacholczyk, Ph.D. of the National Catholic Bioethics Center
will be joined by Dr. Austin Welsh, president of our KC chapter
of Catholic Medical Association to present a review of moral
principles, nutrition and hydration, palliative care, hospice, redemptive
suffering, threat of assisted suicide and euthanasia, planning
documents, and pastoral concerns. For more information or
to RSVP, contact Ron
Kelsey at (913) 647-0350.
Monday
February 15: White Mass, 6:30 p.m.
Cathedral
of the Immaculate Conception, 416 W. 12th Street, Kansas City, MO
64105. The White Mass is the inaugural event for the newly-formed
Catholic Medical Association, a metro-wide guild that helps
health-care professionals grow in the spirit of Christ in their
personal and professional lives. Mass will be concelebrated by
Bishop Robert Finn and Archbishop Joseph Naumann, with a reception
following Mass.
Friday February 19: Pro-life
Prayer Vigil, 9:00-10:00
a.m., 607 Burkarth Road, Warrensburg, MO 64093. Catholic
Campus Ministries at UCM, Johnson County
Right to Life, and local churches will organize an
ecumenical prayer vigil outside the Planned Parenthood office in
Warrensburg. For more information contact Michael McCormick at ucmnewman@gmail.com
or (660) 864-3136.
Events in
March
Saturday March 6:
CMA First Saturday Mass, 8:00-10:00
a.m. St. Therese Little Flower Church, 5814 Euclid Ave. Kansas
City, MO 64130. Monthly Mass and meeting of the Kansas City
Chapter of the Catholic Medical Association.
Thursday March 25: Feast of the
Annunciation, On the Feast of the
Annunciation, we not only celebrate the angel Gabriel appearing to
Mary, but also the great mystery of the Incarnation, taking place at
the moment Mary declares, in obedience to the Lord, "be it
done."
Tuesday March 30: Pro-Life
Lobby Day, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., Missouri
State Capitol 1st Floor Rotunda, Jefferson City, MO 65101
Noon Rally with music by "Renaissance", sponsored by
Missouri Right to Life. For more information, please call
573-635-5110 or visit www.missourilife.org.
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Missouri Catholic Conference tackles a
number of "respect life" issues early in 2010...
Already
in January the Missouri Catholic Conference (MCC), the public policy
agency for the Catholic bishops of Missouri, has a full agenda
to discuss with lawmakers.
Topping
the list of MCC priorities is legislation in both the House and the
Senate to ensure that women in crisis pregnancies are not mislead by
the abortion industry but receive accurate information about their
developing unborn child.
Included in these "informed consent" or
"sonogram" bills is the requirement that the physician
who will perform the abortion is to meet with the woman in person at
least 24 hours prior to performing the abortion. A woman
considering an abortion is to be given an opportunity to view an
ultra-sound and hear her unborn child's heartbeat. Viewing an
ultra-sound brings home the humanity of the child.
The Respect Life Offices for all the diocese in the state are working
with MCC and with pro-life organizations and pregnancy resource
clinics across the state on this campaign to pass the informed
consent legislation currently in both the House of
Representatives and Senate.
For a listing of all the current "respect life-related"
bills in the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate, click here.
Also, read the latest article in the January
2010 Missouri Catholic Conference Messenger entitled "Women
and the Abortion Industry: Hasty Decisions, Lifelong Regrets" . This article is the result of a
joint effort of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph Respect Life
Office, the other diocese respect life offices in the state, and
Missouri Catholic Conference.
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Mark your calendars!
3rd Annual
Gospel of Life Convention
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Saturday
April 17
St. Thomas
Aquinas High School
Overland Park, KS
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Pro-Life
Action Day
Tuesday
March 30
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Truth Illuminated
2010
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The February
2010 topic
for Truth Illuminated, our
diocesan educational and
catechetical program for
pro-life teens, is...
Euthanasia
& Assisted Suicide
To find out more about
how your high school or
parish can benefit from a
Truth Illuminated program,
click here.
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CATHOLIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
Support the work of the Church in communicating Catholic ethics to
the medical profession and to society at large.
Uphold the principles
of the faith in the science and practice of medicine.
Support Catholic
hospitals in faithfully applying Catholic moral principles in health
care delivery.
Get to know one another better and work together with deeper
mutual support and understanding.
For more information,
http://www.cathmed.org
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Note: Referral to Web sites not produced by the
Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph Respect Life Office is for
informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an
endorsement of the sites' content.
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