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"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. "
Psalm 139:13-14 |
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“The revelation of the Gospel of life is given to us as a good to be shared with all people.” Evangelium Vitae 101.
"To deepen respect for human life and heighten public opposition to abortion and euthanasia, a twofold educational effort is necessary: one directed specifically to the Catholic community, the other directed to the general public." -Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities
"To deepen respect for human life and heighten public opposition to abortion and euthanasia, a twofold educational effort is necessary: one directed specifically to the Catholic community, the other directed to the general public." -Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities
We seek to provide resources on life issues based on the Bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro Life Activities through four areas: public information and education, public policy advocacy, outreach and pastoral care, and prayer and worship.
We are very grateful to the Director of the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of New York Sr Virginia Joy SV who gave us permission to use the information on their website in building our own website.
Some information on our website were also obtained through the websites of Family Life/ Respect life Offices of other dioceses like the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archdiocese of Denver, Archdiocese of Hartford, Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Diocese of Brooklyn, Diocese of Madison, Diocese of Scranton, Diocese of Rockville Center...
We are very grateful to the Director of the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of New York Sr Virginia Joy SV who gave us permission to use the information on their website in building our own website.
Some information on our website were also obtained through the websites of Family Life/ Respect life Offices of other dioceses like the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archdiocese of Denver, Archdiocese of Hartford, Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Diocese of Brooklyn, Diocese of Madison, Diocese of Scranton, Diocese of Rockville Center...
Pictures & Articles from the March For Life 2020
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Maronite Young Adults at the March for Life- Washington DC
Article written by Hana Chemaly, MYA from Cincinnati OH
This year marked yet another fruitful March For Life. Running consecutively for 47 years, this year’s peaceful protest was record breaking. The crowd roared in support when President Donald Trump took the stage as the first President of the United States to deliver a speech at the March for Life in person. Accompanied by his family, he inspired the crowd reminding them, “When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation. When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family.” It was televised and heard across the record breaking crowd of 500,000 people. Families, students, religiously affiliated groups and friends came to march together. Surveys show that the youth made up half of the crowd. Proving yet again that they are the Pro-Life Generation.
Pro-Life state of Lousiana representative, Katrina Jackson, also spoke, bridging the political gap. Her passion shone through her words, “We know as believers that God does not conform to man’s law,” she continued, “At the end of the day, it is up to each of us to pray and stand in the gap in prayer for those who need our help and see things change for the better.” “In addition to being pro-life, let us also be pro-love,” she challenged. “As Christians, we are not called to
judge one another but help the least among us.”
Being Pro-Life is not to shame those who have gone through or been affected by an abortion. It is to prevent that choice from being made in the first place. Powerful messages on signs resonated with us, such as, “I regret my abortion”. A sizable group of Maronites marched with the crowd, including Bishop Gregory Mansour, the Maronite Seminarians, the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light,
members from the Maronite Young Adults and the Maronite Youth
Organization.
We broke our own personal record as MYA, having had seven National Maronite Young Adult Board members attend. They included, Director Sr. Therese Maria, President Sami Shaia, Vice President Hana Chemaly, and honorary board members,
Maya Khoury, Mira Aoun, Sandy Risha, Julie Lattouf, and Antony Harb. Overall MYA members from eight states attended: NC, FL, OH, VA, MI, NJ, NY.
A Q&A session with Bishop Gregory was held following dinner sponsored by the Maronite Seminary. It was an interactive discussion on the difference between Palliative Care and Euthanasia,
including professional insights and experiences from several attendees. This discussion ended with a short and informative presentation on Natural Family Planning by Marise Frangie.
It’s always an act of courage to witness and partake in the March for Life. We pray for the souls of all the lives lost at the hands of abortion, and for healing and peace among all those who are affected.
You are loved, forgiven, and surely not alone.
This year marked yet another fruitful March For Life. Running consecutively for 47 years, this year’s peaceful protest was record breaking. The crowd roared in support when President Donald Trump took the stage as the first President of the United States to deliver a speech at the March for Life in person. Accompanied by his family, he inspired the crowd reminding them, “When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation. When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family.” It was televised and heard across the record breaking crowd of 500,000 people. Families, students, religiously affiliated groups and friends came to march together. Surveys show that the youth made up half of the crowd. Proving yet again that they are the Pro-Life Generation.
Pro-Life state of Lousiana representative, Katrina Jackson, also spoke, bridging the political gap. Her passion shone through her words, “We know as believers that God does not conform to man’s law,” she continued, “At the end of the day, it is up to each of us to pray and stand in the gap in prayer for those who need our help and see things change for the better.” “In addition to being pro-life, let us also be pro-love,” she challenged. “As Christians, we are not called to
judge one another but help the least among us.”
Being Pro-Life is not to shame those who have gone through or been affected by an abortion. It is to prevent that choice from being made in the first place. Powerful messages on signs resonated with us, such as, “I regret my abortion”. A sizable group of Maronites marched with the crowd, including Bishop Gregory Mansour, the Maronite Seminarians, the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light,
members from the Maronite Young Adults and the Maronite Youth
Organization.
We broke our own personal record as MYA, having had seven National Maronite Young Adult Board members attend. They included, Director Sr. Therese Maria, President Sami Shaia, Vice President Hana Chemaly, and honorary board members,
Maya Khoury, Mira Aoun, Sandy Risha, Julie Lattouf, and Antony Harb. Overall MYA members from eight states attended: NC, FL, OH, VA, MI, NJ, NY.
A Q&A session with Bishop Gregory was held following dinner sponsored by the Maronite Seminary. It was an interactive discussion on the difference between Palliative Care and Euthanasia,
including professional insights and experiences from several attendees. This discussion ended with a short and informative presentation on Natural Family Planning by Marise Frangie.
It’s always an act of courage to witness and partake in the March for Life. We pray for the souls of all the lives lost at the hands of abortion, and for healing and peace among all those who are affected.
You are loved, forgiven, and surely not alone.
March For Life 2020
A group of about 40 Maronite Catholics For Life participated on Friday, January 24th, 2020 along with Bishop Gregory Mansour in the 47th March For Life in Washington DC since the first one on January 22nd, 1974 on the first anniversary of Roe v Wade that legalized abortions in the USA. Among our group was a good number of Maronite Young Adults; they made a trip from different states (MA, NY, FL, OH, VA)to join this year for their first ever March. Seeing so many young people standing up for Life and taking long trips just to be the voice of those who can’t speak for themselves is definitely inspiring and encouraging to do all we can to build a culture of life.
Following the March we gathered at Our Lady of Lebanon seminary for dinner and discussion with the bishop about life issues. Topics of end of life issues, abortion, and contraception were all addressed there. All present were encouraged to watch the movie,“Unplanned”, that was released last March and revealed all the lies of Planned Parenthood.
On our way back to the seminary on the Metro we saw a group of young people who were at the March with their drum sets. The sounds of their banging drums could be heard loudly as we marched. Seeing the young men holding their drums on their backs and traveling on the Metro to get to their bus got me thinking about the importance of this cause for them to do such things. I am sure these were not cheap instruments; these young men took a risk of traveling and carrying them on a train and among a large crowd like the one at the March just to use them and send a strong message to the world that all life is sacred from conception to natural death. This encounter got me wondering to what extreme are we willing to go to defend life. To what extent will we witness and uphold the sanctity of every human life? What risks are we open to take so we can get this message across, “you are precious, all life is precious, born and unborn, young and old”? I considered this inspiring experience as an invitation for every faithful, including myself, to examine our life, our witness, our words and our actions in light of defending the right of every human person “born and unborn to fulfill their God-given potential”. Do we shrink from defending life when we are surrounded by pro abortion people? Do we stretch our hands in prayer and in action?
The Word Among Us reflection for January 22nd readings was a challenge to all of us to not just wonder “what difference could I possibly make? Abortion is such a polarizing issue. How can I turn the tide?” But to act in stretching our hands. (Full reflection can be found under articles on our Office of Family and Sanctity of Life website )
“Stretch out your hand in prayer, asking for a change of heart among those who advocate for abortion. Stretch out your hand in service by offering to help a single mom trying to make ends meet, by giving prayerful witness in front of an abortion clinic, or by supporting your parish’s respect-life group. Of course your resources are inadequate, but God always makes possible what he commands. If salvation can come from a baby in a manger, don’t ever discount how much of a difference you can make.”
May God show us what we can do today to help protect the dignity of every human person and give us the grace to do it!
Following the March we gathered at Our Lady of Lebanon seminary for dinner and discussion with the bishop about life issues. Topics of end of life issues, abortion, and contraception were all addressed there. All present were encouraged to watch the movie,“Unplanned”, that was released last March and revealed all the lies of Planned Parenthood.
On our way back to the seminary on the Metro we saw a group of young people who were at the March with their drum sets. The sounds of their banging drums could be heard loudly as we marched. Seeing the young men holding their drums on their backs and traveling on the Metro to get to their bus got me thinking about the importance of this cause for them to do such things. I am sure these were not cheap instruments; these young men took a risk of traveling and carrying them on a train and among a large crowd like the one at the March just to use them and send a strong message to the world that all life is sacred from conception to natural death. This encounter got me wondering to what extreme are we willing to go to defend life. To what extent will we witness and uphold the sanctity of every human life? What risks are we open to take so we can get this message across, “you are precious, all life is precious, born and unborn, young and old”? I considered this inspiring experience as an invitation for every faithful, including myself, to examine our life, our witness, our words and our actions in light of defending the right of every human person “born and unborn to fulfill their God-given potential”. Do we shrink from defending life when we are surrounded by pro abortion people? Do we stretch our hands in prayer and in action?
The Word Among Us reflection for January 22nd readings was a challenge to all of us to not just wonder “what difference could I possibly make? Abortion is such a polarizing issue. How can I turn the tide?” But to act in stretching our hands. (Full reflection can be found under articles on our Office of Family and Sanctity of Life website )
“Stretch out your hand in prayer, asking for a change of heart among those who advocate for abortion. Stretch out your hand in service by offering to help a single mom trying to make ends meet, by giving prayerful witness in front of an abortion clinic, or by supporting your parish’s respect-life group. Of course your resources are inadequate, but God always makes possible what he commands. If salvation can come from a baby in a manger, don’t ever discount how much of a difference you can make.”
May God show us what we can do today to help protect the dignity of every human person and give us the grace to do it!