Mailer Documents
(click below)
CPLC Programs & Events
More Resources & Events
September 2, 2017
Dear Parish Pro-Life Coordinators,

If you joined us at our last parish pro-life coordinators meeting, you heard about our new campaign: Bringing LIFE to Your Parish. The aim of the campaign is to encourage all parishes to participate in at least four pro-life efforts or events each year, and receive 10% off one parish table at the Silver Anniversary Bishop's Pro-Life Dinner. Click here for the guidelines on participating in the campaign and details on the grand prizes! (en español).  An online form is coming soon to submit your activities for the year. 

One of the best ways to kick off your participation in this new campaign is to adopt a day of prayer for the annual 40 Days for Life vigil from Sept. 27 - Nov. 5 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week.) outside the  Southwestern abortion facility We urgently need more churches to sponsor a day or block of hours during the vigil --especially weekdays. Please contact 40days@prolifedallas.org  or 214-392-7545 to select your day. ( Click here to view adopted and available days .) 

And be sure to save the date for the  Kickoff Rally  on Sept. 26  at 7 p.m. at Gaston Christian Center, featuring  Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood Director now pro-life activist. More details are available at prolifedallas.org/40days

Also coming up this month -- be sure to make your reservations and mark your calendars:

On September 8 , our Hispanic Pastoral Ministry will host the first-ever La Cena Bella Vida featuring Dr. Glorio Polo (presentation in Spanish, simultaneous translation available in English). Make your reservations here by this Tuesday.
 
On September 11, we will enjoy a beautiful day of golf "fore" LIFE at the  CPLC Classic There is still room for players and sponsors -- register here by this Thursday. PLEASE NOTE: the golf classic has been moved from Hackberry Creek Country Club to the premiere course at the Trophy Club.
 
On September 14, North Texas will GET UP and GIVE to its favorite causes on North Texas Giving Day.   Please help us exceed our goal of $35,000 for the cause of LIFE by:
  1. Sharing our "Livin' the Sweet LIfe" campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram beginning Monday;
     
  2. Giving the gift of LIFE on 9/14 (or scheduling a gift between 9/7 and 9/13) at www.prolifedallas.org/give (gifts of $25 or more qualify for bonus funds), and
     
  3. Bring your friends to our open house on 9/14, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., to enjoy sweet treats, door prizes, and a chance to support LIFE in person.
On September 23, leading experts will address difficult questions surrounding the end of life at the Do No Harm Conference at University of Dallas. For more information and registration, click here. Seats are filling fast!

Next month, on October 7, Bishop Burns will celebrate a Respect Life Mass at the 5:30 p.m. Vigil at St.Rita in Dallas. For the first time, this Mass will be sponsored by all the Dallas Diocese pro-life apostolates -- CPLC, White Rose, Birth Choice, Mater Filius and Bella House -- plus Hike for Life.  Before the Mass, there will be a Consecration to Our Blessed Mother for both organizations and individuals. The CPLC will be participating, and invites all its staff and volunteers to participate as well. If you would like to be a part of the consecration, click here for the preparatory prayers beginning this Monday, September 4.

Be sure to also mark your calendars for the following fall events: 
Finally in preparation for Respect Life Month, Your pastor should soon be receiving the USCCB Respect Life Program packet for your parish unless you picked it up for him at the August Coordinators' meeting. I encourage you to make an appointment with your pastor to walk through the packet and determine what resources would best suit your parish.  USCCB resources for  Respect Life Month may also be found online here  (and linked in the sidebar at left). 
 
Before Respect Life Month, we celebrate the feasts of angels, specifically Archangels. St. Raphael is one of the seven Archangels who stands before the throne of the Lord, and one of the only three mentioned by name in the Bible. He appears, by name, only in the Book of Tobit. Raphael's name means "God heals" because of the biblical story that claims he "healed" the earth when it was defiled by the sins of the fallen angels in the apocryphal book of Enoch. 
 
Disguised as a human in the Book of Tobit, Raphael refers to himself as "Azarias the son of the great Ananias" and travels alongside Tobit's son, Tobiah. Once Raphael returns from his journey with Tobiah, he declares to Tobit that he was sent by the Lord to heal his blindness and deliver Sarah, Tobiah's future wife, from the demon Asmodeus. It is then that his true healing powers are revealed and he makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" Tobit 12:15
 
The demon Asmodeus killed every man Sarah married on the night of the wedding before the marriage could be consummated. Raphael guided Tobiah and taught him how to safely enter the marriage with Sarah. 
 
Raphael is credited with driving the evil spirit from Sarah and restoring Tobit's vision allowing him to see the light of Heaven, and for receiving all good things through his intercession. 
 
Although only the archangels Gabriel and Michael are mentioned by name in the New Testament, the Gospel of John speaks of the pool at Bethesda, where many ill people rested, awaiting the moving of the water.  "An angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pool after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under" John 5:1-4.  Because of the healing powers often linked to Raphael, the angel spoken of is generally associated with St. Raphael, the Archangel. 
 
St. Raphael is the patron saint of travelers, the blind, bodily ills, happy meetings, nurses, physicians, and medical workers. He is often pictured holding a staff, and either holding or standing on a fish. His feast day is celebrated on Sept. 29, along with St. Michael and St. Gabriel. 
 
Let us all pray for the aid of St. Raphael and ask him to heal us and open the eyes of those in the business of abortion so that they may see how that hurts Our Lord so deeply. 

As a special note, please remember in your prayers all lives that have been affected by Hurricane Harvey.
 
Thanks for all you do for life, and God bless!
 
David Carr
CPLC Director of Parish Coordination
Catholic Pro-Life Committee of North Texas | 972-267-LIFE (5433) | cplc@prolifedallas.org 
P.O. Box 803541, Dallas, TX 75380