Visit our website respectlife.drvc.org

With the March for Life behind us, it is with great gratitude that I recognize all the enthusiasm, perseverance, patience and sacrifice by parish, school, and ministry coordinators (in other years known as “bus captains”) and participants that made this event a tremendous success. What seemed like yet another impediment brought on by the pandemic actually became an excellent opportunity to reach a broader base of participants and provide a more prominent presence locally. By our estimates, at least twice as many participants brought the message “Life is sacred” to our local communities. With this inspiration, we are resolved to incorporate a local component into all future March for Life events. Now, though, the real work begins by witnessing to life in our everyday lives and the public square.

Unfortunately, over the last few weeks, governmental protections of human life have already begun to be compromised on both the national and state levels. Here are just a few examples:

PLEASE CONTINUE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE:

You will see all the activities, videos, photo gallery and more importantly what is happening After the March!

His name was Tom Draper; I met him very early on in my time serving with the community of special needs adults called Bethlehem House. You may be familiar with L’arche (the Arc), which is an international community that allows for special-needs individuals to live the gospel in a residential setting; all of them follow the rhythm of life that includes prayer, work or service, and interaction within the neighborhood or community they live in. 

Bethlehem House is a Faith and Light community that developed from L’arche, and is located in Washington DC, and at the time consisted of three men and three women where I was able to journey with them and for the first time understand the meaning of what it means to build up a culture that is pro-life.  Read more

These are questions we all ask ourselves. Are there answers? The Search unapologetically reveals that you were made for God, that your home is found beyond yourself, and that Jesus is the way.

Visit: reallifecatholic.com/thesearch 

OR

 Go to www.Formed.org/signup and add your Parish by Name or Zip Code, add your email and you can register on Formed for free. Formed also has many other wonderful Catholic resources to listen to and watch.

The Search will be aired on CFN: Tuesdays and Saturdays at 9:00 pm, with the exception of Saturday, February 27th it will be on at 10:30 am due to the CFN Telethon.

Making Sense of Bioethics Column #187 for January, 2021

During “serious illness conversations,” some doctors will ply their patients with this question: “What is your minimally acceptable quality of life?”

Behind the question can be the implication that if patients are experiencing a low quality of life, their medical treatments can be discontinued because their life has become “no longer worth living.”

This can even become a shorthand to justify actions like physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia. Making quality of life assessments about ourselves or others can lead us to devalue the gift of human life by insisting it must have a certain amount of “quality” before it can be deemed “meaningful” or “worthwhile.”

The clearest rebuttal of the “Quality of Life” error I’ve come across was from a 64-year-old retired Boeing computer programmer named John Peyton (1945-2009). He lived in Kent, Washington, and had an unusually aggressive form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The disease made him totally dependent on Patricia, his wife of 40 years. She dressed him, fed him, and regularly shifted his body position in the living room recliner where he spent his declining months. Read more

Message from Shawn Carney, President of 40 Days for Life:

We were blown away by the response to our recent National 40 Days for Life Sign-Up Day. Thousands of pro-lifers from coast to coast hit the sidewalk to pray.

Marina in Bakersfield, California reported that a struggling family about to abort their sixth child chose life after vigil participants offered encouragement, free groceries, and other support.

A little girl or boy will get a chance at life because ordinary people like you decided to do something. On this recent video blog, I describe why YOU have more power to end abortion where you live than any politician in Washington:

The Kick-Off Mass for the Lenten 40 Days for Life campaign in Smithtown drew about 130 people. Msgr Ellsworth Walden delivered a powerful pro-life message proclaiming the sanctity of all human life, emphasizing that the evil of abortion must end.

He encouraged the congregation to help end abortion through fasting and peaceful 40 Days for Life prayer vigils in the public right-of-way in front of Planned Parenthood. Prayers during Eucharistic Adoration/ Holy Hours are also needed.

The Gianna Center is a medical practice dedicated to empowering women with a restorative, scientifically based method for treating, monitoring, and maintaining their health.

Please take a listen to a power testimony of a couple who has received healing after an abortion! Jesus we trust in You!.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

“I look forward to sharing the next 40 days with so many others who understand my pain....now I will know in my heart that I am no longer alone." Alyssa

Suffering because of abortion? Join us for Lenten meditations for those who have been impacted by abortion written by women, men and siblings. Draw close to the mercy of God ! Christ came to call sinners!

Sign up or read meditations on: www.postabortionhelp.org

Also they will be posted on our Project Rachel Facebook page.

Project Rachel Hope After Abortion  website, call the Respect Life Office's confidential phoneline: 1-888-456-HOPE(se habla espanol) 

1-516-766-2538, email  projectrachel@drvc.org to begin healing after abortion loss. 

En Español:  Esperanzaposaborto.org

Lisa A. Honkanen, M.D. – Director

lhonkanen@drvc.org, 516-678-5800 Ext. 381

Donna Crean – Assistant Director/Project Rachel Coordinator

dcrean@drvc.org, 516 678 5800 Ext. 626

Jamey Hutchinson BSN CFCP CFCE Educational Liaison to

Gianna Center for Women's Health & Fertility

631-376-3232