Dear Parish Pro-Life Coordinator:
I hope everyone had a blessed and relaxing Thanksgiving. Our sincere thanks to all of you who participated and helped promote our virtual Christ Child gift market and auction benefiting our Project Gabriel Moms, as well as maternity homes Birth Choice and Mater Filius Dallas.
With Advent upon us, please mark your calendar for special opportunities to share in holy anticipation of our Savior's birth:
PREPARATIONS FOR PHASE I OF A YEAR OF SERVICE
At the November Parish Pro-Life Coordinator Meeting (view English here.) ( en español) we discussed the national Walking with Moms in Need campaign to help pregnant and parenting moms. As Parish Pro-Life Coordinators, you will be critical to the success of this campaign in our diocese, and we are here to help!
By now your pastor should have received a letter from Bishop Burns about the campaign, along with the Resource Inventory and Online Survey (español) for completion in each parish. Below is a brief outline of the first steps in phase 1 to prepare for and announce the campaign in your parish:
PHASE 1: November - December 2020
- Pastor appoints a parish leader (Is this you? Have you asked?)
- Leader with guidance of pastor assembles parish core team
- Leader identifies support network in parish (i.e., other groups, volunteers or parish staff) to help with later phases.
- Leader works with clergy and church staff to announce the Year of Service to parish with focus on Evangelium Vitae.
- Parish prays for pregnant mothers in need.
- Leader begins planning the first core team meeting (Virtual is fine!).
GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE; BE A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
People give to people, so we humbly ask you to share our End of Year Appeal here ( en español) to encourage family and friends to support the life-saving ministries of the Catholic Pro-Life Community  ROE MEMORIAL MASS JANUARY 16 Save the Date and Share the word! The annual Roe Memorial Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Edward Burns on Jan. 16, 10:30 a.m., at the Cathedral Shine of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Plans for the North Texas March for Life are still being considered, please visit our website, prolifedallas.org/roe, for additional event details and updates as they are available.
NEXT PARISH PRO-LIFE COORDINATORS MEETING
Please mark your calendar for our next meeting on Feb. 13. We will have an update on the 2021 Bishop's Pro-Life Dinner on March 20, and much more. If you cannot attend, please send a representative.
CPLC is seeking an Executive Director. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director, synonymously the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization and the Respect Life Director for the Diocese of Dallas, is the keeper of the culture of the Catholic Pro-Life Community. For a more detailed job description and information on how to apply, please click here.
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THE STORY OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS
After the glorious celebration of Christmas Day, we remember the somber Feast of the Holy Innocents. Matthew 2:1-18 tells the story of King Herod who was "greatly troubled" when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of "the newborn king of the Jews," whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also "do him homage." They found Jesus, offered him their gifts, and warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt.
Herod became furious and "ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under." The Gospel describes the horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers with a quote from Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children..." (Matthew 2:18). The Holy Innocents are few in comparison to the genocide and abortion of our day. But even if there had been only one, we recognize the tragic loss of a human person made in God's image, destined for eternity, and graced by Jesus' death and resurrection.
Thank you for your tireless efforts to protect the greatest treasure God put on earth.
Christmas blessings to you and your family.
Hector Carrasco
Parish Liaison
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