LifeNet

If Joseph and Mary used Facebook

With over 300,000 views - it was posted on youtube in December, 2010 by the United Pentocostal Church of Maricopa, Arizona.

A Merry and Holy Christmas!

An ultrasound Baby Jesus poster

Sent to us by a correspondent, Nancy.

You can find it here - from the Franciscan Friar of the Renewal website: www.franciscanfriars.com Click on e-Letter, then scroll down to:

Ultra Sound Baby Jesus Poster found here

Religious leaders unite against Obama insurance mandate

From Lifesite News -

Sixty pro-life leaders and heads of faith-based organizations have signed off on a letter to President Barack Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius protesting the very narrow exemption to the health insurance contraceptives mandate.

The mandate has upset pro-life groups that don’t want to be forced to provide health insurance coverage that pays for contraception, birth control drugs, or drugs like the morning after pill, Plan B and ella that can cause abortions in some circumstances. They have objected to a very narrow set of exemptions for religious groups that don’t adequately allow all faith-based organizations to opt out of providing such coverage.

Signatories of the letter include Protestant and orthodox Jewish leaders representing many religious colleges and universities, k-12 schools, grassroots faith-based organizations, denominations, law associations, rescue missions, and more.

Chicago's Pro-life Action League (PLAL) holds ninth annual "Empty Manger Caroling"

The PLAL is one of the most dynamic street activist organizations in the United States.Click the link for a slide show.

“Empty Manger” Caroling Brings Hope to Abortion Clinics

The Pro-Life Action League’s 9th annual “Empty Manger” caroling day took place Saturday, December 17 at nine Illinois abortion facilities, four in DuPage County and five in Chicago.

Bishops meet with Illinois pro-abortion Catholic Governor Quinn

And he misleads the press as to the meeting. Note that the Bishops DON'T say that you have to "follow your conscience". Rather, "that conscience, while always free, is properly formed in harmony with the tradition of the Church, as defined by Scripture and authentic teaching authority.'

... when Governor Pat Quinn, a Catholic, decided to present a pro-choice award for a pro-abortion rights PAC.

The bishops responded strongly by saying, “This approach is irreconcilable with any honest profession of the Catholic faith. While we deeply regret and oppose his actions, we continue to pray for his conversion and the protection of unborn human life.”

Things got a little stranger when the bishops publicly balked and arranged a meeting with the Governor to discuss Quinn’s “personal approval of laws permitting the killing of unborn children.”

******

After the meeting, Quinn emerged from the meeting and pretty much told the media that the bishops didn’t lay a glove on him. He held a press conference of sorts saying that the meeting wasn’t really about his support of abortion and gay marriage at all. In fact, according to the Sun Times, Quinn said,

“A lot of the discussion was how we could work together to fight poverty, help the people who are less fortunate and need a helping hand,” Quinn told the Sun-Times as he left a Christmas toy give-away on the Far South Side. “Getting people jobs, helping people who don’t have enough food to eat — that’s what the church’s social mission is all about.”

But what happened next is likely the most surprising turn of events in the entire affair.

Hearing of Quinn’s comments, the bishops reportedly issued a news release to make clear that the purpose of the meeting was to warn Quinn against using his Catholic faith as a justification for making decisions that are at odds with church teaching.

So clearly on top of his support of abortion we can pretty definitively add lying about the bishops to Gov. Quinn’s next confession.

The Sun Times reports on the bishops’ release:

“We share the Governor’s concern for the poor,” they wrote. “From our point of view, however, this was a meeting between pastors and a member of the Church to discuss the principles of faith, not the works of faith. On several occasions, the Governor has referred to his Catholic conscience and faith as the justification for certain political decisions.”

The letter continued: “As Catholic pastors, we wanted to remind the Governor that conscience, while always free, is properly formed in harmony with the tradition of the Church, as defined by Scripture and authentic teaching authority. A personal conscience that is not consistent with authentic Catholic teaching is not a Catholic conscience. The Catholic faith cannot be used to justify positions contrary to the faith itself.It is a matter of personal integrity for people who call themselves Catholic to act in a manner that is consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

The bishops said they were particularly concerned about Quinn’s influence on others “since he holds a highly visible and influential position.”

The letter concluded: “This concern on our part, as pastors of the Church, was the fundamental and primary topic of our conversation with Governor Quinn.”

Well that seems to have silenced Quinn at least for the time being as the Governor failed to issue any further updates about the meeting.

Further - "The archdiocese already reportedly told the media that an individual priest could make the decision not to give Quinn Communion."

 

Pro-abortion former nun leaves Catholic Church to become an Episcopalian priest

In Canada.

For over three decades Joanna Manning, a former nun turned lesbian feminist pro-abortion activist, plagued faithful Catholics, causing scandal, embarrassment and much frustration.

Video of the County Board public hearing on legislation to restrict pro-life free speech

UPDATE: This video feature at the County Legislature has been viewable inconsistently - it may or may not work. We leave it to your own opinions as to why it may not be running ...

Here is the full video of the Westchester County board meeting on Monday, December 12th, 2011. This contains all of the approximately (forty) 40 speakers who spoke against the so-called "Reproductive Healthcare Access Bill", as well as the four (4) who were in favor of it, including the local Director of Planned Parenthood.

The video is almost four hours long, and contains a good deal of material that is not relevant to the free speech issue, but we do want to enable people who wish to view the entire proceeding to do so. We will be posting excerpts from our own video and audio over the next several days.

County Board Meeting, December 12th, 2011

Pro-life activism stops pro-abortion efforts to quash free speech at abortion "clinics"

In this season of Advent, we are grateful for this small victory!

No one can deny that the pro-abortion lobby in Westchester County has political muscle. Since the spring they have been pressing through their supporters in the Wetchester County Legislature to muzzle the free speech rights of protestors outside Planned Parenthood, and other abortion chambers.

Up until now, we and other pro-life groups have been working quietly to stop these efforts. And we have been partially successful, having eliminated some of the absurd ideas (bubble zones, etc) that were originally being considered.

However - the legislation finally presented out of committee to the full legislative body still seriously infringed on the basic first amendment rights of peaceful, pro-lifers who go to protest abortion. More on this in future postings.

We're pleased to report that over 40 pro-life people spoke out at the County Legislative meeting last night (December 12th, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe), including lawyers, sidewalk counselors and victims of abortion. We conclusively demonstrated that the legislation was a disgraceful attack on American values of tolerance and free speech, and the bill was sent back to committee. So the bill should be dead for this year.

Over the next several days we will be posting video from the meeting, as well as letters from attorneys and other sources, which supported the right of pro-life people to speak out peacefully at abortion chambers.

 

 

URGENT! Public Hearing on proposed Clinic Access Law Monday, December 12, 7:30 p.m.

Re: Local Law adding Chapter 425 "Reproductive Health Care Facilities Access Act"

A Public Hearing has been called for Monday night, December 12, at the County Board of Legislators Michaelian Building, 148 Martine Avenue at Court Street, 8th floor, White Plains, NY.

Some of you will be receiving calls. We need your support to attend this hearing, to submit written or e-mailed comments, and to speak at the hearing on this attempt to pass a new "Local Law" that tries to initimidate pro-life, 1st Amendment-protected speech at abortion clinics. The proposed law threatens pro-life witness with the expanded ability for lawsuits by the clinics; exhorbitant fines and extended jail terms for protestors.

Remember, no laws have been broken in 15 years; no woman has been prevented from receiving an abortion, if she so wishes. There is no legal basis for this new law, a heavy-handed expansion of already existing state and federal laws to address abortion access concerns. Warnings about potential legal problems with this new law's constitutionality have fallen on deaf ears at the BofL in an attempt to get this passed quickly before the veto-proof supermajority of the current Board is ended.

The law's sponsors are Legislators Myers and Shimsky. This legislation also seeks to regulate a 200-foot area from parking lots and bus stops and limit to 25 feet any approach of individuals entering abortion clinics. No other group that legally protests or shares information on public streets in the County (think unions; think politicians handing out literature) experiences this type of regulation that is really "strangulation" and outright discrimination!

E-mail us at [email protected] if you can come. Call your County Legislator or write and submit to the Board and Public Hearing your objections to this outrageous piece of legislation.

We'll give you details, and you can read the proposed "Local Law" yourself. Check out videotapes at joint Legislation and Community Service Committee meetings on this legislation at the County Board of Legislators' website, too.

Your action and support is critical!

 

Feast of the Immaculate Conception: What did Mary look like?

Thanks to Ed Mechmann for sending around a link to this interesting post and video.

Mother of Us All – A Brief Pondering of the Question, “What does Mary look like?”

Embedded in the post is this video.

 

Arrangements for Randall Terry's son Jamiel, as well as other information

Information directly from Randall.

Dear Friend,

My family and I are very moved by the outpouring of condolences, love, and prayers we have received concerning the untimely death of my son Jamiel. We are all still in a state of shock and severe grief. God have mercy, Christ have mercy. We still beg your prayers.

The funeral arrangements are below for Atlanta. All are welcome to attend. (Details below.) A funeral and committal to the grave will be held in Rochester NY next Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Many have called or written asking, “What can I do?”

Please pray for our entire family; join us if possible in Atlanta on this Friday and Saturday, or in Rochester New York on Wednesday, December 7 (details to be announced.)

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a gift to help purchase a headstone for Jamiel’s grave, and to help with funeral expenses. (Click here.) We thank you for your kindness.

Many people are aware of the stress that existed between Jamiel and me because of my work to stop homosexual marriage, and his decision to embrace the homosexual lifestyle, and to fight to legalize homosexual marriage.

 

What most people do not know is that the rift between us did not keep us estranged; we spoke often, and communicated on a wide variety of family and political issues. We laughed, we joked.

 

Below is the press release we sent out dealing with these issues.

 

(Click here to view family photos of Jamiel.)

Thank you for your kindness at this time of grief.

 

Randall Terry

------------------------------------

Jamiel Terry, son of Pro-life Leader Randall Terry, Killed in Car Crash.

 

On November 30, at 7:00 A.M., Jamiel Terry, age 31, was killed in a head on collision in Lilburn, Georgia. Gwinnett police spokesman Jake Smith said that the three passengers in the other vehicle were hospitalized with injuries that were not life threatening. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

 

Jamiel Terry was the adopted son of Operation Rescue Founder, Randall Terry, who is currently in the Democratic Primary for President for 2012.

 

Background:

 

Jamiel Terry and his younger sister were adopted by Mr. Terry and his first wife in 1994, after being in foster care with the Terry’s since 1988.

 

In 2006, Jamiel Terry made national headlines with his announcement that he was a practicing homosexual, and began to promote homosexual marriage. Randall Terry has long been engaged in high profile political efforts to defeat the attempt to legalize homosexual marriage.

 

The rift between Jamiel and Randall Terry was widely exploited and at times misrepresented in print and on TV. However, Randall and Jamiel maintained frequent contact, and were “working through their issues” as Jamiel would say.

 

Mr. Terry states:

 

“We are all in a state of shock, and unthinkable grief. I loved him dearly; we all did.

 

“Jamiel had a brilliant mind, and was a gentle soul. And as anyone knows who has spent time with him, he was funny, articulate, and a formidable debater on many topics.

 

“I thank God that Jamiel and I spoke regularly, and texted each other about a wide variety issues, frequently discussing and debating elections, politics and policy, to which we have both dedicated our time and talents.

 

“While we remained irreconcilable on the issue of ‘homosexual marriage,’ Jamiel remained firmly pro-life, and recently helped convince a young woman to not kill her child by abortion. There were many other issues that we kicked around – with laughter and good humor.

 

“We had recently agreed to hold joint speaking events at colleges and other venues, to discuss and debate the issues that are dear to us as a ‘father and son’ lecture team. I wish to God we had been able to do even one of them.

 

“We beg you for your prayers for our family, and beg you to pray for the mercy of God, and the eternal rest of Jamiel's soul. He will be sorely missed. We still cannot believe this is happening. God have mercy; Christ have mercy.”

 

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes gifts for a headstone for Jamiel Terry’s grave. (Click here.)

 

(Click here to view family photos of Jamiel.)

 

Funeral Schedule:

 

Friday, December 2, 2011, 7-9 P.M., calling hours.

Tom M. Wages Funeral Service

120 Scenic Highway 

Lawrenceville, GA 30046                           

 

Saturday, December 3, Funeral Mass, 10 A.M.

St. Lawrence Catholic Church

319 Grayson Highway 

Lawrenceville GA 30046

 

Jamiel Terry’s body will be flown to Rochester New York for burial. A Service will be held next week in Rochester before the burial on Wednesday, December 7. Details will be announced.

 

 

Tragic news: Randall Terry's son killed in head on collision

We received an email this morning. The text is below.

Randall's email is: [email protected]

Dear Friend.

Yesterday morning, at approximately 7 am eastern (11/30/2011), my 31 year old son, Jamiel Terry, was killed in a head on collision. The three passengers in the other car were injured in varying degrees, but the police told me they will all be ok.

We are all in a state of shock, and unthinkable grief. I loved him dearly; we all did.

I beg you for your prayers for our family, and I beg you to pray for the mercy of God, and the eternal rest of Jamiel's soul.

He will be sorely missed. I still cannot believe this is happening.

God have mercy; Christ have mercy.

Randall Terry