Author Archives: rocklandrtl

What Are You Talking About?

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Sean Miller 2What Are You Talking About?
By Guest Blogger Sean Miller

A few weeks ago, I heard a disturbing story on the news. Equally disturbing was the cavalier manner in which it was reported on the radio.

It was about a woman who went into labor at a nightclub. She gave birth in the bathroom and then suffocated the baby and hid the body in the toilet tank. Afterwards, she smoked a cigarette and then returned to the bar as if nothing happened. The next morning, the baby was found by a maintenance worker.

The indifference expressed by the reporter telling the story left an unsettled feeling in my stomach. There was a callousness to her voice, which was void of compassion – and even normal emotion.

Her tone seemed to imply that if a mother finds a baby to be an inconvenience, she can simply just get rid of him. It made me wonder if the reporter understood the gravity of the situation. Continue reading →

Building a Culture of Life: From Nyack to Ghana

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http://vimeo.com/69886228

Video courtesy of StudioElevenProductions
www.StudioElevenOnline.com

“When a pregnant woman needed help, she would often turn to the parish priest (who often was traveling during the month to visit outlying missions) for help to get to a doctor or midwife. An ambulance would be a necessary part of improving maternal care in the region.”
–- Fr. Rees Doughty, St. Ann’s Church, Nyack
“The Ambulance in the Parking Lot”

On Sunday, June 23, parishioners of St. Ann’s in Nyack gathered in the church parking lot after the 11:30 mass for the blessing of an ambulance that would soon be en route to West Africa, bound for the Catholic Diocese of Sunyani in Ghana.

Its final destination will be the St. Matthew’s Medical Clinic, a project of the Giving to Ghana Foundation.

Giving to Ghana is a nonprofit organization established to help Diocese of Sunyani serve the poor of rural Ghana. It was founded years ago at St. Ann’s by parishioners, Pastor Fr. Robert Henry, and his associate, Fr. Joseph Domfeh Boateng, who is from the Sunyani Diocese.  Continue reading →

Like a Baby (Mom’s Song)

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Great new music video by the band Seven Years.

According to manager Jeff Hicks, “each and every one of us associated with Seven Years believes in the sanctity of life and we have all worked hard using our talents to help save innocent lives.”

Please help these support these prolife artists who are working with us to spread encourage young women to make the choice for Life. Please share their video with your friends and especially young members of your family via email, Facebook or Twitter.

Here’s a link if you want to copy/paste http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw_y_Y5NYA4

Rockland Stands with Texas Ban on Late-Term Abortions

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Prayer for Texas

July 11 — Seminarian David Rider led the Rosary as Rockland prolifers prayed for the protection of LIFE and for the state of Texas to lead other states in banning late term abortions, 20 weeks and older when the baby in the womb can feel pain and is capable of surviving outside the womb.
The rally took place outside the Planned Parenthood office on Perelman Road in Spring Valley.

Today members of the Texas state Senate approved a bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks by a 19-11 vote. The House passed their version of the bill on Wednesday. Now the bill will go to prolife Gov. Rick Perry, who will sign it into law.

After a day filled with pro-abortion threats, pro-life people hiding in secure areas of the capitol fearing for their safety, jars of feces and urine and protestors disrupting the Senate proceedings, democracy finally prevailed.

A previous attempt to pass this bill in the Texas Senate was halted by a pro-abortion filibuster by state Sen. Wendy Davis. Davis said she would not filibuster the bill a second time.

This debate had been marked by angry protests from pro-abortion demonstrators and even a death threat to prolife Gov. Rick Perry.

The bill relies on the science of fetal pain to establish a constitutional reason to ban abortions late in pregnancy.

On June 18, by  a 228-196 vote, the  U.S. House of Representatives also passed a bill that would ban all abortions starting at 20 weeks’ gestation.

Rockland’s representative in the House, Nita Lowey, voted against this bill.

Rep. Chris Smith, the head of the pro-life caucus in the House called “The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act”  a modest but necessary attempt to at least protect babies who are 20 weeks old—and pain-capable—from having to suffer and die from abortion.”

At the time, the Obama administration issued a statement indicating that President Obama would veto the bill if ever passes in the the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is unlikely.

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Praying for America — July 4

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1 2 3 4 5 Bruno6 7By Eileen Peterson

The 237th  birthday of America began with exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament by newly ordained hometown friend, Father Kenny Riello.

Father Kenny is such a blessing to the pro-life community and we are so grateful for his presence, especially in the sacrament of Confession.

Fifty plus people from all ethnic backgrounds and ages came to pray directly to Jesus for an America that is placed under God’s protection by obeying God’s Laws.

At 11:15 AM we began the Most Holy Rosary and there were about 100 people praying the Luminous Mysteries, the decades given by Blessed John Paul II to the Roman Catholic Church.

At 12 Noon, there were hundreds of people participating in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Our celebrants were Father Brendan Gormley and Father Kenny Riello (Father Nicholas Callahan was stuck in horrendous traffic but with us in prayer)

Father Brendan spoke of an America that is free and that freedom comes with choices and it is our Godly choices that truly set us free.

God is a loving and merciful God who can heal our America just as he healed the paralytic man in today’s Gospel:  Matthew 9:1-8

“When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”

Special thanks to our lector:  Richard Bruno, founder of Our Lady of Guadalupe Rosarians.

Just before the final blessing, Father Brendan went before the statue of Mary Help of Christians and prayed the 5th Decade of the Glorious Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary- Mary is Crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth!

To Jesus through Mary we beg our America to be a country that respects and obeys the Laws of God.

Special thanks to Peggy Beirne , Monica Peterson-St. John, and Maryann and Peter Partridge.

We in PRO-LIFE Rockland County are filled with thankful hearts.

Prayer for America on Independence Day

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Adoration

People gather for Mass at the Salesian National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Stony Point.

“A Morning of Prayer for America,” organized by the Rockland County Catholic Coalition, was held today at the Marian Shrine in Stony Point.

The services began with the Exposition of Blessed Sacrament and concluded with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, celebrated by Fr. Brendan Gormley, of St. Barnabas in the Bronx.

Fr. Brendan Gormley, celebrant and homilist

Fr. Brendan Gormley, celebrant and homilist

Fr. Brendan formerly served in St. Paul’s in Congers and was very active in the prolife movement in Rockland County.

In his Independence Day homily, Fr. Brendan spoke of the two gifts of God that are also cherished American values — the right to life and the right to be free. He said that the freedom to choose and decide is truly a gift that makes us human, but that real freedom lies in choosing what we ought to do and not merely what we want to do.  Continue reading →

Is America Pro-Life?

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Sean Miller 2Is America Pro-Life?
By Guest Blogger Sean Patrick Miller

Is America Pro-Life? If you want to find out, go out into the streets and the people will tell you.

A group of dedicated pro-life pray-ers (Our Lady of Guadalupe Rosarians) faithfully get together every Saturday from 11am to 12pm to pray the rosary imploring Our Lady for her help to end the abomination of abortion.

As they do this, they display pro-life signs to remind people of the injustice that is committed daily in this country.

When I have been praying with my fellow pro-life friends, I’ve noticed that the majority of the feedback we receive from the public is overwhelmingly positive. Only rarely will somebody feel the need to be rude with a vulgar comment. When movements are grown from the “grassroots,” you really get a good sense of how the people in the nation really feel.

I believe most Americans believe in the rights of the unborn. Approximately, 4,000 babies are aborted every day as the rest of us enjoy our days in peace and freedom. If America is the land of the free, why are the unborn denied this privilege?

Deep down Americans know that abortion is wrong.  Continue reading →

Abortion Expansion Legislation Fails

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367Dear Friends of Life:

We are pleased and thankful to report that the 2013 regular legislative session has come to a close, and that late-term abortion expansion legislation has failed to pass the New York State Senate. This week our team is catching a much-needed breather after the intensity of the legislative session, but we did want to send you this brief report and our appreciation.

Last Friday, Senator Jeff Klein, leader of the Independent Democratic Conference, offered the late-term abortion expansion plank of Governor Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act as a hostile amendment to a bill having to do with medical records. Thirty-two votes were needed to reject the amendment, and exactly thirty-two senators voted to reject the amendment. This marks the defeat of late-term abortion expansion in the 2013 regular session.   Continue reading →

A Foundation of Lies

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A Foundation of Lies
By Guest Blogger Sean Patrick Miller

If somebody wants you to do something and they sense resistance on your part, it is not uncommon for them to use manipulation. Manipulation is another way to “bend the truth,” so that it works in one’s favor. It is more commonly known as lying. This is the foundation upon which the entire abortion industry, is founded.

The industry uses a number of tactics in order to persuade women to have abortions. One tactic is the “choice” mentality. They tell women they should not have their freedom to choose taken away from them. They tell them,  “This is your right! You should be able to do what you want with your body.”

The problem with this mentality is that the choice that women are being offered will ultimately hurt them on many levels — not to mention their own baby’s life is being taken.

Nowadays, people mistake freedom to mean that you can do whatever you want regardless of how it affects others. As long as it makes you happy … just do it! Nobody has a right to do what is evil. Here, the abortion industry offers a service to supposedly help women. Yet, these women are left all alone to suffer once the abortion is performed. The industry made their money and that is the bottom line. Now, women have been lied to by the use of the “freedom,” slogan when, in reality, they have lost their freedom psychologically as they now are burdened with the guilt of abortion. It is not until they decide to come to God for forgiveness and healing that they can truly regain that freedom once again.
Continue reading →

ABORTION EXPANSION DEFEATED!

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A remarkable victory for unborn children and vulnerable women!  Through the brave and tireless efforts of our pro-life legislators in Albany  — and so many  people like yourselves — the bill to expand abortion in NY has been defeated.

Thank you all, and congratulations to everyone who played a role in this battle — those who bombarded our legislators with phone calls, emails, and letters, travelled to Albany to lobby or protested on Route 59, wrote to the Journal News or commented on websites,  distributed flyers and made calls and talked up the issue with friends, signed petitions and statements of principles, and those who prayed unceasingly and attended holy hours and prayer services held throughout the county.

As the NYS Catholic Conference wrote:

The result is, quite literally, the answer to prayer. More accurately, it is the answer to millions of prayers by men, women and children of every faith from every section of the state who believe in the inalienable right to life of the baby in the womb. . .

The movement to pass this bill awoke a sleeping giant, a silent pro-life majority that had been discouraged and disheartened from living in the state with the highest abortion rate in the country. Facing the most radical expansion of abortion since the state legalized it in 1970, thousands of New Yorkers contacted their legislators and made repeat trips to Albany to be a pro-life presence at the Capitol. (Complete statement here.)

Of course, this is only a battle in a longer war, and pro-abortionists are vowing to push this legislation through in the future. We must keep vigilant and informed and support the pro-life legislators whom the “pro-choice” people are threatening to take down in the next election.

But for now, praise God!

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