Pregnant Teen Finds Shelter and Hope

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Starring Vanessa Hudgens and James Earl Jones, “Gimme Shelter” is based on the true-life story of a young woman who finds hope and healing at a shelter for pregnant, homeless teens. This film opened in theaters today, and is playing at the Palisades Center.

The home in the movie is based on the Several Sources Shelters, founded by Kathy DiFiore in Ramsey, NJ, which has provided help to thousands of needy families, pregnant teens, and homeless women.

Our website’s guest blogger, Sean Miller, saw a special screening of this movie earlier this month.  Here is his review:

“Gimme Shelter”

Guest blogger Sean Miller

Guest blogger Sean Miller

This captivating movie opens with a symbolic scene as a young adolescent named Apple anxiously cuts her hair in a bathroom as she plans to break away from her dire surroundings.

Apple lives with her mother, June, and is constantly faced with the grim realities of street life, a vicious cycle of drugs and prostitution that only leads to a dead end of despair.

To separate herself from this bleak fate, April knows that she must break away from her mother. And the hope that allows her to dream of starting a new life is enclosed in a letter she received from her biological father many, many years ago.

So Apple sets out to find her absent father who was never involved in her life, and to find answers to questions that have filled her with anger and resentment as she desperately sought to find her identity in a world that let her down.

But now, Tom, Apple’s father, has turned the chapter on his own life and is an affluent, highly successful Wall Street businessman. He lives with his wife, Stephanie, and their children in their lavish mansion – unaware that his peaceful, stable existence will soon be shaken by an unexpected visitor — Apple!  Continue reading →

Local Pro-Lifers Stand Up for Life on Jan. 22

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L1210334For only the second time in more than three decades, the Rockand Right to Life Committee canceled its bus trip to Washington for the March for Life when the timing of the storm Tuesday/Tuesday night raised concerns that the roads would not be cleared for  people to make it safely to the bus pickup points at 5:45 a.m. and that the church lots would not be plowed for parking when they arrived.

Nevertheless, the marchers quickly reorganized, and joined with the Our Lady of Guadalupe Rosarians at the prayer site on Perlman Drive in Spring Valley at noon to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion in 1973.

Before the program, Rabbi Noson Leiter of Torah Jews for Decency and Fr. Gerry Deponai, pastor of St. Anthony's Church in Nanuet

Before the program, Rabbi Noson Leiter of Torah Jews for Decency and Fr. Gerry Deponai, pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in Nanuet

Before the prayer service began, Rabbi Noson Leiter of Torah Jews for Decency addressed the group. He warned of the dangers of the agenda of politicians like Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who just last week said that right-to-lifers have no place in New York. The rabbi also cautioned the listeners that abortion and other moral evils perpetuate not just because of what their proponents do, but because of what good people fail to do.

Fr. Gerry Deponai, pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in Nanuet, then led the group in recitation of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary and the program ended with the singing of a hymn and “God Bless America,” led by Peter and Mary Ann Partridge.

Mary Ann and Peter Partridge lead the group in song.

Mary Ann and Peter Partridge lead the group in song.

The Rockland event was one of thousands of protests, marches, prayer services, and masses held across the U.S. In Washington, D.C. thousands braved snow and frigid temperatures to participate in the annual March for Life. The National Review reported that about half the marchers were under 30, a presence that demonstrated the strength of “prolife generation,” who promise to be the generation who will end abortion.

The March for Life in Washington , D.C.

The March for Life in Washington , D.C.

Click on the “Continue Reading’ to see additional  photos.   Continue reading →

Jan. 22 — March On For Life

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Screen shot 2014-01-22 at 10.56.45 AMToday, the  anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, the National Right to Life Committee has issued a report looking at the tragic state of abortion in the U.S.

The bottom line is simple: The right-to-life movement is succeeding because even after 41 years and more than 56 million abortions, the conscience of our nations knows that killing unborn children is wrong. Click here for the report.

Bus Trip to March for Life Cancelled

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INFORMATION FOR MARCHERS and SUPPORTERS:

THE BUS TRIP TO THE MARCH FOR LIFE IN WASHINGTON, DC, HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE STORM. PLEASE PASS THE WORD ALONG TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO WAS PLANNING TO GO.

You can watch the March for Life in Washington on TV tomorrow. Please see the information below.

Tomorrow, Jan. 22, there will be a local prayer service and remembrance of the victims of abortion at noon, on Perlman Drive in Spring Valley, outside the mall where the Planned Parenthood offices are. Please park in the Spring Valley Marketplace lot and carefully cross the street. Do NOT park in the lot directly across from the prayer site.

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Last Minute March Preparations: At the Sisters of Life motherhouse in Suffern, Sr. Margaret helps load the “famous green scarves” for the Rockland marchers.

EWTN — The Eternal Word Television Network will cover the following  events from Washington on Optimum Channel 135 and Verizon Fios 285:

  • OPENING MASS OF THE NATIONAL PRAYER VIGIL FOR LIFE  — 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 21
  • CLOSING MASS OF THE NATIONAL PRAYER VIGIL FOR LIFE —  7:30 AM on Jan.  22
  • MARCH FOR LIFE, starting 9 a.m. on Jan. 22
  • MARCH FOR LIFE 0NE-HOUR SPECIAL, 6 p.m. on Jan 22 on EWTN Nightly News.

Going to the March?  Download the EWTN app to your smartphone and see the “big picture” going on around you. 

New Yorkers Will Use March for Life to Address Cuomo’s Saying Pro-Lifers Not Welcome. Click here for story.  Continue reading →

A Renewed Call for Abortion Expansion

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From Albany Update, the blog of the New Yorkers for Consitutional Freedoms. For their complete analysis of issues discussed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his Jan. 8 State of the Union Address, click here.

While the Governor’s comments fell short of the full-throated support for abortion expansion that he expressed in his 2013 State of the State, they were still deeply troubling. First, the Governor’s comments made it appear that anyone who opposed his late-term abortion expansion bill last year was “playing politics.” It seems that the Governor cannot face the reality that some legislators—including some in his own party—have a principled objection to late-term abortion expansion. Second, the Governor failed to acknowledge that nine of the ten elements of his Women’s Equality Act passed the State Senate in 2013, while the entire WEA passed the Assembly. It seems likely that the Governor could have achieved 90% of his women’s equality agenda last year if he had only been willing to do away with late-term abortion expansion; thus, the Governor is to blame for the failure to pass any part of the WEA.

Cuomo Calls Again for Women’s Equality Act

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rhasign1“In today’s State of the State Address, Gov. Andrew Cuomo instructed lawmakers to “stop playing politics with women’s rights” and to pass his extreme, pro-abortion Women’s Equality Act in its entirety. At New Yorkers for Life, we refuse to play politics with the lives of unborn children or the health and well-being of women, and we will continue to do everything in our power to oppose the Governor’s cynical efforts to pander to the abortion lobby.”

~~Statement from NewYorkers for Life Facebook page on Gov. Cuomo’s “State of the State” Address on Jan. 8.

Join the 2014 Novena for Life

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On January 22, 2014 our nation will remember the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

In prayerful recognition, “Nine Days of Prayer, Penance and Pilgrimage” will take place January 18-26, 2014. This is sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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YOU CAN PRAY  WITH CATHOLICS ALL ACROSS THE U.S. AND  RECEIVE THE NOVENA DAILY THROUGH AN APP, EMAIL, OR TEXT MESSAGE  OR VISIT THE NOVENA HOME PAGE ONLINE. Click here for more information.

Media Malpractice at the March for Life

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This video was from 2010, but it’s still definitely very much worth watching for two reasons:

1. Unfortunately, the “eye-popping, mind-boggling corruption of the mainstream media” is still painfully obvious in how they present the  prolife movement — and especially so each Jan. 22.

BUT . . .

2. It’s a great video!  It makes me smile each time I watch it. It’s an inspiring,  tremendous, upbeat picture of the March for LIfe and the people who take part in it each year. And that’s what the producers use to counter the lies and omissions of the media.