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!

Statements, Articles,  and Comments:

Assembly Passes WEA with Abortion Expansion; Senate to Act Friday

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June 20 — Today the  NYS Assembly passed Gov. Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act (A.8070, which includes abortion expansion) by a vote of 97 to 47.

Republican Annie Rabbitt voted against the bill — and we are grateful to her for standing strong and speaking out against it on the floor of the Assembly.

The other three representatives from Rockland voted for the bill, which will expand late-term abortion:  Democrats Ellen Jaffee, Ken Zebrowski, and James Skoufis.

During the debate, the sponsors finally admitted that the bill would allow non-physicians to perform abortions.

Speaker Silver and Women’s Coalition groups then held a celebratory news conference to put pressure on the Senate to vote on the entire package. The Governor then sent out an email to add additional pressure.

The situation in the Senate is still not completely resolved.  There are reports that abortion advocates will try to use a procedural maneuver to bring the abortion expansion proposal to the floor of the Senate.  We believe that there are enough votes to defeat this effort, and to keep the bill from even being considered.  But it will be a close call, and the change of even one vote could be decisive.

PLEASE continue to pray — and call you senator one last time and ask him to oppose the abortion provision in the Women’s Equality Act.

If you live in Haverstraw or Stony point, your senator is William Larkin. 518-455-2770.

 If you live in any other part of the county, your senator is David Carlucci.  518-455-2991

WEA Split Into 10 Separate Bills

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June 19 — Gov. Andrew Cuomo and groups pushing a Women’s Equality Act have decided to split the omnibus legislation into 10 component parts, essentially unhooking a controversial tweak to the state’s abortion laws from measures that ensure pay equity and combat discrimination, human trafficking and domestic violence.

It’s unclear if this maneuver, which came less than 12 hours after Cuomo’s office released an updated version of the omnibus bill, would force a Senate vote on the abortion plank.

Who Blinked?

Officially, Gov. Cuomo, NY Senate GOP Dig in Their Heels on Women’s Equality Act.

Zebrowski, Jaffe Co-Sponsor WEA with Abortion Expansion

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Stop Abortion ExpansionJune 18 — With the Senate still holding firm and blocking Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act (WEA), a revised version has been introduced in the Assembly.  Among its several co-sponsors are Rockland’s Ken Zebrowki and Ellen Jaffe.

Recent changes to this legislation do nothing to alter the dangerous substance of the bill. A reference to the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is meaningless, since no state law can conflict with a federal law under the U.S. Constitution Supremacy Clause. The amendment to include a 24-week viability line is hollow as well, as the bill continues to add the “anything goes” health exception, legalizing abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy for virtually any reason.

Please call/email your Assembly representative ASAP and tell them to vote NO on A.8070. This vote will take place Wednesday or Thursday.

You can use this link to send an email to your representative.

Or Call:

Ellen Jaffe: 518-455-5118
Ken Zebrowski: 518-455-5735
James Skoufis: 518-455-5441
Annie Rabbitt: 518-455-5991

House Passes Bill Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks

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CapitolJune 18 — By a 228-196 vote, the  House of Representatives passed a bill today 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 spoke of how the Gosnell case “has finally peeled away the benign facade of the billion dollar abortion industry . . . The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is 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.”

The Obama administration has already issued a statement indicating that President Obama would veto the bill if it passes in the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is unlikely.

You can read more here:

House Passes Bill Banning Late-Term Abortions After 20 Weeks

Obama Threatens to Veto Bill Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks

Pro-Life Groups Applaud House for Passing Ban on Abortions After 20-Weeks