It’s Time to Tell the Mainstream Media #WhyWeMarch

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Tom Perna

In recent memory, one of the only main media outlets that mentions the #MarchforLife (this is a hash tag – see below) is Fox News. Along with them, you get the other websites, mostly Pro-Life, that also speak about the March, but from any of the other news outlets – it’s a total media blackout!!

It’s time for us to tell the mainstream media that we have been Marching for Life for now 44 years!

I never realized until recently how much the mainstream liberal media enjoyed covering protests, since they never covered the March for Life, which is a protest focused on our First Amendment rights. The mainstream media (#MSM) covered the protests after President Donald J. Trump won the Electoral College by a big number, they covered the “protests” from last week’s Inauguration of President Trump (although it was more chaos and anarchy than protesting), and they also covered last week’s Women’s March, which really wasn’t a march for all women, since many pro-life and pro-women groups were asked not to participate.

Realizing all of this has inspired me to write today’s blog post. It’s now our time to protest, and although many of us cannot make it to Washington, D.C. this year for the March for Life, we can still protest and bring attention to the March by making it trend on Twitter and Facebook. Many of you probably already have a Facebook account so sharing stories and news articles (such as the presence of the Trump Administration that are going to the March for Life tomorrow) are pretty familiar to you and it seems as if it’s already occurring.

Where we really need our presence to be is on Twitter. If you don’t have a Twitter account, I would highly encourage you to make a Twitter account today. So you might be asking yourself, what is Twitter and how does it work?

“Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post and interact with messages, “tweets,” restricted to 140 characters. Registered users can post tweets, but those who are unregistered can only read them” (Twitter Wikipedia page).

To learn about setting up a Twitter account, “tweeting” and what a hash tag is, go to the article titled, The Beginner’s Guide to Twitter. There are other sites as well but this is pretty simple and he does a good job explaining things.

Once you have your Twitter account set up, get the word out there about the March for Life. If you feel bold in your tweets, tag the mainstream media left wing hacks such as @ABC, @CBS, @NBC, @MSNBC, @CNN, @NPR, and many others like the Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times, and really any news organization out there.

Encourage @FoxNews to cover it too, but I have a feeling they will since representatives from the Trump Administration will be present.

Encourage your local television stations and newspapers, which also probably have Twitter accounts, to cover the March for Life. To contact the main news outlets via email and feedback pages, please read the post titled, Media Blitz: We Look Forward to Your Coverage of the March for Life from the Diocese of Arlington (Virginia).

To help you get started, here are a few accounts you can start following – @March_for_Life, @LifeNewsHQ, @AbbyJohnson, @Students4LifeHQ, @SBAlist, @ProLifeBlogs – from here Twitter should suggest others and you will get the hang of things.

Hash tags – the two most important are #MarchforLife and #WhyWeMarch

Okay, my fellow Catholics – let’s get it done this year and show the mainstream media that we can protest too!

Pray for those still in the Abortion industry – that they may see their wrong doings and have the courage to leave that industry today.

Pray for all of those who have made it to our nation’s capital this year for the March for Life – pray for their safety and that voices will be heard.

Quick Lessons from the Catechism: Respect for Human Life and Health

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Tom Perna

Since today is the memorial of St. Gianna Beretta Molla – wife, mother, and doctor, I found it fitting to discuss with you what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about respecting human life and health. Today’s QLC comes from the Catechism’s section on the Fifth Commandment – “You Shall Not Kill.”

It could be easily argued that St. Gianna is one of the faces of the Pro-Life movement in our modern culture. With no concern to her own life, simply that her fourth child must live, St. Gianna refused the recommendation to have an abortion. Bringing the child to full term would cause the tumor on her uterus to burst causing eventual death.

When I think of heroic virtue among our saints, she is one that immediately comes to mind for me. Being a medical doctor herself – graduated in 1949 and three years later received her specialization in pediatrics, St. Gianna understood the importance of health and medicine as well as the Catholic Church’s teaching on such matters. In the end, she chose her child’s life before her own, and her husband, Pietro Molla, who passed away in April 2010, fully understood her decision and supported her in that decision, even though he would lose his wife.

To read more about St. Gianna Beretta Molla, I would suggest reading my two previous blog posts on the Italian saint here (2012) and here (2013).

So with this being said, what does the Catechism teach on respecting human life, specifically abortion, as well as health, and medicine?

“In [God’s] hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10). [#2318]

Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God. [#2319]

The murder of a human being is gravely contrary to the dignity of the person and the holiness of the Creator. [#2320]

The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the right to render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is a grave duty for whoever is responsible for the lives of others or the common good.

From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a “criminal” practice (GS 27 § 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life. [#2322]

Because it should be treated as a person from conception, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed like every other human being. [#2323]

Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. [#2324]

Suicide is seriously contrary to justice, hope, and charity. It is forbidden by the fifth commandment. [#2325]

Scandal is a grave offense when by deed or omission it deliberately leads others to sin gravely. [#2326]

For a more detailed understanding of these points, I would encourage the paragraphs that precede these paragraphs – for Abortion, read paragraphs 2270-2275. Also see my QLC – Abortion and March for Life.

To read what the Catechism says about Respect for Health, read paragraphs 2288-2291. Also see my QLC on Euthanasia and Suicide. If you are interested in learning more about what the Catechism says about Respect for the person and scientific research, read paragraphs 2292-2296.

To learn more about Catholic Medicine and/or to locate a Catholic doctor in your area, I would suggest checking out the Catholic Medical Association. Furthermore, here is the link to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services located on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website.

We Stand Up to Fight for Life and Humanity

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Tom Perna

Today, hundreds of thousands will gather in blizzard conditions in Washington, D.C. for the March for Life, and on Saturday, ten of thousands will gather for the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, CA. The main stream liberal media (composed of liberals who promote tolerance and justice, unless of course you disagree with them) will more than likely not cover either event, even though there has been a push this year for them to cover it. Their avoidance of not choosing to report about these two events will not stop us from gathering to defend the importance of human life, which begins at conception.

We now have entered the 43rd year of this war on abortion that has cost the lives of over 57 million babies. The battle lines have been drawn and the ranks just continue to grow on the Pro-Life front. The numbers have not decreased, as some wish they would, but they have doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled over the years.

The Culture of Death, a phrase coined by Pope Saint John Paul II, is looking to destroy all that is good and beautiful about the human person. As Christians, we must rise up and defend human life from conception to natural death. We must stand for marriage between one man and one woman, we must fight against the evils of contraception, in-vitro fertilization, cloning, stem-cell research that destroys human embryos, and child abuse. In the end, we must fight for the very good of humanity itself!

The Culture of Death is not just about Abortion, but it envelops all the forces of destruction that I have mentioned, which in the long run seeks to destroy today’s civilization. These evils will only continue to disrupt and demonize humanity in the years to come. We can see it currently with the destruction of the traditional family, the great strife in relationships, and the annihilation of the glory of the human person.

With millions of children dead, we must say enough is enough. We must stand up and fight for the unborn — for the beauty of the human person. Standing up for Life against the evils of Abortion is what we are called to do. It’s our very duty in this time of human history.

In his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis says,

“Defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right…It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development. Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defense of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be.”

We are no longer fighting just battles, but it’s an all out war against the Culture of Death. We are not just engaging our fellow humans, who justify Abortion as a “law” or because it’s the easy way out, but we are fighting against the spiritual world as well (See Eph 6:10-18). As Christians, we must “put on the whole armor of God” so that we too can stand against the attacks from the devil. We must gird our loins and engage the battle that is in front of us.

The Culture of Life must be the engaging force against this darkness. With Jesus Christ as our source and summit, it is our fundamental duty as Christians to engage the culture, counteract the culture, and do all that we can to show the Light of the World to the world. Our Lord is not a light that should be kept under a bushel basket, but He is the greatest light, the light brighter than a thousand Suns – Christ is the Light that will pierce the darkness. Jesus Christ is the Heart – the very Core, of the Culture of Life, for He is Life itself.

Quick Lessons from the Catechism: Abortion (and the March for Life)

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Tom Perna

Today in Washington, D.C. thousands upon thousands will be standing up to fight for life and humanity as we commemorate the 42^nd Anniversary of the tragic Supreme Court decision known as Roe v. Wade. The thousands of witnesses to the sacredness of human life won’t be marching with instruments of war, but protesting peacefully in prayer, song, and at times, in complete silence.

As one who has been blessed to attend the March for Life in the past, it is one of the magnificent displays of the human experience one can see, but of course we won’t hear about it in the media since those who “report” the news are fearful to show you what so many Americans know to be true – that human life is precious and should be protected at all costs.

There isn’t more to say on this topic since I have said it before in other blog posts (see the link above from 2014), but know this, the decision by the highest court in this land in 1972 has caused more grief, pain, anger, isolation, and depression for countless men and women than probably any other Supreme Court decision had before or since this dreadful day. Other than the scourge known as the Nazi Holocaust, this is the most barbaric practice the world has seen in recent memory.

Knowing that there will be a prolific number of Catholics at the March for Life today in our nation’s capitol, I found it fitting to quickly share with you what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches on the atrocity known as Abortion –

From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a “criminal” practice (GS 27, § 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life. [#2322]

Because it should be treated as a person from conception, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed like every other human being. [#2323]

For a complete understanding of the Catholic Church’s teaching on Abortion, please also read paragraphs 2270-2275.

Please feel free to share this blog post on your social media sites so that others may learn what the Church’s teaching is on Abortion.

To follow along with March for Life 2015, check out their website here.

However you commemorate this day, remember to pray for the End to Abortion, pray for the safety of the thousands walking the streets of Washington, D.C, and pray that those who see abortion as “healthcare” may have the blinders that cover their eyes, and their hearts, removed so that they will someday come to know the beauty and sacredness of human life.

Gimme Shelter Opening Weekend

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Tom Perna

In December, I was invited by one of my coworkers to attend a screening in the Phoenix Metropolitan area of a new pro-life film titled, Gimme Shelter (Facebook). Also with us were my pastor and boss, Fr. Will Schmid, and one our young adult parishioners. I had seen some emails about the film from friends who were helping to promote it, but never heard of it before.

To say the least, it was a powerful film from the opening credits! From the moment Vanessa Hudgens appears on screen, the intensity grabs you and you are in for the ride with Apple (Hudgens’ character in the film). It’s not just a film, it’s a movement. Truly – if it is showing in your city or town, go and see it this weekend! If it is not in a theatre near you, contact a theatre and ask them to show it.

The film is a true expression of the sinful nature of the human condition, how suffering can lead to hope and redemption, and how sacrificial love, the love we are called to express and live can turn the hearts of the most hardened and lost. When Pope Francis speaks of the poor and reaching out to those most in need, this film comes to mind for me. Gimme Shelter is the perfect example of what the Holy Father speaks of when he proclaims the importance of human life and the care we must provide to children and mothers.

Shelters, like the one that is promoted in the film (Several Sources), are greatly needed more and more in our world today. Here in the Diocese of Phoenix we have Maggie’s Place. It’s a beautiful home for women that find themselves pregnant, alone, and on the streets with no place to turn. I would encourage you to check it out and help support them (and places like them), if you have the means to do so.

Please take the time this weekend and see – Gimme Shelter. You will be glad you did.

Standing Up to Fight for Life and Humanity

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Tom Perna

Today, hundreds of thousands will gather in Washington, D.C. for the March for Life, and on Saturday, ten of thousands will gather for the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, CA. The Main Stream Media (composed of liberals who promote tolerance and justice, unless of course you disagree with them – see Andrew Cuomo’s comments from last week) will not cover either event, however, their avoidance of not choosing to report about these two events will not stop us from gathering to defend the importance of human life, which begins at conception.

We now have entered the 41st year of this war on abortion. The battle lines have been drawn and the ranks just continue to grow on the Pro-Life front. The numbers have not decreased, as some wish they would, but they have doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled over the years. Trust me my friends, this is a war and it is between good and evil. Let’s not forget the venomous and vile behavior we all witnessed from the hateful individuals in Texas who shouted, “Hail, Satan!”

The Culture of Death, a phrase coined by the soon to be Pope Saint John Paul II, is seeking to destroy all that is good and beautiful about the human person. As Christians, we must rise up and defend human life from conception to natural death. We must stand for marriage between one man and one woman, we must fight against the evils of contraception, in-vitro fertilization, cloning, stem-cell research that destroys human embryos, and child abuse. In the end, we must fight for the very good of humanity itself!

The Culture of Death is not just about Abortion, but it envelops all the forces of destruction that I have mentioned, which in the long run seek to destroy today’s civilization. These evils will only continue to disrupt and demonize humanity in the years to come. We can see it currently with the destruction of the traditional family, the great strife in relationships, and the annihilation of the glory of the human person.

With 56 million children dead – I say enough is enough! We must stand up and fight for the unborn — for the beauty of the human person. Standing up for Life against the evils of Abortion is what we are called to do. It’s our very duty in this time of human history.

In his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis says,

“Defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right…It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development. Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defense of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be.”

The Culture of Life must be the engaging force against this “present darkness.” With Jesus Christ as our source and summit, it is our fundamental duty as Christians to engage the culture, counteract the culture, and do all that we can to show the Light of the World to the world. Our Lord is not a light that should be kept under a bushel basket, but He is the greatest light, the light brighter than a thousand Suns – Christ is the Light that will pierce the darkness.

Jesus Christ is the Heart – the very Core, of the Culture of Life, for He is Life itself. With Him…all things are possible!

Pray for Lily!

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Tom Perna

Friends of mine from Franciscan University of Steubenville are asking everyone to Storm Heaven with prayers, for their daughter, Lily, who was born via an emergency c-section last weekend. Lily has been in bad shape all week, but through many prayers already offered on her behalf, she is improving, but still has a way to go to full recovery. We really need prayers for her brain to be healed because it went through some rather tremendous difficulty during and after her birth.

Please visit the blog, PRAY FOR LILY, to receive updates from her father, Danny Garland, who has set up the site to keep us all informed on her progress.

As we enter the season of Advent, a season rooted in Hope and awaiting the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, please pray to Our Lord that Lily will heal from her traumatic entrance into this world.

December is also the month we celebrate the Immaculate Conception, please pray for Lily through Mary’s intercession, as our Immaculate Queen Mother and Advocate.

Let us also ask the intercessory prayers of St. Faustina, St. Lilian of Cordoba, Our Lady of Loreto, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Gianna Beretta Molla, St. Gerard Majella, and the soon-to-be Saint, Blessed John Paul II.

All the Angels and Saints…Pray For Lily!

St. Kateri Tekakwitha – Lily of the Mohawks

TOM PERNA

Evangelization. Catechesis. JP2 Generation.

Category Archives: Pro-Life