Building a Pro-Life Audience - I

Since it seems like this will be a popular topic, I figure we might as well give it a name. Although there are previous versions of ideas for building a pro-life audience, this will be the first official one.

When I was a seminarian at Holy Apostles (in Cromwell, CT) I started a home school retreat with some families in the area. I found this was a good way for us future priests to get speaking experience and to provide home school students and families with a great excuse to come together. The last time I was back at Holy Apostles I was able to say Mass and give a talk at one of these retreats.

Almost all home schooling families are pro-life anyway, so they tend to be a friendly audience. But it's still important to keep the Gospel of Life in front of the faithful, providing them with information and motivation to be strong pro-life advocates in other forums.

Here are some photos from the retreat.

This is me giving a talk:

Here is Brother John Broussard:

Br. Ken Geraci introducing Br. Tony Stoeppel:

Here's Br. Andy Cravalho in action:

Walter Hoye

"He (Pastor Walter Hoye) was arrested May 13 at the Oakland clinic, carrying a sign that read, 'Jesus loves you and your baby. Let us help you!' As women approached the door, he asked them, "May I talk to you about alternatives to the clinic?" -- San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 2009 "Pastor Sentenced for Oakland Abortion Protest".

Pastor Walter Hoye has put his freedom on the line to defend the rights of the unborn. What a courageous example of pro-life leadership... and what a reminder that standing up against grave injustice is no guarantee that you won't also suffer a grave injustice.

Let's pray for our brother in Christ who had the courage to be a true pro-life leader, and let us support any effort to see him vindicated and released from jail. If there is any such effort, please contact me at the link on the right and I'll help get the word out.

Here is a letter that he issued recently.

My Dear Friends:
Today I am still free.
Tomorrow I may not be.
It’s around 8:30 A.M. (PST) on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 and the four (4) of us are standing on the corner of Webster Street and 3rd Street in Oakland, California near Jack London Square praying.
I am praying with two African-American women (a ninety (90) year old and an eighty-four (84) year old) and a dear Catholic sister who is a very good friend of mine. We are asking God to use us to reach the men and women going into the abortion clinic, right across the street, with the love of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
We agree that the women will stand across the street with literature sharing alternatives to abortion while I stand on the same side of the street near the door of the abortion clinic with the same literature and a sign that says “God loves you and your baby. Let us help you.”
As we take our positions, I am fully aware that this may be my last opportunity to do all I can to save my people.
This morning may be the last morning I will have a chance to stop the shedding of innocent blood in the African-American community.
This hour may be the last hour available to me to reach out to the men and women with child considering pre-natal murder.
I am in this position because on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, Tuesday, January 15th, 2008, the Oakland City Council passed a law that strips away my 1st Amendment rights. What I was arrested, tried and convicted for is not arrestable, triable and/or convictible at one hundred and one (101) feet away from the entrance of an abortion clinic.
Starting at one hundred (100) feet my 1st Amendment right that assures my freedom of speech is taken away. “Harassment” is defined as “counseling” and “counseling” is defined as having a conversation, displaying a sign and/or handing out literature.
This is an unjust law that does not apply to doctors, nurses, employees and volunteers who have the consent of the abortion clinic.
Since my viewpoint on the subject of infanticide (i.e., I believe life begins at conception) is different than those who endorsed this unjust law, I do not have the consent of the abortion clinic to hold a sign, engage in conversation and hand out literature to those seeking to terminate the life of their child.
In other words, I am not a part of the “protected class” of United States citizenry as defined by the Oakland City Council.
According to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, Tuesday, April 16th, 1963, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” …
“An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.”
This law passed by the Oakland City Council is most assuredly both a violation of my 1st Amendment rights and an unjust law.
At around 9:30 A.M. the one (1) Oakland Police Department (OPD) Car and one (1) Oakland Police Department Officer arrived at the abortion clinic. He took a few minutes to talk with those inside the abortion clinic before coming back outside to talk with me.
Fortunately, my Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) Lawyer was across the street watching me stand on a public sidewalk, hold both a sign and literature and attempt to gain consent to talk closer than eight (8) feet to those walking into the abortion clinic.
As I identified myself to the first Police Officer a second OPD Officer drove up and joined our conversation. After sharing with the Officers that I was standing on a public sidewalk, reaching out to the men and women considering infanticide, both officers went into the clinic to talk more with the “protected class” of United States citizenry (i.e., doctors, nurses, employees and volunteers who have the consent of the abortion clinic).
Eventually, both OPD Officers joined my lawyer and I on the sidewalk and after reviewing a printed copy of form CR-165 “Notice of Termination of Protective Order in Criminal Proceedings (CLETS).” I was warned that a brand new “Stay Away From This Abortion Clinic Order” was being drafted for me even as I was listening to the Officer speak.
The OPD Officers also made me aware that the Officers themselves can give me a “Stay Away From This Abortion Clinic Order” that I will have to obey or go to jail.
I graciously thanked the Officers for their candor, shook hands with each of them and watched one of the Officers drive away. The other Officer remained until I left which was within a few minutes as I soon noticed that it was about 10:00 A.M.
Today I am still free.
Tomorrow I may not be.
I believe this is an unjust law.
I believe one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
Today I am still free.
Tomorrow I may not be.
I will continue to exercise my 1st Amendment rights as I reach out to the men and women seeking to brutally terminate the life of the child growing in the womb of his or her mother.
Today I am still free.
Tomorrow I may not be.
May God bless you all.

Lent

Lent is such a beautiful time of preparation. Every year, however, many of us make Lenten resolutions for reasons other than true penance, say for health/fitness reasons or even possibly a false sense of penance. I also sometimes wonder how many people have to suffer in the name of someone else doing a penance.

It is important to remember that our penance should be between us and God. This means that if my attitude toward my penance is noticeable or troublesome to others that I need to do a better job at being more discreet and charitable.

For example: we all know the person that gives up smoking and everyone around them knows because of their attitude. No one can stand to be around them. This is not what we are called to do. When we do a penance we do it between God and ourselves.

A question to ask may be: do I want the graces here on earth or in heaven? For if we do penance to be praised on earth we have gained nothing, and if our penance just makes us a more intolerable to others we have gained nothing. When we do a penance and it is only between us and God, however, gain many graces in heaven.

What a beautiful season to get closer to our beloved Lord and to be able to offer personal sacrifices to unify ourselves with Christ... the One who loved us so much that He gave of himself totally for us. In dealing with the pro-life movement we remember that many of these acts of love done with a spirit of penance can contribute tio bringing a culture of life back into our society.

Let's keep that intention in our hearts this Lent.

In addition to prayer, priests and seminarians are called to be leaders in their parishes and local communities, especially with regard to life issues. And an important part of leadership is visibility.

There are many ways that priest can be visible in the pro-life movement. One of them is by helping out at the local CPC (Crisis Pregnancy Centers). Saying Mass (see pics below) at CPC's has been very rewarding for me and for the staff who invite me. Another way to be visible is to pray with community members in front of abortuaries.

Of course the most important thing we can do is prayer. Pray for the babies, pray for the mothers, but also pray for the fathers, the abortionist, and the politicians and jurists whose decisions and policy so gravely affect the innocent. We need to turn to prayer.

A few pictures:

After Mass at the CPC in Fort Worth Fr. Michael and Chuck:



Praying in front of one of the Fort Worth Abortion clinics.

Prayer with the seminarians from Holy Apostles in Hart Fort, Connecticut:

In front of an abortion clinic in Romania:

Prayer after the vigil in front of the Blessed Sacrament; the One we always need to turn to.

As priests we deal with so many different people and different issues. When we keep our eyes focused on life then we are being guided by the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit leads us in the direction of life. Fr. Hillier (my instructor at the Josephinum) used to always teach us this lesson in seminary. I see how true it is now more than ever--we can see how when we move away from life and towards the culture of death how God is abandoned. Our job as priest or as a future priest is to protect our people from falling away from the Holy Spirit and into the culture of death. We have the truth on our side so this might seem easy, but the more I read different articles from the anti-life side the more we see they are not aiming for truth just emotions. The Holy Spirit is the truth, the Holy Spirit will guide us to life.



We see the bright beautiful faces of so many children, and we see life being guided by the Holy Spirit. One of the beautiful families I got to know when I was in the parish is the Saladin family--their children pictured here.

When I was in Nigeria I also had children around me all the time, such great smiles.

Even at the High Schools there were many beautiful smiles.

And in the villages there were many beautiful children.

Seminaries

Visiting Seminaries in Nigeria, I saw that the pro-life movement was very strong. Pro-life organizers publish articles and try to touch on the topics that are relevant to the people in the area. Many of the seminarians would go out every Sunday to the parishes and talk about pro-life issues with the people. This was such a beautiful thing to see. What are we willing to do in the pro-life movement? Do we just look at it as one negative issue--abortion--or do we try to promote life? There are so many issues we can cover and help educate people on that we can be as busy as we want. Try to think of ways that you can talk to people about the pro-life movement in my area. Form a plan of 4 different topics that might help people in my area and start to learn those topics.

Sometimes we are called to help to talk to priests to help remind them that their work for life is to be on the front lines, working directly with people who are living the vocation of family. I am talking to the priests of Onitsha Diocese here.



How about organizing a conference in your parish or area? At conferences we can use many different ways to help people to understand the need for learning about life.

Nigeria

What a blessing the past couple of weeks have been! I just returned from my trip to Nigeria, where I was able to talk to many wonderful people about the pro-life movement. It was a whirlwind tour. The children there are great they are so fun and so curious to see a white person. They get a kick out of just touching your hand!

This is a little different then Romania in the fact that there are actually children around. What a blessing it has been. You can't be too worried about cleanliness. Traveling in Nigeria, some might not like some of the aspects of Nigerian life--how food is prepared, the children touching you and some other little inconviences but I loved this opportunity to be able to see so many things that one never would see anywhere else. The seminarians and the other groups I have spoken to have been very open and attentive.

God has blessed me in many ways on this trip. Pray that we can continue to spread that message of life to all here. I met some politicians and other people and was able to talk with them. I also talked to one of the many boys schools--2,500 students--and a girls school with 3800 girls. The talks went well. The heat was like Kentucky in July and being in a lecture hall with only fans there was quite an experience. I scrubbed my cassock every night by hand and hoped it would be dry in the morning. What an amazing trip. I was so blessed to be able to go.

Here are some pictures from some of the places I visited.

The Seminarians for life group at Bl Tansi Major Seminary.

Seminarians at Pius X seminary.

These are some of the men at Bigard Seminary, the largest seminary in Nigeria.

This one is actually not a Seminary but a secondary with around 2800 boys.