The first Sunday in October is Respect Life Sunday. It is a Sunday set aside by our bishops since 1972 to emphasize that we as a country are called to respect all human life, especially the unborn.
Once again this year from 2:00 - 3:30 PM on the corner of Rte. 59 and Middletown Road, the 32th Annual Rockland County Life Chain will take place. It is a silent witness to the sanctity of human life, most particularly the life of the unborn. I encourage you and your family to participate by simply standing there and be a living witness to Life.
The issue of abortion is in the forefront of our national elections this year. More than two years have passed since Roe v. Wade was overturned in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, in which the Supreme Court justices ruled that the “Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” and that the “authority to regulate abortion” is returned to the states.
Now in response to that decision, there are also numerous efforts by abortion activists to enshrine abortion “rights” in state codes and constitutions. Nearly a dozen states are considering such measures in the November elections, including New York, even though abortion is allowed here. Lawmakers succeeded in getting a proposed amendment on the 2024 ballot. It would have added a so-called “right” to abortion to the state constitution, couching it in the form of an “equal rights amendment”. Who can be against equal rights, after all? Except of course, those who are killed. On the ballot it is known as proposition One:
As Catholics, you must vote NO for Proposition One.
Prop One would amend section 11 of article 1 of the New York State Constitution in two ways: Paragraph A would offer equal protection before the law to eleven new demographic categories; while Paragraph B would revise the legal meaning of discrimination.
Prop One, in reality is a huge sneaky campaign. Those behind Prop One have a very different agenda. Their realgoal is to undermine parental rights, gut religious liberty and legalize selective discrimination.
Currently, the New York State Constitution says that no one can be subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed or religion. Paragraph A of Prop One would add the following demographic categories: age, sex, gender identity, gender expression, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy. Paragraph B justifies reverse discrimination. The implications are dramatic.
Please, please read up on this proposition. It is deadly to so many groups, parental rights being taken away over allowing minors to go on puberty blockers and undergo transgender surgery, biological males on girl’s sports teams, it will become a license for grave injustice and social engineering — it will become an open season for unscrupulous lawyers to file a host of insane lawsuits. Age restrictions that protect the young or the elderly could be easily overturned.
Read the text of Prop One at elections.ny.gov/2024-statewide-ballot-proposal. Read an analysis of the implications of Prop One from Human Life Review. Read the concerns expressed by parental rights groups at ProtectKidsNY.com.
Shroud of Turin
One of the highlights of my life was when I was in Turin, Italy in 2015. I concelebrated Mass at the Altar of the Cathedral in Turin. After Mass, all the bishops and priests present had the privilege of viewing the Shroud, which was exposed for veneration by the people to see that year. We were just a few feet away. To see the figure of Christ, the bloodstains, and for me to see the pierced side of Christ, the fountain of the Sacraments was beyond words.
Next Sunday at 3:00 PM in our Church, Faith Based Communications Apostolate will present The Shroud of Turin entitled, "Sacred Cloths of the Passion." The Shroud of Turin, the Sudarium of Oviedo and the Tunic of Argenteuil will be discussed. The presentation takes audiences through the history of each cloth, the scientific analyses that have been done, current data between the Man of the Shroud and Jesus through scripture, etc. Finally, the links among these three cloths having been in contact with the same crucified person, and its implications are examined.
Recent and new discoveries about the authenticity of the Shroud have been in the news. It promises to be very enlightening and a spiritual experience.
The upcoming Special Needs Masses are all held at 1:30 PM.
The dates are:
October 6, November 3, December 1, January 5, February 2 and March 2.