We're Back!

Greetings everyone!  Vivat Jesus!  It has been more than a little while since the blog here has been active.  But we are finally recharged and in fact have been working hard behind the scenes organizing the next Culture of Life Conference. 
As a matter of fact, this post serves to provide the first major update for the conference.  So, scroll down for the goods.

2nd Annual Culture of Life Conference:  Marriage and Family - Cornerstone of Western Civilization

Date:  April 20, 2013

Place:  Aquinas College, Wege Center

Speakers:  Former Senatorial Candidate Gary Glenn - The Modern Attack Against Marriage and Family

                 Father Vincent O'Malley of St. Lazare's Retreat Center - Christ's Teaching on Family and How it
                                                                                                        Shaped Western Civilization

                 Dr. Dennis Marshall of Aquinas College - The Church's Teaching on Marriage and Family Since
                                                                                 Vatican II

                 Blogger and Author Mark Shea - The Family as an Image of the Trinity

Price:  Adults - $30

          Students - $15

          Clergy - Free

And yes, lunch will be provided.  Details on that to follow soon.

So there you go!  Stay tuned for more.



                

More on the HHS Mandate

Update on HHS Mandate and Federal Government’s Attack on the Catholic Church and All Religions

Topic: Where we are, and where we are going.

Followed by Q&A.

Presenter: Fr. Vincent O’Malley, CM

When: April 4, Wednesday

Where: St. Lazare Retreat House

Time: 7-8 PM

Cost: A couple of prayers

RSVP: Seating and Standing space is available for the first 75 people.

Please leave your name and number of people attending with you.

Email is preferred: secretaryst@att.net

Phone: 616-842-3370, ext. #1

Religious Freedom Rally in the Works!

1st Annual Freedom Of Religion Rally
12 noon to 1:30 p.m.
rd, 2012---Calder Plaza, Grand Rapids Michigan
March 23

Monday March 12th, 2012

For Your Information:

I am organizing a protest Rally against the Abrogation of Religious Freedom and Freedom of Conscience as guaranteed under the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution. The Event is called the 1st Annual Freedom of Religion Rally.

This is part of a Nation-Wide effort to have citizens gather peacefully at Federal buildings across the United States on Friday March 23rd, 2012 at 12 noon to protest the Federal Health & Human Services Mandate for all employers including religious institutions to provide types of health care services that may violate that person or business or institutions conscience or beliefs.

The nation wide event was originally conceived by the Pro-Life Action League in cooperation with the Citizens For A Pro-Life Society. Since then many other pro-life, religious, civic and business groups have joined the cause to protest abrogation of Religious Freedom and Freedom of Conscience.

We are currently seeking Sponsors, Donors and speakers to make this an effective and eloquent event.

We will be gathering at the NE corner of the Calder Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m.

This event will feature numerous speakers including ministers (from various denominations), private citizens, and representatives of various sponsoring groups as well as some recorded and live patriotic music.

We also will have several individuals walking around the Federal Building just north of the Calder Plaza with protest signs. We hope to have some positive Media Coverage of this important event.

If you are interested in learning more or possible becoming a donor or sponsor or speaker please contact me at:

Steve Redmond, MPA
Grand Rapids Event Organizer

Home-------616-399-5520
(if you don’t reach me at this number try my cell phone or an e-mail----my answering machine is faulty)

Cell---------616-204-4427

E-Mail----- steveredmond@sbcglobal.net

The only thing necessary for evil men to succeed is for good men (and women) to stand aside
and do nothing ! Please become involved and support this important peaceful event to seek restoration of
Religious Freedom and Freedom of Conscience in America.

Religious Liberty and Right to Life Events

Here are a couple more events in the near future. There is certainly a lot of activity on this issue lately and for good reason.  The more awareness there is of the gravity of what the present administration is trying to do, the better.  To that end, here is some information on another event to promote that awareness we so desperately need:

Fr. Vincent O'Malley will be speaking at the Howard Miller Community Center on Tuesday March 13th, 2012
from 7-8:30 p.m. on 1st Amendment & Church/State Issues.  There is no cost for this event.

I haven't hear Fr. O'Malley speak but I hear he is excellent!

And here is a link to another event from Right to Life Michigan: www.rtl.org/events/legislativeday/

I've heard the speaker on EWTN and she is really good and has quite the story.  The short version is that she survived an abortion.  Now, go check it out!

Pro-life Movie

Here's a little event that is being put together by the HELP! Pregnancy Crisis Aid Center.  It is a very worth little place.  Check 'em out! www.helppregnancy.org/

And here are the event details and the trailer for the movie!

Something special is coming to a theater near you. It’s October Baby–a movie with a pro-life message that seeks to remind audiences of the truth that “every life is beautiful.” October Baby tells the story of a young woman who finds out that she is the survivor of an abortion, which sets her on a journey to learn about her hidden past and find her birth mother. In the process, she discovers hope for her future.
You can join HELP Pregnancy Crisis Aid for a private showing of October Baby at Celebration Cinema–RiverTown at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 25th. Tickets are $10 each, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit HELP.
Tickets are only available in advance, so please don’t wait–get yours now! Contact us to purchase and pick up tickets, 616-459-9139, 705 Bridge Street NW 49504.
For more on October Baby, go to http://www.octoberbabymovie.net/.

Fight for Religious Liberty!

Here is another even I just recently found out about.

Event: A Call for Religious Freedom

On Thursday, March 1 at 7pm, Acton Institute president Rev. Robert Sirico will speak about the implications of the recent mandate for religious organizations handed down by the Health and Human Services Department of the federal government under the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Rev. Sirico will explain the mandate and the February 2012 revision of that mandate, as well as the Constitutional protections for religion and conscience in the United States.  The implications for Catholic hospitals, Christian schools, and all faith-based organizations will be considered within the broader context of our history and religious tradition.  Father Sirico will be joined in prayer by Rev. Phil Smith, pastor of the Eternal Word Church in Grandville, and Rev. Tyler Wagenmaker, pastor of Beaverdam Christian Reformed Church.

The evening will take place at Ridge Point Community Church, 340 – 104th Avenue, Holland, Michigan. Please use Entrance C in ”The Center.” This event is free and open to the public.

Stop HHS!

A message from Al Kresta!

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UbCrog4eXdk?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Now, go to stophhs.com and get it going!

The DVD's...

have arrived!  It took a little doing and a couple of extra programs but we now have several copies of the DVD for the Culture of Life Conference available!  We will be working on getting some sort of graphic on the DVD itself as well but we'll see how that goes.  More to come soon!

Status update

We're in the process of taking those YouTube videos of the Culture of Life Conference and converting them into audio and video files that can be turned into DVD's and other things.
There is also a KofC meeting this week in which we'll no doubt be discussing the mandate and what to do about it.

The Mandate etc

By now everyone has heard of the HHS Mandate and Obama's initial double-down on it.  Now he is attempting what Mark Shea called a head fake.  As I heard it explained on NPR, it basically would require insurance companies themselves to cover the contraceptives of a religious employer, rather than the employer himself.  After a little thought, I realized a few things.  The first is that nothing has really changed. No matter what, the insurance company is the one who writes the checks and not the employer.  The only difference here is that the Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist hospital, school, soup kitchen doesn't have contraception as a line item in the insurance policy.   But it is still there.  I'm willing to bet that the cost of insurance will be exactly the same, or even higher for religious employers who object to contraception than for those who think it is just fine.  Why do I think it will be higher?  I'm willing to bet the insurers will up the premiums to accommodate the extra hassle they need to go through.  It will likely not be signaled out as a separate item in the bills they send as that would be too obvious.   More likely, they will simply increase the base fee for all religious employers so as to appear to not be discriminating.  Essentially, the companies will wind up making even more money off of this deal.
Here's another concern.  What about religious insurers who pride themselves on not providing coverage for abortion and contraception?  I can't think of any but I'm sure there are a couple out there.  They're still stuck.
But can't they just not have insurance?  I thought this might be a possibility.  Don't pay for insurance but still give the employees the money that would have gone to the insurance company.  That way the employees can still afford their own insurance.  That'd be great except that there is this health care legislation that recently passed mandating that everyone have insurance.  So if religious organizations don't actually have insurance they still need to pay a penalty to the government. 
At the end of the day nothing has changed and I pray that our bishops and other religious leaders don't back down for a moment.

From our friends at Cathechical Foundations

Our friends over at Catechetical Foundations passed along a talk the other day.  Go visit their site and check out all three parts.

Pro-life movie

From an email from a friend of mine:

Also, I wanted to let you know that there is a very special film being shown up in Big Rapids on February 10th. I think this is such an important movie for all to see.  Preemie is a 90 min. documentary being shown at an art festival. Nick Kuiper, the movie's producer, is dad to Mollie, who was born several months premature and spent nearly a year at Devos before being released with major medical issues.  Nick documented this journey with Mollie along with a few other families of preemie babies. I have only viewed the trailer, but it seems like this is a very prolife film.....here is the website:  http://www.preemiefilm.com/

It is being shown at a facility called, "Artworks" on February 10th at 7pm.  Here is a link to Artworks so you can see how to get there.

http://artworksinbigrapids.com/press/festival-of-the-arts-2012/

The HHS Mandate

If you're not a fan of this, follow this link.

Praise the Lord!

Shortly before going to bed last night, I got a great email.  The abortion clinic in East Grand Rapids is closing for good!!!!  That means there is only one left in GR.  Now we can really focus our efforts at 320 Fulton next time 40 Days for Life rolls around!

Marching in Holland

I just got back from the local March for Life I posted about last time.  I had gone to the same one last year as well.  It looks like the awareness of the cause for life has increased somewhat over the last year as the crowd was somewhat larger.  Also, instead of a talk, Holland Right to Life changed things up with a play called The Decision.  As one can imagine, it was a play about a young couple unexpectedly pregnant who suddenly are forced to choose between life and abortion.  They did an excellent job of showing the beauty of life, even (especially?) when it is unexpected.  Between that and some rather inspiring music at the end, it was a highly motivating experience and I for one feel a renewed sense of motivation to get work on the next conference and one or two things in between.

Local Marh for Life

Heads up for my fellow Hollanders!

March for Life and Memorial Service for the Unborn Children

January 16, 2012 - 7:00pm - 8:30pm

January 22, 2012 marks the 39th anniversary of the date of the infamous Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973 which legalized the violence of abortion throughout our country during the entire nine months of a woman's pregnancy.  Since that day over 53 million lives have been destroyed by abortion.
Join us on Monday, January 16, 2012 at the March for Life beginning at the NE corner of Centennial Park in Holland (Central Avenue & 10th Street) at 7:00 pm followed by a memorial service for the unborn children at 7:30 pm at Central Avenue Christian Reformed Church.

Culture of Life Conference Video 4

Culture of Life Conference Video 3

Thanks

Thanks go out to Mark Shea for linking to our conference videos.  And of course welcome to new visitors.  Updates will be few and far between for a little while yet but stay-tuned, we've been working behind the scenes on some potential new projects.

The ultimate pro-life activity

Is having a baby.  We just had our fifth this past Monday.  Things have thus been a little hectic around here but rest assured, we should be back in business soon.  And yes Mom, the baby and the siblings are doing great.

Encouraging news

Coming to my inbox from Right to life is some encouraging stats concerning abortion:

• Abortions performed in 2009 (most recent annual statistic available) dropped 13.9 percent over 2008. Second largest decrease in Michigan history! Despite the economy!
• Abortions performed in Michigan hit a high mark in 1987. Since that time, the overall abortion number has decreased 54.4 percent.
• Minor abortions in Michigan have decreased 63 percent since the 1990s.
• Michigan has put together the finest track-record in the nation in terms of reducing abortions performed.

Culture of Life, Part 2

And part two.  More to come soon.

Culture of Life video again

Here's the video, no pesky link!

The Pope...

...reminds us that the Culture of Life includes things in addition to the usual life issues.  This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, at least if they've been paying attention and especially if they've ever read The Gospel of Life.  Yet, it does seem that we do need to be reminded that opposition the death penalty and caring about the environment are not the sole possession of the left wing of western politics.  Basically, the term Culture of Life refers to more than just a handful of (very) important issues but rather to the building of an entire culture in which it is oriented towards the protection and promotion of life in all of its stages as well as promoting respect and care for all of God's creation. 

As is turns out...

...the whole Siri thing I posted about yesterday probably isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Oh well, hope springs eternal!