October is Respect Life Month,
and as a life-giving community of faith, Holy Family Parish will reflect upon various issues and ministries which support life from conception through natural death. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has reminded us that “the Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. Our belief in the sanctity of human life and the inherent dignity of the human person is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching.” (USCCB: Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions.)
October 4
Our Church is called to proclaim the gift of life, to serve life, and to promote a culture that values life above all. This is the message of hope we are called to proclaim and embody in a world that can often seem cynical, negative and self centered. Among the important issues involving the dignity of human life with which the Church is concerned, abortion necessarily plays a central role. Abortion is a fundamental human-rights issue for all men and women of good will. For Catholics, abortion is of overriding concern because it negates two of our most fundamental moral imperatives: respect for innocent life, and preferential concern for the weak and defenseless. We are called to build a culture of life. We are called to give priority to defending innocent unborn boys and girls from direct attack. We are called to make a stand for the dignity and well-being of everyone, before and after birth.
For more information please visit
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/abortion/
October 11
As Catholic Christians whose faith is rooted in the Lord of Life, we believe that all persons are created in the image and likeness of God. The social teachings of the Catholic Church strongly instruct us that the dignity of the human person applies to victims of crime as well as offenders - even those who have taken life. With a strong belief that all life is sacred, Restorative Justice offers healing to all persons involved in violence. The bishops of the United States tell us “that the current trend of more prisons and more executions, with too little educaton and drug treatment, does not truly reflect Christian values and will not really leave our communities safer.” We are convinced that our tradition and our faith offer better alternatives that can hold offenders accountable and challenge them to change their lives; reach out to victims and reject vengeance; restore a sense of community and resist the violence that has engulfed so much of our culture.
For more information please visit
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/criminal.shtml
October 18
All who respect their God-given dignity are called to be heralds of a “culture of life.” Christ's mission was to every human person, and our Lord had a passionate concern for the sick, the suffering, and the dying. In our own time, Christ continues his mission, and his preference for the vulnerable, through his Church. Christ looks mercifully upon us now and at the hour of our death, and the Church proclaims solidarity with our brothers and sisters at the end of their earthly journey. The Church is a patient advocate, working to ensure proper care for the sick and dying by promoting respect for their dignity. The Church is physician and nurse, the Good Samaritan who treats the wounded and abandoned and never walks by. The Church is also the innkeeper who provides the hospital, nursing home, and hospice for care and comfort. Pope John Paul, who was no stranger to sickness and suffering, raised the prophetic voice of the Church compassionately, often insisting on the care which is due to the sick and dying. -Reverend J. Daniel Mindling, O.F.M. Cap.
For more information please visit
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/euthanas/index.shtml.
October 25
Health in the biblical prespective means wholeness -- not only physical, but also spiritual and psychological wholeness, not only individual, but also social and institutional wholeness." (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops 1981 pastoral letter, Health and Health Care.) This letter also states, "For the church, health and the healing apostolate take on special significance because of the church's long tradition of involvement in this area and because the church considers health care to be a basic human right which flows from the sanctity of human life." Earlier, in 1963, Pope John XXIII reminded us in his famous encyclical, Pacem in Terris, "Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and finally, the necessary social services." Support for universal health care is rooted in a long tradition of Catholic social teaching. Today, our bishops continue to support the concept of universal health care for all persons from of conception to natural death. The bishops are insisting that health care legislation before Congress includes
* a truly universal health policy with respect for human life and dignity
* access for all with a special concern for the poor and inclusion of legal immigrants
* pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism including freedom of conscience and variety of options
* restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers."
For detailed information about the bishops' position on health care reform:
http://www.usccb.org/healthcare and
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/health1.shtml
November 1
In these tough economic times, the world’s poorest countries have been hit hardest of all. In 2008, the global price of food skyrocketed as fuel prices rose to unprecedented heights. Meanwhile the number of undernourished people climbed by 40 million to 963 million worldwide. By early 2009, the global economic crisis had wealthy countries rethinking their commitments to provide needed emergency and long-term assistance to poorer nations.
But now more than ever the United States and other wealthy countries must not balance their budgets on the backs of the poor. Debt forgiveness, begun with such promise at the turn of the millennium, can free up the financial resources that poor countries need to develop. Funding for international assistance, which represents less than 1 percent of the U.S. Gross National Income, can be increased and shaped in such a way that it makes a significant difference in ending global poverty, from expanding educational opportunities to developing sustainable markets. Meanwhile, trade policies that are reformed to follow fair and ethical principles can create a global economic system that benefits all.
You can be one in a million. Add your name to the growing number of Catholics willing to confront global poverty. Visit www.usccb.org/globalpoverty or www.crs.org/globalpoverty.
Visit www.usccb.org/economicjustice to learn more about the Church’s teachings on economic justice.
Respect Life 
