Pastor's Letter Oct. 8: October is Respect Life Month

Dear Parishioners,

Today. we honor Our Lady of the Rosary for her feast day with a procession around the grounds of St. Mary’s and breakfast provided by the Knights of Columbus.

October is also Respect Life month. St. John Paul II said that in the 20th and 21st centuries our culture has moved to be a “Culture of Death.” Life is a fundamental gift from God and no person or government can violate this gift without grave offense against the Creator. Abortion is a crime against the Creator and humanity. The Church’s teaching on abortion comes under the fifth commandment and goes back to beginning of our Church. The Annual Walk for Life Northwest has moved from January to Respect Life Month and will be next Sunday, Oct. 15 at Riverfront Park starting at 1 p.m.

We also want to highlight our support for parents and families during Respect Life Month, especially with the monthly free diaper distribution at St. Mary’s. A PREPARES volunteer is here once a month to give out diapers to local families in need and other parenting support from pregnancy to Age 5. The next diaper distribution will be this Thursday, Oct. 12 at St. Mary’s.

Over the past few years Gender Ideology has become a dominating cultural and political issue. During Faith Night in November, I would like to present this issue from a Catholic anthropological and moral point of view. Starting Nov. 8, I will do a three-week presentation on the ideology of gender and the church’s stance. The material I will present over three weeks is a taken from a presentation given to all priests in the diocese this past summer. I was so inspired by the information that I wanted to share it with our parishioners. Furthermore, the first petition to Reject Senate Bill 5599 that allows the state to harbor runaway children and provide medicalized gender treatments without their parents’ knowledge or consent, was short 5,000 signatures. But look soon for another petition that will be out to restart that effort, which will be due in December.