Concern for the Most Vulnerable

 

Dear Parishioners,

Thursday, January 22nd, is the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. I wonder how many people are actually aware of this.

When Roe v. Wade was officially overturned by the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, I stated that the battle for the rights of unborn (or preborn) children would need to continue on the local (i.e., state) level. New Jersey and its current majority of legislators are, sadly, by no means “pro-life.” Rather, the call for the protection of so-called “abortion rights” unfortunately continues. Do we ever seriously contemplate the rights of all the vulnerable children yet to be born?

In actuality, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is clearly stated in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Our founders recognized that people have a right to live in this world. Logically, if humans create a new human life, then that new person now has a right to exist. (This is abundantly clear even before we intensify matters by bringing any mention of God or morality into the picture.) From a merely human perspective, innocent, vulnerable human life needs protection in similar manner to various legislation enacted to protect the bald eagles' eggs, baby seals, elephants from being hunted for their tusks, dogs from being used in deadly dogfights, etc.

As Christians, we take this situation a step further by realizing that every person is created in the image and likeness of God. We believe that God elevated our human dignity by becoming one of us in the Incarnation of Jesus. We acknowledge that every born or preborn baby has both a developing body and an immortal soul destined for eternity. We hold to timeless precepts such as Thou shalt not kill. We believe that medicine and technology minimally should do no harm to the patient (human person), and certainly not deliberately destroy him or her in the womb.

The problem now exists where people have become much too comfortable in their sin. What might have seemed so obvious in the past—a grave sin or repulsive evil—is now accepted or even glorified. Sin dulls the conscience and blocks the intellect. The lies that have been uttered over and over again begin to be believed and then held as “truths” and “rights.” Good becomes bad and bad becomes good. Our world winds up upside down.

Unfortunately, too many people do not want to upset the status quo. Keep your mouth shut! In many cases you would seriously risk being cancelled. I hope people are beginning to wake up and not fear to speak up! Free speech is something guaranteed in our Constitution—in the Bill of Rights, to be precise.

Yes, we have a long way to go before things change for the good. However, left without resistance we see evil advance in (formerly, obviously repulsive) acts like infanticide, euthanasia, the acceptance of pedophilia or ephebophilia, a distortion of marriage, recognition of sodomy (and other acts) as sexual alternatives, dissatisfaction with one’s gender, propagation and use of artificial contraception and various abortifacients, a flourishing pornography industry, etc. etc. This could never happen in an enlightened, civilized society, could it? Just look around you. Our societal values resemble godless, pagan and not Christian cultures.

While the message of the Gospel is suppressed, minimized, mocked, and seen as outdated and irrelevant, what will it take to bring people to their knees and acknowledge the need for Jesus Christ and His true Church? 

I truly fear to ask this question.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

                       

When the Planets Align

 

Dear Parishioners,

The planets aligned last week, literally.  Five planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn—lined up in planetary order on June 24, 2022.  This day would normally have been the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.  However, because the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (a feast day with a varying, movable date) also fell on the exact same day this year, it took precedence.

It was also the day we saw the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

A coincidence?  Maybe a Divine Coincidence?

Since 1973, when Roe v. Wade opened the door to legal abortion in our country, America has been on a continual, downward spiral.  Moral decay quickly follows when there is a loss of respect for the sanctity of every human person—from conception until natural death.  What started as a 7-2 decision by US Supreme Court Justices who legislated rather than interpreted the law, well over 60 million innocent children have been surgically or chemically killed in the US.  The dissenting opinion of Justice Byron White (with Chief Justice William Rehnquist concurring) at that time stated the following:

I find nothing in the language or history of the Constitution to support the Court's judgment. The Court simply fashions and announces a new constitutional right for pregnant women and, with scarcely any reason or authority for its action, invests that right with sufficient substance to override most existing state abortion statutes.

The court last Friday finally acknowledged that the reasoning behind Roe was indeed seriously flawed.  Now the decision for or against legalized abortion falls back to the individual states to decide, as it was before Roe.  No matter how the media or others try to portray the situation, this is where we are right now.  New Jersey decides for New Jersey.

Sadly, we are not a state that legally protects the lives of the unborn.  The uphill (and now local) battle waged by Pro-Life Catholics and all who support the rights of the unborn to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is not yet won.  In fact, it is in the process of intensifying.

However, we can see clearly that what might have seemed unlikely or even impossible is never so with God’s Divine Assistance.  Our prayers and efforts are ever more necessary to accomplishing the task of making New Jersey a Pro-Life state and not one that permits the continued surgical or chemical death of unborn children.

Reasonable people would certainly hold to the Golden Rule:  Do unto others as you would have them do to you.  Well, what about the preborn?  Would we want to be surgically torn apart or chemically poisoned?  Do we not appreciate the fact that we were given a chance to live in this world?

Each year since Roe v. Wade, the March for Life has protested and stood up for the life of preborn children in our nation’s capital.  The founder and organizer of this march was an attorney named Nellie Gray.  She died ten years ago in 2012, not living to see what she had hoped would eventually occur, the overturning of Roe.  June 25th, the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary this year, was her birthday.  Happy birthday Nellie!  The planets aligned.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Nellie Gray

Why the "Life" Issue is the Essential Issue

Dear Parishioners,

Since 1973 when Roe v. Wade originally opened the door to legal abortion in our country, America has been on a continual downward spiral. What started as a 7-2 decision by US Supreme Court Justices who legislated rather than interpreted the law, over 60 million innocent children have been surgically or chemically killed.  The dissenting opinion of Justice Byron White (with Chief Justice William Rehnquist concurring) stated the following:

I find nothing in the language or history of the Constitution to support the Court's judgment. The Court simply fashions and announces a new constitutional right for pregnant women and, with scarcely any reason or authority for its action, invests that right with sufficient substance to override most existing state abortion statutes.

A member of the Pro-Life movement since 1995, Norma McCorvey, who was the Jane Roe in the 1973 Supreme Court decision, had the following to say years later:

It was my pseudonym, Jane Roe, which had been used to create the "right" to abortion out of legal thin air.  But Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee [her lawyers] never told me that what I was signing would allow women to come up to me 15, 20 years later and say, "Thank you for allowing me to have my five or six abortions.  Without you, it wouldn't have been possible."  Sarah never mentioned women using abortions as a form of birth control.  We talked about truly desperate and needy women, not women already wearing maternity clothes.

The simple reality is that unless human life matters, nothing else matters.  This world and all that is in it are important because all human beings are important.  Pope St. John Paul II's words at the Denver airport (August 12, 1993) remind us of this:

America has a strong tradition of respect for the individual, for human dignity and human rights. I gladly acknowledged this during my previous visit to the United States in 1987, and I would like to repeat today the hope I expressed on that occasion: "America, you are beautiful and blessed in so many ways . . . But your best beauty and your richest blessing is found in the human person: in each man, woman and child, in every immigrant, in every native born son and daughter . . . The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless ones.  The best traditions of your land presume respect for those who cannot defend themselves. It you want equal justice for all, and true freedom and lasting peace, then, America, defend life!  All the great causes that are yours today will have meaning only to the extent that you guarantee the right to life and protect the human person".

When people argue that abortion is only one issue in this or any presidential election, the response of Priests for Life is worth noting:

The foundation of a house is only one of many parts of the house, but it is essential in order to build the other parts.  That is why the Catholic bishops have repeatedly asserted that among the many interrelated issues within a consistent ethic, abortion deserves "urgent attention and priority."

St. Teresa of Calcutta's words at the National Prayer Breakfast, (Washington, DC on February 3, 1994)—given in front of then President Bill and Hillary Clinton—included the following:

But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.  And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?  How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion?  As always, we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts.  Jesus gave even His life to love us.  So, the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love, that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child.  The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts.  By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems.  And, by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world.  That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble.  So abortion just leads to more abortion.  Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.  This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.

I hope that you take the time to reflect on all of the above.  

Do not be deceived by arguments that omit or minimize the vital importance of voting Pro-Life!

                                                                                                                

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Christ, Our Light

Dear Parishioners,

Anyone with a modicum of supernatural faith, a functioning conscience and some basic intelligence should be able to see the hand of the diabolical behind some recent events.

On February 2^nd the Church celebrated the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the temple, also known as Candlemas day.  The blessing of candles with a procession is part of the Church’s tradition.  Christ is seen as the Light that now enters the temple.  Simeon, an elderly man praying in the temple, upon seeing the infant Jesus, utters the following:

Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel. (Lk. 2: 29-32)

These verses are recited daily in night prayer of the Church and are known as the Canticle of Simeon or Nunc Dimmitis.  Again, the emphasis is Christ as the Light for all peoples.

Sadly, just about a week prior, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, some other lights were lit throughout the city and state of New York.  Pink lights shone from One World Trade Center, the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the Kosciuszko Bridge, and the Alfred E. Smith Building in Albany. These lights were specifically ordered by Governor Andrew Cuomo to “celebrate” a horrendous occasion—the passage of the so-called Reproductive Health Act.  I quote him directly:

The Reproductive Health Act is a historic victory for New Yorkers and for our progressive values. In the face of a federal government intent on rolling back Roe v. Wade and women’s reproductive rights, I promised that we would enact this critical legislation within the first 30 days of the new session – and we got it done. I am directing that New York’s landmarks be lit in pink to celebrate this achievement and shine a bright light forward for the rest of the nation to follow (emphasis mine).

What exactly were they celebrating?  The NY law permits abortions up until the time of birth, gives no protections to babies born alive from botched abortions, permits non-doctors to perform abortions, and removes any consideration of a baby in the womb as a human being.  After the passage of the law, the New York state legislature erupted in applause.  Yes, applause at the potential death of children in the womb.  Absolutely diabolical!

The state of Virginia tried to follow a similar path to remove restrictions on abortions with House Bill 2491.  Governor Ralph Northam tried to explain to WTOP radio what would happen to a baby born alive after a failed abortion:

If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.

A discussion between mother and physicians whether a born “infant” should be permitted to live?  I believe this is clearly infanticide.  Legalized killing of a baby in the womb—right up until the time of birth—and killing a baby outside the womb once born?  Have we completely lost our minds and any moral compass whatsoever?  I still can’t get over how they applauded in New York.

The cries of aborted children—over 60 million of them in the US—continue to be heard by God.  If those responsible for the death of innocent children have any concern for their eternal salvation, I pray they repent now before it is too late.  A realization of the evil that was done to these innocents, compounded by the diabolical laugh of Satan for all eternity in the fires of hell, is not a prospect that I ever want to face.  

Christ be our Light and lead us out of this terrible, terrible darkness.  We most emphatically and humbly implore you.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

One World Trade Center

Roe v. Wade

Dear Parishioners,

Could you ever imagine that the death of over 60 million babies has occurred since abortion was legalized in our country?  Certainly, they are not all because of rape, incest or a threat to the life of the mother.  The tragic anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade (January 22, 1973) is once again upon us.  It is important for us to continue to pray, fast and make sacrifices for the end of abortion (whether legal or illegal) in our nation and throughout the world.

Roe v. Wade was a tragic mistake that legalized abortion in our country in almost every conceivable circumstance.  But remember what may be legal is not necessarily moral.  The late Chief Justice Rhenquist and the late Justice White dissented against the majority decision of the court.  Later Justice Thomas, joined by the late Justice Scalia, wrote a dissent to the decision, saying of Roe v. Wade: "that decision was grievously wrong."

The deliberate and intentional taking of an innocent human life is morally wrong and can never be justified—not even in the case of rape or incest.  Even in the most horrible of circumstances (like rape or incest) in which the conception of a child can take place, killing the child does not and cannot remove or change the circumstances in which the child was conceived.  In fact, it only makes the situation worse because violence is now inflicted on an innocent unborn child.

I thank those who publicly protest Roe v. Wade at the annual March for Life in Washington, DC.  Always remember that while protesting and an outward display of faith certainly have value, more things are wrought by the power of prayer than we can imagine.  So, keep praying continually!

May God have mercy on those who have mistakenly thought that abortion was a “choice” that they somehow needed to make.  Abortion has many victims including the mother herself.  There needs to be much healing and forgiveness through God’s mercy for those who make a “choice” that can never be undone.

Whenever you hear someone recite the mantra about a “woman’s right to choose,” remind them that we can never choose that which is morally evil—the taking of an innocent human life in the womb.

St. Teresa of Calcutta's words at the National Prayer Breakfast, (Washington, DC on February 3, 1994)—given in front of then President Bill and Hillary Clinton—included the following:

But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.  And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?  How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion?  As always, we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts.  Jesus gave even His life to love us.  So, the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love, that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child.  The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts.  By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems.  And, by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world.  That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble.  So abortion just leads to more abortion.  Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.  This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.

I hope that you take the time to reflect on the words of this saint.  

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

57,762,169

Dear Parishioners,

They say that we can ask the computer any question.  Whether it’s Siri, Google, Galaxy, Cortana or some other voice recognition device or system, we can now ask, and the answer will be given to us.  Sounds almost biblical, doesn’t it?

So I asked Google: “How many abortions have been performed in the United States since 1973?”  I chose this year since it was the date of the historic United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade (January 22, 1973) which legalized abortion.  The answer I was given was 57,762,169—referencing a 2015 article from www.LifeNews.com.  The number would actually be greater if we bring the statistics to our current 2016 date.  Sounds like a lottery jackpot.

Just how many people is that?  It is more than the entire population of the following countries:  South Korea, Ukraine, South Africa, Spain, Colombia, Sudan, Argentina, Poland and many others that have a total population of less than 50 million people.  We have literally aborted the population of a fairly large country—just in the United States alone.  Imagine what the worldwide number of abortions is!

This statistic tells me a couple of things.  First, I believe that many people have no Idea how tragic this situation truly is.  As a nation we have become complacent with slogans like: The Right to Choose! or Keep Abortion Safe and Legal! The right to choose what?  Death . . . extermination . . . murder . . . infanticide?  Maybe we should label it differently.  Is abortion ever safe and legal for the unborn child?  Is it not, rather, a death sentence for him or her?  And how about the physical, psychological, and spiritual damage that is done to the woman herself?  One cannot just expect to rip a developing baby from the womb and then anticipate there to be no consequences whatsoever.

Next, it is unbelievably tragic that a moral evil (abortion, the taking of an innocent, human life) can be seen and touted as something good for women, for civilized society, or for humanity itself.   As if we have some moral right to kill innocent human life?  When a society abandons God’s moral law, distorts its meaning to suit its own selfish purposes and/or replaces it with a deception advocating and glorifying the means by which a large portion of humanity is exterminated, we are in grave danger.

 

We, as a nation, have drunk the Kool-Aid.  The Rev.Jim Jones was not the only one leading a mass amount of people astray and to the ultimate consequence of death.  I am continually hearing politicians advocate the choice for an abortion as a right, as something good, as something that must be defended.  And Americans will continue to drink the Kool-Aid.  And babies will continue to die, in numbers too great to even imagine.

Just think of the loss of potential human life.  Did we already abort the one who would cure cancer or Alzheimer’s?  How about the next great composer or inventor?  Has he or she already been poisoned or ripped apart?  Did the next great political or church leader already wind up as medical waste?

 

I know that I have been pretty blunt.  Yet, somehow I don’t think what I say is going to change things dramatically.  I fear that we have become too stiffed-neck (see Dt. 9:13) or hardened of heart (see Heb. 3:15), as those previously condemned in the Bible.

January 22, 2016.

Almost 60 million babies.

Does it matter?

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor