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- Newsletters -
Dear Friends, Even though things have seemed a little dormant here, I am also aware that below the surface there is a little seed sprouting, not yet visible to the naked eye, but it is there nevertheless. The whole purpose of this newsletter is to keep you informed, and to encourage you to take some action, however small or insignificant it might seem, to bring about a world where life is cherished as a precious gift from Our Loving God.
New Year means new beginnings! And resolutions! Let us make this year one when we make a difference by doing our own little bit, by offering our prayers, penances, sufferings and all our actions for God’s greater glory. In this apostolate there’s something for everyone to do. Don’t exclude or excuse yourself! This edition will provide you with ideas. We wish you all the Peace and Joy of this Holy Season of Christmas. Nadir and Angela Martello
No choice… as related by Zenith Martello The Sacredness of Human life: how do we promote and protect it in a society
that holds very It can be hard to judge just what the reaction will be to our presence and offers of help. Some women may have had previous abortions, which can make them spiteful towards us and so harder to approach. In some cases, husbands or boyfriends coerce women into having an abortion. These women are timid and insecure owing to lack of support, even aggression, on his part. In other cases, the father of the child might be severely distressed at his inability to prevent the killing of his child. Occasionally we are able to offer these women, or men, our support. Through God’s Grace some women have “turned around” and embraced motherhood. What great joy this brings us! One of the most tragic and disturbing things I have witnessed, was a young mother being forced against her will to kill her child. Recently three young people approached the clinic - a young girl no more that 16 years old, her “boyfriend” about the same age, and another girl I assumed to be the girl’s sister. As they approached the door the young girl suddenly burst into tears and tried to run away down the street, She had run hardly a few metres before the other girl, chasing after her, stopped her and with the help of the boyfriend, dragged her in toward the clinic door as she hit her boyfriend and screamed hysterically “No! No!”. Five minutes later the boy reappeared at the clinic door waving the clinic brochures, and yelling “Let’s all get an abortion”. The next week an activist was waving a sign at passing cars: “Honk If You’re Pro-Choice”, and a teenage-girl with “A Women’s Body - A Women’s Choice” written across her exposed belly. Perhaps it might have benefited our “pro-choicers” to have witnessed the previous week’s incident! This tragic incident occurred the day before Remembrance Day - a day that we pay tribute to our forebears for laying down their lives for their country so that their children may live in a free country protected from harm! Perhaps on Remembrance Day we should also remember those innocent children murdered by abortion in this “Free County”. Let us be mindful in the holy season of Christmas that the greatest gift that we could give to Our Lord would be to spend time in prayer for all his vulnerable babies that are slaughtered just like the Holy Innocents whose feastday we celebrate on the Fourth Day of Christmas, 28th December. Let us pray for mothers and fathers to say YES to God’s will as Mother Mary did, so that their children may be born and dedicated to Our Lord through the Sacrament of Baptism. I invite you to come to a prayer vigil, and pray in reparation for the sin of abortion and for the conversion of hearts of mothers, fathers and abortionists. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pregnancy Help Sydney Inc will be running a 6-month correspondence training course from the end of January for those in NSW and ACT who would like to become telephone counselors. There are three parts to the course: • Distance Education Modules via post or email, • A residential training weekend in Sydney, • A practice and assessment non-residential weekend seminar in your area. All of the components in the course have been designed to give you the support and training you need to feel confident in your role as a telephone counselor. Assistance will be available from a support person in your area and from the PHS training subcommittee. If, while doing the course, you discover that it is not for you, there are options for other essential work in a Pregnancy Help agency, so nothing will be lost. If you think that this might be for you, contact: Pregnancy Help Sydney Inc. PO Box 366 Liverpool NSW BC 1871 Phone/Fax 9602 6100 Email: pregnancyhelpsydney@unwired.com.au
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Apostles for Life has been able to advertise Pregnancy Help Sydney Inc. on two bus shelters, one not far from the Carmelite convent in Lismore and the other opposite the Big Prawn in Ballina. We believe that these signs have been instrumental in bringing to the attention of women considering abortion that help is available at the cost of a local phone call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Newcastle Prayer Vigil Being new to the Hunter, I am on the lookout for people and opportunities to advance the pro-life message, so I was pleasantly surprised to read in the Helpers’ (most moving and inspirational) monthly newsletter “Thanksgiving” that a prayer vigil is held on the 2nd Saturday of each month outside the Planned Parenthood abortuary, Lambton Road Day Surgery, at Broadmeadow. So on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, I broke my journey to visit Mum, in order to meet and pray with these fine people. They has been publicly praying for fourteen years; shortly after they started praying the “clinic” stopped opening on a Saturday! It just so happened that, as well as being Our Lady’s feast day, it was their 14th anniversary and each year they celebrate with a luncheon at the home of Mary, their leader, who believed that Our Lady had sent me as their birthday present! I was warmly welcomed as you too will be, if you ever have a chance to join a prayer vigil. If you live anywhere accessible to Newcastle, I would love to hear from you. Sadly, when I looked up the address of the abortuary, I discovered that it is not the only one; there is yet another (Gynaecology Centres Australia) in Broadmeadow. More pray-ers are needed. Praying is good! Vigiling is better and more effective, because it demands sacrifice and suffering! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since Amnesty International took a definite pro-abortion stand, it was good to see Catholic schools take a stand by disassociating themselves from Amnesty and forming a new organization, the Benenson Society. At a meeting with Loreto Kirribilli, the two sponsoring schools decided to commence the Society immediately. They have provisionally agreed on our charter. Loreto is organising the white rose membership badge for the beginning of next year. Email links have been set up, (though it will probably not be until next year that they are fully up and running). Groups and individuals are now invited to affiliate, especially existing Amnesty groups in schools or universities. The aim would be to allow groups to continue to do much as they are already doing and keep their autonomy while allowing the sharing of resources through an email group list and arrangements with human rights organisations. If you are interested in joining Benenson or in further information please visit their website www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au and follow the Benenson Society link. The site also contains the Charter of the Benenson Society and a statement explaining the withdrawal from Amnesty. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kansas Pro-Life Group Says Undercover Probe Shows Abortion-Rape Abuse Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) -- Operation Rescue released audio files and transcripts of undercover telephone calls to Kansas abortion centers that it says show evidence in each case of the intentional concealment of child rape. The files were released in response to a citizen petition in Johnson County, Kansas, to convene a grand jury to investigate Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. "This hard evidence alone should be enough to warrant a grand jury investigation," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. Another pro-life group made the calls during a private investigation of abortion centers. During the phone calls, an adult woman identified herself as a 13-year old girl involved in an active sexual relationship with a 22-year old boyfriend. That sexual relationship is considered statutory rape, a crime in all 50 states. Statutory rape is, by legal definition, child sexual abuse. It is legally mandatory that incidents of suspected child sexual abuse be reported to authorities in Kansas. In each case, the Kansas abortion clinics, fully understanding the age disparity, told the caller that she could get a pregnancy test with her boyfriend present without the relationship being reported by them. Every Planned Parenthood office in Kansas told the caller that they would prescribe birth control for her without reporting, and that the 22-year old boyfriend would be allowed to pick up the birth control prescription for her. Other abortion offices would not provide birth control for the caller, but instead referred her to Planned Parenthood, indicating that organization would not report. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the intrinsic evil of contraceptive mentality spreads like a virus.... Author unknown by email A friend wrote of her daughter and son-in-law who bought into the lies of the culture which tells them they can turn their fertility on and off like a tap. My response: Reading your description of where your daughter and her husband are is a cause of our sorrows. In this day and age, the brazenness of a Catholic embrace of contraception has spread like an epidemic from sea to shining sea. If we were to stop and consider • the lives lost when fertilized eggs cannot nest inside their mother’s protective womb, • the loss of the mystery of love's echo swelling inside the womb of a young mother and her excited dash to share her deeply felt joy with her suddenly delighted spouse, • the loss of the quiet movement deep in the dark of night when a limb moves inside the womb of a young mother and she wakes up her husband to share the moment, • the loss of the preparations for childbirth when a young couple look upon each other with eyes of love finding depths in their souls they never knew existed, • the awesome experience of being present when this new life who has been bursting to explore life within the womb of the mother now bursts from the mother and enters the world of sight and sound in which the new mother and new father see love's great gift and suddenly are never the same.... • the joys of a new life exploring life and love... touching a mother's mouth so tenderly... looking into the eyes of a father and saying I love you and the father being stirred more deeply than life had ever stirred him... • Since the first time his wife looked at him touching the baby moving in her womb and every succeeding time when they understood they were participating in the miracle of bringing their beautiful child into the world..... To imagine all this is brazenly stolen by the prince of lies who corrupts love by shielding love in a masquerade of pleasure which does not end in a gentle touch of a wriggling, giggling baby but often ends in the feeling of being used for pleasure which is not shared. The utter contempt the culture of death has for the glorious gift of life is a story we need to begin to share with our loved ones. I pray this reflection might help you in trying to open up the hearts of your daughter and your son-in-law so they might know the joys you and her father knew when she came in the world and he might know the joys his mother and father knew when he came in the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Campaign to Stop the Legalisation of Abortion in Victoria Now that we have a pro-abortion Labor governments in Canberra, and in every state of the Commonwealth, unborn children are in greater danger than ever. However there is an important action in the pipeline in Victoria (where moves are afoot to legalise abortion). I urge you to support our Victorian brothers and sisters in prayer. We pro-lifers CAN stop this bill. Please join in the 30 day Novena to St Joseph which commenced on 1st January. You won’t receive this in time, so join in as soon after as possible and continue for 30 days . 30 Day Novena to Saint Joseph
(Here name your petition.) By the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow. By the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world's Redeemer in a cave. By the Loveliness and power of that Sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable infant. By your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey. By that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of their love and of our sins. By your great distress when the adorable Child was lost for three days, by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. By the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you. By the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors. Through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God. O good Father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask. Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH. Amen Lacy Faces
By Colista Ladford Some would erase The lace from the face Remove the pattern of years But I’m inclined to cherish the lines Etched by smiles and tears.
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amartello@apostlesforlifesite.org
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Everybody
can do something, regardless of your age or your state of health. Whether you
are young and energetic and full of idealism, or old and sick and world-weary
and wise, God can use what you have on offer for His own good purposes. 
Dear
Angela, 
little
sacred? For 13 years, the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants have faithfully and
tirelessly attended the Saturday prayer vigils on Salisbury Rd, Annandale. Each
vigil presents a new battle. From insults shouted from car windows, and
antagonistic neighbours, abuse from “clinic” staff, legal action against us, the
Helpers have battled on with the help of God’s Grace. 
Bus
shelter 
Benenson
Society 
Ever
blessed and glorious Saint Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful
friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the
defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly
on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and
so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of
Nazareth, do I go for help and protection. Listen, then, I beg you, with
fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask. 
