Hi CAF,
I know this is a rather tall order for you, guys, but we need your prayers. Currently, our government is discerning the passage of RH Bill No. 5043 aka Reproductive Health Bill. This bill aims to guarantee universal access to birth control and maternal care as form of population control and exacerbates poverty.
The bill has divided our country. The Catholic Church deems the bill against God’s laws. As of late, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said they would rather be jailed for civil disobedience than to turn a blind eye if it is signed into law.
Code:
*The CBCP objections
Here is the Catholic Bishops Conference pastoral letter’s list of the prelates’ basic objections to the RH bill:
1. We object to the non-consideration of moral principles, the bedrock of law, in legislative discussions of bills that are intended for the good of individuals and for the common good.
2. We are against the anti-life, anti-natal and contraceptive mentality that is reflected in media and in some proposed legislative bills.
3. We object strongly to efforts at railroading the passage of the RH bill.
4. We denounce the over-all trajectory of the RH bill towards population control.
5. We denounce the use of public funds for contraceptives and sterilization.
6. We condemn compulsory sex education that would effectively let parents abdicate their primary role of educating their own children, especially in an area of life—sexuality—which is a sacred gift of God.
source: The Manila Times
*
Here are links so that you are informed. The last link is leaning towards the proponents side. I included that to be fair.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproductive_Health_bill
fightrhbill.blogspot.com/
noypi-ako.com/what-is-rh-bill-no-5043-and-why-we-are-open-minded-about-it/
PRAYER OF ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
Acclaim To The Suffering Christ
O Lord, You received affronts
without number from Your blasphemers,
yet each day You free captive souls
from the grip of the ancient enemy.
You did not avert Your face
from the spittle of perfidy,
yet You wash souls in saving waters.
You accepted Your scourging without murmur,
yet through your meditation
You deliver us from endless chastisements.
You endured ill-treatment of all kinds,
yet You want to give us a share
in the choirs of angels in glory everlasting.
You did not refuse to be crowned with thorns,
yet You save us from the wounds of sin.
In your thirst You accepted the bitterness of gall,
yet You prepare Yourself to fill us with eternal delights.
You kept silence under the derisive homage
rendered You by Your executioners,
yet You petition the Father for us
although You are his equal in Divinity.
You came to taste death,
yet You were the Life
and had come to bring it to the dead.
Amen.
RESPECT FOR LIFE PRAYER
Gentle St. Francis
you were so devoted to the humanity of Christ.
Your heart burst with appreciation toward God
for taking on human life.
You saw beauty and goodness in all living things -
in birds that sing,
the fish that fill our waters,
and all that lives in nature.
Help us to imitate your reverence for life
wherever it may be.
Especially, humble Francis of Assisi,
help us to help others
to see the worth of each living,
unborn baby sheltered in its mother’s womb.
May all mankind have the grace
to understand that these tiny,
budding lives have the right to live,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
