My Dear People of God,

Each October, the Church in the United States celebrates Respect Life Month and acknowledges the first Sunday of October as Respect Life Sunday. As Catholics, we are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end and at every point in between.

During the month of October, the Church asks us to reflect more deeply on the dignity of every human life; and it offers an opportunity to financially support the efforts of the Diocesan Office of Family and Respect Life Ministry by means of the Respect Life Sunday Collection. The proceeds from the annual collection provides the following for your parish:

• Support parish activities promoting the dignity of all life
• Networking with pregnancy resource centers
• Post-abortion, reconciliation, and healing (Project Rachel)
• Christian marriage (discernment, preparation, and enrichment)
• Natural Family Planning
• Parenting (in times of crisis, and just every day)
• Building the domestic church
• Single, divorced and separated Catholics
• Caring for the Whole Person, which focuses on care for our sick and elderly and end of life preparations.

Recently, Pope Francis has reminded us that he condemns euthanasia and abortion as actions that “play with life” and said there is such a thing as “bad compassion.” “You don’t play with life, neither at the beginning nor at the end. It is not played with!” His Holiness reminds us: “We must accompany people towards death, providing palliative care to the suffering, but not provoke death, or facilitate assisted suicide.”

As we journey through the month of October, while confronting the ever-threatening presence of the culture of death, may we do so by entrusting all of our efforts to Jesus, the Lord of Life! 

St. Joseph,

          Defender of Life,

                       pray for us

                                                                   -Bishop Cotta

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