News Item: : Feast of the Holy Innocents
(Category: Torch of The Faith News)
Posted by admin
Wednesday 28 December 2016 - 14:49:04

On this day each year, the Catholic Church commemorates the little children who were massacred by King Herod in his attempt to destroy the promised Messiah and King.

Each of these little ones received wounds that were intended for the Son of Mary: they were martyrs but unknowing. Today's Holy Mass is offered not in red, but in purple to recall the weeping and lamentation of the bereaved mothers.

In latter years, many Catholics also draw from today's feast to highlight the plight of the babies that are sadly massacred by the contemporary scourge of abortion.

This being the case, it seems a good opportunity to highlight two good charities that work tirelessly throughout the year to protect and save the unborn. As these two charities are always in need of extra funds, we encourage readers to send them a Christmas gift wherever possible.

1. Good Counsel Network 

A few days before Christmas, we received the latest newsletter from the excellent Good Counsel Network. This highlighted the latest ''tales from the trenches'' and information about upcoming events. It also included a heartening list of some 69 babies who have been saved from abortion through the Network's apostolate in England this year.

Regular readers will recall that Good Counsel Network were subjected to some inaccurate media attacks during the autumn months. In light of these attacks, and the amazing work that Good Counsel Network accomplishes each year - through orthodoxy, prayer, kindness and sheer hard work - we encourage readers to please pray for the team and send them Christmas season donations to: The Good Counsel Network, P.O. Box 46679, London, NW9 8ZT (Please make cheques payable to The Guild of Our Lady of Good Counsel).

2. Precious Life

We received a beautiful Christmas card again this year, featuring a marvellous depiction of the Nativity scene, from Northern Ireland's splendid Precious Life team. Every year, on this Feast of the Holy Innocents, a good priest in Northern Ireland offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the supporters of Precious Life.

The November newsletter from Precious Life gave news of a number of initiatives the team had been involved in throughout this year. We especially loved the above-pictured image from the latest Personhood Begins at Conception campaign.

This is being run to give an urgent call to the Northern Ireland Assembly that every person must continue to be legally protected from the moment of conception from the threat posed by proposed amendments to Northern Ireland's laws. For example, Amnesty International and Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) David Ford, recently tabled a Private Members Bill to change the law to allow abortion of unborn babies with life-limiting conditions right up to the very moment of birth.

In addition to this important initiative, Precious Life has also been involved with the All Ireland Rally for Life in Belfast, a second annual roadshow with Youth for Life, the Stanton Healthcare Belfast project to provide information, help and advice to pregnant mothers, and a perinatal hospice care conference in Belfast during September.

Just a few weeks ago in November, Precious Life also challenged Amnesty International's claimed 45,000 signature demand for the legalization of abortion in Northern Ireland, by gathering and presenting some 300,000 pro-life petitions to the Stormont Parliamentary Buildings. This gave a powerful reminder that the pro-life majority in Northern Ireland do not want abortion.

Readers can support Precious Life's ongoing work by sending donations to: Precious Life, P.O. Box 425, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT14YF.

Please keep Good Counsel Network and Precious Life in your daily prayers.

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