Brian Jenkins

Dear Friends of Life,

I would first like to wish you a good and holy New Year ! May God give you, throughout this year, the strength to bear witness by your actions, your thoughts and your words that Life always wins over death.

And as it is customary at the beginning of each New Year to make resolutions, I am sharing those of Quebec Life Coalition for 2016.

First, it is our intention to launch a broad-based popular instruction movement on fundamental topics, such as: 1) the rules of thinking, argumentation, logic; 2) the existence of God, of the immortal soul and free will and consequences that flow therefrom; 3) the arguments in favor of life and of marriage and against abortion, euthanasia and other attacks on the sacredness of life. That's why, from the beginning of this year, we will focus on the development of simple and short presentations we can do with various groups on these topics. Next, we plan to produce videos of these presentations which will be accessible to a wider audience.

Second, it seems to us extremely important to seize the opportunity provided by this Year of Mercy announced by Pope Francis to address the issue of post-abortion pain and healing and forgiveness offered by Jesus Christ. In a letter published on the occasion of this Year of Mercy which began Dec. 8, Pope Francis writes:

I think in particular of all the women who have resorted to abortion. I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal. I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision. What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet only understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope. The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the Sacrament of Confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father. Therefore, we propose to all the representatives of Christian communities who are willing to develop with us a pastoral plan for women and men wounded by abortion to contact us.

Third, we will continue to work tirelessly to advance the promising project of a center for pregnant women in difficulty in Montreal. Located in the rectory of a parish in the Mile End district (near the site of our prayer vigils for the end of abortion), this project is making great strides. This month (January 2016), we expect to set up an interim board. A team of volunteers is in place and the renovation of the premises is already underway. Especially at this time we ask your prayers for this project. We will keep you informed of its progress throughout 2016.

Click here to give today to the Quebec Life Coalition.

Fourth, here's a 2016 project close to my heart, but particularly difficult to achieve: the creation of a political option that is fully pro-life and pro-family for the 2018 elections (provincial) and 2019 (next federal election). We wish to develop, of course with the help of many others, an electoral option which, although it cannot reasonably hope to win an electoral victory (or even, in the short or medium term, elect one MP), would still represent a decent choice for people of good will, the other political parties being too deeply compromised. The first third of 2016 will be a period of reflection and consultation to find out which track to take to present to the voters of Canada and Quebec an electoral option which is pro-God, pro-family and pro-life in the next elections.

There are many other events and projects in sights for 2016: the court trial to recover the right to be present outside of some abortion mills of Montreal will continue; the National March for Life 2016 will be held in Ottawa in May and we will promote it, like last year, organizing charter buses; our website which in 2015 was visited by over 2 million people will continue to be updated with articles translated by a team of over 25 translators. And much more!

However, all our achievements of last year and those anticipated for this year are only possible through your generosity. We hope that you will continue to support our efforts both materially (with your gifts, your volunteer time and your advice) and spiritually (prayers, masses, etc.).

May 2016 be a year full of Life for you!

Georges Buscemi, President, Quebec Life Coalition

P.S. We have been receiving a lot of mail these days. Be assured that we read each letter even though we do not always have time to answer them quickly. Thank you for your support!

Top scientists meet in Moscow, tell Russian government: Fetus is human. Ban abortion.

This headline appeared atop an article written by LifeSiteNews writer Steve Jalsevac about a conference he recently attended in Russia.

The purpose of the conference attended by persons from about 16 countries was to show that "science overwhelmingly confirms the humanity of the unborn child from the moment of conception – and to demand that prenatal infanticide be banned in the country."

As Russian penal law states that "the moment when life begins should be determined by the best scientific evidence," two dozen scientists from around the world gathered to give reasons why life begins at conception.

The symposium proceedings will presented to the Russian government.

The LifeSiteNews article may be read here.

Hi friends of life,

As the long days and warm temps of summer are upon us, time for Bar-B-Qs and camping, to enjoy life, there are three events i wish to invite you to partake in  over the next couple of weeks.

First, Michel Cacchione will lead an evening of prayer at Saint-Sylvain church this coming Friday, July 2. The program consists of adoration, mass and fellowship. It all begins at 7 pm (750, boul. Saint-Sylvain, Laval, near Concorde blvd.). All are invited.

Secundo, on Saturday, July 11, 2015 join us for a hike and a picnic for life. We will meet at Saint Joseph's Oratory for the 10 am mass and head out afterwards towards  to the cathedral. The path to be followed for this ninety minute hike remains to be determined, though sauntering through the Cote-des-Neiges cemetery is a possibility. At the cathedral will meet for a picnic in one of the local parks.

Finally, on Monday, July 13, 2015, an evening commemorating the Blessed Virgin under the titles of Rosa Mystica and Our Lady of Guadalupe is being organized at Notre Dame Porte d'Aurore church (métro Jolicoeur). Prayers and hymns begin the evening program at 6:15 pm. and this will be followed by a personal testimony - I.e., an account from a personal devotion to the Blessed Mother. Mass will follow at about 7:45 pm with fellowship afterwards at about 8:30 pm.

Three events set to celebrate and to promote respect for life. Hope to see many of you.

Dear Friends of Life,

Would you consider voting for me in the next federal election?

This past month I was privileged to meet with the leader of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada (CHP), Mr. Rod Taylor. Travelling from Ottawa to the Maritimes, he stopped off in Montreal and we spoke for several hours discussing among other things the possibility of me running under the CHP banner in the forthcoming federal election, set for October 19, 2015.

FOUR-PRONG CAMPAIGN

Is running as a candidate in a federal election relevant to the work that we at the Quebec Life Coalition are doing – i.e., fostering respect for life from conception to a natural death?

I think so, as your support permits the QLC to battle the culture of death in four ways.

First, there is prayer. Through our conscious contact with God in prayer we try to discern His will to bring about a civilization of love, slaying the dragon that is abortion along with its partners.

The QLC is also involved in education. Compiling newsworthy stories on our website, organizing yearly congresses, making public presentations, supporting youth and young adults with their projects are all examples of educational initiatives we are involved with.

Helping Women. For over three years, we are working to make abortion unthinkable with services such as a toll-free help phone line and a post-abortion ministry.

POLITICAL ACTION

Finally the fourth way we confront the culture of death is politically. We collaborate in planning the yearly National March for Life in Ottawa. Also, you are not unfamiliar with the petition campaigns we have organized against abortion funding, the Quebec euthanasia legislation, and the Supreme Court of Canada ruling on assisted suicide.

Further, regarding the Quebec legislation, we ran a candidate during the 2011 provincial election as a means to inform the electorate not remain silent as the four main political parties were about this issue.

As 2015 is another election year, no federal party, except for the CHP, has a pro-life platform.

As we at the Quebec Life Coalition work to promote the respect for life, the political process is an important tool for championing the plight of the unborn.

WHY NOT THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA?

First, the CHP is the only pro-life party in Canada.

The Conservative Party of Canada of Mr. Harper, safe for a few backbenchers, has not dealt with the daily slaughter of our most vulnerable Canadians. Canada is the only democratic nation in the world without any law protecting unborn children for the full nine-month term. Incidentally, last month, I received a phone call from a woman in France six-months pregnant who wanted to travel to Canada to abort her child as French forbids abortion after 22-weeks.

So I ask: would you consider voting for me in the forthcoming federal election in order that the unborn, and the other vulnerable members of our society, have a voice in Parliament?

As always, we thank you for your support, in both prayer and in kind, as we plan to run and / or support candidates in the forthcoming election.

May our Lord bless you and your loved ones.

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Brian Jenkins

Outreach Coordinator

Quebec Life Coalition

Support the Quebec Life Coalition in its aim to promote a culture of life, from conception to natural death, by clicking here.

Dear Friends of Life,

Something most unusual happened while bicycling one early Saturday morning.

My attention was drawn to an object falling some fifty yards ahead of me.

As I approached the spot on the roadway where it had landed, a second fell nearby on the sidewalk. To my surprise and puzzlement, I saw two tiny infant squirrels, both visibly shaken by the experience – whimpering, struggling to move, the one on the sidewalk the worst off.

Looking upward into the tree from whence they had come, my bewilderment continued as a third was being tossed, landing on the grass several feet from where I stood.

Wondering how to help, I was immediately confronted by the culprit. An adult squirrel came down the tree and began to inflict additional harm to the one near the trees.

To my surprise witnessing these acts of cruelty had aroused more visceral reaction in me than the fate that happens on a daily basis to members of my own specie through abortion and euthanasia.

Writing on the latter topic, McGill ethicist Margaret Somerville observes:

From a human point of view, for euthanasia, I would say if we legalize this now, how do you think your great-great-grand-children are going to die? Why have we held on trust this value that we must not intentionally kill each other for thousands of years, and then at the beginning of the 21st century, we throw that out and say, “What were we talking about?” I was debating an Australian politician who said that when we pass our best-before date, we should be checked out as efficiently as possible. We are not products to be kicked out of the supermarket of life.

As a society have we lost all visceral sense to the tragedies occurring to our own kind and substituting this for that to the lower creatures.

Somerville seems to think so.

Whether you believe in human exceptionalism matters – that humans are different in kind from other animals – or are we just different in degree? I believe that not seeing humans as special in some ways is currently the world’s most dangerous idea. If you’d do it to your dog, you’d do it to your mother. I think this is the single, biggest, values-ethical-moral-philosophical decision of the 21st century. If we legalize euthanasia, I can’t believe the Supreme Court has done this. I was asked to help draft legislation, only by people who are concerned about it, not by the government. I wrote a letter to Justice Minister Peter MacKay and said you can’t go with this. I thought he should use the notwithstanding clause.
It is a momentous decision. It’s a seismic shift in our most important foundational values, the respect for life.

The Judeo-Christian worldview is an affirming one, in which mankind is made in the image and likeness of God. Our origin is first and foremost the result of a loving God wishing to have us share in His plan of creation, a plan in which love is central and paramount rather than random processes and chromosomal mutations that the secular evolutionary people espouse.

We do not deny evolutionary model is but critically view it as a theory which our intellect can inspect, evaluating its foundational truths.

In addition to our reasoning capacity, the Judeo-Christian worldview is not a predetermined, wound up unfolding but one in which volition plays a role. As free agents we elect between good and evil, right and wrong in our deliberations of exercising our values.

I pray that we do not lose our compassion for all of God’s creation – animal, vegetable, and mineral, nor neglect that for the highest among these – our brothers and sisters.

Yours in Christ Jesus,


Brian Jenkins,
Outreach Coordinator
Quebec Life Coalition 



Support the Quebec Life Coalition in its aim to promote a culture of life, from conception to natural death, by clicking here.

Dear Friends of Life,

Blessed Easter greetings to you and your loved ones.

Our Lord is risen. He has broken the bonds of death, bonds which we have all inherited from our fore parents. Today, thanks to your generous support of our work, Our Lord lives and is active, sending workers into His vineyard to console and support the wounded.

EMMANUEL

Recently I got to see firsthand how God is among us, acting through four workers to provide this healing consolation and support to those who have experienced an abortion.

I am blessed to know Jennifer (not her real name) - mother, wife, pro-life warrior and woman of faith.

Jennifer is also post-abortive. Having had two abortions some fifteen years ago, she has lived with the consequences – emotional and spiritual wounds.

On an early Monday morning, I receive a call from her. Her voiced is strained. She tells me about the deep regret she is experiencing and asks if I can come over.

I am no sooner there that she shares about an incident from the day before. An exchange over the Internet had reopened the wounds of her abortion experiences, wounds festering all day and into the night, resulting in a restless night. The next day isn’t much better and so she calls.

Well into our conversation, she expresses a desire to go to mass. Packed into the car and thirty minute later, we enter the church and arrive for communion.

I’m the second worker our Lord has sent to this mother, the first being the Internet blogger.

After mass, the third worker appears. Sonya, a dear friend of Jennifer’s, does not usually attend this service and yet there she is on this particular day. The two women share privately. Tears well up in Jennifer’s eyes.

Conversation over, Jennifer seeks out the vicar for a blessing – the fourth worker. Rather than acquiescing immediately to Jennifer’s request, the minister notices her tears and asks what’s wrong. So begins a conversation that lasts no less than three hours.

I am enriched by the experience in two respects. On the one hand, Jennifer’s humility and faith inspires me. In her distress, and guided by her faith, she sought help, reaching to both to individuals and to Our Lord.

Also, God provided four caring workers, docile to His promptings and permitting that His healing gift of consolation be administered. These persons were willing to be "disturbed" from the normal course of their lives so as to participate in God’s mission to redeem the world.

The moral of the story is we never know how Our Lord will use us to further his aim of providing each and every one of us with a life of plenitude. Multiple persons enter and leave our lives. How do these contribute to furthering providential care? How much do we contribute to their providential care?

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Brian Jenkins, Outreach Coordinator, Quebec Life Coalition

P.S. Our court challenge continues. Over the past few weeks we have met with our lawyer on several occasions to prepare our case against the immoral imposition of an injunction zone, preventing us from praying and helping abortion-bound men and women on the streets of Montreal. As a result, expenses are incurred and so your support in paying our legal fees would be most helpful. Thank you

When Faced with Hard Choices... Let Life Win.

The outspoken Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Centre, Stephen Woodworth, is featured as the first testimonial in a series of 8 videos designed to promote awareness and attendance at the 2015 National March For Life in Ottawa.

Over 20,000 Canadians will assemble at the Prime Minister's doorstep on May 14th this year and demand legal protection for all human beings - born or waiting to be born.

The video series will include testimonials from all walks of life who were faced with a hard choice, but Let Life Win. These testimonials will include federal politicians, young women in crisis pregnancy, families urged to abort their children because of severe medical diagnosis and women facing difficult social circumstances

Wanna read an pretty good overview of feminist thought related to abortion?

Consider "The Feminist Case Against Abortion" by Serrin Foster, President of Feminists for Life.

I enjoyed it. Among other reasons, the author describes two waves of feminist thought, the first believing that abortion is "the ultimate exploitation of women" and "a disgusting and degrading crime," while the second "lauded (it) as the most fundamental right."

The first group is made up of largely American and British women; numerous names and quotes are given.

As for the second, Foster identifies the principles actors - Larry Lader, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, and Sarah Weddington, the latter being the attorney who defended Jane Roe in Roe vs Wade.

Foster argues that Weddington undermined the welfare of women by advocating for the need for abortion as a solution to the societal ills faced by pregnant women - poverty and discrimination faced in school and in the workplace.

Further, the article provides concrete examples of groups addressing the real needs of pregnant women. One such example on an US college campus, pro-life students and a pro-choice collaborated in a rummage sale to help a pregnant student who lost her housing grant; thw woman had her baby and graduated. A second example was the establishing of a program which over a ten year period resulted in a 30% drop in abortions of college-educated women at a local Planned Parenthood facility.

The article also has a large and interesting reader comment section.

As we enter December, the month of Our Saviour's birth, four events are scheduled in support of the most vulnerable period of human development, vulnerable for both mother and her unborn child.

First, on Monday, December 1, an evening of prayer and testimonial is set for the church Notre-Dame-Porte-de-l'Aurore - 1465 De Sève Street, in ville Émard, across the street from the Jolicoeur Metro station on the green line.

Featured on this evening, in addition to the recitation of a rosary and an Eucharistic celebration, will be a personal story of a near tragedy. A young mother will share about the pressures she faced to carry her child to term simply because her physician thought the child may be born with a congenital disorder and should be aborted. The child was eventually delivered without any abnormality. Her story begins the evening at 6:00 p.m., this Monday, September 1, 2014. 

The prayers and the testimony will be French, though, simultaneous translation into English will be available if warranted.

Tuesday

The following day, Tuesday, December 2, at the Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart and of Padre Pio in east end Pointe-aux-Trembles, an evening of prayer for the defense for the unborn child will be held beginning at 7 p.m. At that time a rosary will be recited with an Eucharistic celebration to follow at 7:30 p.m.

The sanctuary is more familiarly known as the Chapelle de la réparation - 3650 de la Rousselière Street (514-642-5391), and is run by the Franciscan community.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Next, an evening of prayer and fellowship for the unborn child and the victims of abortion is being planned for Saint-Sylvain church in Laval - 750 Saint-Sylvain Blvd., on Thursday of the same week.

The evening begins at 7 p.m. with an hour-long period of Eucharistic adoration, during which time a rosary will be recited. After reposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a Eucharistic mass will be celebrated. Fellowship follows. This mass will be celebrated in French.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

The fourth and final commemoration for the unborn child and the harm that abortion does consists of a full afternoon of activities, set at Notre-Dame-Porte-de-l'Aurore church in ville Émard, the same venue as our first event.

The afternoon begins at 1 p.m. with a conversion story. Ms. Carole Arsenault will share the story of John Bird, film producer who specializes in Marian history, and researcher and photographer the Tilma - the outer garment worn by Juan Diego, a poor Mexican peasant of the 16th century that is on display at the cathedral in Mexico City.

This rough outer garment has confounded scientists throughout the years for two reasons. First, it has outlasted its 40-year life expectancy by several centuries and second, it is emblazoned on one side of the cloth, and one side only, with the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The latter is particularly vexing to scientists as they are unable to explain the origins of the image and the materials that have left its mark.

Mr. Bird's film is entitled as "River of Light."

The presentation is particularly timely as the Church commemorates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadelupe every year on December 12.

Prayers will follow the talk - namely, rosary and Eucharistic celebration.

The afternoon will end with a turkey dinner for the modest cost of $8. RSVP by calling (514) 595-6732.

There you have it: Four events in a span of two weeks spread across the region in order to better prepare ourselves for the most important arrival mankind has been waiting for.