Culture of Life
Mission Statement
Our mission is to actively promote and defend the fundamental moral principles of the Catholic Church with regards to the sacredness of human life through prayer, public witness, charitable works and educational initiatives serving our parish, school community, and the greater San Antonio metro area in response to Pope St. John Paul II's call for America to reclaim our culture FOR life. In Pope St. John Paul II's last homily during his trip to America in 1987, he solemnly declared: "The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless ones ... If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then, America, defend life! ... from conception until natural death." (September 19, 1987) As the members of the Culture of Life Ministry of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, we wholeheartedly embrace Pope St. John Paul II's stirring challenge and call to action.
Our Needs
We are constantly looking for members of our parish community to join our ministry to promote and help coordinate prayer centered, educational, charitable initiatives, and public witness events to advance what St. John Paul II called the building of a culture of life in our communities. Our focus and scope is our parish, school, our city, our state, and ultimately our nation, in that order of priority. We always reach out for new leadership and team members to help us organize, contribute their “time, talent, and treasure” to successfully complete our “projects” which we organize every year.
We have recurring events we facilitate for the parish such as 40 Days for Life, Saturday prayer vigils, testifying at the state capitol during the legislative session, facilitating educating conferences, collaborating and supporting other pro-life events coordinated by organizations outside the parish such as the annual Life Chains or memorial rallies in January, the annual March at the state Capital, and other special events during the year.
We also facilitate fund raising campaigns for pro-life organization partners. We have special projects like the creation of the Fountain of Life and placement of inspirational signs around the parish grounds.
Meetings
Our ministry is very well entrenched in the traditions of the parish which has taken many years to develop so we do not hold frequent meetings. We meet on ad hoc, as needed basis when planning and executing projects. We communicate via phone conferences and email on an as needed basis. We communicate and update each other on national, state, and local pro-life news to keep an awareness of what’s happening in our community and to participate accordingly.
Contact:
Phil Sevilla,
Culture of Life Ministry Team Leader
(210) 784-0518