Author: Jim Venglarik - Life Director
Happy New Year! Please pray that we make strong strides in 2024 with "Life", especially within our Country and our State. The 2024 election is key for pro-life leadership within the US Congress and the Presidency. This year’s election is key for North Carolina to retain strong pro-life NC legislative leadership and elect a pro-life Governor. This would clearly seal our state as a pro-life state.
January continues to evoke memory of the infamous 1973 Roe v. Wade decision overturned in the summer of 2021. We have Marches for Life in Charlotte and Washington, DC this month, particularly supported by the Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. Are you interested in the DC March, set for Friday, January 19th? Reserve your seat for the one-day trip from/to Raleigh. Only $100! Click the link: https://tinyurl.com/2024MarchForLife. Seats are filling up! Deadline was December 31st, but may be extended. This bus is offered by Council 9880, St. Raphael’s Church. Reach out to PGK John Allen at 919-306-1011 if you have any questions. Friday, January 12th, is the Charlotte March for Life. Contact: marchforlifecharlotte@fidei.em
We also have the Novena for Life offered by the USCCB from January 16-24. For details, please visit the December, 2023 THK Life article (last month). To sign up for the USCCB’s Novena for Life, visit: https://www.usccb.org/prolife/join-9-days-life. For information, contact Albert Hodges, Novena for Life Chair, at: oahodges@gmail.com
Most of us believe that February 14th is only special for being Valentine’s Day. Au contraire! It is also National Donor Day, special for organ donations and blood donations. It’s also a special Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for 2024. Please consider organizing an Organ Donor sign-up weekend at your parish and through your bulletin. The NC website to sign-up to be an organ donor is https://www.donatelifenc.org/. Information to hold an Organ Donor sign-up can be found at https://www.organdonor.gov/professionals/workplace/donation
National Donor Day, together with Valentine’s Day, and the first day of Lent, also offers an opportunity to consider donating blood for the lives of others (a single donation can save up to three lives.). Hold a Blood Drive at your parish to welcome sacrifice in Lent and express the care/love for others. Contact the American Red Cross at https://www.redcross.org/local/north-carolina.html. Host a blood drive through the Red Cross at: https://www.redcrossblood.org/hosting-a-blood-drive/learn-about-hosting/how-hosting-a-blood-drive-works.html
Donate blood or host a blood drive through the Blood Connection at: https://thebloodconnection.org/contact/north-carolina-centers/raleigh-center/, or call 800-392-6551. Contact Bill Drummey, Chairman, Life Giving, at lifesharing@kofcnc.org for more information on organ and blood donation. Happy New Year, 2024!
Vivat Jesus, Jim Venglarik Life Director NC KofC