Social Justice

Category Archives: Social Justice

LifeTeen.com Blog

Can I Have Your Movie Money?

By | April 30, 2013

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“Hold on,” you’re asking me, “Are you telling me I shouldn’t own anything fun?” Of course not. Music and movies help us relax, clothes help us express beauty, and smartphones keep us connected and informed (and yes, entertained). These are all good things.

My challenge is this: to look at the things that we’re spending money on and ask ourselves, “Do I really need this thing?” Do I need a new pair of shoes, or are the ones I have okay? Do I have to buy these songs or can I just listen to the radio?

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LifeTeen.com Blog

“Help! I’m Pregnant!”: How To Help Your Pregnant Friend

By | January 15, 2013

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It seemed like in one moment, our sophomore year, (our whole life) was changed forever. Two minutes ago we only had to think about cute boys, classes, and our plans for spring break. Now I had to think about baby diapers, stretch marks, and helping Jessica face the possible ridicule and judgment of our peers.

How was I supposed to love and support her? The selfish part of me didn’t want to face this. But the only thing I knew was that my Catholic faith asked me to take courage and stand beside my friend, to believe that God would work it out, and to hope in His promises . . . But sometimes things don’t end as you think it should.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

True Facts About Abortion [PDF]

By | January 9, 2013

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Check it out! We put together a fact sheet about abortion for you to download. It’s important to be aware of what’s really going on and you won’t know that until you look at the shocking numbers and data. Go ahead and print it out, pass it around, and educate yourself about this issue.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Embracing Poverty

By | August 30, 2012

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As the new year began, I was still jobless and doubting that it was God’s plan for me to make such a big move in just a few months. However, I went to daily Mass one day and found myself begging God to help me understand what He had planned for me. I remember praying over and over, “Lord, give me the grace to follow you, even unto death.”

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Blessed the Beggar: Who Are the “Poor in Spirit”?

By | August 14, 2012

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

This is one of those Scripture passages that many people “know” (meaning, they’ve heard it before) but countless people fail to understand. My own parochial school teacher taught us that it simply meant God loves poor people “more.”

Ummm, to put it as charitably and bluntly as possible . . . no, that’s not what it means . . .

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LifeTeen.com Blog

What Are Your #FirstWorldProblems?

By | August 7, 2012

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We observed workers moving rocks barefoot because they only had one pair of shoes and needed them to last. Families who lived in a landfill without electricity or running water, hoping to make a dollar a day sorting trash. As the mission director, Julia, told us, “I know that you think that you have problems in the U.S., but compared to what we have here, you live in heaven.” While we had grown up hearing about those in need, our first hand encounter was sobering.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Why Should I Care?: The HHS Mandate and Religious Freedom

By | June 26, 2012

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What is the HHS Mandate and what does the Catholic Church have say about it? Is this big debate only about contraception? Find out the answers to those questions as well as what you can do about it as a teen. Fr. Mike Schmitz explains the mandate it in a way that’s thorough but easy to understand.

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Video LifeTeen.com Blog

It Still Hurts

By | February 1, 2012

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I want to share a video that has an powerful message of hope for those who’ve suffered through an abortion.

This is a video of a woman named Lisa who dealt with abuse, divorce, and had three abortions. She has an incredible witness about the healing she received. The beauty of being Catholic is that besides counseling, we have the Sacrament of Confession where Christ Himself forgives us. Lisa experiences peace when she stopped hiding her abortions in the dark. Her shame was wiped away.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

It’s My Body: How to Respond to the Pro-Choice Argument

By | January 31, 2012

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Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who said that a woman has a right to have an abortion because it’s her body? This is one of the most common ‘defenses’ of the pro-choice position; so more than likely, you’ve heard it.

It’s hard to respond to. Here are some ways you can talk about this argument.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Men and Abortion

By | January 30, 2012

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I asked a handful of men some questions about abortion and I was deeply moved by their answers. It convinced me that it’s not just women who are hurt by abortion. Men have strong feelings about it and want to stand up for life. They are affected too.

Read for yourself.

“11 years ago my girlfriend at the time told me she was pregnant, but because she already had one fatherless child and I was a drunk and an addict she told me she was going to abort the baby. I was not practicing my faith back then but I knew it was wrong. I fought for her to keep the baby but in the end I gave up . . . “

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Video

It’s her body. Why can’t a woman have an abortion if she wants? [Video]

By | January 26, 2012

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“It’s her body, can’t a woman have an abortion if she wants?” Brooke Burns, Education Director for Arizona Right to Life, gives us the true and Catholic answer to this argument about abortion. She reminds us that besides the woman’s body, she has the responsibility of a completely new person (with it’s own body) inside of her own. The baby isn’t a “part” of her body like a kidney or lung. It is separate and unique with it’s own rights.

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Video

Can the baby feel anything in an abortion? [Video]

By | January 25, 2012

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“Can the baby feel anything in an abortion?” Brooke Burns, Education Director for Arizona Right to Life, gives the Catholic answer to this question about abortion. She talks about the recent laws regarding fetal pain. She also discusses whether the pain really matters when we talk about the “right” to kill a person.

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Is a fetus in the womb a baby? I’ve heard it’s just tissue. [Video]

By | January 25, 2012

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“Is the fetus in the womb a baby? I’ve heard it’s just tissue.” This is something you hear a lot and Brooke Burns, Education Director for Arizona Right to Life, answers this question. She discusses how the unique DNA every fetus has from the moment of conception makes it a human baby, not just a clump of cells.

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What about if the woman is raped? Shouldn’t she be allowed to have an abortion? [Video]

By | January 25, 2012

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In this video, Brooke Burns, Education Director for Arizona Right to Life, answers the question: “What about if the woman is raped? Shouldn’t she be allowed to have an abortion?” She tells us that the Catholic answer to this common question about abortion is that in these situations, the last thing the woman needs is to experience more violence and pain; she needs love, support, and healing.

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I agree abortion is wrong, but who am I to tell someone else not to have an abortion? [Video]

By | January 25, 2012

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Have you ever heard someone say: “I agree abortion is wrong, but who am I to tell someone else not to have one?” We’ve got the Catholic answer to this question. Brooke Burns, Education Director for Arizona Right to Life, talks about how she felt this way too at one point. She challenges us to not take this “easy way out” of the abortion discussion and to stand up for something as fundamental as life.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

March For Life: Changing Laws, Changing Souls

By | January 25, 2012

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When we attend the March for Life, we stand in the streets of our Nation’s capital to protest a law that is unjust. To take a day to gather and give a very public witness – to “shout” that we are Pro-Life, and that the law of our land is unjust. But as Catholics – as humans – we know that at the heart of the pro-life movement it is not a question of laws but of souls. The souls of babies, the souls of mothers and fathers, and the souls of those with whom we disagree.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

“Dear Mommy”: A Letter From an Aborted Baby

By | January 18, 2012

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Dear Mommy,

I want you to know how much I love you even though I’m not with you anymore. I was really scared the other day, but I’m ok now.

I woke up to your crying and all of a sudden I felt a force like no other. I gripped my tiny hands into your flesh, but I was no match. I felt like I was being sucked away. And then came the pain. Mommy . . . it really hurt. The doctor tore me from your womb and placed my body like garbage on the cold table. I hoped you would hear me, but my cries were not enough. I needed you Mommy. I know that all the pain I felt yesterday is nothing compared to the pain you must feel. I’m sorry you’re hurt too . . . I love you.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Torn Up Inside: The Truth About Abortion

By | January 10, 2012

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I think we can agree on a lot of things that are wrong. No one is going to say that abuse of any kind is okay. Or that starving children in third world countries should remain hungry. We can all agree that school shootings are terrible. And that no person, young or old, should have to deal with the pain of cancer.

But what about abortion?

It’s confusing. Especially when you hear so many conflicting voices. It can be hard to see clearly whether it’s right or wrong. I understand it’s difficult to make that judgment. In my own mind, I know that a woman, especially in a crisis situation, deserves what is best for her. She deserves to be cared for.

But when I think about the baby, I want the baby to be loved and cared for too. What is best for both of them? Is it the same in every circumstance?

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LifeTeen.com Blog

A Catholic Response to the Death of Bin Laden

By | May 3, 2011

Editors Note: Yesterday we shared a Vatican response to the death of Osama Bin Laden on Facebook and here on LifeTeen.com. I asked Katie Heller and Derek Natzke take us a little deeper. | As citizens of the world, we had quite a weekend! A royal wedding, a beatification of a holy man, and the death of the world’s most dangerous and wanted terrorist. Now that a couple of days has passed, it’s very clear that all these events will hold significance in history, but one is definitely not like the others. The wedding inspired awe, and John Paul II’s beatification inspired holiness. But how do we, as Catholics, respond to the death of Osama Bin Laden?

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Service and Vocation (John Paul II Lenten Reflections)

By | April 13, 2011

Why are you here, you young people of the nineties and of the twentieth century? Do you feel perchance within yourselves “the spirit of this world”? Have you not perhaps come here — I ask you again — to convince yourselves once and for all that to be great means to serve? This service is certainly not mere humanitarian sentimentality. Nor is the community of the disciples of Christ a volunteer agency or social help group. Such a concept of service would imply stooping to the level of the “spirit Read more [...]

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