March for Life 2025
We are planning a pilgrimage to DC this year, in January of 2025, for high school students and their chaperones! Cost is $400 per person (includes travel, accommodations, most meals and the Saturday conference fee.) Check out the estimated itinerary below:
Thursday, January 23, 2025
3:30 PM: Approximate time of departure at various places across the Archdiocese. (Some may have to leave school early to get to the departure location on time.)
11PM: Arrival at Potomac Retreat Center
Friday, January 24, 2025
5:00 AM: Breakfast
5:30 AM: Depart Potomac Retreat Center
7:30 AM: Arrival at Morning Rally and Mass
11:00 AM: Depart Morning Rally
12 Noon: March for Life Rally and March
4:30 PM: Depart for Potomac Retreat Center
7:30 PM: Dinner at Potomac Retreat Center
9:00 PM: Youth Night Event
Saturday, January 25, 2025
6:00 AM: Breakfast
6:30 AM: Depart for Washington, DC
8:30 AM: Students for Life Conference
3:00 PM: Depart for Cincinnati/Dayton
11:00 PM: Arrival back home
REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
Students must be of high school age.
Adult chaperones must be compliant with our Safe Environment Policy.
Every group must have at least one chaperone for each gender of youth present.
There also must be no fewer than 1 chaperone per 10 students (11 students require 2 adults, 21 students require 3 adults.)
Total cost is $400 per participant (including adults). Deposit of $125 per person is due no later than November 14, 2024 to hold your spots. (Deposit is non-refundable, but is fully transferable.) Permission forms are also due on that day. Balance is due December 18, 2024.
To register your group, click here. You will receive payment information upon registering. You may pay by credit card or by check. Permission forms are filled out online here.
Questions? Contact Bob Wurzelbacher at (513) 263-6674 or email [email protected].
Marching at Home Resources
If you are not heading to Washington, DC, there are still many ways to get involved and stay prayerful and focused on life from home. We have worked with the Center for the New Evangelization, Catholic Schools Office, and the Office for Divine Worship to provide resources for parishes, youth ministry programs, and Catholic Schools. This toolkit includes: a 3-week series for either small group/bible study or youth group approach, a one night stand-alone lesson plan for youth groups, movie night suggestions & discussion, prayer services and liturgy aids, and lesson plans for incorporating respect life content into Catholic Schools. CLICK HERE to download the entire packet of resources or scroll down to see the resources by section.
Local & Livestream Events
SERIES GOAL
To Know: The sacredness of all human life, especially your sacredness and those on the margins.
To Do: Take one step to 1) taking better care of yourself and 2) to reaching out to someone on the margins i.e. a loner at school, serving at a local shelter, etc.
This resource is adapted for two different schedule options, but could easily be incorporated into a classroom:
Video Reflections
SERIES GOAL
To Know: The sacredness of all human life, especially your sacredness and those on the margins.
To Do: Take one step to 1) taking better care of yourself and 2) to reaching out to someone on the margins i.e. a loner at school, serving at a local shelter, etc.
After the opening activity, the bulk of the night is made up of three 20-minute sessions, comprising a 5 minute video (or teaching/witness) and 15 minutes of small group discussion. CLICK HERE to download the Stand-Alone Youth Night.
Unplanned is the inspiring true story of one woman’s journey of transformation. All Abby Johnson ever wanted to do was help women. As one of the youngest Planned Parenthood clinic directors in the nation, she was involved in upwards of 22,000 abortions and counseled countless women about their reproductive choices… Until the day she saw something that changed everything, leading Abby Johnson to join her former enemies at 40 Days For Life, and become one of the most ardent pro-life speakers in America.
For a Movie Discussion Guide CLICK HERE.
Sooner or later every one of us will face an irreversible moment that will change our lives forever. If it hasn’t happened to you yet…it will. BELLA is a true love story about how one day in New York City changed three people forever.
For a Movie Discussion Guide CLICK HERE.
As the curtain rises, Hannah hesitantly steps onto the stage for her theatrical debut in college. Yet before she can utter her first lines, Hannah—unscripted—collapses in front of the stunned audience.
After countless medical tests, all signs point to one underlying factor: Hannah’s difficult birth. This revelation is nothing compared to what she then learns from her parents: she was actually adopted … after a failed abortion attempt.
For a Movie Discussion Guide CLICK HERE.
A pregnant teenager flees life with her drug-addicted mother and ends up living on the street before being welcomed into her first real home in Gimme Shelter, an extraordinary tale of survival and redemption inspired by actual events.
For a Movie Discussion Guide CLICK HERE.
Jake Taylor has it all: friends, fame, a basketball scholar and the hottest girl in school. What could be better? Enter Roger Dawson. Roger has nothing. No friends. No hope. Nothing but put downs and getting pushed aside. Things couldn’t get worse…could they? Jake and Roger were best friends when they were kids. But the politics of high school quickly pulled them apart. Now Roger doesn’t fit in Jake’s – or anyone’s circle – and he’s had enough. He walks onto campus with a gun in his pocket and pain in his heart and makes a tragic move. Jake’s last-ditch effort can’t stop Roger, and the sudden tragedy rocks Jake’s world. Something breaks loose inside and sends him questioning everything. Most of all, he can’t shake the question Could I have saved Roger? In a quest for answers, Jake finds himself looking for the next Roger and reaching out to the outcasts and lonely. But he quickly finds that crossing class castes threatens all his world is built on. And it could cost him his own friends, his girl, his dreams and even his reputation. Is it worth the price to find the answer to his ultimate question: What do I want my life to be about?
For a Movie Discussion Guide CLICK HERE.
Prayer Services and Pro-Life Liturgies
Here you will find some guides and resources provided by the USCCB for prayer and liturgies. Consider making these parish-wide or inviting parents/families to attend with their youth.
- Mass for Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life
- Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children
- Blessings for pro-life pilgrims, parents, and children in the womb
- Holy Hours for Life
- Litany for Life, Novena to St. Joseph on Adoption, and the Novena to American Saints for Life
- Rosaries for Life and Pro-Life Rosary Prayer Intentions
- Candlelight and/or Eucharistic Procession
- Holy Hour
CLICK HERE to access and download these prayer and liturgy resources.
