On Jan. 22nd the Office for Respect life Ministries was elated to depart for Washington D.C. with 48 students and their chaperones for the annual March for Life. This was only our second trip since the pandemic, but we were glad to see that we had grown in number since last year!
The March for Life trip hosted by our office was something like a pilgrimage, a journey undertaken for a sacred purpose, one that included more than a few little hardships that we had the opportunity to offer up. Whether it was school, work, food, sleep, or missing out on the Pro-Life Summit due to weather constraints, everyone on this trip sacrificed something for the sake of the pro-life cause.
Our trip had a mission and a purpose, one that mirrored the work we accomplish in all our Respect Life Ministries. Through prayer, pastoral care, education, and political action, our experience of the March for Life was one that focused on the abortion issue without losing sight of the other life issues, nor our goal and purpose in this life, Jesus Christ.
Through daily rosaries, Mass, and praying the liturgy of the hours, we made sure our trip was anchored in Jesus Christ. At the Life is Very Good rally and Mass, we learned about our nature as human beings. One student commented this Mass helped them understand that “We are all gifts from God who have a purpose and a choice to choose life and choose God.”
The March itself was eye-opening and inspiring for the students as well. Over half the students attending this trip were first-time marchers. One student commented that the March really helped them see “what it means to be pro-life. I felt a sense of community among the marchers and felt like I wasn’t “wrong” for what I was standing for.” This was the key sentiment among the students, finding solidarity among other members of the Body of Christ. The Devil loves to divide and isolate us, he makes even the most logical and noble Truths seem irrational, insensitive, and fringe. One student explained it well saying “It’s hard at home going to work and not having a lot of those people believe in what I believe in but then I come to the March and I see I am not alone in this and there are so many amazing people willing to show up and stand up for what it right.”
In addition to the profound effect the March had on their hearts, we also saw great fruit emerge from our student’s minds. One of the pillars of our journey was education, we want to make sure our students are well-formed and intelligent contributors to the pro-life movement. On Friday evening following the March, we had the opportunity to learn more about the wider scope of the abortion issue as well as other pro-life topics.
The students heard a brief presentation about the Project Rachel ministry and the profound effect the abortion wound has had on the 1 in 4 women who have participated in it. One student was so convicted by this session that she shared moving forward she would be praying for “anyone affected because of abortion” that they would be “showered with forgiveness and God’s grace.” She concluded that she would “choose to love them both.”
The second half of our presentation included giving the students the tools to carry this work into their homes, parishes, and schools, as well as reminding them that abortion is not the only issue to fight for, nor is our battle reduced only to political means. We taught the students the importance of all four pillars of our work, the pastoral, educational, prayerful, and political.
One student was particularly struck by the lesson about what our political activism and motivations as Catholics should look like. They shared that they were really drawn to the fact that “as a Catholic, I do not belong to a political party, republican, democrat, left, right, etc. I realized on this trip that as a Catholic, I am called to identify with Christ”.
Even our non-formal education efforts had a profound impact on the students. We were blessed on this pilgrimage to have two young priests join our ranks. Not only could they provide us the sacraments, but their witness and knowledge were something the students could take advantage of at any time. On the drive home an impromptu session of ‘Ask a Priest’ began on the bus, the students asked a plethora of fascinating and timely questions regarding pro-life topics, faith, suffering and more.
Among some of the more popular topics were IVF and surrogacy, two pro-life issues that have been in the news a lot. Some students were understandably confused and curious about these practices and what the Church teaches. Our priests did an excellent job explaining the immorality of both IVF and surrogacy, leading one student to comment that they finally realized “how bad IVF really is”.
Overall, our March for Life pilgrimage was a profound gift. Our students learned more about the Gospel of Life, were inspired by their peers, transformed by Christ and his Church, and convicted to continue this mission well beyond a single cold January day.
One student summed it up perfectly: “We are the future of this movement. I can make a difference in this issue.”
By Emily Branscum