Greetings and salutations!
On my old blog, I had a tradition of writing a reflection about the pro-life movement around the time of Roe vs. Wade's anniversary. With due deliberation, I decided to carry over that tradition this year. Because really, the issue of abortion is deeply tied with the mystery of femininity, and it is an issue that I care deeply about (even though I only post about it once a year).
I usually stick to overviews or philosophical discussions about abortion, but this year, I want to take a more personal turn. Because this year, I actually participated in the National March for Life for the first time. And I will apologize in advance for the rather long post ahead.
My FSSP parish had decided to rent a bus for the first time in several years to go down to the March. In keeping with our regular pro-life work, my YAG deliberately chose to participate in the March as our "big monthly meeting" for January.
Getting on the bus on the morning of the 21st, I was amazed at just how young our demographics were. About 35% of the bus was made of YAG members, and about 30% more were kids between 10-20. The remaining adults were a few parents (mostly dads), and a couple of middle-aged couples. In a way, I was a little surprised, I thought the group would have been more diverse. But really, it was indicative of the growing trend: the face of the pro-life movement is young!
We arrived at Union Station sometime around 11am after a couple hours bus ride. Being on the bus allowed me to drink in the sights of the city. It was rather surreal to see the Washington Monument from the other side of the river when we first approached. Leaving Union Station, our first objective was to reach the National Gallery of Art. Which we did, only to discover that it was quite a ways away from the rallying point. We did meet a couple of familiar faces from our extended parish family in other groups as we walked along. We hiked down just beyond the Museum of Natural History, where I got my first look at the National Mall. Just saying, it's a lot bigger than I thought. We found a spot on the outskirts of the crowd, where we could still hear but keep together.
I'm not sure if this was true for the whole March, but I felt that in our spot of the rally, we had a high concentration of Catholics. We were nearest to a group from the St. John Paul II Seminary. We also had a group of huge Papal Flags flying off some distance to our left. A Christendom flag and the TFP banner could be seen off in the distance. I saw many Dominican and Franciscan friars walking around in full habit, along with many priests and even a few nuns. And of course, there were many other Catholic school groups congregating in the near vicinity. There was a wonderful feeling of solidarity. And it was a striking counter-example to the bad Catholic politicians that push and push for abortion without reason.
Out of the speakers of the rally, I felt drawn a lot to Toni McFadden's speech. Her story of her abortion and her subsequent redemptive arc via her marriage and family with her former boyfriend (and father of her unborn baby) was really touching. In a way, I see that story as a microcosm of America. Abortion will always leave a stain, just as slavery did, and we will never forget the 63 million civilians that we have lost because of it. But that does not mean that we, as a nation, cannot move past it and make a success of ourselves.
It was sometime during the rally (I think it was during the Lisa Robertson/Katie Shaw talks) when I experienced something which can only be described as a demonic attack. I felt cold to the cause. I heard a voice say interiorly, what am I doing here? What is the point? I felt like a prideful faker, there only externally. There were other, more despairing interior temptations, but I will not mention them. Suffice it to say, that's when I started praying.
I mention this experience not to draw attention to myself, but to highlight some characteristics of the struggle. The fight surrounding abortion is not just of flesh, but also of principalities and powers. There were some serious spiritual forces hanging around this issue that people tend to forget about. If anything, these temptations were a wake-up call to me of just how vulnerable we still can be.
And speaking of spiritual weapons, I do wish that parishes would publish announcements about the January 22 Day of Penance. I feel that so many people don't know about this, or if they do, they don't realize that it is as binding under Canon Law as a Friday Penance. Some things can only be removed by mortification, and sins of the flesh are definitely one of those.
The rally finished with Father Mike Schmitz, and his introduction was greeted with the loudest ovation of the rally, reaching even our crew. This also helps to cement my hypothesis that there were many Catholics in that rally, lol. Anyway, his speech was a wonderful tonic (as one can expect, anyway) to send us off with.
Very soon, we were making our way to join the 150,000 other people attempting to join the March. As we stood in 9th Street, a chant of "Hey hey, ho, ho, Roe V. Wade has got to go!" swept like a verbal wave over the assembly. That was pretty awesome.
From there, we made our way to Constitution Ave. To be honest, this was the most stressful period for me. You see, I thought it would have been set up almost like a parade, with a little delineation between the groups. But no, it's one huge throng, moving in and out and all around. Keeping the group together - even with the help of the pilgrimage banner - was no easy feat.
Just out of sight from the Supreme Court building, we stopped at the corner of 1st and Constitution. Unfortunately, we were on a strict timetable for our bus, and so we couldn't finish the March. We headed back up to PA, and from there, our YAG went to have a late dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. I am slightly disappointed that I didn't get to clap eyes on the Supreme Court building, but maybe I will have another opportunity later.
The only negative experience we had was a *ahem* loudmouth Baptist lambasting all the "idolaters" to repent during the rally. We didn't run into any counterprotests anywhere. In fact, Washington seemed rather....quiet. Not sure if it was because of the cold, or nobody wanted to tangle with 150,000 crazy pro-lifers, LOL.
I think when we hear the word "protest", we think of angry shouting and sign-waving. But that wasn't the case here. I had heard that the March for Life was one of the most peaceful and uplifting experiences one could have. I can vouch for that myself. Really, those who want to model a peaceful, loving protest of injustice, they should model the March for Life.
If I had to describe it in one word, it would be meek.
I know that is probably a really strange word choice, but hear me out here. Meekness is not mousiness. It's a control of the use of emotion. In other words, not letting emotions cloud up judgement, but use it forward the thought or action.
In nearly all the speeches, the emotionally charged polemics were taken away and objective thoughts were used. For the majority of the participants, this was the same. But at the same time, there was no backing down, no apologies, no weakness. And that's the way things should be done. Because anger and emotional rhetoric may win some favors (as noted with Donald Trump), but it's an empty monster waiting to devour it's next prey.
Like many, I do hope that this year will bring the end of Roe vs. Wade. It certainly would fit close to the historical timeline for Supreme Court flip-flops. I know that it won't be the end of abortion, but it will definitely staunch the flow a lot faster. In the meantime, we must pray, fast and act.
We pray in reparation for all the "slaps" to the Creator's Face.
We pray today in memoriam for all the bleeding hearts that have been sacrificed to the idols of
personal irresponsibility, racial and economic purity, and the false idea of "choice".
We pray that America may be a nation that lives up to it's first principle as declared in 1776 that all persons have the right to LIFE.
We pray for all the women who have been harmed by abortion, and for their continued healing.
And we pray for all unborn children, that they may be born healthy and their souls may be saved.
Our Lady, Protectoress of the Unborn, PRAY FOR US!!
May God bless you all,
Catherine
