March for Life, 2023

I was able to make the March for Life again this year.  There was some doubt.  First at the beginning no one was sure if there would be a march, so the usual organizer on Staten Island didn’t organize transportation this year because Roe had been overturned with the Dobbs decision.  Then a few weeks before the March date, I got an email from an old organizer who used to arrange it.  She said she would be getting a bus.  My only problem: I had a business trip that same week and I wasn’t sure if I would be home by Thursday night.  March for Life is always the third Friday in January—January 20^th this year—coinciding with the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.  Well, by God’s grace the business event ended a day early and I was home by Thursday night.  Tired as I was, I got up at four in the wee hours of the morning and met the bus before departure time.

This year was different.  Instead of Mass on Staten Island before departure, we had Mass in D.C. upon arrival, a Mass for the whole contingent from the NYC Archdiocese.  Definitely it was way more than our single bus.  It was a lovely Mass at a beautiful church (St. Patrick’s) celebrated by a wonderful auxiliary bishop who had attended the first March for Life fifty years ago.  Unfortunately I did not catch his name.  I do remember he started his homily by pointing to his face and saying, “Look at this face.  Do you think this face is old enough to have been here fifty years ago?”  And then he went on to describe how he was involved with the very first March.  Here’s a picture of St. Patrick’sChurch in Washington, DC from the back looking toward the altar.

 

The Church was full.  Here’s a picture of the church from the outside.

Then we had to walk about three quarters of a mile to the Washington Mall where a stage was setup for the speeches.  This year’s theme was, “Next Steps: Marching into a Post-Roe America.”  There were great speeches.  You can see the list at the March for Life website and you can YouTube any speech or the entire event.  The memorable speeches were from football coach Tony Dungy and his wife—they mentioned they have adopted eleven children!—from Connecticut State Representative Treneé McGhee, who as a black woman railed against the inherent racism in the pro-abortion side, and of course the keynote speaker, actor from the TV series, The Chosen, Jonathan Roumie.  I’m going to post Jonathan Roumie’s speech here, but I encourage to listen to them all.  Roumie’s speech is more religious than anticipated for a mixed audience, so I leave it up to you if you want to listen to it.  He’s apparently a devout Catholic.

 

There were some great passages in his speech.  Let me post a couple.

 

They say we live in a post-Christian society. I reject that. You can reject that. Change the culture by impacting the culture. Embrace that which is bigger than you — He who gave you abundant life and He who has called you by name; do not be afraid. Mute the noise of the popular and embrace the counterculture of Christ’s love, and the message He offers you: The road is wide which leads to destruction and many will enter it. So enter through the narrow gate, my dear friends, for therein lies the kingdom of heaven.

And

We are under an assault on our sense of virtue. We’re enduring an affront to the innate holiness we are all imbued with, and called to, and an attack on the family structure and the sacredness of the gift of life.

 

But as ones created in the image and likeness of God who is Himself love, we are charged to be the standard bearers who defend and preserve the dignity of every human, but especially the most vulnerable which begins with the initial stages of life and continues throughout the entire cycle from conception through that phase we all aim to enter into our golden years, followed by the final stages of our earthly existence.

You can read from a transcript here.  

The crowd was huge as usual.  I’ve heard it said this was one of the largest.  So much for ending these marches.  Here are a few pictures where I tried to capture the scope of the attendance, and I admit the pictures are woefully inadequate. 

One of my favorite things to do at the March is to look for novel signs.  I’ve got a bunch but I’ll just share a few.

Here’s a much unexpected one, “Pro Bikers for Life,” and they were in their black leather biker gear. 

The Nashville Dominican Sister were there, as every year.

I have a special love of the Dominican Sisters.  As usual there were people from other countries, but here is a group from Poland.

And a Muslim young lady, who was on our Staten Island bus, showed that this goes beyond one religion.

Finally what would a march be without a marching band? 

 

I love the pageantry, I love this movement, and I love this event.  If Washington D.C. is too far from where you live, there will be state and city march events this year.  You will enjoy attending if you do.