In place of my column for this week, I present to you a note from Helen Stamatakis, who coordinated our participation in the March for Life last week.
--Fr. Dave
All,
God blessed us with a beautiful day yesterday at the 2019 March for Life in Washington DC. The theme of the March was “Unique from Day One: Pro-Life is Pro-Science”. With some last minute cancellations, 37 people made the 1 day pilgrimage. We prayed as a group on the way to the March (4 Pro-Life Rosaries) and watched 2 Christian movies – I Can Only Imagine and a movie on St. Theresa of Lisieux (and did a Divine Mercy Chaplet) on the way home. Mass was inspiring as we joined the North Carolina contingent of pro-lifers in a Mass celebrated by the Bishops and Priests of their diocese. We saw a busload from Illinois at the rest stop and numerous groups from our half of the country. Most of the marchers are in their teens and 20’s which continues to give hope. My non-Catholic husband (Greek Orthodox) enjoyed his first March and could not get over the friendly (loving) “vibe” given from the marchers who were so enthusiastically supporting life.
Equally inspiring were the number of people that wanted to come to the March but were unable to but took special time to pray and fast for the unborn. This was truly a team effort from the people that brought the videos, Jim Berry who orders the food and bus, the donated Pro-Life Prayers books we used (put together by the Joan Brandimarti) along with the donuts they brought and those who donated extra money so that others could join the march in their place. One of the wise people on the bus (after I mentioned we didn’t have a priest or deacon on the bus this year) corrected me saying “yes we do….Father Ken is on the bus!” She went on to say that Father Ken could intercede for us now in more ways than he could when he was with us here on earth. It’s a good reminder and we thank God for the trip that ran smoothly.
In reviewing various news reports, it’s generally believed 200,000-300,000 attended the March.
Thank you,
Helen Stamatakis
