On Thursday, January 24^th a group of 12 high school students and 7 adults from St. Anastasia got on a bus and headed to Washington D.C. to participate in the March for Life.  Early Friday morning our day began with a Youth Rally and Mass, where we sang praise and worship, participated in the Eucharist, and were surrounded by over 20,000 youth from throughout the country. Here is a reflection from one of the teens who participated in this event.

One Person.

“Do you think that you made a difference today?”

On January 25^th, Elizabeth Spencer asked this question to a group of teenagers. She was referring to our participation in the 40^th annual March for Life in Washington D.C. After a night of traveling, an inspiring Youth rally, and a two hour march to the Supreme Court Building, the response to her question was a deflated: “No.”

Granted, we were tired. And slightly frostbitten. But why were we so disheartened? We were in Washington D.C., exercising our First Amendment right, along with more than 500,000 pro-life advocates. We knew what we were doing was right. We represented human dignity. We represented Love.

The issue, I believe, was not our purpose, but the response. In our eyes, there were half of a million people protesting the degradation of life. But there was nothing in our sight, or even our peripherals, to suggest that we were noticed. Since 1973, when abortion was legalized in the United States, about 54,559,615 babies have been murdered. We demonstrated our care for all of God’s children, the ones that were deemed not useful yet and those thought no longer useful. We thought that we could represent the rejected. And some of us felt, after a day of defending the “unwanted,” as if we had just been discarded as well.

We teenagers can find it hard to see anything valuable unless it’s immediate.  It’s difficult to just be “seed planters.” The “powerful” people of our nation may not have cared about us. But God, all-powerful, certainly cared about each person in D.C. that day. Each of us marched one hundred unborn souls to the Supreme Court building. By appreciating His creations, His gift of life, we expressed our love and gratitude.

Did we make a difference? I say we did. I know we did. One life might have been saved – maybe thousands. The numbers don’t matter. The person matters. Every individual – those in the womb, in hospice, and in prison. Those who went on the March for Life and those who stayed home. You. You matter to God. He loves you. By standing up for the dignity of the human person and living your own life with dignity, you are pro-Life and pro-Love. That makes a difference.

-Katie Bart

St. Anastasia – St. Alan -John A. Reuter Men’s March retreat at Manresa with men of the Greater Detroit Area is set for March 8 – 10, 2013 Friday to Sunday.  The Retreat begins at 7:00 PM Friday with dinner and ends at 1:00 PM on Sunday. You can arrive any time after 5:00 PM to get settled into your room and explore the grounds and retreat house.  Manresa is located at Quarton and Woodward. Be with men of your parish and other men from the Greater Detroit parishes. Resolve to call Manresa at 248-644-4933 or you can reserve your space online. 

The theme of this retreat is “Finding the Face of Jesus.”  Director: Fr. Peter Fennessy, S. J.