March for Life 2009 - Life is a Sacred Gift from God
The
election of an anti-life president and his well attended inauguration
may seem as a disappointment to some pro-lifers. I am here to testify
otherwise: There is hope for the pro-life cause!
By Virginia Rybicki
Published in The Compass, January 30, 2009, vol. 4, issue 2
On January 22, I participated in my seventh March
for Life. It was my third year traveling with Right to Life –
Lifespan’s bus group. I was joined on the bus with the majority of the
members from Oakland University’s Students for Life group. This march
was different from the ones I had attended in the past. Due to being in
college, the group I traveled with left Wednesday night, spent all day
Thursday in Washington, and then arrived back in Michigan very early
Friday morning. The other, larger part of why this march was different
for me was because it came on the heels of the inauguration of an
extremely pro-abortion president. In fact, as we marched towards the
capitol, you could see the decorations hanging on the front of the
building.
The numbers of
people who attended the inauguration of out new president were
estimated to be in the millions. How true these reports are, I do not
know since I was unable to watch the inauguration due to classes.
However, I remember overhearing a fellow student who was able to attend
the event that the entire Mall was covered with people. This account
confirms that hundreds, most likely even thousands, were present for
the inauguration. Our nation’s capitol must have been a zoo that
Tuesday.
So why am I focusing
on the inauguration? True, it is an important event in our nation’s
history, but what does it have to do with the March for Life, other
then the obvious fact that our new president is against life? The
reason why I bring up the inauguration is because I want to compare the
two events, the inauguration and the March for Life.
I’ve already mentioned that many people attended the
inauguration. Many people also attended the March for Life. I heard
numbers anywhere between 300 thousand and 400 thousand. Although this
may not be as many as the inauguration (which claimed to be attended by
millions), it is still significant. I was able to witness this unusual
number of marchers myself when I attended the Youth Rally and Mass at
the Verizon Center.
The Youth
Rally and Mass are always the highlights of my trip to Washington D.C.
To see the entire center nearly completely filled with youth,
seminarians, sisters, brothers, deacons, priests, bishops and cardinals
is an experience that one holds with you throughout the March. In years
past, two sections would be roped off for the priests to sit in after
they process in for the Mass. This year, they had to open both sections
nearly an hour before mass started to allow people to sit. A group of
seminarians were seated above my group in the bar there. By the time
mass started, every seat in the center was filled and I noticed many
people standing throughout the mass. The applause that the Pope’s
representative received before he made his speech was thunderous and my
friends and I noticed that he had tears in his eyes as he came to the
podium. This year was the first where I have seen the entire Verizon
Center filled to its capacity with even more people then it could hold.
When the actual March
started, my group was near the front of the procession. We reached the
Supreme Court around three in the afternoon. Two hours later, people
were still marching past the Court. I have no idea how long the March
lasted in years past but I hope that this was significantly larger and
longer then others.
The
election of an anti-life president and his well attended inauguration
may seem as a disappointment to some pro-lifers. I am here to testify
otherwise: THERE IS STILL HOPE FOR THE PRO-LIFE CAUSE!!! The crowds I
saw at the Verizon Center and the March for Life only reinforce this
hope that our cause is not yet lost. As long as we remain strong in our
belief that all life is sacred and a gift from God then in the end … we
WILL NOT fail.
May God Bless You,
Virginia Rybicki – Senior Editor of The Compass
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