The
February 2014 Official Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona, MN
COURIER
Feast of the Presentation of our Lord February 2
www.dowcourier.org
Marching for Life in Washington, D.C. Three busloads of youth, young adults, seminarians & chaperones from the Diocese of Winona drove to Washington, D. C. and joined hundreds of thousands for the annual March For Life.
The group from the Diocese of Winona was led by Ben Frost, Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adults and Peter Martin, Director of the Office of Life, Marriage & Family.
Knowing that we have the ability to change the world and be the ones to speak up for the unborn just reminds me of how life changing this experience really was." - Mary Ahlberg, Owatonna
"At the conference, I was reminded of why I marched. I marched to give a voice to the innocent, those that cannot speak for themselves. I was proud to count myself as one of the thousands who were making a difference." - Heidi Bau, Slayton
The frigid cold weather and heavy snow could not keep the 130 Diocese of Winona pilgrims from standing up for life in our Nation's Capital. Energetic young people filled three buses and joined hundreds of thousands at the annual March for Life. Our journey started at the Cathedral in Winona, where everyone gathered together to celebrate Mass with Bishop Quinn. Pilgrims then loaded buses and traveled 20 hours to the East Coast. While in Washington, D.C. the group had the privilege of participating in many incredible events. For the first time we attended the "Students for Life Conference" which was formative and inspiring. Young people learned how to spread the pro-life culture among their peers. This was particularly encouraging as the polls are showing that more young people are adopting a pro-life stance today. This uplifting event then set the tone for other events. The group joined thousands of young Catholics for the "Life is Very Good" event, which featured music by Matt Maher and a Eucharistic Holy Hour. We also gathered for a Rally and Mass with bishops and cardinals and then made our way to the National March on Washington. The March this year was difficult because of the cold weather. We literally went from 50 degrees on Monday to subzero wind chill on Wednesday. Our pilgrims were cold in body but firey in spirit! As we marched down Capital Street we joined thousands of others who were holding signs, singing songs, and chanting slogans like: "We are the Pro-Life Generation." We ended our journey at the Supreme Court, offered prayers, and then made our way back to the bus and The March, cont'd on pg. 7
INSIDE this issue
We Have Left Everything to Follow read more on page 6
Food for the Body and Soul
Celebrating All Vocations page 9
page 10