Marching for a culture of life

24 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • March 2020 One hundred fifty youth and adults from the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in this year’s March for Life. The group consisted of 100 youth and 50 adults including Bishop Shelton J. Fabre, seven priests and seven seminarians traveling on four busses.

According to Amanda Garcia, who coordinated the March for Life pilgrimage for the diocesan Office of Vocations, this year’s overall theme was “I am.” Every morning on each bus, group leaders would oversee ice breakers, discussions and activities about the theme of the day, which was related to the overall theme. Each of the stops made along the journey were specifically tied to the overall theme in some way.

Following is a schedule of the events that took place during the six-day trip with the theme for each day. n Monday, Jan. 20 I am called Arrive at the diocesan Pastoral Center in Schriever Mass at 6:30 a.m. Depart Compline (night prayer) with the Nashville Dominican Nuns Sleep on Bus n Tuesday, Jan. 21 I am unique Arrive at Arlington Cemetery Witness the “Changing of Guards”; Houma-Thibodaux presents wreath Kimberly Russo Guest Columnist The March for Life was truly an amazing experience. I know, once you hear you are taking a bus it sounds miserable, but if I’m being honest, it really wasn’t. On the trip our thing was “offer it up” … offer up your sufferings for others. I really encourage everyone to go on this trip because I promise you will benefit from it and have so much fun in the process. The things that really impacted me the most: 1) The National Arlington CemeteryThere are so many tombstones that it looks like never ending dominos. You really get to see how many people have died to save us, and those people are the reason we live in a free country today. You can think about how big the number 400,000 is, but you won’t realize actually how big it is until you see over 400,000 veteran graves. 2) Another huge impact was the actual March for Life. The whole week leading up to the March, I kept hearing “Okay, there is going to be a lot of people, probably over 600,000” and we would be like “Wow, that’s a big number.” Once again, you can’t imagine how big it actually is until you see it in person. When I was marching and we got to the top of the hill, Miss Russo said, “Turn around and look.” It was breathtaking how many people were behind me. Over 600,000 became more than just a number, and I can’t say I’ve ever seen so many people in one place. I’m so grateful for the opportunity and it was an amazing experience that I hope everyone gets to experience one day.

Emily Adams, 11th grade Central Catholic School Morgan City Emily Adams

National Museum of African American History and Culture Mass at Camp Wabanna

n Wednesday, Jan. 22 I am valuable Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception: Mass celebrated by Bishop Shelton J. Fabre National Museum of National History

Memorial Walk (Vietnam War, Lincoln, Korean War, MLK, FDR) Adoration at Camp Wabanna

n Thursday, Jan. 23 I am meaningful Geaux Forth Rally Holocaust Museum Mass at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church

Life is Very Good Evening of Prayer and Worship

Camp Wabanna

n Friday, Jan. 24 I am sacrificial March for Life Depart for Home Sleep on Bus

n Saturday, Jan. 25 I am sent Mass at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Meridian, MS: The Knights of Columbus treated us to an amazing breakfast.

Arrive back at Pastoral Center

For the first day, the theme was “I am called.” What better way to see this lived out than through the Nashville Dominicans? It was such a treat to spend the first night of the pilgrimage with them. By chance, we actually arrived to the motherhouse earlier than expected. Since we did arrive early, they treated us to tours, and a question and answer panel. Through their vocational stories, we were truly able to see what it means to be called by God in such a radical way. a

Marching for a culture of life

We then joined them for Compline (night prayer). It was an honor to pray with them. It truly set the prayerful tone for the entire trip.

The theme for the second day was “I am unique.” After leaving Arlington Cemetery, we headed to the National African American Museum. Shortly after arriving, my group of students and I came across a quote by Nelson Mandela that read, “I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom.” Following the theme of pro-life, we felt inspired by Mandela’s words. Here we were reading all of the horrors done to the African American community, but there were people like Mandela caring for others around him more than himself. That is why we march. Because life was chosen for us, and it is out of love we march for those who cannot. God created each of us in his image and likeness, and that consequently makes us beautifully unique. No matter the ethnicity, human life is a treasure that should be respected by all.

The theme for the third day was “I am valuable.” Wednesday was a long day. There was a bunch of walking involved, and when we got back to Camp Wabanna, everyone was hungry and exhausted. After everyone enjoyed a delicious dinner, we gathered together in prayer. It is always a powerful experience to enter into prayer and worship with so many high school students. It was so heartwarming to witness their love and devotion for Christ through adoration. It was so evident seeing how the pilgrimage was bringing the group together and closer to Christ through prayer and sacrifice. The theme for the fourth day was “I am meaningful.” It was a pleasant delight being in a room surrounded by people from the great state of Louisiana for the Geaux Forth Rally. We heard from a woman who was the survivor of two failed abortion attempts. It was both an eye opening and powerful experience to hear how she survived the great horrors of abortion. Now speaking around the world, she is such a beautiful advocate at why life matters. Her life is meaningful.

The theme for the fifth day was “I am sacrificial.” Unless you have been on the March, there really are no words to describe the enormity of it. As we all filed in line, everywhere you looked there were people occupying the space. There were people everywhere praying, singing and chanting pro-life messages. Adults, children, infants, men, women, everyone showed up Friday, Jan. 24 to March for a purpose. There is nothing more heartwarming than to see people of different ages, genders and races come together in the hope of reversing the great evil of abortion. We often hear about great separation within our country, but on the day of the March none of that was present. I left the March feeling very hopeful.

This was my first time traveling to the March for Life with the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, and I, like many, went into it with the thought, “Why in the world aren’t we flying?” After returning from the trip, I get it. The busses truly transform into moving retreat centers. We would have missed out on so much had we flown. From testimonies from the religious and the laity to the small group discussions, we dove deep into our faith, our struggles, our strengths, and so much more. I never thought spending over 60 hours on the bus would be enjoyable, but I honestly cannot wait until next year.

Because what do we want? A culture of life. And how do we get it? Prayer and sacrifice.

(Kimberly Russo, pilgrimage group leader, is an 8th and 10th grade religion and P.E. teacher at Central Catholic School in Morgan City.) BC

Bria Romero

The trip has impacted my life so much. Looking back today, I realize how much I’ve learned. I went into this trip thinking it was going to be easy. I didn’t realize how spoiled I was for the things I have. I then realized how much we had to offer up. We didn’t have hot water to shower in, we didn’t get the foods we wanted, we had to wake up early, and we had to do whatever was on the schedule. Making new friends and meeting new people was a really good part of the whole trip. It was a lot of walking and sacrificing, but it was all worth it. We focused mostly on Jesus, which is one thing I don’t do nearly enough. Getting to experience museums and the monuments were so amazing. Getting to see the different churches and getting to meet so many nuns had to be the best part. When getting to the March, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought it was going to be so different than what it really was. We said the rosary as we walked for the unborn. This trip has definitely brought me closer to God.

Bria Romero, 10th grade Central Catholic School Morgan City

Katie Luc

I had the opportunity to attend the annual March for Life and I have to admit that I was very skeptical about it in the beginning. I knew from previous people that have gone on this pilgrimage that it would, in fact, be a pilgrimage rather than a vacation—spending over 60 hours on a bus in total, long nights and early mornings, and encountering over 100s of 1,000s of people. However, I believe this pilgrimage has impacted me more than anything else could have, and I feel extremely blessed that I was able to attend. I really enjoyed every single part of this trip— from the museums, to talking to the religious, to the March itself. However, there was one big eye opener that stood out to me—while visiting the Holocaust Museum on the fourth day. It was heartbreaking to realize how many people had suffered. While walking through, we were able to relive the lives of the people at this time. As I’m sure you know, the Holocaust is considered one of the largest mass genocides in history being that over six million Jews were killed over a period of years. More than 61 million babies have been aborted, yet you don’t hear about abortions as much as you do the Holocaust—while both share similarities. The people involved are both people, with a soul, human dignity, and a heartbeat given to them specifically by God at the moment of conception. The 56 million difference truly struck me as the reason we would be marching … for the gift of life.

Katie Luc, 11th grade Central Catholic School Morgan City

Hallie Crappel

Day five – We heard the first president to attend the March for Life speak. It was so moving to see so many people marching for the same cause. The word for day five was sacrificial. Sacrifice is basically doing something you don’t want to do, but doing it for a purpose. On day five we were all exhausted but we walked anyway because we knew it was for something bigger than ourselves This whole experience was beyond words for me. The whole trip was so jam packed with laughter, struggles and the presence of Jesus. Every day was a new learning experience. I really just thought the March was walking down a street and chanting pro-life messages, but it was so much more. The places we went and monuments we saw were amazing, but the spiritual part was priceless. We went to Mass every day, learned morning and night prayer, went to rallies, and really just had a lot of time to think about life. In six days, I feel like I’ve changed so much spiritually. The struggles like having a freezing cold shower every night, having to sleep on the floor of the bus, not having kneelers for adoration, or being exhausted 24/7 taught me so much. Miss Russo constantly told us to “offer it up” and so that’s what we did. We found the joy in the struggles and that’s priceless. I’ve learned so much from this trip. All I have to say is go. Go whenever you get the opportunity and experience the struggles, the new friendships, and the museums and monuments. Learn the truth of being pro-life. I can truly say it was worth every second.

Hallie Crappel, 10th grade Central Catholic School Morgan City

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