Tag: Family Journal

PROTECTING LIFE IN A NEONATAL WING

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network
Even though this was a public hospital, in the maternity unit, everyone fought fiercely for the life of every unborn child. Whether they were cognizant of the fact or not, these doctors and nurses embodied the teaching of the Church.
For you created my inmost being;

You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Your works are wonderful,

I know that full well. -Psalm 139:13-14-

Pregnant with my seventh child, I was bedridden in the high-risk, neo-natal wing of the maternity ward for a week. I was waiting for a housekeeper to come  run my home and help tend my six children. Although I faced six months of bed rest, that one week gave me perspective and kept me from sinking into self-pity. Two other women in my room were desperate to keep their babies in utero and finally become mothers. One of the two had suffered five miscarriages. She was stuck in a ward room for months, only going home after the birth of her baby.
Secretly we all feared that we would lose our babies. Suddenly our fears materialized as a high-risk woman’s baby died in her womb. That poor woman had to endure an induction and labour for hours, only to push out a dead baby. The pain in that wing of the hospital was tangible. Tears ran down women’s’ faces as they grieved with their neighbour. It did not matter that none of us had even glimpsed her face. Nurses as well as patients mourned for a sister who was loosing her newborn. I became so nauseated with the awful vibes that pressed in on me that I ended up retching over the side of my bed with ice packs on my head to relieve a migraine.
Thank God, after the delivery, they moved this mother to the maternity wing where she was given a free, private room. Nurses as well as patients sighed with relief when the nurses told us that the hospital understood the need to shelter grieving mothers from others who cuddled and nursed their new babies.
Even though this was a public hospital, in the maternity unit, everyone fought fiercely for the life of every unborn child. Whether they were cognizant of the fact or not, these doctors and nurses embodied the teaching of the Church.
Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.
Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:
You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.
God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes. CCC 2270-2271
My generous spirit petered out after a few weeks at home. My only outing was to a high-risk appointment every week. Church was even out of the question, so Michael brought home communion and the readings each Sunday. I remained in a prone position, eating while propped up on one elbow with my food cut into small pieces. The high-risk doctors let me use a regular toilet and have a quick shower every morning. In those days, we had one large, heavy T.V. in the living room, a black dial-up phone on the hall wall, no stereo system, no computer and the bedroom window was cloudy, so I could not look outside. In frustration I phoned my doctor one morning after my shower.
“But I don’t feel sick. I feel fine and my kids need me!” I wailed.
My usually laid back, jovial doctor explained my situation in graphic detail.
“You have a huge clot, 4-cm thick, 6-cm, wide from the top of your womb where the placenta tore down your entire right side. The last time this happened at the Civic was two years ago to a woman who had four kids at home. They both almost died. We had to call the Archbishop in to explain to her that it was more of a sin to her remaining children if she foolishly died along with her unborn child.
“Listen to me. Keep this image in your mind. Imagine that here is a gun pressed to your temple, cocked waiting only for the slightest movement to set it off. Lay in bed and do not move!”
Well that got my attention.
The hardest aspect to my forced “vacation” was letting go of control of how strange women cleaned my home, washed laundry and made meals. I endured terrible cooks and inept, lazy house cleaners but at least my kids could still lay down beside me as I read to them and helped with homework. It almost seemed orchestrated because God seemed to delight in my inactivity; He had ample time to teach me to let go, trust and to allow others to serve me.
The end result of my confinement was a beautiful baby girl with huge black eyes and black hair that stood straight up. She is now a gentle artist/philosopher whose dark eyes  still sparkle with life and joy, only one of the hundreds, why maybe thousands of young adults who owe their very existence to  ordinary nurses and doctors in maternity wings who fight for the lives of the unborn.
http://melaniejeanjuneau.wordpress.com/

Mary is My REAL Mum!

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network
maryjesus
God has inscribed a moral code on my heart. It is  hidden in my deepest self. Actually, if  as an adult, I can block out my own ego and simply stop to listen, I can live a holy life. In fact Christ  offers an easy way to sanctity, to loving God and each other.  A spirituality that a child understands. A spirituality that St.Thérèse of Liseux understood. Relax. Give up striving. Surrender to His love and let it saturate every cell of your body. Then simply let His love flow through you. It ends up being a long journey to embrace such a carefree lifestyle because pride and ego get in the way. It is so simple that it seems complicated to our adult, logical minds.
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14
And in even stronger terms:
“I assure you,” He said, ‘unless you are converted and become like children, , you will never get into the kingdom from heaven…’” Matthew 18:4
The Catechism of the Catholic Church:
526 To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become “children of God” we mu–t be “born from above” or “born of God”. Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this “marvelous exchange”:
O marvelous exchange! Man’s Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity.
A relationship to the living God is child’s play. Listen to this exchange between my young children:
One afternoon, I was making dinner, standing at the counter with my back to our three youngest children. Grace and Daniel were lounging around the kitchen table, with three-year-old Rebecca perched like a little elf on a high stool, happily swinging her legs.
Simply making conversation, Grace who was eight, asked Rebecca,“Rebbecca, whose your favorite, Mum or Dad?”
Rebecca replied,”Both!”
Still facing the counter, I looked over my shoulder and intruded on their conversation, “Smart answer, Rebecca.”
Rebecca was not done though, “But she’s not my real mum, Mary is.”
Grace rolled her eyes, slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand and said incredulously, “Where does she get this stuff?”
I tried to explain as simply as I could, “Well, the Holy Spirit is in her heart and she listens to His voice.”
Rebecca jumped right back into the discussion and chanted in a sing-song, lilting voice, “That’s right. God the Father in my heart. Baby Jesus in my heart. Holy Spirit in my heart. Mother Mary in my heart…but…I still like Mum and Dad the best!”
Grace rolled her eyes and plunked her head down on the table with a loud sigh, “Where does she get this stuff?”
I just laughed.
A few weeks later, as I crouched down to tie Rebecca’s shoelace,  she picked up the small gold cross I wore around my neck and said, “This is the cross of Jesus and the glory of God shines all around it.”
Grace rolled her eyes again, slapped her forehead and asked, “Where does she get this stuff?
She’s made in the image of God and she gets it right from the source of all truth.

Full Time: Working For My Father

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

    
Welcome, friends, to another Memoir Monday!
 as well as some info on the blog hop.
I hope you’ll consider linking!
And please visit the bloggers who have joined in!
They’ve made this blog hop successful and inspirational!
With Mother’s Day on the horizon,  
I began thinking about this very special vocation 
with which many of us are abundantly blessed…….
and reflected:
Life is lived around here between slicing apples into turtle sized bites, one just rescued from certain death crossing a busy road bordering our development. And the supplying of a desperately needed Tupperware for grubby, muddy little boy hands to house a beetle, cricket or worm. 

            And generally coasting through our brimming and busy days around  ratios, circumference, the Pythagorean theorem,  Earth science reference tables, test tubes, microscopes, assorted, strewn-about art supplies, Paul Revere’s midnight ride, half written essays on the causes of World War I, vocabulary lists, scattered violin and piano sheet music, baseball game schedules, self imposed writing deadlines, cleats, mitts, a bottomless laundry basket, always-dueling John Wayne impressions, homeschooling paperwork, tests, workbooks and inexplicably multiplying piles of legos and tech equipment. Oh yeah. And lots of noise.


Despite all this though, and the fact that I never, ever get five uninterrupted minutes ( as all homeschooling Moms can also attest) and the fact that it’s taken me four hours off and on to type to this point in the post due to life’s demands ( demands which I loooove, yet wipe me out)  and that as I  type this, I’m mediating some sort of dispute over who’s music stand is in who’s bedroom and not in the den where he swears he left it and who’s turn it really is to unload the dishwasher and really how could you possibly think that the turning of the plot in’ The Impossible Astronaut’ is the scene in which The Doctor says, …….okay,  well, you get it. When they start arguing over Stephen Moffat’s true intent in season 5, you know it’s time to throw in the towel for the day …… Yup, here’s the thing: 

I don’t miss it. You know, working.  

For pay. Outside my home. I don’t want it back. Not anymore. I’m not looking to be fulfilled by looking beyond my home and my family. 

Is this too provincial?  Too June Cleaver-backwards? Well, June Cleaver sans pearls and heels. Because I’m not a  pearls and heels person. 

 That I choose to stay home and not only like, I love, revel in, am passionate about, feel blessed by what I do?

 That I am called to tend my home, keep the hearth, teach the children.

 And not part time.

 That I maintain the best living and learning happens in the heart of my home?

That despite feminine strides for “equality,” I say, “Take THAT, twenty-first century. You can keep the norms and expectations of our times. I’m not buying into this.”

Because I know, I truly know, without a doubt as do many, many Moms, growing legions of mothers, that the feminist agenda is harmful to women. It’s harmful to children and families. It’s harmful to the future of our country.

 I choose to work for Him. This is my calling.  
            
Is my homeschool brimming with charity, energy and momentum? Waves of productivity and swells of creativity? How about Thoreau-like jaunts into the woods to immerse in our art? Picture perfect? No way. 

And that’s not really the point, is it?

            No, my life is real. And unkempt and disorganized, disheveled, sometimes undone, burnt, unvacuumed, tardy, unmet, unwashed, wounded and just plain, lacking something, sometimes. 

But what it doesn’t lack is the love. and the purpose and the certainty that this is where I prefer to be. 

Now it’s your turn:
Please link your memoir posts~
I am not opening a new linky this week
 because  I really would like the links to stay here all in one spot. 
This way, readers can conveniently scroll down there
 and click to my blogger friends who’ve linked!
Please enjoy their stories.
If you decide to link your blog post, I’d be most honored and grateful.
I’d only ask that you grab the Memoir Monday button
 for your sidebar or your post.
Or  that you  mention my blog in your post
 so that your readers can come back to the home of the hop if they’d like. 
Thank you!
I am also gratefully linking this with Catholic Bloggers’ Network.
Have a  lovely day, friends and thank you for visiting!
 Until next time,
~Chris

A Catholic Courtship Story

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

I recently read a lovely book called Come My Beloved: Inspiring Stories of Catholic Courtship. Since it was nearing our 9th wedding anniversary, this book got me reminiscing about my own courtship with my now husband. And, because reading/hearing about how God brings a couple together always inspires and uplifts me, I thought I’d share our story in the hopes that you will share yours. 😉

To begin this story, I have to back up a bit. As most of the people who know me, or who read this blog regularly, know that I spent a number of years discerning a religious vocation. I entered the convent after recently returning to the faith, firmly believing that I was called to religious life. Yet, there was an underlining <em>something</em>, a doubt that I suppressed. Like I said, I had only a couple years before returned to the faith and I wanted to do “something big” to show my love to the Lord. I thought it was to sacrifice family and become a religious sister.

Over the years, the signs that my vocation was marriage and to have a family firmly showed themselves, so during Holy Week 1999 I returned home. It was a bittersweet time. I loved the sisters but knew I had to live the vocation God was calling me to. I began to pray for a spouse.

My prayers weren’t answered until a couple of years later. I like to have a good time, but I’m no party girl. Doing the whole “club scene” or going to bars isn’t my thing. A couple of people tried to set me up but that wasn’t my thing, either. Then I started hearing stories of different couples who met online.

I wasn’t sure if that was my thing or not, but as a birthday present to myself, in 2002 I signed up for Ave Maria Catholic Singles. After filling out my profile, and doing the search, my now husband’s profile showed up. And then again. And then again. And then again. 🙂 Finally, I got up the courage to send him a message.

He promptly wrote back to inform me that he was currently discerning marriage with someone else. Okay, I thought, that door is closed. But, EVERY time I went to the singles site his profile would show up as a 100% match.

I started communicating with a couple other of people and tried to ignore Michael’s face every time he showed up. Several weeks later, I received a message from him. The relationship he was in didn’t work out and he wanted to know if we could chat. I said yes. 🙂

We started emailing through Ave Maria’s messaging system. We clicked right away in our emails and I had a good feeling about him. And the funny thing, the day after Michael and I started messaging the other guys I was communicating with dropped off the face of the earth. Literally. Our communications had been friendly and going well, but they instantly stopped writing, their profiles were gone, and I never heard from them again. It was as if they never existed!

A week after we started emailing, Michael asked if he could call me. I gave him my number and when he called we talked for over an hour. When we hung up, I said out loud, “This is the man I am going to marry.” I just knew. It was as if the Lord Himself was telling me this. Of course, I continued to pray about it, and every time I did, I had this “knowing.”

A week later, Michael asked me out on our first date. Our first date was May 1, 2002, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. I have a strong devotion to St. Joseph, so I took this as a good sign. So much so, I was ‘dumb’ enough to let him pick me up from my apartment instead of meeting him at the restaurant!

What can I say? Our connection went deeper. We talked at the restaurant over two hours. Left the restaurant and we talked some more. A week later, we met each other’s parents. Six months later, on his birthday, Michael asked me to marry him.

His proposal was so special. He didn’t take me to a restaurant or to our favorite spot to propose. He took me to church. We went to the local church which had perpetual adoration. After we were praying for a while, he whispered to me to close my eyes. “Why? I don’t want to,” I said. “Just do it,” he said. So I closed my eyes and after a few seconds he told me to open them. He had placed the ring on the top edge of the pew in front of us. When I saw it I started trembling and I looked over at him. He knelt on the kneeler and said, “In the presence of God, Carol, will you marry me?” Obviously, I said yes. We prayed for a couple of more minutes before going to share the news with our families and continue to celebrate his birthday.

Nine months later we were married. Two years later we had Andrew. Like I said above, it hasn’t always been easy. But God has always been faithful. Both of us have grown and changed and we’ve been through some very rough times, BUT we trust in the Lord and know that the Lord has brought us together for His purpose and glory.

Your turn. How did the Lord bring you and your spouse together?

(Photo Credit)

Nurturing Vocations in the Family

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network
Father Allain Caparas and Sister Jessica Whitman gave a talk recently at Mater Ecclesiae for the Annual C.H.A.P.L.E.T. Catholic homeschool conference. The topic of their talk was “Nurturing vocations in the homeschool: What to do. What not to do.”

As today is Vocation Sunday, I feel better about the delay in posting my notes as this is the perfect day for the subject!

I came in after sister had finished speaking and took these notes from Father’s talk.

He explained that vocations to religious orders vs. a diocese differ in their defining spiritualities. Comparing them to doctors, he related cleverly that orders are like specialists – working missions or involved in education, or working with the poor.  In a diocese, the work is nitty-gritty. A religious there is more like a general practitioner.

Strongly stating that the parent can not push a vocation to religious life, Father went on to give a list of things a family can do to increase the faith of it’s members. These are qualities of homes that religious have come out of. These are qualities that make HAPPY and dedicated religious. So…to nurture a vocation a family needs to:

respect the faith and LIVE the faithbe generous with time and talents with the Churchmodel the value in giving, tithing for instanceteach discipline and sacrificegive chores and responsibilitiesfall in love with the Mass and prayteach children to be loving and praybe devoted to Our Blessed Mother (Father related that praying the Rosary everyday changed his life)foster a desire to learnbe loving to ALL, the popular and unpopularbe a part of the Churchteach good social skillsencourage listeningunderstand what Mother Theresa meant when she said that compassion and thoughtfulness are the beginning to great sanctity.enjoy the gift of youth, don’t wish childhood awayfor boys, teach them to be deferential to women…chivalrousengage in conversations about hopes and dreams but never badger or force religious life – God gives callings.doing God’s will is #1attend discernment group formationfind a mentor, spiritual directorpray for your children daily and be a role model of faithtrust in God!

Father also said that education wise, a priest usually needs a Master’s in Divinity. Some orders will take younger candidates without those degrees depending on the work of the order’s spirituality and same for sisters, it depends on their work.
As a recent article in the Wall Street Journal,  “Traditional Catholicism Is Winning”
supported, Father also concurred that vocations are coming from “traditional, orthodox” parishes with pastoral consistency.
In taking questions from the audience, Sister related that she could recommend Seton homeschool curriculum as it prepared her to be a nun. Father spoke to a mother that was concerned for her children not having as many friends as they might like or have in a bricks and mortar school. He said that those friends might not always be the best for our children. The values shared when our children are together with like-minded friends would strengthen them and support our parenting goals. Not friends just for the sake of friends….
At the end Father and sister both mentioned books that had been inspiring to them, agreeing on the Life of St. Isaac Jogues. Bible reading was, of course, mentioned and for Father the book,
A Man for Others: Maximilian Kolbe the “Saint of Auschwitz” by Patricia Treece was mentioned as pivotal to him.

 The CHAPLET conference (www.Chaplet.org) was, once again, a great experience that revitalized parents in the work of trying to raise children who will love and honor their Catholic faith. Many thanks to the organizers and inspiring speakers.

in +JMJ+, Allison from

Welcome Jackie from My Catholic Family Circus

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

Hi my name is Jacqueline, everyone who is near and dear calls me by nickname: Jackie. I am a very blessed wife and mommy with many job hats that works for Free, but barters with hugs and kisses, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

I am a homeschooling stay at home mommy to 5 Lil’ Rascals for 10 years and schooling for 4 years. We also have a lil’ Baby Love angel up in Heaven above who sadly died of fetal demise in February 2008. Our extended pet family includes 2 cats Valentino and Tigger, and one cutie beagle Buster Brown. I have been married to my soul mate, best friend and husband Dennis for 11 years and blessed to know his beautiful soul for 14 years and counting.

Before my blessed mommy years I worked and aspired in a career in marketing. For 10 years I worked as a graphic and web designer and then as a project marketing consultant and analyst for several New Jersey and New York advertising agencies as well as newspapers in the tri-state area. I use my God-given talent and background in business to help me with my homeschool and mothering ministry. For a while, in my early mommy years I thought I was totally useless to the working world, but I slowly realized with help from many of my favorite Catholic authors and bloggers that this was not the case. God is awesome and He had a very definitive purpose for my life,whether in my career or as a mother. My background in business has helped me to organize and fulfill happiness in my domestic church (aka- my home) as well to properly organize my children in homeschooling and extracurricular activities. Because of the many online mommy blogs I read, I was able to learn about this beautiful and divine ministry of mothering and get out of my slump.

My personal goal with my family blog is to chronicle my Catholic family trying to live the word of God everyday through His grace and infinite wisdom. Life is supposed to be messy, and not perfect. I hope to chronicle the good times with the bad, and also to be able to payback forward and mentor those who are just walking into the divine and heavenly trenches of mommy hood, as it was done to me early in my mommy stages. It’s a beautiful ministry made from the hand of God. Our American culture is too quick in giving our mothering ministry a bad name. In time and with God’s grace, we as mother’s have to realize that we are not in control.

One day at a time, one thing at a time is my piece of advice to any mom in need of spiritual uplifting, and it may sound silly but always try to have God on your mind when you drink that glass of water.  It’s simple lil’ thing I do often during the day. I am always thankful to God, but the only time I have for prayer is when I drink a glass of water, and it’s for 1 minute, if that! =) As a mommy we will have our good and bad days. On those bad days with the kids frayed on your nerves and the house messy and husband getting at your last lil’ nerve, PRAY. It works and keeps you sane and happy. I truly believe it’s our divine vitamin from God.

It’s a hard walk at times to be a good mother and wife in this crazy world, but with Love and Faith and lots of Laughter, anything is possible with God! May the new bloggers joining this new network find comfort and mentoring in your words and life. May God bless you and find happiness in this new and beautiful Catholic Bloggers Network. Until next time…

Welcome! Part II

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network
Welcome to the Contibutor Pages!

 If you would like to be a regular contributor to these pages, please respond with comments on this post mentioning your Catholic blog address and your email address.

For the time being, we have decided not to create a schedule for posting. 
To give everyone a chance to post, here are a few guidelines:

1. Be brief!  We are happy to help you increase traffic on your site!  Please post only 1-2 photos and a brief summary of your post,  with a link to your complete blog post. 
You can include the following: “Read the entire story at {hyperlinked blogname}” 
(The hyperlink should be the address of the full post on your blog, not the general blog address that links to your home page.)
With shorter entries, readers can skim through many more posts on the one Contributor page and will refer to individual blogs for more information…increasing traffic to your site!
2. Please post only ONCE a week in your category* to give others a chance! We plan to have special link-ups on specific Feastdays, so that everyone can share their Feastday posts, particularly on the  Homeschooling, Crafts, Traditions and the Liturgical Calendar contributor page. 
*If your category is Catechism/Apologetics or Scripture, Sunday Readings and Homilies, you can probably link more often, as there are fewer contributors in these categories.
3.  Please have at least one clearly visible Catholic Bloggers Network button on the home page of your blog.  If you’d like to include a link at the end of the post on your blog, we’d appreciate that too!
4. Try to include a signature biography with a photo (or blog button). 
Until we figure out how to make a template for these, this is mine. 
I’m Monica and I am a wife, a Mom of 5+ kids, a designer, an architecture school survivor, an author and a crafter and I think it’s cool to be Catholic!  My husband and I founded a Catholic apostolate called Arma Dei (Armor of God; Ephesians 6:13-17) creating solid Catholic, fun teaching tools and gifts to celebrate and teach the Catholic Faith. I like to post about these family-building and Faith-centred crafts on EquippingCatholicFamilies.com ! 

Feeding the Hungry

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

Wow! What a week it has been!  It was a blessing to go to the March for Life last week (has it already been a week since the March in D.C.?), but it’s always a challenge to get home from a short/long trip and get back into the routine.  I felt like last week I was playing “catch up” after I got home, especially since life never stands still when you go away for a bit!

This afternoon our homeschool group volunteered again with a local inner city homeless ministry.  Our homeschool group provides food and serves the food whenever there is a 5th Sunday in the month.  There are volunteers every Sunday at a well-known spot downtown and our homeschool group was blessed to be a part of the food preparation and serving today.  We had adults and children ranging from age 7 to teens helping out, including my three oldest “cupcakes” and myself.    After the preacher talked with the men, women, and children during an informal church service under an open-air pavilion, they were invited to eat a warm, home-made meal provided by many families and volunteers.

Today we made and served Southwest Chicken and here is the recipe (sorry I forgot to take pictures of this yummy and easy dish)

Southwest Chicken:

  4 chicken breasts
  1-2 jars of salsa
  2 -3 cups cooked rice
  grated cheddar cheese for topping (1-2 cups)

  The chicken can be cooked the day before in a crock pot or that morning on the stove.

Place chicken breasts in a crock pot and add 1-2 jars of salsa, enough to cover the meat and provide a bit extra. Cook on low for eight hours, until the chicken is done, then shred the the meat with two forks (very easy to do when the chicken has been cooking all day).
  Mix in 2-3 cups of cooked rice. Place in disposal serving pan, top liberally with cheese.
  Heat through, until cheese is melted.
This recipe is very forgiving. It was originally intended to be burrito filling. You can add in corn or beans, more rice or salsa… whatever you want; it all tastes good. You can also use any precooked chicken that you have- just chop it into small pieces first.

Some families also made Baked Apples which was also a hit! 

I am always impressed by how friendly and gracious the people are as we feed them.  Many of them thank us over and over again for our service.  As the volunteers, we are blessed in many ways also by serving in this ministry. 
Here are more photos from our afternoon of helping those who always look forward to a warm, home-made meal, a helping hand, and a friendly smile.

Matthew 25:35-40
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome
lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.”
Then the upright will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome, lacking clothes and clothe you?
When did we find you sick or in prison and go to see you?”
And the King will answer, “In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

No Ordinary Blog Hop

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Capturing March for Life 2012 in My Own Words/Photos/Videos

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network
A few days before leaving for the 39th annual March for Life 2012, I thought of this phrase…. 

Why do we March for L.I.F.E.?  
 Life Is For Everyone!

Last year my family and I attended our first March for Life and I blogged about this incredible experience HERE.  This year, my daughter, friends, and I joined a parish in Rocky Mount, NC and traveled to our second march on buses.  There were three large buses filled with 150 people from Rocky Mount and surrounding areas.

We left early Monday morning, January 23, 2012 at 6:00 AM from Rocky Mount, NC to our nation’s Capitol for the annual March for Life rally to protest the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the legalization of abortion. Our first stop when we arrived was the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

As soon as we got off the bus, I had a friend snap this picture of my daughter and me standing with Fr. Tim Meares, priest of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Rocky Mount.  Fr. Meares has been on many marches and we were all blessed with this holy priest’s presence during our trip.

Here is most of our group with all the bright yellow scarves:

Each year there is a Holy Mass for Life for all the N.C. pro-lifers present at the march.  It is just so beautiful to see the many priests and seminarians and our two bishops from the Raleigh and Charlotte Diocese celebrate Mass with the packed church. 

Although I missed celebrating this march with my husband and other three children, it was very special to have my daughter with me to share such a powerful event.  It’s never too early to teach our children that life, no matter how small, is precious and sacred.

Down in the Crypt Church of the Basilica, I found Cameron Smith’s artwork (No relation to me). Cameron and his family are in our homeschool group and are dear friends.   He has incredible God- given talent and he did a painting on marble of Saint Maron and and Our Lady of Lebanon for the Maronite chapel and these beautiful masterpieces are located in one of the many side altars.  You can visit Cameron’s website HERE to see his other beautiful prints to view/purchase.

The weatherman called for 90% chance of rain in the afternoon and after we left the Basilica it was drizzling, but then it stopped during the march.  The sky was gray and gloomy, but the spirits were high which made the day much brighter for sure.

After our group gathered at the Navy Memorial, we marched with an estimated 300,000-500,000 pro-lifers. It’s hard to know the exact number, but based on previous year’s estimations, I’m guessing this many people might have attended this year’s march.   There were men, women, and children from all ages, races, religions, and walks of life joining together to stand for life one step and prayer at a time.  It was breathtaking, exhilarating, and powerful to walk among the masses.  There was a sea of love, as one friend put it.  There was no anger, fear, or hate in the crowds.  Rather, there was a feeling of security, hope, peace, joy, and love and all the young people present gave me hope for our future.
Here is a video clip I took while walking in the march.  The young people are shouting, “We love babies, yes we do, we love babies, how ’bout you!”
Here is the video.

Speaking of our young generation, here are a few beautiful teens that I know from my homeschool group.  They and about 13 others came to the march and are part of our local Teens for Life group. Not only are they shining witnesses for life, but they also love spreading the message of life with bright smiles and duct tape!  Awesome!    

Like last year, I love all the signs that float through the massive crowds  Here is a slideshow of some signs that I saw:

View slide show Here.

At one point while we were walking we noticed two businessmen watching from high above the crowds from their office windows.  We were waving at them to get their attention and they waved back. I wanted to be up there to witness from their vantage point the hundreds of thousands marching.   I was wondering what they were thinking?  Were they encouraged as pro-lifers themselves?  Maybe they were in awe of the crowd, despite being pro-choice?  Maybe they were wondering how the news media could continue to miss this BIG story about March for Life each year?  Maybe they were amazed that so many people could come together peacefully?  Whatever they were thinking or feeling, we as pro-lifers might have planted seeds in their hearts to always defend life!   

Here are photos of the crowds.  Like last year’s march, I never saw the beginning or the end of the march and I hear the numbers who attend gets higher and higher!

One of my friends from our group had this to say about the march. “We joined in the march at 2:00 PM. It was shuffle, shuffle, stop. Repeat. On the hill itself, it was so crowded that we had to make full stops about 7 times. From the bottom of the hill to the top where the route turns on First Street to the Supreme Court, it was packed. I didn’t see any gaps. We were like sardines. If you had claustrophobia, you would’ve felt it at the National Archives. The official end of the March came at about 4 PM with the fife and drum and bagpipe corps of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property, who run the America Needs Fatima campaign, marching behind Our Lady of Fatima statue. They always bring up the rear.”

We stopped at the Congressional Building for a small reception and to listen to our NC Senator, Richard Burr, speak.  We also listened to Congresswoman Renee Ellmers.  Both gave the audience words of encouragement to keep marching on to defend life.

After we left the Senate building, we headed toward the Supreme Court where we listened to women tell their stories about how they had an abortion and how much they have suffered physically, mentally, physcologically, emotionally, and spiritually from their decision.  It was heartbreaking to hear their stories, but they share their stories to help others through a project called Silent No More Awareness Campaign. 

A few feet from where the women were speaking there were different signs that were being held up.  It didn’t even register in my mind that these signs were not like the ones I was blessed to see all day during the march.  No, seeing these signs made me sad…because these women’s stories were filled with pain, grief, sadness, confusion and even hope, but only a few feet away pro-abortion signs were being held up proudly.   I snapped a picture of signs that read “Keep Abortion Legal” and the pro-life signs that read “Defund Planned Parenthood” and “Face It….Abortion Kills a Person”.  My 11 year old daughter didn’t understand why anyone would want to keep abortion legalized.  She kept asking me “why?”  I told her I don’t understand it myself, but we need to keep standing up for life and praying for conversions so that all people will see that each human person is made in the image and likeness of God and each life, no matter how small, no matter the circumstance, is sacred and valuable. 

I conclude this year’s March for Life with this video and quotes by Mother Teresa:
 

“America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father’s role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts — a child — as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters”
And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign.” (Mother Theresa — “Notable and Quotable,” Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94, p. A14)
“But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child – a direct killing of the innocent child – murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love – that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. ”
“Please don’t kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted, and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child, and be loved by the child. From our children’s home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000 children from abortions. These children have brought such love and joy to their adopting parents, and have grown up so full of love and joy!”
February 1997 – National Prayer Breakfast in Washington attended by the President and the First Lady. “What is taking place in America,” she said, “is a war against the child. And if we accept that the mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another.”
“Any country that accepts abortion, is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what it wants.”
“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” 

Why do we March for L.I.F.E.?  
 because Life Is For Everyone! 

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