Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The March for LIFE 2008

We left Kansas City, MO on Saturday, January 19th in 4 big coach buses, holding about 50 people on each bus. It was a 24 hour bus ride out to Washington DC.
I was lucky enough to get to meet up with my cousin, Aaron the first night I was there. He took me out to this delicious seafood restaurant, Legal Seafood, and then afterward he came with me to a pub that was next to my hotel and got to meet a bunch of my friends, including my roommate. It was so cool and totally fun!

The reason for the March for Life is that it marks the day the Supreme Court passed the decision on Roe v. Wade that made it legal to have an abortion for any reason at any time during the 9 months of pregnancy. 3000 babies a day die as a result of abortion. Abortion is by far the leading cause of death in America. We march for and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.


This is my friend Brook and myself in the hotel right before going out to sightsee on the day before the March. It was really cold outside so we were all bundled up! We went to the Mall and we saw the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the Korean War memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. We also walked to the Capitol building, and we saw several other federal buildings on our walk.



Washington Monument......











The Lincoln Memorial.....











Brook on the steps by the Capitol.










We stopped by the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land. Unfortunately we didn't have much time to check it out since we had to get over to the Basilica to get a seat.
This is St. Francis with the Child Jesus.









We got seats right in the front row! It was the most amazing and memorable mass I've ever been to. The Basilica, which is the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, was so beautiful. There were hundreds of seminarians, Deacons, Priests, Bishops and Cardinals there. I had never seen so many in one place before!



This is the mosaic of Jesus that was behind the altar. He has fire coming off of his halo! He looked like a warrior Jesus.







Here were some of the Bishops that attended the mass. Bishop Finn, the Bishop of KC is the second one from the left. We Love Bishop Finn!!!!






This is Sherri and me and Ryan at the March Rally on the 22nd. It was freezing out there, but that didn't stop us from speaking up for the babies!






The Silent No More campaign was there. They have a very profound presence. Women and men who are speaking up about regretting their abortions, or being involved with one. Abortion doesn't rewind anything, it only causes hurt and pain.
http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/





Some of the signs that were present during the March. This was a life changing experience for me. Life is so precious and sacred, it is a gift. Let's all work to make the womb a safer place to live!