Why We Got Stopped Multiple Times On The Highway

In a recent blog post, I mentioned how I would be visiting a Bendictine monastery on a pilgrimage in reparation for the "Black Mass” that was to be held on September 21 in Oklahoma City.  I finally went on that pilgrimage, and it was absolutely amazing! Rather than bust out a really long blog post recounting my experiences, I decided I'd do a brief series of blog posts highlighting different aspects.

The first half of our pilgrimage was a 4 hour drive to Wagoner, OK. From Holy Cross Catholic Church, we walked all the way to Clear Creek Abbey.

That's about 22 miles. Here's the route:

For safety and to help with keeping fresh legs, we had one of us drive our vehicular device up a few miles and wait for the rest of us to catch up. Once we all caught up, we'd switch out drivers and kept doing this along the way. If you'll look up at the map, you'll notice that we crossed via bridge over the lake. For that, we all hopped in the car and crossed because there is absolutely no pedestrian space and caulking our wagon and fording the lake wasn't an option either. Apart from these times, we walked.

Six guys walking along the side of a highway isn't particularly too interesting.  If anything, we're probably deemed as crazy for walking along the shoulder with vehicular things zooming past at 45-60 MPH! Maybe it's crazy that we were walking in the wind and rain. Maybe people thought we we were hiking. Maybe people got frustrated that they would have to take evasive maneuvers on the highway for our safety.

But a handful of people stopped and talked to us.

Why?

Why would these handful of people stop to talk to a bunch of guys taking up space on the side of the road?

The answer apparently was...

...because of the cross.

Seeing guys walking on the side of the road doesn't really compel anyone to stop and talk to them.

Seeing guys carrying a large wooden with drizzle and rain and a cool breeze causes double-takes and prompts questions and photo requests.

It happened multiple times on our 21 miles of walking. Some highlights, in list form:

[1] We stopped to exchange the cross towards the beginning of our march, and a woman pulled up near us on the side of the highway. She was curious as to what we were doing and thought it was cool. Our DRE explained why. She took a picture. We took her prayer intention and wrote it on our cross (her family has a history of some sort of thyroid disease).

 Morgan approves!

[2] Another time we stopped to exchange the cross in front of a convenience store. The owner runs out, yells for us to put the cross down and come into his store. He wanted to offer us free food (fried chicken and potato wedges!) because he loved the fact that we had a cross out there with us. He must've seen us coming up the road... Inside his store, we met a wife and her husband who are trying to get a minstry started because the nearest churches are still kind of far away. We prayed with her and their ministry. The owner and his family were so incredibly nice and their generosity was very much appreciated.




[3] Half-way through, a woman stopped ahead of us, and waited for us to come up. She was curious as to what we're doing and she wanted a picture. After we explained our purpose, we asked for her prayer request. She works at a local nursery, where that very day they were having to lay off a lot of people. We passed by it on our walk and it is pretty huge so I can't imagine how many people had to lose their jobs that day.

[4] We stopped at the last convenience store before the monastery because...well, they stopped us. Apparently someone passing by on the highway had seen us and called ahead to make sure the convenience store employees stopped us. That someone was from their volunteer fire department. She thought it was pretty cool that we were walking with a cross and so she bought us free drinks at the convenience store.



[5] This was more planned and intentional, but our DRE made contact with a mutual friend who lives near the monastery. They made arrangements to meet us and feed us at the aforementioned volunteer fire department where we were fed a delicious tomato basil soup and tuna sandwich meal. Homemade. Absolutely delicious after 15 miles of walking, and with it raining outside. There's a wonderful community of about 100 people who live just outside of the monastery, and they often help the monks out as well as visitors to the monastery.

[7] On the last stretch towards the monastery, a woman who lived on that road was driving past us and stopped to talk to us for a while. Traffic had to evade. She too was curious as to what we're doing and we explained. She also thought it was cool. Her prayer intention was for the football game that night for no injuries.

Oh, and none of these people were Catholic, except for those we met up with in [5]. But that doesn't matter because the cross unites us as Christians.

I mean, in addition to all of these examples, we had a good handful of appreciative/affirming car honks from strangers and passersby.

These experiences made me realize in a very real and first-hand way that the cross is our sign for victory and hope. Our Christian brothers and sisters know very well of this fact so seeing the cross being carried is enough to give pause and wonder, especially for those we encountered on our long, rainy, cold march towards the monastery.

“We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world.”
- JD

Pictures courtesy of myself and my companions.

Going to Visit A Monastery & Taking Prayer Requests!

Sometimes great adventures get proposed over cold adult beverages and 60 cent wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. As Taylor Swift may briefly say, it was just a typical Tuesday night with some guys from my parish, including our Director of Religious Education (DRE) and some visiting seminarians from Albuquerque, NM. 

Towards the end of the night and after the last Thai Curry wing was consumed, our DRE came up to me and my housemate proposing an adventurous idea: a pilgrimage to a Benedictine monastery in Oklahoma. The initial details were basically take a car and drive up, stop 20+ miles away from the monastery, walk the rest of the way, join the monks for their prayer times, stay the night, have a full morning and afternoon of prayer and reflection, then drive back. Oh, and beg for food in order to eat.

Crazy.

...and in my mind I was like..."HEAVEN YEAH!"  My only hesitations in saying yes were some typical annual obligations that fell on this planned weekend of pilgrimage-ing. A week goes by, permissions asked of wives and housemates. It looks like I'm going to be in a car full of other men doing this pilgrimage.

We will leave in the dead of the night (3:30AM) on Friday, drive a long while, stop at a Catholic church in Waggoner, OK mid-morning, then walk all afternoon to the monastery where we hope to have dinner with some friends of the monks at a volunteer fire station. We'll be bringing a large wooden cross to carry with us as we're walking. Then at night, we'll join the monks for Compline (Night Prayer). Saturday will be filled with more Liturgy of the Hours with the monks, times of silence and prayer, a conference/reflection led by our DRE on the Holy Cross (the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is Sunday), hang out with religious sisters, and Mass at some point. Then we return home.

I'm pretty excited. I haven't been on any sort of retreat for my own sake since last year when I went on a silent retreat. I see it as a great opportunity to grow physically and spiritually due to the demands of this pilgrimage. Walking 20+ miles?! In the afternoon in the summer?! I've never done that! And Benedictine monasteries have a certain Catholic cool factor due to the nature of the Benedictine way of life. Challenge accepted.

With all that said, I'll undoubtedly have time to pray. If you would like me to pray for you while I'm on this pilgrimage, please submit your prayer request via the form below.

Thanks and God bless! And please pray for the other men and for me as we go on this pilgrimage that God teaches us what He wants us to know during this time on our pilgrimage. And let's also ask for St. Michael the Archangel's intercession for this time before the pilgrimage because I can already tell that Satan is on the prowl trying to ruin things because he doesn't like this idea at all.

Lastly, please pray for our pilgrimage's general intention (what we'll be praying for during the pilgrimage): for an end to the Black Mass scheduled on September 21 through the victory of the Holy Cross.

Pax
- JD

Our Lady of Clear Creek Abby // ClearCreekMonks.org

So F(reez)ing Cold

It was so f____ing cold!!! A day or two before, Washington D.C. got something like six to eight inches of snow. We were effectively snowed in because A) public transportation was closed, and B) it would be strongly lacking common sense to walk around in that kind of snow in an unsafe neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

PS We stayed in a dangerous ‘hood of D.C--Anacostia 4 life!

Anyway, when it snowed, that’s when the wrath of Canada hit us like a cold-nami. The weather service said that the temperature would be in the single digits with negative wind chill. So f____ing cold! #NativeTexanProblems  The verbiage in the weather report pretty much said to...

…because of frostbite potential. Ew.

I remember looking up the weather on the day of the March. It was in the low 20’s and wind chill in the single digits or something. I had to go full on winter ninja.

On the day of the march, we set out to go to a rally and Mass at the D.C. Armory with hundreds of our friends who were there for the same reason. After that event, we made our way to the March at the Mall.

Because the Mall is a fairly large expanse of field, the wind was definitely not subtle. The mall looked impressive with a fluffy comforter-sized blanket of snow. So f____ing cold! Removing gloves to take pictures was painful. Even as a winter ninja and silently stomping through the snow, the frigid air out-ninja’d me and silently snuck past my multiple layers.

But let me tell ya—despite the incredibly cold temperature, my group was still but a snowflake in the ocean of people that showed up to this year’s March for Life. Last year, it actively snowed during the March, but it didn’t accumulate. This year, it had already snowed, but the unapologizing wind was terrible.Yeah, the snowy weather on the east coast that week in January deterred people from being able to attend the march, but the turn out was still rather impressive. Sure, it was miserable (because it was so f___ing cold!), but everyone was smiling and enthusiastic!

That’s what I find to be pretty awesome about the March for Life. Yes, it is always tempting for our mainstream media to paint such a thing as “anti-choice” or “anti-women” and that we pro-lifers are a hateful bunch of snowballs, but what never seems to be captured or talked about is this resounding joy and enthusiasm for the pro-life cause. The March is so full of joyful people! It begins to make no common, logical sense why would anyone want to stand and march in so f____ing cold weather for a few hours. We march because we celebrate life and abhor that it is okay (and legal) to kill our most vulnerable of human beings. We do not march out of hate, but out of love for the preciousness of life, of love for both mother and child, and to make a stand against the forces that make it okay to take life away from these vulnerable, innocent human beings.

We are joyful! This genuine, authentic joy lets us be impervious to our trivial sufferings in the so f___ing cold weather because the cause is worth it on a deep, human, and universal level. It's worth fighting for.

This was my second March for Life. The consolations for going included awesome reminders to myself that:

• I am far from being the only one who cares (as evidenced by the hundred thousands also marching alongside me)
• The cause worth it, and any suffering endured because of the cause is worth it too
• Seeing that this will continue because for the most part, the general population of those who march are younger than I am, and that is encouraging
• Life is worth guarding and celebrating

Yeah, the March was only a day out of a week that I spent in Washington, D.C. However, the March was the primary motivation to go in the first place. The other days of the week was spent in prayer, and sightseeing. You can get an idea of what I did by looking at my blog posts from last year: here, here, and here. Pretty similar, although we weren't able to make it out to Arlington Cemetery this year.

Because of all that I suffered through that week of the March, which climaxed with a wintry wrath just before it, my sufferings made that experience all the more awesome. It left me begging a certain question of what should I do next, after the March? How should I respond?

Hmm.
- JD

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 12)

--- Preface ---

I must first begin these 7 Quick Takes with a preface.  First of all, I have been away from doing 7 Quick Takes for two months now. I got really busy in July and then World Youth Day happened... 

...August was spent focusing on other things and random blog posts that felt right to do at the moment. But alas, two months later, I realized that "wow! I haven't done 7 Quick Takes in two months!"  So now here we are!

As a fun way to get back into it and to share the awesome moments of my having gone to World Youth Day, I'd like to share my top 7 moments of World Youth Day 2013 in Rio De Janeiro.  

--- 1 ---

Adoration at Copacabana Beach.  This was probably by far the coolest part! I have never seen such dense concentration of human beings occupying the same space, and not only that...but for a Catholic purpose and reason!

It was a challenge to stake out a spot on the beach, but luckily my group go there early enough to enjoy some sandy space.  We were, what I would estimate to be, like 5 or 6 football fields away from the stage or the 2nd to last big screen out of the 25 lined up for the prayer vigil.

I actually didn't catch the start of Adoration because I was caught up in other distractions (and I don't think the big TV screens even showed it starting). But I figured it out once I started seeing people kneeling.

The two things that really stick out to me regarding Adoration with Pope Francis on that beach with 3 million others was the profound silence after Pope Francis asked for some moments of sacred silence. Like, seriously. Mountains bowed down and the seas roared, a helicopter buzzed around, but the beach full of pilgrims was silent. And that really was something.  I talk about it here in my blog post, The Silence of Millions.  The other thing that stood out to me was Matt Maher leading praise and worship during Adoration when he sang, "Lord I Need You."  It was incredibly fitting for the moment since he was singing that song on his knees, and the lyrics expressed everyone's sentiment before the Blessed Sacrament. How often do Christian singers get to sing to Jesus, literally?

--- 2 ---

Close papal encounters of the extra-ordinary kind. Our first day in Rio was the Monday before all the events for World Youth Day happened. Apparently Pope Francis decided to arrive early to speak with political dignitaries and stuff like that. I don't think most people knew he was in town. We didn't know he was in town.

But then...as we were walking back to our hostel that first night...we saw the beginnings of a motorcade pass by. And then lo and behold! IT WAS POPE FRANCIS IN A NON-POPEMOBILE VEHICLE WAVING AT US AS HE PASSED BY!
...and I totally missed it because I didn't make it to the street on time to record it with my camera. But I caught some reaction as well as the World Youth Day Cross and Image of Our Lady pass by.

The next time we encountered Pope Francis was later in the week when he led an Angelus at the cardinal palace.  My group caught wind that he would be there and basically camped out all morning in order to get some pretty awesome front row standing room.

And the last extra-ordinary encounter with Pope Francis was when he was on his way to the prayer vigil. A trip to the porta-potty involved lots of waiting in line. But the fruits of our waiting was not only met with relief but Pope Francis passing by in a motorcade! And YES! I did record it this time!

I would say all these moments were extra-ordinary because they really weren't like...the ordinary ways for everyone to see him. It was all about being in the right place at the right time. ;-)

--- 3 ---

Matt Maher, in concert. Him coming to World Youth Day was a rather last-minute decision/invitation. Even Matt himself posted about him coming like...back in June. Our group leaders purposely tried to figure out when and where he would be for these concerts.

I'm a fan of his music and his hits are a crowd favorite at my parish!

And so, on a dark and rainy Wednesday night after enduring a long bus trip to the venue and enduring a game of "Where's Matt Maher?!" at the venue, we were finally able to enjoy his musical stylings. Up. Close. And. Nearly. Personal. :-O

What was really cool was pretty much being the only English speakers present when he gave that concert that night along with our hostel-mates and neighboring diocese friends.


Yes, I recorded that too.

--- 4 ---

Party in the streets! I can't even begin to tell you how awesome Brazilian people are and much less...how awesome Brazilian Catholics are! They are just so full of joy and fervor! And they were so welcoming to us all!

Our first night (before seeing Pope Francis but after going up to Christ the Redeemer), we found ourselves in a dance party in the streets with a bunch of Brazilians. It involved pretty much any groups of pilgrims that passed by!

Yes, that was recorded as well...

This really helped set the tone of the joy that we would experience throughout the rest of the week in encountering our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ for World Youth Day!

--- 5 ---

Praying and singing with England. There were three groups staying the hostel that we stayed in for World Youth Day: us, our friends from a neighboring diocese from back home, and a group from England.  Our paths would cross every now and then, but I think one of the best highlight moments with them was being able to pray with them, go to Mass with them, and we totally had one night where we just did nothing but praise and worship.

Why yes, I recorded some of that, too!

--- 6 ---

Seeing my people! I don't mean to be stereotypical, but I think it's not too far fetched to think that most Filipinos are Catholic. And so, during my whole time in Rio, I expected to run into a lot of Filipinos. But, that didn't really happen.

And that's why I got really, really, really irrationally excited when I found groups of Filipinos randomly throughout Rio.  There was that one time I saw a small group of Filipinos, but they were from Libya...which that still counted.

But the coolest encounter I had in seeing my fellow Filipinos was that one time we tried to go to Mass, but ended up going to Adoration with a basilica full of Filipinos! YES!!!

I had to take a picture.

--- 7 ---

On top of the mountains! Our first day in Rio (gosh, that was a really epic day...), we went up to see Cristo Redentor, or the Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks the city of Rio De Janeiro on Corcovado mountain.

It was kind of cloudy up there so you couldn't really fully appreciate the fullness of the statue because of the clouds.  A cool experience we had up there was having the random opportunity to go to Mass in the tiny chapel beneath Jesus' feet.  Our friends from the neighboring diocese conveniently had a priest with them who was willing to celebrate Mass. :-)

A picture because that really did happen.

And on our last full day of being in Rio, our group had the option to go up the Sugar Loaf Mountains or back to Copacabana Beach for some ocean time. I decided to go to Sugar Loaf to get some good pictures. Or something.

Such great views! And we had gotten in line in the middle of the afternoon, but it worked out that we were heading up the mountain right at sunset and dusk so we were able to see some breathtaking views of Rio De Janeiro at night.

Some videos here.

You can check out my #Rio2013 posts by clicking on the label: Rio 2013.  And I kept a blog for my group, and you can find that here: SEAS & St. Thomas Aquinas at WYD '13.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Did any of you go to World Youth Day 2013 and blog about it? I'd love to read/hear about it!

Ad Jesum per Mariam,

- JD

Adoration // Youcat.org

Clinic & Museum

Day 4 - Saturday January 27, 2013

2:26PM - January 28, 2013
On an airplane from CLI to DFW

(Ok, so I didn't really type sentences on the plane...I just made a bulleted list of what I did on Day 4)

(which brings me to...)

8:17PM - February 25, 2013
Today was our last day of major events for our Washington, DC pilgrimage.  Us group of guys who stayed at our particular host family home were quite blessed to wake up to homemade muffins of varying flavors.

So, we started out our pilgrimage getting to know each other, then we did a little bit of sightseeing of Catholic locations as well as attending the Vigil Mass for the March for Life.  All of this was to help gel our group together and prepare us to experience the Arlington National Cemetery, participate in the March for Life, and visit various memorials.  Through deepening our spirituality and appreciation for the Catholic faith the past few days of the pilgrimage, we were better able to appreciate life and death through a Catholic lens.  How precious a gift life is and how dignified death can be!

What then, is our response?  How do we take what we've gained from these experiences and put them into action?

Today we prayed in front of an abortion clinic and visited a museum.

Planned Parenthood
First thing on our schedule was to go pray in front of Planned Parenthood in DC.  I heard from one of our group leaders that this particular location usually ranks in the Top 5 for number abortions performed in the United States.  Wow.  That's...crazy to think about... since I'm used to a Planned Parenthood that isn't as busy.

Now, praying in front of abortion clinics is not a strange thing for me.  Before I further recount my experiences here at this Planned Parenthood, I must preface this by saying that while it is arguably cool that Planned Parenthood does provide other women's health services, they are not ashamed of promoting abortion.  And because some (not all) Planned Parenthood clinics do provide abortion services, that attracts folks who stand in front of clinics, praying for all involved: the women, the men, the volunteers, the  clinic workers, the doctors, the unborn babies, etc.  According to the 2011-2012 Annual Report, Planned Parenthood performed 333,964 (surgical) abortions. I can honestly say that I personally participated in two 'saves' in the past year by the simple presence of me and the group I was with...praying in front of abortion clinics: here and here.  Also, not every woman that walks into Planned Parenthood is seeking an abortion.  But, still...we pray for her health and if we're able to offer her alternatives, then we will.

Also, I must further mention that I strive to maintain an environment of peace while on the sidewalk.  40 Days For Life, a prayer campaign for life started by Fightin' Texas Aggies, made it a point that there are things that we should and shouldn't do when maintaining peaceful presence at an abortion clinic, and I definitely try to keep those in mind.  However, in my firsthand experience at the sidewalk, I find it unfortunate that some pro-life groups do not adopt such peaceful practices and exemplify the "anti-abortion protesters" stereotypes that pro-choicers love to criticize.  I assure you, dear reader of this blog post, that I do not yell Bible verses at clients or hold angry/graphic signs.  I am not yet properly equipped to provide clients with material help, so the best I can offer for now is spiritual help through prayer.

With all that said, our band of cold pilgrims approached Planned Parenthood.  However, we decided to stand across the street rather than join the groups of other people already praying directly in front of the clinic's entrance.  But one of our own went to join the group in front of the clinic.  Accompanying us on our pilgrimage was a fellow class of 2009 Fightin' Texas Aggie who works for the Coalition for Life.  I met her when she joined up with us on Day 2.  She's a trained and seasoned sidewalk counselor, so while we were off praying across the street, she was engaging clients as they walk in and out of Planned Parenthood.  Oh, and of course she talked to the volunteer escorts and other people present in front as well.

When we settled in to our spot across the street from Planned Parenthood, I couldn't help but notice this group of Dominican friars standing in front:

But, a part of me just really wanted nuns to be standing in front.  Oh well.

We were across the street praying for a good long while.  Starting out, we prayed all 20 Mysteries of the Rosary, and we finished with a Divine Mercy Chaplet.  I didn't really keep track of time, but I'm sure it was about 1.5-2 hours

In that time, lots of stuff happened.

Something I found to be intriguing were the reactions of people driving or walking by.  Mind you, this was a busy street.  Many double-takes.  Some were confused at the sight of seeing people on either side of the street in front of Planned Parenthood.  But, the reactions that weren't so nice were the ones that stick out to me, even now.  One particular gentleman wasn't particularly gentle in calling us morons, yelling out through his rolled down window.  I also remember the woman who flicked us off while she was waiting for the light to turn green.  Ooh, and then there was the guy who yelled four-letter words at us.  Of course, I understood why they were angry at us.  Perhaps, in their mind, we didn't belong there and that somehow our presence made it unsettling for them.  Whatever the case, I was not shocked by their expressions of anger.  I wasn't really bothered by it. My group just kept praying with little or no reaction to their angry words and gestures.  Someone in my group made the comment later how sometimes we in the pro-life movement are thought of as the intolerant ones.  Sure, some might be.  But in these angry moments, maybe not so much.

Cemetery & March

Day 3 - Friday January 26, 2013

11:32PM
Somewhere in Virginia at Host Family Home

Oh man, today was a really awesome day. Like, I’m not sure that I can contain all the awesomeness in this one blog post. But, “do or do not, there is no try” sayeth the Jedi prophet Yoda.

Arlington National Cemetery

We thankfully had a change of plans for today’s events. Yay! But what that meant was that we didn’t have to wake up at some ridiculous time in the morning (like, 4AM) so that we could catch the Youth Mass for the March for Life. Instead, our little band of pilgrims visited the Arlington National Cemetery.

Now, I’ve seen pictures of it in books, movies, and the Internet. But to experience it first hand was something of an entirely different sort. Walking around the grounds, I’m literally surrounded by the men and women (some kids too) who have laid down their lives in service to our country. It’s truly humbling because it makes me wonder if I’d be willing to do the same or if I would be willing to fight for what’s right—even at the cost of my life. But, here lie the men and women who fought on our behalf so that we may live our blessed American life and freedom. As a Fightin' Texas Aggie, something just resonates within me seeing the graves (maybe due to Texas A&M's military background and history...).

We arrived about 30 minutes before the “changing of the guard” at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. So, we directly headed there. Once we arrived, I got to witness the “changing of the guard” and learn a little bit about the 3rd Infantry Regiment, who are the guard. The precision is ridiculous! I need to look them up and learn more about the guard.

The next place we visited in the Cemetery was President Kennedy’s gravesite. Unbeknownst to us, we witnessed a military funeral going on not too far away while we were visiting the Kennedy gravesite. Actually, that whole experience of watching a part of the funeral service was the most memorable and remarkable experience while at Arlington simply because it really illustrated the reality and purpose of Arlington National Cemetery.


3:53PM - February 23, 2013
Home

Wow, it's crazy to think that it has been almost been a month since my pilgrimage.  Here's why I've been so busy and silent on my blog: A Time of Silence.

Allow me to revisit our witnessing of a live funeral ceremony not too far from JFK's gravesite.  Apart from seeing the funeral going on nearby, I distinctly remember seeing the soldier standing guard at JFK's gravesite.  His simple purpose was to make sure visitors weren't doing anything disrespectful while the funeral was going on.  But, what impacted me the most about him was seeing his face.  Watchful guard, yet deep sorrow.  A very solemn occasion in commemorating a fallen soldier, and it was evident in his face.  The only way I knew how to relate was thinking about all those times I've been to Silver Taps and Muster at Texas A&M where we honor those Aggies who have fallen.

Death is such a reality.  And it is so evident at a cemetery.  Arlington National Cemetery, at that.

March for Life 2013

After visiting the Cemetery, we headed back towards the Metro to ride our way back towards The Mall for the March For Life.

This is my first time attending any March for Life, and I remember hearing from fellow parishioners who went last year that a lot (A LOT) of people go to this March for Life in Washington, DC.  I think last year they reported something like 300,000+ or 400,000+.  But this year is different.  This year marks the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, which is the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.

We stepped off the Metro and headed topside at a station near The Mall.  When we emerged from the Smithsonian station, I could tell there were already a lot of people here for the March.  A stage was set up on the central-eastern part of The Mall, and everyone was gathering near there.  That's about where the March was going to start.

Here's a map of the route: Route for March for Life 2013.

My group reached the outer fringes of the mass of people and decided to camp in one spot while we quickly ate our sack lunches.  I was just mesmerized at seeing so many people, though I know I wasn't even in the middle of everyone.  Despite being near freezing temperatures and the threat of snow, many were gathered and gathering.

What I found interesting about the types of people that I could see gathering for the March are how young they are and how joyful everyone is!  It was cool looking around and seeing where everyone was from.  A lot of groups present had signs or banners saying where they're from and people came from all over.  My group, however, had no distinguishing signage to let people know we traversed from Texas.  Not gonna lie, there were a ton of Catholic groups present.  But I did notice in the far off distance, Seculars for Life.  Also, I also noticed this group too:

Though I didn't notice many obvious banners representing non-Catholic groups, I know that we Catholics are not alone in the pro-life movement.  The right to life is universal, and I find it encouraging to see other non-Catholic groups have fervor in the pro-life cause.

We progressively moved our group towards the starting location for the March.  This made it difficult to let guys from my group know where we were at because some of them had to stay behind in the Metro to take care of some Metro ticket issues.  And we were still eating while moving.  Really cold, but not soggy, PB&J sandwich and really cold Cheetos tasted remarkably good.  I guess I was really hungry.  In the cold.

Around noon, the March for Life started.  It was around that time that it started to snow a little.  We moved rather slowly because a massive group of people moving through streets in Washington, DC is...well...slow, lol.

As we were marching (but not in the marching band sense, though I would be the type of guy to make that joke), I kept looking around seeing who was also there and kept noticing how the snow progressively got worse.  Yes, lateral slides were necessary at times.

I remember passing by some people on the street blasting a sung version of the Divine Mercy Chaplet which was cool.  How can we show mercy to others (women and their babies) if we don't know of God's mercy, right?  And my group also joined in on reciting parts of the chaplet.  We even busted out in singing the Salve Regina and got some other groups around us to kind of join in.

Continuing on the march, I also saw cool things like bands playing, people singing, guys dressed up as the Avengers (?!), and EWTN stationed in one place since they were broadcasting the March for Life live.

But at the same time, I saw some weird things like a video display that showed graphic images of aborted babies.  :-/   I know the reality of different abortion methods and have seen such images in the past, but I thought it was inappropriate in this context.  Well-intentioned to spread the pro-life message, I'm sure, but probably not the best way to communicate our love of life in public and in front of lots of children.

Another weird thing I saw was another video display spreading pro-life messages but at the same time slamming the Catholic Church.  As if we, the Catholic Church, were to blame for the inactions and injustices towards unborn and women... which perhaps, may be true in isolated cases, but not reflective of the actual actions of many in the Catholic pro-life movement.

Oddly, I didn't see any counter-protestors or pro-choicers letting their voices be heard along the march route.  If they were there (which I'm sure some were), I didn't see them.

Monastery & Mass

Day 2 - Thursday January 24, 2013

Click here for Day 1.

1:16AM (Fri)

Somewhere In Virginia at Host Family Home

I didn’t really expect to wake up last night at 4AM in the morning to the feeling of sheer cold.  I was sleeping in a room in the basement of our host family's home.  Apparently the heater got turned off at some point and t-shirt and shorts were a terrible idea, even with my supposedly "cold weather" sleeping bag.  I toughed it out though, and even went ahead and put on my Under Armour thermals because…well…I have them.  Builds character and preparation.

6:30AM rolls around, and being up and about was refreshing because it got my body moving to warm up a little.  The cool thing about waking up this morning despite overcoming the lack of heat was to see the aftermath of the previous nights’ snow fall.  I looked out the window, and it was beautiful to see a healthy blanket of snow cover the ground.

Our host family's backyard!

After a quick breakfast, my group at that particular host family's home headed out to the Metro station.  I spent nearly an hour and a half outside of the Metro station because we waited for the rest of our group to arrive from their respective host families’ houses. I definitely appreciated the functioning use of the main zipper on my jacket.  And gloves.  And scarf.  And UA thermals. And beanie. And second jacket. And hoodie.  It was cold.

The Way

The other day, I had the opportunity to watch The Way. The glorious thing about half-days at work with dentist appointments is that you end up having some time to watch Catholic movies! :-D lol

The Way is about a father losing his son who was on a pilgrimage on El Camino de Santiago ("the way of St. James"), which is an 800km path beginning in France and ending in Spain where St. James is buried.

Because of the death of his son and learning more about El Camino, the father is motivated to complete the pilgrimage. Along the way (pun intended), he meets and travels with other pilgrims who are on El Camino for their own motivations.

While not as full of action and drama as For Greater Glory, which I saw last weekend, I thought that The Way was good. It showcases many of the sites along El Camino and the journey from town to town that the pilgrims have to make. And I think it also does a good job of developing the theme of the universality of the Church and her knack for drawing in outsiders as you see the characters develop in the movie.

Though it is a good story, probably the one take away from The Way is that it really makes me want to go on that pilgrimage myself!

So, I've added that to my bucket list.

Anyway, I recommend it!  The movie!...I'll get back to you on if I recommend going on the pilgrimage after I have first-hand experience. ;-)

Faith. Hope. Charity. Buen Camino.
- JD