One thing’s for sure, life is surprising.
The March for Life is a national event in Washington D.C. where hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country join together to fight for the life of the unborn and support for women. Two days before most Nebraskans take the long trek to the nation’s capital city, I got a call from my mom with the news that I was going to be one of those travelers. Skutt asked my mom to be a chaperone, and she would only do it if I came along. So there I was, the only non-Skutt student on a packed bus with a full week of school work in my bag.
You could say I wasn’t super pumped in the beginning being the odd one out, but everyone’s welcoming demeanor helped me get comfortable real quick. I had to, because we had over a twenty four hour bus ride in front of us. From the start of the trip, we were told that this would not only be a trip but a pilgrimage, and I found this to be true. Sleeping on the bus (which is far from beauty sleep), no downtime, and the intensity of what we saw rendered me exhausted.
And with this exhaustion came another challenge: patience. Usually I am a patient person, but during this trip I had to really fight to listen, contain my anger, and just downright be kind to people.
But, life is surprising.
I was grateful to be there. My 8th grade D.C. trip got canceled because of COVID-19, so I had never made the trip before. I was able to go to some of the places I have always wanted to see, my favorite being the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian Museum, naturally. We did some more profound and powerful things as well, like praying in front of an abortion clinic, Mass in beautiful churches everyday, visiting the Holocaust Museum, and, yes, the March for Life.
I could barely fathom the amount of people that were at the march. Some were praying the rosary, others were yelling fun chants, and several were silently walking in deep thought. But everyone was joined together for a single cause: the unborn and their mothers. It’s hard to be pro-life when it seems like the general society is so pro-abortion. I sometimes feel singled out and even lonely in fighting for a basic human right. However, after going on this March, I know I’m not alone. There are people nationally, regionally, and even locally like through the Skutt group.
A bus of 50+ Skutt students, faculty, and parents dedicated a week of their life for the pro-life movement. They have a pro-life club that meets up at least every month to discuss important topics and future plans. Mount Michael doesn’t offer the opportunity to attend the March, let alone have a pro-life club.
As the trip was coming to a close, I finally realized that I was called here by God to witness this Skutt community, and then pass this knowledge to the Mount Michael community.
This is a call to action. We are a Benedictine school with deep roots and strong faith. Let’s act like it. Let’s bring back pro-life walks, missionary trips, even just something as simple as a club. It’s not something else’s job, it’s ours. I don’t have a lot of time left here at Mount Michael, but one thing’s for sure: you know what I’ll be doing.