We had a great trip to the March for Life January 21-23.  Thanks to all who provided material and spiritual support for the trip.  Once again, we arrived at the Basilica 4 1/2 hours before Mass but this time all of the seats were already taken.  Fortunately, a good friend, Fr. Jonathan Wilson of Blessed Sacrament, Newark, Ohio had saved us enough seats and floor space for our group.  By the way this is a church that seats 3500 and can hold upwards of 6000.  There are a lot of young pro-lifers who want to be at this Mass as can be attested to by the wait. 

On the march it was rainy, but probably more than 150,000 attended as a conservative estimate.  It was a beautiful witness to the dignity of life and the voice of so many being raised to protect the unborn.

During the road travel, we watched a couple of great videos that I want to recommend.  The first is called “180” and is a fast-paced, 30-minute video that makes connections between the tragedy of the holocaust in Germany and the tragedy of abortion in our country.  It is in the library or you can also watch it online at http://180movie.com/

The second video is a movie called “Courageous.”  This is a movie that I think every Catholic man (and especially fathers) should watch, or really, everyone should watch for that matter.  It is a movie with a great plot, great action, and incredible message about what it means to be a true man.  The teens on the bus trip loved it!  It is available in the Holy Family Library or you can purchase it at Praises and probably Wal-Mart and other stores. It was at the movie theatres last fall and just came out on dvd two weeks ago.

Finally, another video clip I recommend is a five-minute video put out by the American Life League.  A couple of weeks ago I was teaching the sixth grade class at Bishop Flaget on the topic of Human Life and wanted to show them how much technology helps us to see the reality of human life in the womb.  We talked about how different things might have been had the 4-d ultrasounds now available been around in 1973 when the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade.  I found this great clip to show them life in the womb from the age of 8 weeks onward.  Take 5-minutes and check out just how amazing human life in the womb is, not to mention how amazing technology is that gives us a window to the womb. 

Also, images from the youth group’s trip to the March for Life will soon be up on our webpage, check under “Christian Life” and click on “Youth Group.”


                                                                                                   In Christ,
                                                                                                   Fr. Hahn

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