March for Life 2016

Greetings cac anh chi from afar and near,

I'm very proud of everyone for making it all the way; especially, the young children.  They marched relentlessly in the cold and snow but I did not hear a word of complaint, just a question, "are we there yet?". 

Some of us attended a youth rally & concert Life Is Very Good with Adoration with Bishop Loverde of Diocese of Arlington on Thursday evening to prepare ourselves spiritually for the march.  Tan, Truc-Anh, and Chau Hoan had purchased tickets and made plans to attend the concert as well but in the end when we found out we could get tickets after all, they offered to stayed home to help host our out of town guests .  The next morning we got up before the crack of dawn to attend Mass at the National Shrine while some attended the Youth Rally & Mass at Verizon Center.  After lunch we met up at the march and marched together to the Supreme Court.  By then the snow has started to come down heavy and fast.  Near the Supreme Court, our community gathered in a circle and prayed the Divine Mercy, ending with chanting Xin Hay Nhan Lay.  It was a beautiful and holy moment for me; an image I will never forget. 

This year 44th March For Life brought a lot of challenges for us due to the snow storm but somehow God saw it through for us, praise be to God!

Thank you cac anh chi em from afar, for your prayers and for being with us in spirit.  I leave you with what Bishop Zubik's of Pittsburgh said in his homily yesterday that still stuck with me, it was his encouragement for us to make holy sacrifices...

"The way to do that is to connect the dots of life issues as prepositions connect the key words and phrases in a sentence... To connect the dots in 2016 takes on its own flavor, to make holy all of life, by connecting the dots to every single person, from the unborn to the born to the elderly, to those suffering from human trafficking, and those exploited by pornography,  and to the unemployed and the underemployed, looking not so much for a hand out as a lift up.  Connecting the dots to all persons is what God intended to see each other as God sees us all."

Peace,
Mai
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Link for photos: https://dh-online.smugmug.com/Events/2016/March-for-Life-2016/

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