Several years ago I had an epiphany as I was sitting in the "Capital One Arena" in Washington DC during a Catholic youth rally hours before the annual March for Life. By professional sports arena standards, it was a below mediocre venue. There were a lot of cracks in the floors, There were sections of the walls where there were obvious patches made, the bathrooms indicated a lack of janitorial pride, and the random images around the venue of the Bullet's "glory days" and the one Michael Jordan image I found were truly uninspiring. As I watched tens of thousands of teenagers loudly sing songs of praise and shout in enthusiasm as they saw they were getting #MarchforLife trending on social media, I realized that the building we were occupying had more soul in it at that moment than it did during any professional sports game hosted there.
That soul was seen even more magnificently when we processed out of that lousy arena and joined up with the rest of the giant Catholic body that makes up the March for Life every year in Washington DC. The March for Life is a great Catholic rally point where we all get together once a year. Despite what CNN would like you to believe, we gather around 500,000 who are willing to brave the North East cold each January. It's a big old Catholic family reunion. And while we all leave saying, "I can't wait for the day I don't need to see you here again next year", every one of us leaves a better man for having been there and sharing in the wonderful comradare.
As we prepare for some plausible future events, I look for the Catholic rally points where we can build up each other's vigor, enthusiasm, and prowess as nothing in our current below mediocre secular world can. In more regular times, the holy mass is our most obvious and substantial rally point. As we move closer to the possibility of new church shutdowns (don't go spreading rumors, it's just a logical possibility) I think about what other rally points are out there so that we can further strengthen each other and prepare for the fights ahead. After marching shoulder to shoulder now three times with some fantastic Phoenix Catholics at our Jericho marches, I am convinced that I have found an additional rally point.
What sorts of fruits are found in physically exhausting ourselves with the kids breaking down while all the Gentiles look upon us in stupor? I can name three. 1. Don't ever under-estimate the power of our prayers. While the Eucharist is our life, we have been given the amazing weapon of the rosary to use against the diabolical. Do you think the diabolical has been out and about more than usual lately? 2. The witness we give is palpable. Yesterday's rally at the courthouse produced well over a thousand Trump supporters. While they obviously don't fully appreciate what we are doing (if they did they would grab a rosary and join), the thumbs up, the pauses in silence as we march through, the joining in the Lord's Prayer and patriotic hymns all indicate that we are having a positive impact upon those with open hearts who also love God and freedom. 3. No matter the results of this election, our community at large needs a solid group of Catholics on fire with love and devotion for Christ's Church and humanity at large to be dependable, courageous, and active sentinels of light as we head for darker times.
Several months ago, when I started connecting the dots regarding our current pandemic and the global elitist agenda in exploiting it, I became quite scared. It was through the counsel of a good friend that I started to trust in the idea that these are actually the best of times. Now that the chips are down, evil doesn't hide itself anymore, and there is nothing left to do but be purfied and hardened by these times as we become super saints together, I know that these truly are the best of times. There is literally no where else I would have rather been the last two afternoons than standing shoulder to shoulder with my brothers in the blood of Christ lifting our voices to heaven as we prepare in solidarity for what is ahead. May those voices grow louder as our numbers do the same.
Please, if you have not experinced the Jericho marches, they will be happening every day starting at noon until December 12th. Bring comfortable walking shoes and water, for you will feel well exercised by the time you get through that seventh lap. Let's make Saturdays and Sundays our strong days. To help spread the word, join the
Facebook group and invite your friends today. I look forward to marching with you.