Last Tuesday evening we celebrated a special Send Off Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart here on campus. Unfortunately our new Bishop, Kevin Rhoades, was kept away because of car trouble - but our now Bishop Emeritus, John D'Arcy gave a fabulous pro-life homily to send us off in style.
We left campus Wednesday evening just after dinner and drove through the night to DC, arriving in Arlington, Virginia on Thursday morning. Our students stayed at St. Agnes Parish in Arlington . . . but I decided that sleeping on a gym floor, after getting very little sleep on the bus, was a bad idea - so I stayed with a number of Notre Dame faculty and staff at a nearby hotel.
During the day Thursday we had time for sight-seeing and several of us journeyed by Metro to the Franciscan Monastery near the Catholic University of America. Although I've been to DC many, many times I had somehow missed this Catholic pilgrimage site. The monastery contains replicas of the Holy Land shrines of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth and helps raise money for the maintenance of those shrines in Israel.
After checking into our hotel and getting a brief nap and shower, I returned to the campus of CUA and prepared for the Thursday evening Vigil Mass for Life. Held in the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, this Mass has become one of the highlights of the American Catholic calendar.
Over four hundred seminarians attended the Mass in choir, and approximately two hundred and fifty priests concelebrated the Mass. The procession took nearly an hour, and the aisles and apsidal chapels of the Basilica were simply jam packed with congregants. I was lucky enough to get a seat in the sanctuary, just two rows behind the concelebrating bishops and directly behind the Shrine's Rector, Monsignor Rossi. It was a real honor and joy to concelebrate this Mass with Daniel Cardinal DiNardo.
Friday morning the entirety of the Notre Dame contingent gathered at St. Agnes Parish for a Mass with University President Fr. John Jenkins, csc. Especially in light of the very sad decision to honor President Obama with an honorary doctor of law degree, Fr. Jenkin's presence with us was an important statement about the University's stance for life.
After Mass, we traveled by Metro to the National Mall for the Rally for Life. Thankfully, the freezing rain that greeted the day had ended by then - and in fact, by the time our very own Bishop D'Arcy gave the Benediction, the sun was shining.
As you can see in this picture below, the Notre Dame students gathered behind their "Irish Fighting for Life" banner. But as you can also see, there were a number of protestors following the ND group with banners demanding that "Fr. Jenkins Free the Notre Dame 88." (These are the peaceful pro-life protesters arrested at Notre Dame's commencement last year who are being prosecuted for trespassing.)
Although I agree with that sentiment, I was annoyed that these protestors were detracting from the marvelous witness of our students. I was also edified that, yet again, our students handled themselves with such dignity. Indeed they exhibited a tremendous amount of gratitude to Fr. Jenkins for being with them.
Throughout the trip I was glad to spend time with Brett Perkins and Andrew Polaniecki, who is pictured above with me at the rally. Brett works in Notre Dame's Office of Campus Ministry, and Andrew directs the same office at Holy Cross College. I've known Brett since his undergrad days here at Notre Dame, when he entered the Church - and Andrew since his undergrad days here as a member of Old College. Both of these great men are dear friends and supporters of Holy Cross, and our schools are lucky to have them working with us in mission.
I was also most excited to travel with eleven of our Old Collegians. As always they were a lot of fun to be with. They also provided a tremendous witness, on behalf of our Holy Cross community, to our students - leading them in the Rosary during the March, in the Divine Office during the bus rides, and generally displaying the joy to which we are called as believers.
Though the Rally and March are dominated by Catholic colleges and high schools, I was glad to see that Yale and Princeton Universities were also represented.
After the Rally ended, we marched with the members of our diocesan contingent . . .
. . . past the Capital . . .
. . . to the Supreme Court.
I have attended similar rallies and marches in South Bend and Portland, but this was my first time to the National March for Life. I was surprised by a couple of things. First, the sheer size of the March is amazing, and the great distances that many people traveled to attend is most impressive. Second, the fact that it is very much a youth movement is very hopeful. They say the average age of the Marchers was 21. Finally, I was surprised by the total lack of counter-marchers . . . and sadly not surprised at all by the almost total lack of media coverage. This blog post has a bit more on these points and how they all come together.
After the March I was glad to attend a gathering of Notre Dame alumni and faculty, including Fr. Bill Miscamble, csc, and Professors David Solomon and Elizabeth Kirk, among many others. Working as part of the Center for Ethics and Culture, these fine men and women, in conjunction with our students, have done more than anyone else to advance the Gospel of Life in and through the University of Notre Dame. They deserve a great deal more gratitude and support from the University.
Our final event of the March weekend was a Saturday morning Mass with the delegation from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and our new Bishop Kevin Rhoades. I think Bishop Rhoades was very pleased to meet our students and he certainly impressed them with his presence and preaching.
Before departing Washington on Saturday evening, I made the most of the free afternoon and made plans to meet with two of my cousins, Brendan Koeth and Bobby Koeth, who both live and work in the capital. Along with Thursday evening's Vigil Mass this was the real highlight of the trip for me.
Since leaving Staten Island to enroll at Notre Dame back in 1995 I have had to miss a lot of family gatherings and have only been with my extended family at a few special events. But I think it's a testimony to how our parents raised us, and how much we value our family, that all three of us were so eager to spend some time with each other catching up. I enjoyed our conversation and our reminiscing immensely and am hopeful that the next few years of study, somewhere on the East coast, will give me many more opportunities to spend time with my cousins and other family members.
2 comments:
I have to agree with you on the signs trailing the Notre Dame students.
That didn't seem to be the right time to be divisive. I wish they hadn't done that.
Thanks for all you do.
Fr. Koeth, thanks for marching!
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