"Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.”
— Pope Francis, Day for Life Greeting
When I first became a junior high youth minister, one of my responsibilities was leading a group for a service week called “Mission Possible.” During the week, youth would have opportunities to serve with different organizations. One of the opportunities was to pray outside of an abortion clinic. I was not selected to go to this site. The clinic threatened to call the police on the group that did go to this site if they did not stay off the property of the abortion clinic. This was my first exposure to standing up for life.
When I moved into a full-time position in Macon, Ga., I became involved in the annual March for Life through downtown. This was my first time to participate in a rally and march for life. The next year we added a Mass for Life before the rally and march. At that time, there was no abortion clinic in Macon so the march was through the main streets. I thought there was a good turnout but my limited experience left me with nothing to compare the size.
Then I moved to Beaumont, Texas. There was an abortion clinic and a March for Life. The rally was in the parish and then the march would walk to the abortion clinic to pray. My first two years in the diocese, the parish was packed for the rally and the street was packed for the march. A few months before my third year with the rally and march in Beaumont, the only abortion clinic closed. The march that year planned to start with the rally at the parish and then march to a women’s resource clinic. This first year after the abortion clinic closed, the rally was less than half full. The march was significantly different. It seemed like people felt that the job was done when the abortion clinic closed.
I took the position of Director of Youth Ministry in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. One of my responsibilities was to work with the Office of Life Issues on the Youth Rally and Mass for Life at Capital One Arena. This event would annually draw around 25,000 young people from across the country as they prepared for the March for Life in DC. The passion and enthusiasm in the arena was incredible and brought young people together to stand for life. It was amazing to see so many people supporting life. One of our goals for this gathering is to empower young people to take the message back to their communities and spread the pro-life message. We wanted to highlight all of the great things that were happening across the country and did this through witnesses on social media.
As I was going through these experiences and working to spread the pro-life message, a close friend of mine was working in her community. When a women’s resource center opened in her city, she took a position as the director. She was supporting women in crisis pregnancies with pregnancy testing, diagnostic ultrasound, peer counseling, and other services. When an abortion clinic tried to open in her city, she rallied the long dormant pro-life community to stop them. While she did help coordinate a march in her town, she was also working every day to promote a culture of life in her city.
As we continue to march for life each year, we also need to promote life every day of the year and support life at every opportunity.
— Tex Phelps is the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. He may be emailed at [email protected] Visit our website, www.ArchMobYouth.org. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/ArchMobYouth and follow us on Twitter and Instagram - @ArchMobYouth