Opinion: March for Life - Now More Than Ever!

January 22nd is our opportunity to March for Life. Now more than ever, our feet need to hit the pavement and our voices need to rise toward heaven.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Having lived in the Washington DC area for over a decade, attendance at the March for Life is a given. I've marched when we it was too warm for jackets and when it was 17 degrees. I've stood on frozen ground and muddy fields and walked up the hill in the rain. I've even had the privilege of standing on the platform and addressing the crowds gathered, while looking over a sea of hopeful faces who believe that Roe vs. Wade can be overturned.

Since the March for Life began, some presidents acknowledged we were there, such as President Bush, who would always broadcast a message of encouragement. Others simply went about their normal business. To them we were an irritant or, at best, non-event. The same could be said for most of the mainstream press.

Added to this, Washington has a dramatic short-term memory loss - here today, gone and forgotten by tomorrow.

All of this has led many a nay-sayer to dilute the importance of this event, which seemingly has not even been able to put a dent in the armor of government protected abortion on demand. Some say we should just stay home.

But to those of us present, the March is an annual reminder that there are others, thousands of others, just like me who believe "a person's a person no matter how small." It is a time for renewal of conviction and direction. It is time to March as though lives depend upon it, because they do!

This year, more than ever before, if you are within driving distance or have the ability to get here by plane, by rail, by bus, or by car, we need you here. Apathy can no longer be embraced by anyone who believes that life begins at conception and continues until natural death.

There was a critical statement made by President Obama in his inaugural speech, a statement with which I agree. He said, "Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true.

"They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

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We are truly in that new era of responsibility when it comes to the unborn, the elderly and the infirm. We have a responsibility, now more than ever, to become involved. Should we remain silent and uninvolved, we will see the unleashing of a pro-abortion frenzy that will echo through the walls of congress, into our nation's hospitals and clinics, and into the homes of every citizen in America.

Do I sound overly concerned? I am! I am all too aware that many pro-life Americans have been complacent, willing to let others be the voice of those who have none.

Inauguration 2009 amassed the largest gathering in history just two days before the March. While Washington forgets quickly, my sense is that the media will be talking about this crowd for a long time to come.

This is a critical time for the March for Life to grow so large that it will send a message to all three branches of the government. They must know beyond a shadow of a doubt that those who stand for life are many and are resolved to make sure their voices are heard.

We are now experiencing a pro-abortion perfect storm. Both houses of congress are heavily supportive of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) and those who gathered on the National Mall witnessed the swearing-in of a president who has promised to bring this act into reality.

Roe vs. Wade cannot be overturned and FOCA cannot be dismantled merely by writing a check to a ministry who is willing to fight, as sincere as they may be. The culture of death that that gave birth to these initiatives is continuing to encroach upon our families, our communities, and regions and our nation. This is the time for action and this action has basically three simple parts: passion, prayer and participation.

We must ask God to place a holy passion within us regarding the issues of life, that we might shed the garments of apathy. We are the voice, the hands, and the feet of the unborn and infirm. To pull a metaphor from one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, we need every "Who" in "Whoville" to make noise.

We must pray. More than just listing a prayer request, we must really pray, fervently placing our petitions regarding life before our Heavenly Father. We must use every spiritual weapon God has given us through the Sacraments and the Rosary.

Witness the Words of Jesus Come to Life

We must act. Now is the time to get involved. On Thursday, January 22nd we will be remembering another year of Roe vs Wade and the consequences this ruling has placed on the lives of America's future citizens. Millions more are now dead and others will follow. This is the time for the Church, the time for all Christians - Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant - to be vigilant and ready to speak, stand, and march for life.

This is a new era of responsibility. I look forward to seeing you all on Thursday.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor and Home and Family Editor for Catholic Online. Long active in the great human rights cause of our age, the Right to Life, Randy had served as an Archbishop in the Charismatic Episcopal Church until three years ago when he and his wife Sandy were received into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

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