Mount 2008 Seek the Face of Christ

It is so easy to lose sight of the Good News... with all the negative images and news on the various media outlets. Each year for the past 13 years the Mt St Mary's seminarians host a weekend conference for youth. In the beginning it was attended by 650+ and held in the Memorial Gym.. talks, liturgies, dining and sleeping.... for both guys and gals... Since then it has gone on to host up to near 2000 youth and adults...(meals in Patriot Hall, talks and liturgies in the Knott arena stadium, ladies housing in the Knott Arena gym and the guys housing still in Memorial Gym) and now it is limited to around 1600... with registrations filling up 3 weeks in advance!
The weekend is spent mostly together, mostly on the floor, and mostly it is cold outside. Men have the opportunity to get up early and march across campus in the frigid darkness to shower in the dorms... In rain, sleetand wind, it is a brisk wakeup call. Meals are eaten in shifts to accommodate the multitudes... Confessions begin early in the weekend and are often... dozens of priests are needed to allow for the many who seek reconciliation...
There is uplifting music, hand signals that need translation for the newer attendees, talks that inspire, encourage and challenge. There are also celebrations of the Holy Mass and Eucharist each day... It is a weekend that must be experienced with an understanding that it is not about "me"... nor is it about "my comfort or my schedule"... it is a time to set aside the world and for a few moments to encounter a time and space that is open to seeking the face of Christ... this year's theme. In each person there is a spark that has the potential to radiate the light of our risen Lord. I saw that light in our young people... I saw it in our chaperons... I did seek the face of Christ and in so many ways, I saw Jesus. I saw some who suffered, I saw some who rejoiced. I saw those who learned new things, and I saw some who were trying to hold on to the familiar. In our discomfort, in our fatigue, during the Blessed Sacrament procession and Benediction, in the crowded masses, in the lines trecking beneath Rt 15... I saw Jesus. Their names were on their lanyards... fleetingly seen and then fluttering away... yet I did see the Face of Christ... and I pray the Lord bless our youth with a constancy of faith and hope in their own lives to continue to seek His face!

Marching in January cold

In the cold darkness we began our day... driving to Frederick to catch the 5:12 AM Marc train.
It was cold, dark and threatening precipitation...

We gathered with 20000 others for the Youth Rally and mass... many bishops, cardinals, priests and sisters were there too. Our group, even after getting there by 7:20 AM, made it onto the upper level... there were so many early arrivals. It was a great morning to rally and to reflect... confessions were made on the middle concourse... while others gathered their thoughts and relaxed.

We then made our way to the mall, and joined tens of thousands of others who had gathered there to listen to the speeches. After an hour we seemed packed in a huge crowd... finally we began the move to march on the Supreme Court. Inch by inch we tightly stepped our way forward. With so many converging on Constitution Ave... it was slow. After twenty or so more minutes we finally had just a bit more room to proceed. It was amazing to see so many in such peaceful demonstration. There were posters that depicted the graphic results of abortions...there were signs stating "Respect Life", there were many who recited the rosary. There were many, many youth from so many schools, colleges, and parishes from across the country.

To those who witnessed the march from the streets of DC and the buildings as we passed by, it seemed to them that it was a sea of people, moving slowly east towards the capitol... I heard it took over 45 minutes for the procession of people to pass by from end to end. Imagine the sight of so many streaming past... peacefully, without disruption, without violence...
It also seemed that the media ignored the event. The march of protesters who year after year take up the cry... in support of the unborn, in support of the hurting, in support of the women in pain and suffering over the choices made. It has been 35 years of marching and they continue to march and to stand for those who are unable to speak for themselves.
Will the cloud of witnesses, here on earth and those around us recognize these acts as meaningful? It is hard to think not. It is not for personal glory or convenience or satisfaction that they march. It is because to do it any other way, where the media might notice, would be painted as extreme and intolerant and hateful... which in today's world, tends to obscure the truth of the actions of those who protest. This march needs to be seen through the eyes of the 50 million lives aborted by the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision... half of whom would be old enough to vote this November... imagine 25 million more voices with choices on the ballot. How many of them would say the choice for Roe v. Wade was right?
Stand up for them... they did not have a choice. Do not let their voices be muted.

Standing up for those who cannot

It seems that standing up for the weak and those in need can be uncomfortable for people. It can be uncomfortable for those who do the standing and also for those who would rather not witness the message of those who stand.

One of the ways that we stand in unity is with those who would remind us to never forget the atrocity of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis and those who complied with them. In January we visited the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington. The stark reminder of such extreme violence committed by human beings against others demands our attention and every effort we can muster to never forget.

The museum does that in a manner that is numbing and effective. Even 60 years after, it is hard to understand, yet the reality of the darkness was so great that many claim it caused nations to not understand the totality of the evil.

Not soon enough the world did stand and act against the hatred.
Not soon enough, the world moved to rescue and release those under oppressive forces.
Yet still we struggle as a human race to grasp the meaning of violence against each other... too often we have allowed the hand of violence to crush others.


We are all expected to be part of the force that opposes violence, let us remember and reflect on all ways that we can stand for others in need.