You have hopefully seen the report that dozens of buses of March for Life participants were stranded on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, after a small accident caused a huge back up of traffic Friday evening. The massive dumping of snow then left many of the buses unable to carry on. LifeSite spoke with several of the groups that are stranded, and found that the marcher's spirits were high. One group of Catholic students from Omaha and Minneapolis-St. Paul suggested that all the pilgrims celebrate Mass. Without a proper altar available, they took things into their own hands and made an altar of snow. The Missionary Benedict Sisters from Norfolk, Nebraska posted that, "Word spread around, and on one bus, the priest had around 300 hosts, and offered to celebrate the mass. Well word traveled around fast and soon we had like 6 priests and 500 people there. God is good!!!"
“We have now been stuck over 15 hours in the snow because of this so called #jonasblizzard but that isn't ruining our spirits!” said Iowans for LIFE Associate Director Mary Granzow in a Facebook post Saturday morning. “We are still on a pilgrimage for life including Mass outside in the snow, snowball fights, and making sure those driving by know that every life matters!” The Mass was said by Fr. Patrick Behm and a number of other priests.
The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...