When I returned from New York, the first question put to me by family and friends was: “Well, how was it?” After floundering about for an adjective, or scraps of a sentence to describe my experience, I hit upon one childish word that seemed to cover everything: Big.
Everything about America is big. Her buildings, cars, museums, parks, coffees and in some cases, people. All seem to pride themselves on their inflated size. It was the perfect environment for me to discover the size and extent of the crime that is abortion. In the wonderful retreat given by Monsignor Reilly, the various forces in the culture of death were exposed and their giddying network of influence outlined. But rather than despairing of hope in the face of such a many-headed monster, our fellow pro-lifers took to the streets of that bewildering city and raised their voices on behalf of their brothers and sisters who had none.
There are two main things that I will take away from the trip: the wonderful encouragement that comes from knowing that good people from all over the world are united in prayer and sacrifice in an endeavour to spread a message of life and love to an injured world and a deep pride in our own pro-life efforts in Australia. With a population a tenth of the size of America and a culture more hostile in its total apathy towards God and religion, it was really uplifting to see the passion, zeal and selflessness that was displayed by my fellow pro-lifers. It’s certainly not an experience that I will forget and I sincerely wish to thank the people who made it possible for me. God Bless you.
