Posted on 01/24/2016 4:43:29 PM PST by Isara
Over 500 Catholic school students from the Midwest, left the annual March for Life in DC early on Friday. The reason for leaving was to get away from the impending blizzard, Winter Storm Jonas. They didn't make it out in time, and got stranded on the Pennsylvania Turnpike West, in the mountains of Pennsylvania, for over 24 hours. During that time they bore witness to their faith in amazing ways.
Reports are that the students shared their food, their shelter (busses), and more with stranded travelers. While their fellow travelers were inside warming up and finding nourishment, the students decided to create an altar out of snow, on the side of the highway. It was there that priests traveling with the groups concelebrated a Mass. Here are some photos and videos of the mass from social media.
|
Posted by Stephany Anderson on Saturday, January 23, 2016 |
|
Amazing! Celebrating #turnpikemass at St. John Paul the Great Hillside Chapel. Posted by Mandie DeVries on Saturday, January 23, 2016 |
|
What an amazing journey for those who were stranded on the PA Turnpike. #MarchforLife #TurnpikeMass Posted by Bridgett Wagner on Sunday, January 24, 2016
|
A deacon in Queens changed his homily for today, to highlight what these pilgrims did.
This storm may be remembered as one of the biggest in New York history, but this morning, it should be remembered for another reason.
It prompted a remarkable and powerful witness of faith. It showed us, in a deeply humbling way, what it means to be the Body of Christ.
Friday, you’ll remember, they held the annual March for Life in Washington. The turnout this year was smaller, because of the weather, and many left the city early to try and avoid the blizzard. Among them were students and parishioners from the Midwest, heading home from DC on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. They were from Omaha, Green Bay, Lincoln, Des Moines, and Dubuque, among other places— there were close to 500 people in all, piled onto dozens of buses snaking through the hills of Pennsylvania.
Most were young people, high school and college age, along with chaperones and several priests. They thought they had slipped out ahead of the storm.
But they were wrong.
At about 10 o’clock, Friday night, they got stuck in the snow on the turnpike, along with thousands of other travelers, about two hours east of Pittsburgh. They couldn’t move. The snow was falling, the drifts were rising, and any travel on the turnpike ground to a halt. They had to wait to be rescued.
And wait. And wait. And wait.
But as one of the pilgrims said, it gave them an opportunity to really practice what it means to be pro-life.
And so they did.
Seizing this opportunity to minister to others, they welcomed strangers onto their buses – travelers who were stranded or who had run out of gas and needed warmth or food. The students offered people water and a place to sleep. They helped clean off strangers’ cars.
And then: they prayed.
Saturday morning, as the snow continued to fall, and the snowplows were still hours away, they did something extraordinary. A group of kids poured out of the buses and began gathering the snow and ice outside, packing it into shape.
It looked like they were building a snowman. But they weren’t. They made an altar. Out of snow. Then they took tree branches and made a cross. They set up a sound system to play music, and then priests pulled on their vestments and set up a chalice and paten and hosts. Chaperones opened umbrellas to shelter them, and they stood on a hill along the side of the turnpike, the wind howling and the snow still falling, and there they all celebrated Mass together – hundreds of them, in parkas and scarves and snow boots, joined together in the greatest of prayers, in the most unlikely of places—but a place that for a short time became as solemn and sacred as a cathedral.
Anyone who saw that gathering of young people saw something beautiful.
Because they saw the Body of Christ—the Body of Christ Paul that describes in his letter to the Corinthians today. And it is a Body full of the “glad tidings” Christ proclaimed in Luke’s gospel.
This is the Body of Christ. This is all of us, and the best of us. It is the Church proclaiming it is alive and growing, as it always has been. It is young and vibrant, and in love with the Lord.
And: It is in love with life—in every sense, pro-life.
It is unafraid to stand before cynics in Washington one day, and proclaim that all life is sacred.
It is proud to stand on the side of a road the next day, and offer glad tidings to those who come by—tidings that mean shelter, and comfort, and light.
And it is committed to standing before the world during a storm—united in prayer, united in faith, united in hope.
This is the Body of Christ.
The New York Times, covered the Mass, and mentioned that the travelers had been to the March-For-Life. The March is something that oftentimes the main stream media does not cover. Leading one to think that God indeed works in mysterious ways.
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Amazing!
Turned out to be an amazing beautiful day in the Pennsylvania mountains!!
Remember God is Everywhere and he also is there in the difficult times, if you only look for him...
God Bless
Awesomely inspirational!
Ping.
I’m not Catholic, but I say more power to them! I love it when believers take their faith seriously.
I knew someone who went to Steubenville. She said that she forgot her clothes in the dryer one day at school and expected to find them dumped on the floor. Instead, she found them folded and placed on top of the dryer.
It tells you a lot about the students that go to a real Catholic college.
My screen just got blurry.
Remarkable young people.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. Mt. 18:20
Very cool!
That’s Seubie U! I live here and that’s just how the university works. Even the more liberal students know how to do the right thing.
That is lovely, but when I read the headline I thought the students were being pests, boring everyone with their witnessing.
It was most remarkable thing I ever saw, the clouds moved off very fast like a giant hand brushed them away and a silver light from a full moon bathed the landscape, everything was crystal clear, the air was still and a extreme feeling of inner peace settled over those who saw it.
I watched our snow guys stop everything and look up and couldn't stop looking until the moment passed, they are still talking about the light and the presense they felt. These are rough guys not prone to any religious insight but they were moved when it happened.
Thanks for this post.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
