CCHS Dons For Life Club journies to San Francisco last weekend to participate in the West Coast Walk For Life, where they prayed for and walked for the soul’s of the unborn children and their mothers.

Their pilgrimage started as soon as they landed in sunny San Francisco. While on the plane, a fellow pro- life flight attendant gave them a shout out over the intercom saying, “on board we have a group of young activists, they are here to March for life,” setting an inspiring tone for the rest of the trip. The Dons drove across the Golden Gate Bridge all the way to the Muir Woods. Here, they hiked through the redwoods until finding the perfect spot on the cusp of the mountain, with a beautiful view of the trees and ocean. As Pope John Paul II says, “We can pray perfectly when we are put in the mountains or on a lake and we feel at one with nature. Nature speaks for us or rather speaks to us. We pray perfectly,” who was our patron for this trip.

After Fr. Matthew set up his mass kit on an unhewn log, we noticed a hawk circling us. This was a special observation as hawks signify spiritual awareness, something we were in the midst of practicing. They show power, reflecting the power God has on our lives not only for this trip, but everyday. This was not the only correlation between God and nature, Fr. Matthew’s Gospel reading started out with “And Jesus went up the mountain,” inspiring the importance of noticing God’s creation and the peace it will bring us.

Reflecting on our most memorable moments of the hike, many students encapsulated the scene of the light hitting the Eucharist- “the sun shining on the Son” (LaPorte).

The Cathedral of San Francisco held a mass for all who attended the Walk For Life that afternoon. Bishop Cordileone processed in with over 20 priests conjugating for this walk. He shared the beautiful story of St. Agnes and her purity as this walk happened to land on the day of her feast!

Cathedral was offered a spot at the front of the walk, leading the over 40,000 attendees. This was an incredible opportunity for us to be leaders in prayer, song, and peace. St. Thomas Aquino’s College came ready with beautiful songs to sing. when encountering groups against us who were filled with anger. We were challenged to continue this spread of peace. Walk For Life is a walk of prayer, not protests. It’s a blessing to be able to get involved by actively supporting the value of human life and the desire to make a difference in women’s, men’s, student’s, and babies lives in our community and around the country.