YCP Washington DC hosted its first official March for Life gatherings this January. Being uniquely situated in the nation’s capital, the chapter held a Pre-March Happy Hour on  Thursday, January 23, and then a group to march together the next day.

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The happy hour, held at The Admiral in DC’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, provided the opportunity to connect with others traveling in for the March. The event drew 108 attendees,  representing 5 different YCP chapters, with guests from New York City, New Jersey, Chicago, Miami, and Missouri.  

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The next day, YCP members gathered on the National Mall to participate together in the March. As an attendee, I valued the opportunity to walk and witness with YCP. While there is always  goodness in marching with one’s parish or other organizations, I appreciated having this particular community to show up to, and valued our being a specifically young adult presence as we walked with our large banner for Young Catholic Professionals. Along the way, we prayed the rosary together, and later shared in food and fellowship after completing the walk.  

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As I think about our presence at the March, the irony is not lost on me that much of our formation in YCP is related to our professional work, yet for the March, most of us had to intentionally take off work to attend. To me, this seems a fitting representation of the relationship to work in its proper place in our lives.  

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Our work is an important dimension of our lives, yet not the sole source of meaning in it. Work will always be there waiting for us; and it can be tempting to say that we can’t miss work because we just have to get the next thing done, complete the next task, meet the next deadline. Surely there is good in these tasks and pursuits. But it is valuable to take time to step away from our work for the sake of something greater - to take time to just live.  

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It strikes me, too, that this is at the very core of the message of the March for Life - that life is valuable for its own sake, regardless of what we do or produce. In our fast-paced, results-driven world, we can easily become swept up or overwhelmed in its demands, or impatient with those who cannot keep up. But if we believe that life is valuable solely because it was created by God -  that each person is valuable and beloved by God solely because they were created - then this calls us to embrace what might otherwise seem “unproductive”. This might mean having greater patience and appreciation for others, especially children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities or special needs. It might also mean having greater patience with ourselves - seeing our efforts and pursuits in light of God’s love for us, with greater self-compassion in the knowledge that we ourselves are beloved by God no matter what we do. (And when we live from that place of love, it usually makes our work better, too.)  

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Certainly, not everyone can take off work for the March for Life (let alone travel from farther away), and there is always a need to make choices for one’s particular circumstances. But for me, it is a valuable reminder of what is most important - the goodness of life in itself, and our call to build up more goodness in the world. 

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I’m thankful to have marched with YCP and for the positive source of community that it is, both in our professional pursuits and in the shared witness of stepping away from work for the day to prioritize something even greater.

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Reflection written by Katelyn Hannel, YCP Washington D.C.