“Why Will We Continue to March? Even with the wonderful blessing of Roe v. Wade being overturned, which allows more freedom at the state level to enact pro-life laws, the necessary work to build a culture of life in the United States of America is not finished. Rather, it is focused differently … our most important work is changing hearts and minds. The goal of the national March for Life is to not only change laws at the state and federal level, but to change the culture to ultimately make abortion unthinkable.”
As we begin a New Year, we are less than three weeks away from the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., which will take place on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. Will you be joining us? If you are thinking about it, would like more information, and/or would like to register to participate with our diocese, you can click on this link.
Similar to other experiences, if you have never participated in the March for Life, it is difficult to explain how it can be truly life-changing. It can also be a pilgrimage and a sacrificial, prayerful offering that is of inestimable spiritual value. As indicated in the quote above, from the National March for Life website, while the focus of the march and some of the challenges to building a Culture of Life have changed over the years, there is so much that we still need to do and that can be done, beginning in our own lives, hearts and families, to build a true Culture of Life.
I was thinking that I would write in more detail about the importance of the March for Life and our efforts, as individual Catholic Christians, as families, the Church and as faithful citizens to build a Culture of Life, but I then had the privilege of listening to two recent interviews, one (Bishop Robert Barron and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett) speaks directly to our responsibilities as Catholics and as faithful citizens, the other (Father Mike and Jonathan Roumie) is a wonderful testament to some good things that are happening in our current culture. I would like to share some thoughts about those interviews (and encourage you to watch and listen to both).
Bishop Barron Presents: Justice Amy Coney Barrett – Listening to the Law. Towards the end of December, an interview between Bishop Barron and Justice Barrett was released on Bishop Barron’s YouTube Channel. I watched the interview on the weekend after Christmas, and I listened to it a second time as I prepared to write this column. Just as there is reading that can be “dense” and require one’s “full attention,” the conversation between Bishop Barron and Justice Barrett covers some topics of American legal history, interpreting the Constitution, the separation of Church and State, and others that certainly require “careful listening.” It is “well worth” the time and effort.
I found the conversation to be fascinating and very informative. Bishop Barron shares that one of the reasons for the interview is a book, Listening to the Law, written by Justice Barrett and recently published (September 2025). Bishop Barron describes the book as “a combination … part autobiography, a bit about the pragmatics of The (Supreme) Court, a little bit of Philosophy of Law, so it makes for an interesting, compelling read…” and he uses those three “dimensions” as the structure for the interview.
A few personal things that we learn about Justice Barrett during the interview: she is a devout, practicing Catholic, a wife and mother of seven children – four still living at home, and one child with Down Syndrome. We also learn that, when she prays, she uses the Magnificat Series and listens to the Hallow app, and her father is a permanent deacon. I will not try to summarize the whole conversation. I will encourage you to take the time to listen to it and let you know that I found it very helpful to listen to it a second time. You can watch and listen to the interview here.
When we consider the rights (and obligations) that we have as citizens of the United States, how those rights are guaranteed by the Constitution and our system of government, given to us by our founders and tested over these 250 years, it is encouraging to hear a sitting Supreme Court justice describe the founding of our nation as the “Miracle at Philadelphia.” It is also very encouraging to hear a Catholic bishop and a Catholic Supreme Court justice discussing some of the key moments and figures in our nation’s history and then expanding that conversation to discuss Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Thomas More, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, amongst others.
When Bishop Barron and Justice Barrett discuss the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Dobbs, and Casey v. Planned Parenthood Supreme Court decisions and the relationships between those decisions, they also discuss the meaning of “liberty,” the interpretation of the Constitution, and the legislative process. In listening to their conversation, we can be reminded of and perhaps better appreciate our responsibilities as Catholics and as faithful citizens to exercise our freedom of speech and freedom of religion as part of our efforts to build a Culture of Life. I hope that you watch and enjoy the interview and that you might even decide to watch and listen twice.
The Cost of Playing Jesus in The Chosen – Jonathan Roumie and Father Mike Schmitz. If you are a “fan” of The Chosen (streaming/TV Series), I believe there is not much more I need to say to encourage you to listen to this interview. If you have not already watched it, I trust that you will not only enjoy it but be reminded that this particular actor and humble man of deep faith certainly seems to be “chosen” for this role.
For those who are not familiar with or have not watched The Chosen, first of all, you are not too late, and you can take your time watching all five seasons, usually about eight 45-minute to one-hour episodes per season. Yet, you do not need to be a fan of or watch The Chosen in order to appreciate, benefit from, and be inspired by this conversation between a (popular) priest, Father Mike Schmitz, and a Catholic layman, Jonathan Roumie, who is an accomplished, talented actor, but is first and foremost a person of mature and deep faith, who believes that his whole life, including being bullied as a young person and learning compassion and empathy, has prepared him for this “role” (an acting “job,” at first) to which he will devote 10 years of his life, leading him to a spiritual experience that, as he says, “is going to take the rest of my life to unpack.”
There is much more I could say and/or write, but, instead, I will just encourage you to take the time to watch and listen to this interview.
