March 4 Life

      

So I know that when I started this blog I set the theme for TV shows on Sunday nights, but two weeks ago I was lucky enough to participate in a moving and inspiring event, the March for Life in Washington, DC. It was one of the most impactful (is that even a word?) experiences in my life and I felt that it would be interesting to share.

The March for Life is an annual Pro-Life protest that culminates outside the Supreme Court. It takes place every year on January, 22 - the day Roe v Wade was decided 42 years ago. I went with a bus of students from around the area - Lowell Catholic, St. Francis in Dracut, St. Monica's in Methuen, and my parish, St. Anthony's in Lowell. The bus ride was over 8 hours with two stops and traffic, and one girl was carsick and threw up across from me multiple times, but I lived. 

Day 1: 

So on Wednesday I woke up at 4:30 to get ready to get on a bus to DC. The bus left at 6:00 AM, and headed to St. Elizabeth Seton Basilica in Maryland. The first mass was amazing. The mass was only for participants from the Archdiocese of Boston, but the church was completely full. I was asked to bring up the gifts out of approximately 1000 people, and was really happy to be able to participate. The homily by our bus priest, Fr. Bill, was very powerful, and the whole atmosphere was amazing. 

Later that night, we attended a rally/concert at the Patriot Center. Rend Collective, a Christian band, opened it. We showed up a little bit late and missed most of their act, but what I saw of them was great. After they performed, Chris Stefanik spoke. He mixed humor with
many great lessons. (I now follow his YouTube channel!) After Chris was done speaking, Matt Maher (!!!!!) came out. He preformed some of his classic songs and also some new ones I had never heard before. While all the performers were amazing, that wasn't the best part of that night. I remember looking around me and seeing Christian teens surrounding me. They were all singing along to the kind of music I listen to, and they were praying together as a group.

The night ended with Adoration at the Patriot Center. Yes, my back hurt, my knees were cracking, and I could barely keep my eyes open when we stumbled into the Hampton Inn for pizza around midnight, but it was totally worth it. My first impression of the pilgrimage was a great one.

Day 2:
We woke up early once again, and had to be down to the conference room for breakfast by 6:30. This was the day of the March! We packed into the bus and headed to Mass again. Once again, the Mass was with the entire Archdiocese. Cardinal Sean said the Mass this time, and it was amazing. Listening to him speak is an experience in itself. He has so much wisdom and faith, and even listening to him for 20 minutes leaves a mark on you. We were also joined in Mass by about 80 seminarians. There were soooo many people walking around in black clothing with white collars, it was more than a little intimidating.

After Mass, we got back on the bus, (this time equipped with bagged lunches) and went to the heart of DC where the March was taking place. The atmosphere at the actual March was amazing! We learned chants (Hey Obama, yo mamma chose life!) and there was no anger among us. We were really peaceful and happy. The best moment for me was turning around at the top of Capitol Hill and seeing thousands of people behind me. You couldn't see where they ended! I never knew that so many people shared in the same pro-life beliefs as me, and it was really encouraging to see that.

After the March, we went to dinner with the Archdiocese of Boston (more pizza yay). Then we went to another Adoration service and had the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. That night made me think about a lot of things, and I really feel like it lead to a deeper faith and understanding of who God is to me. Also, witness talks from different people reminded me that being Pro-Life isn't just about Abortion. It's about respecting individual lives in every word you speak and action you take. They taught me to treat everyone with compassion and love no matter what.

Day 3 (Goodbye DC):
On the last day, we attended Mass again, and had our last worship session. We had to say goodbye to some of the friends we had made along the pilgrimage and to people we might have known before. After Mass, we were supposed to watch the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery, but our bus broke down and we missed it by three minutes (bummer). We did have time to visit the Lincoln Memorial, and some of the war memorials. I think my favorite part was seeing the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. First of all, it was huge. I had learned about it in art, but didn't realize it was that big. Secondly, some of the quotes surrounding the main sculpture were very relevant to what we were there for and were very touching.

Sadly, after only a few hours of sightseeing, we had to get back on that stupid bus, and head home. It was weird knowing that I had only just met these people but was so sad to leave them. I only knew them for three days, but they probably know more about the real me than many of my good friends. Overall, the experience was amazing. I was happy to be able to share it with a few friends from my Church and my grandfather who I am extremely close with. The trip made me realize the importance of my faith in my everyday life, and I am very grateful for the opportunity. Hopefully, I'll be able to go next year again and get to experience it all over again!

   

Completely Random Rant about Tony Gillingham

I know this post doesn't count for the week, but I feel the need to explain why Tony Gillingham is the perfect person for Mary. (Really, I just want to post a ton of pictures of him.) 
He doesn't give up on love

He's asked her to marry him not once...

But twice

He reads her mind...

Mary had just told Anna it's important to know "that side of things" is in order when he made his scandalous suggestion

He makes her smile

I mean this gif just says it all...

They have so much chemistry!

(This one's from the trailer)

Finally, he's just so cute....

I mean come on! <3

Thank you Tom Cullen for making Downton Abbey even more special!

 That is all...continue with your Tony-less life

I promise I'm not crazy!!

 

Guess Who's Back. Back again. Downton's Back. Tell a Friend!

So my beloved Once Upon a Time is on hiatus…I’ll miss it until it comes back in March, but at least I have Downton Abbey to hold me over until then. However, I’m going to run into a problem come February 8^th when two of my top 3 favorite shows, overlap. Downton and The Walking Dead are both on at 9 PM on Sunday nights, and I don’t know what I’m going to do about it!! I have to weigh the elegance and grace of an English manor against the hard truth of the zombie apocalypse. It’s such a hard decision! Anyway, for now I have my favorite friends from Downton to spend my Sunday nights with. 

 

The premiere of Downton Abbey was amazing. There were so many things that made me smile…except for stupid Thomas Barrow! Like what the heck his problem?! All he does is use people. Thank God for Mr. Molesley. If it wasn’t for him, poor Baxter would be completely controlled by Barrow. Molesley is just an all-around great guy. Yes, he might be a little funny-looking and a bit too interested in the color of his hair, but he always has the best of intentions. Giving Baxter the advice to go to Cora herself is some of the best advice I’ve heard on this show since Edith was advised to have her baby. Also, Cora’s reaction to Baxter’s news that she was a convicted criminal gave me hope. In the past, Lady Grantham could be stuck-up and unwilling to understand. When she told Baxter she could stay, it made me realize how far the people upstairs have come.

The Baxter Scandal, as I have affectionately named it, isn’t the only thing going on Downstairs. Jimmy, (who I have hated since his first appearance despite his gorgeous eyes and perfectly toned body) became “involved” with his former employer Lady Anstruther. After a series of pretty gooey

letters, Lady Anstruther comes up with a crazy scenario to spend the night in Downton. Not too surprisingly, she and Jimmy are caught in bed together by none other than the Lord Grantham himself. Lady Anstruther sneaks away before morning, but Jimmy isn’t as lucky as Lord Grantham “advises” Carson to dismiss him. Good Riddance Jimmy! Take your bad attitude with you! There might be another advantage to this. Jimmy was Barrow’s only real friend (even after it was revealed that Barrow was in love with him), and seeing Jimmy go might make Thomas realize he should be nicer to the other people left.

The people Downstairs aren’t the only ones facing problems. Lady Edith has grown too attached to her daughter, Marigold, who is in the care of the Drewe family. Mrs. Drewe had begun to become suspicious. If someone was that attached to my adoptive daughter, I would be too! However, with Gregson gone, Marigold is all she has left. When Mr. Drewe confronts Edith and admits that he knows Marigold is her daughter, I was moved almost to tears. He is such a sweet man and so considerate of Edith's predicament. Hopefully, they can work something out so Edith can see her baby all the time.

As Carson said “I feel a shaking of the ground I stand on.” Things are changing, not only in Downton, but all over the world. The old system of servants and masters is beginning to fade. Lord Grantham (or “Donk”) is feeling that in a special way. Carson was asked to head a committee that traditionally would have been led by him. He put on a brave face about it, but it was obvious that he could tell this wasn’t an isolated incident. His world is changing, and he has a right to be afraid.

Not everyone is afraid of this new world, however. Branson in particular is sliding back into his rebellious ways with all the change. He is now seeing a teacher from the village who seems to bring out the worst in him. Honestly, I hate that woman. You can have your opinions, but there is absolutely no reason to be rude and shove them in others’ faces. She makes even Branson turn on his father-in-law, Lord Grantham. Sybil wouldn’t have wanted Branson to ostracize himself from the Granthams. She worked so hard to make them get along, and if Branson ruins it, it’ll be a disrespect to her memory!

Enough of the bad things about Downton! No episode is complete without the Dowager Countess! Violet was up to her old antics again this week. Today's subject: Isobel's love interests. Recently a certain Lord Merton has been calling on Mrs. Crawley. Now, if Isobel turned out to have mutual feelings for Lord Merton and married him, she would have a higher position in society than Violet. There is no way the former Lady Grantham is going to let that happen! Time for some meddling! Violet held a luncheon and invited Lord Merton, a widowed woman with some status, and none other than Dr. Clarkson! Of course, the luncheon was somewhat of a disaster. Lord Merton paid no attention to Isobel and talked to the other lady the whole time, and Dr. Clarkson made a complete fool out of himself by insulting Isobel. It couldn't have been more perfect for the eldest of the Grantham clan. She sat there with her rather smug smile and her little giggle of satisfaction that she, once again, won.

Okay, so this whole blog post, I've been trying to avoid talking about Lady Mary and the love triangle she is involved in. So I'm just going to say it straight out...TEAM TONY FTW! I never liked stupid Charles Blake as much as I liked Tony Gillingham, and all Blake did was get in the way. I mean what kind of guys steals his friend's girl?! Also, Tony is 1000000x hotter and more gentlemanly. Mary and he are a perfect match! They just look so right together!! The premier made it seem that Mary is starting to sway towards Tony (YAY). Come on, she invited him to stay at Downton. Obviously she has some kind of ulterior motive! Anyway, first of all, they were obviously flirting the entire episode. Second of all, did y'all see those looks they were giving each other at the dinner table?! You're lying to yourself if you say those are totally friendly and innocent. To top it all off, Lord Grantham loves Tony. It's not often you see a character in a TV show ship two other characters together, but Donk ships it like FedEx! My favorite part of the episode was when Tony daringly ventured into Mary's room to make a proposal. This time, he wasn't asking for marriage. He was asking for them to "get to know each other a little better," if you catch my drift... His accent when he says "So what do you say to my scandalous suggestion." melted my heart. Tony is one fine specimen of a man, and if Mary refuses, I'll take him!! Sadly, they were interrupted by a fire...UGH!!

That's right everybody, FIRE! My home for an hour every Sunday went up in flames. (Yes it was only Edith's room, but still!) Several things came of that fire. Mary and Tony were stopped in their tracks.  Jimmy and Lady Anstruther are caught in the act. Worst of all, however, Thomas Barrow is hailed as a hero again. Why does he always come so close to getting kicked out, and then redeems himself in the eyes of Cora?! It's so annoying!!! Anyway, the local firemen got the fire under control, and everyone was allowed to return. I can't wait until this Sunday where I'll get to see what's going to happen with all of these new stories that have just begun!

Tune in this Sunday to stay completely updated on the drama of Downton Abbey!