By Isabel Rennella - Little Flower Church (Coral Gables)
March for Life pilgrims from Little Flower Church in Coral Gables joined thousands of other youth and young adult pilgrims from around the country at the Capital One Arena to celebrate Mass before starting out on the March for Life, Jan. 24, 2020.
March for Life pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Miami pose with their signs at the start of the March for Life, Jan. 24, 2020.
Izzy Rennella, right, poses with her homemade sign and Andrea Isla-Canedo, a fellow pilgrim from her alma mater, Immaculata-La Salle High School in Miami, during the March for Life, Jan. 24, 2020.
Izzy Rennella holds up her sign while posing for a photo with Father Manny Alvarez, her pastor at Little Flower in Coral Gables, who also served as spiritual director for the 100-plus pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Miami to the 2020 March for Life.
Pilgrims from Little Flower Church in Coral Gables take a selfie with their pastor, Father Manny Alvarez, after arriving at the Supreme Court, the end point of the annual March for Life. Father Alvarez also served as spiritual director for the 100-plus pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Miami to the 2020 March for Life.
Little Flower's March for Life group speak with a woman and her baby on the D.C. Metro. Izzy Rennella reports: "Her baby would turn 1 on Monday. We then, in very Miami fashion, proceeded to sing happy birthday to the baby."
Miami's 100-plus contingent of pilgrims to the 2020 March for Life - including teens and their chaperones from local high schools as well as college students - celebrate Mass in one of the crypts of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception the day after the march, Jan. 25, 2020.
Priests who accompanied Miami's 100-plus contingent of pilgrims to the 2020 March for Life process out of one of the crypts of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception after celebrating Mass with the group the day after the march, Jan. 25, 2020.
March for Life pilgrims from Little Flower Church in Coral Gables pose with their pastor, bottom right, Father Manny Alvarez, outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Jan. 25, 2020.
March for Life pilgrims from Little Flower Church in Coral Gables pose outside the St. John Paul II National Shrine, which they visited on their last day in Washington, D.C., Jan. 25, 2020.
The words of St. Maximilian Kolbe are part of one exhibit at the St. John Paul II National Shrine, which the pilgrims from Little Flower in Coral Gables visited on their last day in Washington, D.C., Jan. 25, 2020.
March for Life pilgrims from Little Flower Church in Coral Gables walk through an exhibit at the St. John Paul II National Shrine, which they visited on their last day in Washington, D.C., Jan. 25, 2020.
Photography: IZZY RENNELLA | FC
Photographer: COURTESY
Izzy Rennella, right, poses with her homemade sign and Andrea Isla-Canedo, a fellow pilgrim from her alma mater, Immaculata-La Salle High School in Miami, during the March for Life, Jan. 24, 2020.
Photographer: COURTESY
March for Life pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Miami pose with their signs at the start of the March for Life, Jan. 24, 2020.
MIAMI | This past weekend (Jan. 23-25) I traveled to Washington D.C. for the 47th annual March for Life to fight against abortion. I was nervous going to D.C., not because of safety, but because I didn’t know what I was supposed to do there.
So many thoughts ran through my head Thursday night when I arrived: Am I just here to walk in the cold? I should have made a better poster! What happens if I get lost? It was my first time attending the March but Friday afternoon all my worries disappeared. I was in a river made up of thousands of other pro-lifers and I knew what I was supposed to do.
In that river of people, I would like to say 80% of marchers were young people. Young people ranging from a toddler in a stroller, to an elementary school student in uniform, to people in college. It was so awesome seeing so many young people because it gives me hope for the future. Truly, we are the pro-life generation and I am so glad to be part of it. As a 20-year-old woman, it meant a lot for me to attend this year — especially since the theme was “Life empowers. Pro-life is Pro-woman.”
The day after the March my group, from Little Flower Parish in Coral Gables, were on the metro. A woman and her baby boarded the train and the baby started waving at us. Our group of girls started talking to the mom and she said her baby would turn 1 on Monday. We then, in very Miami fashion, proceeded to sing happy birthday to the baby. The mom had a huge smile on her face and was shocked that a group of young women was singing to her baby!
It’s moments like those when you aren’t showing your faith or your pro-life view at all. It’s simply loving our brothers and sisters!
After attending the March for Life, I would want to not only stand up for the voiceless once a day but every day. Being pro-life does empower not only women but young people. You can see in pictures and videos, everyone is young! I know what I have to do: to be pro-life in every aspect.
I am forever grateful for this experience and pray for the end of abortion in this country.
Rennella is a graduate of St. Theresa School in Coral Gables and Immaculata-Salle High School in Miami. She is currently a student at Miami-Dade College and a member of the leadership team for Encuentros Juveniles, a youth movement of the Archdiocese of Miami. She is also a freelancer with the social media team of the archdiocese's Communications Office.
Photographer: COURTESY
Little Flower's March for Life group speak with a woman and her baby on the D.C. Metro. Izzy Rennella reports: "Her baby would turn 1 on Monday. We then, in very Miami fashion, proceeded to sing happy birthday to the baby."
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