The 26-year-old native of Isanti, Minn., said he’s not letting a life-altering injury affect his future as community support carries him through challenging times and his trust in God helps him forge a new perspective on life.

The hundreds of teens and young adults from across the Archdiocese of Washington who gathered Jan. 20 prior to the annual March for Life at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington were urged to be “witnesses to life, witnesses to the truth that every life matters.”

A funeral Mass for Marianist Brother Michael John Galvin was offered Jan. 9 at the Assumption Chapel at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. Brother Michael died Jan. 1. He was 81 and had spent 63 years in religious life.

Sponsored by the Sisters of Life and the Knights of Columbus, the morning gathering drew some 4,200 people — most of them teens and young adults — for a program of prayer, worship music, and personal testimonies that concluded with Eucharistic adoration and Mass.

Religious celebrations must foster the “fruitful participation of the people of God” and not just of the clergy, Pope Francis said.