A Catholic Culture

Welcome to the internet presence of the National Catholic Committee for Trail Life USA. Trail Life USA is the premier Christ-centered boys adventuring program in America. Founded to assist parents in the faith formation of their sons through Catholic participation in youth adventuring, the National Catholic Committee for Trail Life USA is committed to assisting all Catholics in advancing in their relationship with Christ as an integral component of their experiences in Trail Life USA. Through our forthcoming Catholic emblems program and by sharing the ideas developed and tools employed by Catholic parents and adult leadership of Trail Life units, we encourage the growth of a robust Catholic culture within each and every Catholic-chartered troop in Trail Life USA.

Please feel welcome to visit these pages frequently, not only to obtain information and resources but to share them. This site is intended to serve as a forum for inspiring stories and helpful ideas, as well as news and resources, that will facilitate the efforts that leaders of all ages are undertaking to build a culture of faithfulness in every Trail Life troop. And of course we particularly encourage Catholics participating in Trail Life to make our faith the focus of the experience for each Trainman.

Trailmen at the March for Life

If you plan to participate in the annual March for Life in Washington, DC, please encourage your Troop to join with others on the Catholic Trail (and other Trail Life troops) for a show of solidarity. Weather conditions are expected to be ideal for this time of the year, and we encourage all who are able to make it, please be witnesses for the dignity of human life. If you are unable to be there in person, make a spiritual communion with those who are at the March, and please make a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament for this most worthy of intentions. For those attending the March, we recommend as follows:

> Wear a Trail Life baseball cap if possible. Bring drinking water. Dress warm but in layers in case you feel overheated.
> Bring a bag lunch and/or spending money so you can grab lunch from a vendor or from one of the food court restaurants at Union Station.
> Meet at 12:30 PM at the National Archives. Take photos of other Trail Life troops also meeting here at this time.
> View National Declaration of Independence, describing our inalienable right to LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as well as the US Constitution.
> Time Permitting, walk to 12th Street for beginning of March.

> 1 PM ? March for Life
> From the end of the March at the Supreme Court, walk to St. Peter's for donuts and hot beverages.

The Catholic Trail

You will find on these pages links and documents explaining our Catholic Emblems Program, as well as options that Catholics may wish to consider as part of their Freedom Experiences or the Band of Brothers spiritual growth component of Trail Life. These are exciting opportunities, and we pray you will give them a try.

Christian Unity

Working together in Trail Life and celebrating our common faith in the one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let us recognize the great promise that such mutual witnessing to our faith offers for a return to unity in the Church. Jesus Christ founded a single Church, and it is a human failing -- not a divine one -- that has led to the many fractures that have emerged over time. That we might receive all the graces that Jesus wants to share, that our hearts and minds be open to one another, and that all Christians of every tradition will return to the Communion of the Saints, let us pray for unity in the Church.

A Work in Progress

Like each of us in our faith life and in our Trail Life experience, this web site is a work in progress. Please check back frequently as we deploy additional resources and as participation by more and more Catholics -- including you -- produces a greater wealth of resources for everyone.

Thank you for your support of Catholic participation in Trail Life USA, teaching boys to provide faithful, manly leadership within their families, communities, and the Church.

This Internet presence of the National Catholic Committee for Trail Life USA is presented through support from the WitnessWorks Foundation for a Culture of Life.

Extolle Vexillum Virtutis et Incede Dignus.

(Raise the Standard and Walk Worthy!)