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| Pro-life walkers from Crossroads stand outside their RV in the parking lot of Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Madison before heading back out onto the road to continue their walk to Washington, D.C., for the Pro-Life Rally on August 16. Pictured from left are: Heather Waldorf, Tara Ingebritsen, Erin Herschelman, and Sarah Seski. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
MADISON — A group of eight young adults attended 6:30 a.m. Mass on a recent Monday morning at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Madison.
They were noticeably distinctive, wearing neon green T-shirts saying “PRO LIFE” in big letters.
The young men and women were one of three groups of pilgrims in the United States with Crossroads — an effort to walk across the country “To witness to the dignity and sanctity of every human life, especially the unborn,” according to its website.
The group that came through Madison, with young people from across the country, started in Seattle in late May. They are making their way to Washington, D.C., for the Pro-Life Rally at the U.S. Capitol on August 16. Two other groups started in California.
The group’s mission
“The whole mission of our group,” said walk leader Eric Zlatos, “is to respond to Saint John Paul II’s call to take the Gospel back into the streets, and we accomplish that mission in a very real way. We are literally walking across the country wearing these pro-life T-shirts for the defense and sanctity of every human life.”
“We walk across the country in neon green pro-life shirts,” said walker Erin Herschelman. “We walk and we pray and we witness for the dignity and sanctity of all human life.”
Some Queen of Peace Parish members noticed the group at Mass and talked to them afterward. A few phone calls later, and the group was able to stay at the parish before continuing their journey the next morning.
Walker Caleb Courville said the Queen of Peace community was “very receptive. They were happy to see us.”
“They were all curious and want to support us in any way they could,” he added.
A member of the parish community gave the group a gift card to Panera Bread, so “we were able to get some good food in our stomachs after walking yesterday, so it was a real blessing to stay here,” said Zlatos.
The journey to D.C.
The group set out from Seattle with an RV and a support van. The eight of them divide into two walking shifts — sunrise to midday and midday to sunset. The team members not on a walking shift drive the vehicles ahead where the walkers meet them later.
The team will stay in RV parks during the night, but they also stay at parishes if they can. No matter where they stay for the evening, they always start their day with daily Mass before heading out on the road again.
“Every time you don’t want to keep going, you always think about why you’re here,” said Courville. “I have to finish this obligation to the pro-life movement, not just because of a personal drive, but because of my passion for the movement. And just how necessary it is to defend life.”
The team has scheduled cities to stop at every weekend. There they pray outside abortion clinics, speak at events, and fundraise to complete the journey.
How they get from city to city during the week is sometimes up in the air and needs God’s help — much like how they ended up at Queen of Peace.
“This weekend we were in Chicago and I was trying to figure out a place to go to Mass on Monday morning and this was the most convenient on our route,” said Zlatos. He called area parishes, but most of their parish halls were being used already. Queen of Peace is the only parish Zlatos wasn’t able to reach.
Zlatos thought, “Maybe if they see us at Mass, they’ll let us stay. We just happened to end up here — a kind of random happening, I guess.”
Impact of their work
While the team knows they may never see the full effect of their work, they did have one immediate sign while walking through South Dakota.
While the group was stopping for lunch, a state senator approached them, asking what they were doing. The senator later introduced the group to a friend of his who started a pregnancy crisis center in the area.
Later, the crisis center director informed them the senator had told her, “If those kids can walk across the country for pro-life, I certainly can support this bill,” referring to a pro-life bill going through the state senate at the time.
“That was one huge thing that was ‘wow, we had an impact in government by wearing these shirts.’” said Herschelman.
Making a sacrifice
In addition to being witnesses for the pro-life movement, the walkers are also making a sacrifice.
“The Lord sees your sacrifice,” said Herschelman. “By sacrificing our summers and our days by walking, it’s physically challenging, and the Lord sees that and it brings about the culture of life.”
“We’ll get up as early as 4:30 so we can hit the road as soon as the sun is rising,” said Courville. “It’s pretty exhausting on that level just as far as sleep. Muscle soreness goes away pretty quickly the first two weeks or so. Your body just adapts to it.”
After leaving Queen of Peace, the group headed to Janesville to spend the night and attend Mass, before heading out to arrive in Ann Arbor, Mich., for the weekend.
“It’s so encouraging,” said Zlatos. “It’s so beautiful the way the Lord works. We’re out here trying to make sacrifices for Him. He’s building us up so much through what we’re doing out there . . . The Lord is never outdone in generosity. We’re trying to give something to him, and he’s giving back 10, 50 — 100 fold. It’s very humbling.”
Zlatos added the generosity from parishes along the way has been “indescribable. It’s been so humbling, so encouraging.”
For more information on Crossroads, including how to support the walkers on their pilgrimage, visit www.crossroadswalk.org