Southern Walk Begins

A photo of the first members of the Crossroads Southern Walk Team, just before we leave the Santa Monica Pier for Washington, DC

Shoes for Life

John Campbell is Corporate Manager for New Balance shoes based in Lawrence, MA and Boston, MA. John was kind enough, after hearing me tell about the Crossroads Walk at St. Joseph the Worker Shrine in Lowell, MA at the end of April, to donate a pair of walking shoes for my pilgrimage. He is also kind enough to offer many kind words and his prayers and encouragement for me, along with making sure my feet are comfortable for the walk. John and I are pictured in the New Balance Factory Store in Lawrence, MA.

From Fr. Louie in Zambia

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate are at the service of the Gospel and preach the Good News in a variety of ways. Along with thousands of other people, Fr. Dwight is responding to the call to proclaim the holiness of human life beginning in the womb and so his “preaching” is going to be done with his feet. His walk across the country is a strong statement about our conviction that human life begins at conception and that our society must work to preserve, protect and nourish life from that moment and all the way through until natural death. The dedication of time, energy and the wear and tear on his feet and those thousands of others doing the same around the U.S. and Canada is a sacrifice given freely and with love so that others might have life and have it in abundance. While the focus of this Crossroads walk is to call the attention of our society to the terrible evil of abortion, we always connect that evil to other attacks against human life. If as a society we do not pay attention to life in its beginning, at its very root when it is so vulnerable and fragile, we will never have a basis from which to defend it in other instances, when in other ways the dignity of the human person is violated. I am grateful to Fr. Dwight for his commitment to give so much time and energy to shout out loudly, “Defend life!”

Father Dwight

Father Dwight is a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, the first from the order to accompany the young men and women on the Crossroads Walk.

"I am walking to witness to the dignity and sanctity of every human life, especially the unborn," said Fr. Dwight as he laced on his sneakers in California for the task at hand. "Crossroads is a peaceful, prayerful organization dedicated helping bring about a Culture of Life in our country, and these 80-plus days on the road will affirm our commitment to that."

Crossroads 2009

Crossroads was founded in 1994 by Steve Sanborn, a student at Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio) as a response to the Holy Father's call to take an active role in the pro-life movement in order to establish a Culture of Life. An integral part of Crossroads is our yearly pilgrimage acrosss the United States. Each summer, young adults walk from San Francisco and Los Angeles, California to Washington, D.C. witnessing to the dignity and sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death.

During our pilgrimage across the United States, we strive always to join our efforts, prayers and small sacrifices with the sufferings of Christ Crucified for the sake of the innocent. Part of the mission of our walk is to speak to the survivors of abortion — the youth of America.

We also speak to parish groups to encourage pro-life activism in their communities.

During the walk, we stop at local abortion clinics along the route to participate in prayerful, peaceful protests and sidewalk counseling.

Crossroads recognizes the need to spread the message of life and love through the means that the modern world provides. We actively participate in radio, television and newspaper interviews with the mainstream media as well as religious media outlets.

Our organization also sponsors what is known as the Michael Project Fund. Through the donations we receive, we are able to provide some assistance to women in financial crisis who would like to choose the gift of life for their child.

Each young adult who takes on the challenge of walking across our country with Crossroads is an integral part of the ministry, and Fr. Dwight is no exception, the only priest accompanying these young men and women.

A Mission for Life Begins

I wanted to just say that at as of Thursday, I was in the desert town of Twentynine Palms, CA where our Southern Walk Team is living out of a cabin at an RV site. Our group is patiently waiting for our RV to come to us from Little Rock, AR where it is under repair. We pray that tonight will be the night where we can finally see our living space for the rest of the pilgirmage.

I am currently doing OK physically, mentally and spiritually. I have already done over 34 miles of walking with my partner on the night shift. Currently it is draining to my mind since I have not gotten all of my normal sleep like if I were home. It will get better as I get accustomed to the daily routine. Spiritually, there has been a lot of time to pray as a group, but also while walking with my partner. When you walk during the quiet of the night, I can do a lot of thinking and praying; especially as I am a "Witness for Life" during the next three months.

I want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayer offered up to this point. It is only the beginning of the pilgrimage, but I am so excited about the things that will happen day by day.

Why Walk?

On May 19, 2009, I flew from the Lowell, MA, area,
where I normally live and have
my Oblate Vocation Office, with my
one-way ticket to Los Angeles, CA, to
begin an experience of a lifetime. Some
may wonder why I only have a one-way
ticket, instead of a round-trip ticket. I
hope you find my answer to be somewhat
amazing and inspiring. Some people
might think I am simply crazy!
When I arrive at the Los Angeles
International Airport, I met up
for the first time with the other eight
members of my group who are participating
in the 15th Annual Crossroads Walk
to Washington, DC. (There will also be
groups leaving from Seattle, WA, and San
Francisco for Washington, DC.) After
three days of training and meeting with
one another, we will begin our perspective
3200-mile walk across the United
States to be a witness for the dignity and
sanctity for all human life from conception
to natural death, especially the
unborn.
On August 15th, our group will finally
meet up with the other two groups in
Washington, DC, at the Basilica of the
National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
for Mass on the Feast of the Assumption
of Mary and then take our final
walk to the steps of the Supreme Court of
the United States and the United States
Capitol for a Pro-Life Rally.
I join the walk across the southern
portion of the United States as the oldest
member of my group. Since I am 46
years old, I received permission to walk
with the other younger members who are
between 18 to 30 years of age. These
younger people and I have decided to
sacrifice the possibility of having a job or
other normal vacation plans to be a part of
this pro-life walk. And while we walk in
pairs for 15 miles to 20 miles a day from
Monday thru Friday, people will encounter
us in many different ways wearing
our white tee shirts with the words
“PRO LIFE” on the front and, hopefully,
for a moment ask themselves what these
walkers are doing, and, more importantly,
what “PRO LIFE” means for them.
I am especially excited to take on this
physical challenge, but I do the walk
with a deep spiritual connectedness with
our Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Founder, St. Eugene De Mazenod,
who said: “Leave nothing undared.” In
the spirit of St. Eugene, I feel connected
to our great charism to be a witness for
Jesus Christ and speak out in love for the
most poor and marginalized of our society:
the Unborn, but also against the
other realities in the Culture of Death
regarding abortion and euthanasia.
During these three months of walking,
our group will make an impact on
the tens of thousands of people we will
encounter as we walk along the highways,
being a part of other peaceful and prayerful
activities in front of abortion clinics,
speaking with youth groups and ultimately
sharing our story about this pilgrimage at
the many parishes we will visit on a daily
basis as well as on the weekends.
As I do this walk, I ask for your daily
prayers and support since I cannot do this
experience alone. I want to make a
difference in building up a Culture of Life
in our broken society. I also pray that
other young men who might see or hear
me during these three months, may
become inspired to think about a vocation
as a Religious Brother or Priest with the
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
so as to continue the charism of St.
Eugene and to stand up as a witness to
the dignity and sanctity of all human life.
To learn more about the Crossroads
Walk, check out the Crossroads website
www.crossroadswalk.org, and to monitor
our daily progress from an
Oblate perspective, the Communications
Office will be launching this regularly
updated “blog,” also accessible through the
OMI website at www.omiusa.org.
Fr. Dwight HOEBERECHTS, OMI

A Mission for Life Begins

I arrived safely in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday afternoon. It was a great flight around the country as I started in Manchester Airport, NH and then saw Chicago Midway Airport, Denver International Airport, Tucson International Airport and finally landed in Los Angeles International Airport.

I was greeted warmly by the Director of Crossroads and several other walkers who had just arrived.

Currently I am in Lake Arrowhead, CA where we will begin our 3 days of training today.

I am working on sending articles and photos as soon as I get a good internet signal.

I am very excited about the walk and also sharing the story on the BLOG




http://www.crossroadswalk.com/index.asp