Crossroads Canada

Pictures

2011-09-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished uploading pictures to my Flickr account.

Take a look and feel free to leave a comment!

Enjoy

Click here: Flickr

2011-09-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

More pictures just added to Mark's Flickr site

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Ottawa Schedule

2011-08-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

Ottawa, ON, Aug 12-15

Friday Aug 12: Arrive in Ottawa: Around 3-4 PM

Saturday, August 13th 2011
-8:45 AM Meet at Walkley RD (74) and Ramsayville RD in the east side of the City to start the walk into the City.
Route: Walkley to merge right on Heron to right on Bank.
Take Bank to Morgenthaler Abortuary for 11:00 AM and pray till 11:55 then walk to Parliament hill for 12:00 PM

After Rally on Parliament hill everyone will walk or drive to St Theresas (corner of Somerset and Cartier St.) for a lunch and reception in the basement from 1-3 PM

Saturday and Sunday Masses
That we will be speaking at.

St. Theresa, 95 Somerset St. W.
Saturday 4:30 p.m.
Sunday 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12 p.m

St. Mary, 100 Young St.
613-728-9811
speaking at Masses
Saturday 5 p.m.
Sunday 9 a.m., 11 a.m.

Holy Canadian Martyrs, 100 Main Street
613- 232-5347
speaking at Masses
Saturday 5 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 320 Olmstead Ave, Vanier
613-749-8708
Saturday 4 p.m. (if time allows)
Sunday 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12 p.m.(Philipino mass)

Youth Reception at St. Clement Parish, 87 Mann Ave. 613-565-9656
Saturday evening from 7 to 10 pm.
Father Creurer is the Pastor.

7-10 PM meeting with youth group at St. Clements.

2011-08-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends in Christ,

This is Michael Hayden, the 2011 Canada Crossroads walk leader. I wish at this time to ask that all of you read these words. First of all I would like to thank all of you for your generous prayers and your outpouring of support. Secondly, On Aug, 8th we were denied access temporarily from Notre Dame Basilique because of our Pro-Life message. Although this was a grave injustice we were finally allowed in to pray. It was the management of the Cathedral that refused us access and the Priest did for a time but after much pleading he allowed us access to pray in the Blessed Sacrament chapel. Everything that Lifesite news has reported is absolutely true, however, I ask that each of you recall that no matter how we are persecuted or who denies us we CANNOT judge the hearts or minds of men! this responsibility belongs to God alone and As Catholics or Christians each of us must respect the servants of God, most especially those who have consecrated their hearts and hands in service of our Lord. During my dialogue with Father at the cathedral he was very courteous and respectful the whole time, as we were to him. It is true that the Church in Quebec is in great need of prayers and we must continue to pray for all priests who are persecuted and attacked every day for their service to God. I have nothing but the deepest respect for any man who would give up so much to serve the church in the province of Quebec where the Church is so persecuted. Instead of judging a priest for an action which he has done let us unite in prayer for father Gagne and all clergy that they may have continued courage and like each of us grow in love and humility in service of our Lord. Lastly I would encourage all of you to never give up on the Church, especially here in Quebec. There are many individuals with in the Church (as a matter of fact all of us who have committed any sin) in the Church militant who have done great evil but must keep faith in the words of Christ when he said of the Church that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." For this is one of the beauties of the Catholic Church on earth that we are a Church comprised of sinners all of who need Gods mercy. Let each of us stay strong in our Pro-Life Convictions and actions and remember that this is a movement of mercy and compassion as much as it is a movement of activism and action. But it is never a movement of condemnation, for in condemning we condemn ourselves. There is always hope! there is always Love! and in Christ all things are made new.
God Bless!
Ste Anne De-Baupre Shrine, QC

Sincerely
Michael Hayden

Rejected in Our Father's House

2011-08-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

We are nearing the end of our journey, which leaves us mixed emotions. We are sad to have our time together come to an end and to finish what has been such an absolutely incredible experience. We are also glad, however, for it means the end of a physically demanding summer. We are not only physically exhausted, but mentally exhausted as well. Sometimes I marvel at how much we can endure day in and day out, and I realize that we can only accomplish our goals through the grace of God. He has been so good to us throughout this entire summer; I continue to thank Him for the blessings He has bestowed on us. We continue to pray that He will bless our work as well.

We are now leaving Montreal, which also gives me mixed feelings. Montreal is a beautiful city, with beautiful views and beautiful buildings, especially some absolutely gorgeous churches. Although it is a lovely city, it also is a place with many ugly parts as well. There are somewhere around twenty abortion facilities in the city, and Montreal alone is responsible for nearly 20,000 of the 100,000 abortions performed in Canada each year. What was perhaps the most disheartening aspect was what we encountered while walking through the city. Today we walked through the city of Montreal, beginning at Our Lady Queen of the World Cathedral and ending at Notre Dame Basilica. The basilica is breathtakingly beautiful, but sadly they charge people money to enter and to see the church. We did not want to take long, so we asked the workers and ticket sellers if we could simply come in for a short time to pray. Their response to us: We had to take off our “Pro Life” shirts if we wanted to enter. We were in complete and utter shock. Michael went to talk to the priest to try to understand why the workers were not letting us in. The priest said that it was a “political issue” and he did not want us offending any pro-choice people who happened to be taking a tour of the basilica. After much arguing, the priest finally let us in for a brief time, but only to pray. This is an outrage which we still cannot fathom. Here we were, walking across a country to witness to the sanctity of life and to defend the Catholic views on abortion and euthanasia, and where are we not allowed to enter? A Catholic church; a church which is part of a universal Church whose teachings we are fighting so hard to defend. Never before had we been told we could not enter a building because of our shirts, and yet a CATHOLIC CHURCH tells us we must take off our pro-life shirts and put away our pro-life cross if we wish to enter. This act of denying us entrance to the church angered and sickened us. Is Notre Dame Basilica a house of God and a place of worship, or is it simply a museum where people must make sure they do not offend anyone who is opposed to Catholic teachings? Montreal has recently received two new bishops who will hopefully put an end to the injustice and bring back sacredness to their church.

There is hope though. Seeing so many beautiful old churches serves as a reminder to us that this land was founded by hard working Catholic people who sacrificed so much to bring God to the land. We were put up this weekend by wonderful people who gave us everything they could to help us out. We prayed with members of the Montreal pro-life group who continue to work hard and bring about so much good in the city. Montreal needs lots of work, but there is definitely a lot of good that can be seen here. We need to continue to pray. All of us must stand up and put an end to abortion, the greatest evil of our time; we cannot do it alone. There is no question that the best weapon in the fight against evil is prayer, so PRAY PRAY PRAY! I feel like I am always stressing the need for prayers, but I cannot emphasize it enough. Pray for the city of Montreal, its church, and its people. Please keep us in your prayers as well, as we continue to fight the good fight. Although our journey is ending soon, the battle goes on. Remember that with God on our side, we will win this battle, for “in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). God bless you all.

John D'Agostino

On Truth

2011-08-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Man is a being who searches, who asks questions, who tries to figure out the ultimate truth: Why am I here? His rationality urges him to discourse from one truth to a truth, continually gaining greater depth of knowledge. This urge pulls all men.

What is truth? Truth tells us whether something is what it is, or that it is something else; it is the total and concrete reality of a thing. Truth is not flimsy nor can it change at any given moment; it demands commitment, belief, faith, asks never to be forgotten, and challenges us to yell it on the roof tops. Truth forces us to look deep within ourselves and to face our pent up lies, and it pulls us out of ourselves to realize that there is more to the cosmos than our own little selves. It asks us to strive for something higher, leading us beyond our own wants and desires. Truth, if we put our trust in it, completes us, for man yearns for truth, the ultimate truth: Truth Himself.

What happens if we were to remove truth? We remove the totality of reality. If we reject truth how can we commit ourselves to an ever changing formlessness? Why bother with faith and belief about those things higher than ourselves when the only reality is that which we make of it? Without objective truth, and The Truth, community breaks apart and each of us is torn asunder from one another, society, community, morality, God, and we are thrown into the prison of our own mind. Suddenly we cannot speak to each other: what is known is no longer knowable. If man cannot communicate with man, how much more can man communicate with himself? If Objective truth is questioned, what then of subjective truth? Will the truth of our own minds soon be questioned? This is the state of the Modern world.

The modern world bears the scars of one who has lost truth. Walk outside and visit the streets, go into the schools, or simply turn on the T.V. With the death of truth came the death of God. If God is our end, and we reject this end, how can we have any future hope? If our afterlife is bleak, how much more is our present life? Our modern world tells us that there are no governing universal laws: go ahead, do you what you want. And so we try. What are the results? Women are treated as if objects, men's desires are left unchecked, children are uncared for or unwanted, everyone has become lonely and unloved. But my examples do not even begin to do justice to the injustice. We have been torn from our loving parent, God the Father, and left with no one to look to for help. Modern man is alone.

I do not know how many have asked this question, I know I have: Am I really happy doing all these things "I" want? Has this made me truly happy? I have personally answered no. And if others have really looked hard, I am convinced they would say so too. There are true things that will make us happy, and the ultimate, as I love to reiterate, is God. We have abortions, euthanasia, eugenics, or any other immoral acts present in this society because we have shirked truth. This is why, as Catholics, it is our duty to show the truth. The truth is painful, it gets at our lies, but it cauterizes the wounds and allows for the healing process to finally set in. Even if the message is proclaimed silently and peacefully, it will still cause people to yell and scream at you (though do not forget that there are countless many who have been gently moved by truth). Let us not forget our Lord and his humble beginnings in the stable. He entered quietly into the world as the Word incarnate, as Love and Mercy himself, yet Herod could not bear this and killed many children to wipe away this Truth. Yet look at the results: Mankind was saved from his eternal wound, being split from God, and became his adopted children. What a wonderful parent we truly have!

What are the causes of truth? Truth replenishes hope and life to all people. All those who work to bring about truth do an act of love, for they labour ceaselessly to liberate men from their prisons. As we on Crossroads have walked we have seen many bright lights that have helped guide the pro-life movement (not to mention their humble charity to us walkers) . Men and woman, old and young, have worked hard to protect life. Never in my life have I seen such dedication and generosity. And let us not forget the priests we have met along the way. They greeted us strangers openheartedly into their parishes to speak and to ask for donations. Many of them have invited us to eat with them and drink with them. In a few cases we stayed in their rectories over night. These priest have humbly given us their prayers and their blessings, yet these do not compare to their greatest contribution: the holy sacrifice of the Mass, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. All these people are all as one with uniting force of concrete and absolute truth, especially when seen as the Body of Christ. It allows them conviction and gives them hope for the future, both in this life and in the next.

Truth, I believe, is at the heart of our current problems. The greatest challenge will be re-educating people and teaching them the fundamentals of truth: that if it is what it is, than it is. If it is not, than it is not. Either God loves us or he does not. We must try and bring back what is vital to all man, his reason, and perhaps society will change. The greatest way, I believe, is showing love and mercy. Both of these require a grounding of truth. If you believe it true that God exists, than you know that He loves all that he creates. If He loves what he creates, that means he wants to fulfill it. We are His greatest creation, and He wants us most especially to come into our fulfillment: Himself. If we than apply mercy it means that God will do whatever it takes to bring man to this end, even though, because of his sins, man deserves eternal death. This great mercy was shown through His Son, Jesus. To show people truth, the Truth, through acts of mercy and kindness, even if we must sacrifice ourselves in some way, may be all that is needed to liberate modern man from his dark chaotic prison. Nevertheless, once free he will finally be able to see the bright and glorious reality of truth, making clear once more a loving God and an ordered universe.

God bless,

Matthew J.J Hatchen

On Suffering

2011-07-15T09:43:00.001-07:00

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ,

In the beginning of our walk we, the crossroads members, spoke of suffering, or more specifically, the suffering we would endure. We discussed with people and parishes about the treks through the mountains, plains, and hills that were to be endured. We explained to all about the hardships, physical and spiritual, that we would bear for the sake of the unborn. But talking about what you are about to do cannot be compared to the experience of the actual doing.

We have now been gone for close to two months of our three month pilgrimage across Canada. We have traversed the mountains. We slept in the cold, sometimes in tents, sometimes crammed in the R.V. We met up with bears, moose, and other wild life, day or night, to which scared some of us half to death. There have been times when we thought someone lost, or we ourselves lost. I can attest to, as well as the rest of the crew, of taking a few wrong turns and going the wrong way (going west is not the same as going east). We have walked the long highways of the plains. There is a special challenge unique to the prairies: seeing the same thing for miles on end. The flood plains of Manitoba, though not too physically demanding, constantly reminded us of the suffering of others. To see whole fields swallowed up and replaced by vast lakes left an eerie sense of danger looming around every bend: what if our pathway was washed out, how would we continue?

Amongst these challenges there is always the threat of humanity: be he neighbour or self. We have come across with great guilt pent up inside causing instability and aggression. Trying to convince oneself of not being a murderer, or at least a conspirator of a murder, takes a toll on a man’s mind, heart, and soul. We have been yelled at, sworn at, and on the occasion swerved at because the lingering guilt bites at their inner most being. Our shirts, our cause, God’s truth breaks down years of lies and leaves one naked. Yet the truth does not only bite at their conscience, it bites at ours as well. I am pro-life, but what does that mean? How does this manifest itself in my actions? Am I being merciful and loving? Am I being self centered, prideful, or slothful even? Am I living my life in a manner befitting of a Catholic? If I do not live up to God’s call, I will be hurting all around me with my own sinfulness.

There are also personal sufferings that have been endured for the sake of our mission of mercy. I have suffered dehydration (by not drinking enough water) and strep throat. Others have suffered because of personal realizations, character defects, family problems, and the list goes on.

I write of these things to show the seriousness of our mission. It is not simply a little jaunt across Canada, where good friends hang out and have a good time. There are too many people who do not take us seriously. I have suffered, therefor I understand a little more. I came to Crossroads wanting a rest from life, and now, because of suffering, I want to fight to protect the sacredness of life.

Suffering is a great blessing to fallen humanity. It teaches us what not to do or what to do. Even more so it unites humanity. To suffer is to connect ourselves to others who also suffer. Most importantly, to suffer is to unite that which unites all humanities suffering: Jesus Christ. He suffered for us so that we may suffer in Him. We lift our sufferings, our burdens, our hardships, our toils to his cross. When we do this we suddenly gain supernatural strength, courage, love, and mercy. Ironically, that which was evil is turned into a great good. That which was dead comes to life. The obscenities that fly our way are turned to blessings as we pray for them. Our illnesses and stresses become causes of joy for they may save a child.

There are others out there who sacrifice themselves as well, not just the Crossroads crew. There are those who walk with us spiritually, and those who provide for us by giving us lodgings, food, and support. The Crossroads team members are only the head of the spear, there is still the whole shaft behind it giving support. Without the shaft, there is not weight for the head to fly and pierce its target. Without our supporters, those who provide for us both spiritually and physically, Crossroads would fail. Because we are united in our suffering in the same body of Christ, we are given the graces to reach out to the hardened and the broken, and God willing, to reach the hearts and minds of Canada.

God Bless,

Matthew J.J Hatchen

2011-06-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

The Crossroads Team with the Davidson Pro-Life crew

Major flooding along Highway 2

The Crossroads turtle (he was not impressed with us)

2011-06-25T23:40:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends in Christ,

I hope this update finds you well! Our team is currently in Regina, Saskatchewan and I now have the time, and Internet, to update you on our progress. The last few weeks have been truly amazing with many experiences to tell you of. Two weekends ago we spent in Edmonton with whole team being billeted by the Morris family who showed us incredible kindness and generosity. Nelson Morris is a fellow classmate to many of us walkers and his family owns a lama farm near Edmonton. On the weekend Mark Pinto suggested to Mr. Morris that we catch the lamas and ride them (which had never been done on the farm before) so the lama riding began with great gusto and I must say that is one experience that I thought I would never have, riding lamas!
Although the weekend brought many joys we also went to pray outside of the Edmonton Abortuary and just like last year it was here that the evils of abortion once again hit me like a rock. It can be quite easy, while away from the forefront of the pro-life movement, to become somewhat calloused to the evil of abortion and forget the human suffering and toll of it all except as a statistic. As a famous man once said “the death of one man is a tragedy the death of a million is a statistic.” Here on Crossroads we are faced everyday with death at every turn and those who approve it to our faces, we see the faces of the women who enter the Abortuary and the looks on their faces as they leave, we see fathers, grandparents, doctors, etc… all as they enter and leave these places of death, we experience first hand the pain and anger that abortion causes to so many thousands as they hurl filth at us as they pass by. “What can man do against such reckless hate?” is the question that continues to come back to my mind. But than the answer sinks in “Do something! Do ANYTHING! But for all the love in the world do something! Pray, reach out in mercy and love, tell the parents that they are precious in the eyes of the Lord and that we care about their choices, whisper a prayer to the child who is about to be torn apart and tell him or her that you love them, unite your suffering with that of the unborn, reach out to the whole world in mercy and love. This is why we walk! Because “All that evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” Outside the Edmonton abortuary there was a constant stream of people entering and all of them avoid eye contact and rush to their waiting vehicles. But we know that they have still seen our message somehow and that they have been touched in some way.

In Edmonton Nelson Morris joined the walk he is a welder by trade and is finishing up his tradesman licensing. However, after our group stayed with his family for the weekend he decided that this walk is more important than his work and so he quit his job, said goodbye to his family, bought a pair of shoes, and started walking. He is a wonderful asset to our team and we are very blessed to have him with us.

Now that we are in the prairies the walking has become much easier, as it is quite flat! But along with the easier walking comes other sacrifices, the floods, the hordes of mosquitos, and the beating sun. The team has held up quite well under the grueling conditions and I believe that they have finally stabilized as far as muscle cramps and blisters are concerned. Although Louise Waclawik, our secret RV cleaning angel and awesome cook, manages to keep a smile on her face at all times though I believe she is suffering from many blisters; Bless her heart!

On June 17th we reached Saskatoon Saskatchewan where we were billeted with three host families. We were greeted by our first major storm on our city walk through Saskatoon and although the team got soaked the hospitality of our hosts warmed us right up. Denise Roth, who organized our weekend, is the head of the Saskatoon CLC board and she is a lovely lady full of life and fire who is a never ending fount of energy in the Saskatoon pro life ring. Her son Greg, now an ordained Deacon, did the walk in 2007 and he was also there to greet us and to encourage us on our way. It is really neat to meet all the walkers from the 2007 walk and to compare stories and hear how Crossroads has changed their lives.

Once again Saskatchewan is the most vocally pro life province in Canada as well as the most vocally pro abortion. Much of Canada suffers from a serious sense of apathy that permeates many aspects of the people’s lives, not only their pro life convictions. This was reinforced to me in an interview I had with a young female reporter from Sun Media who said that although she “wasn’t really all for abortion she wasn’t pro life either but preferred to sit on the fence and let the government decide for her.” Now this was coming from a girl in her 20’s who is supposed to be politically and morally active but chooses to be stagnate instead! I was deeply saddened by her lack of any moral opinion on anything.

One thing that I have really tried to instill in my team is a sense of unity and focus. Thus we always walk together, eat together, go to mass together, and socialize together. Although this can be hard at times because of tiredness or irritation, yes! Believe it or not, after a month in an RV with eleven other people it can begin to test the nerves, our team always comes through and it is awesome to see how well everyone has formed as a united team. One of the big things that we had to stress right from the start was unity in mass. Sadly, all across Canada, there is no real unity in position during mass. Some parishes kneel during the consecration, some stand, some kneel for half of it and then stand and others do both, some Churches hold hands at the Our Father some do not, some have rock bands for mass and others have silence, etc… It can be quite confusing but for the sake of unity with Rome and the majority of churches we choose to kneel through the whole consecration no matter what the churches norm is. This can garner some raised eyebrows and be awkward for some of the walk members but it helps create constancy on the walk. Please pray that the church in the Midwest might achieve unity.

The walk from Saskatoon to Regina was full of many adventures! I am blown away by the hospitality of Saskatchewan! In the small town of Davidson the local pro life group run by Clark and Debbie Doell had our team over for Tuesday night dinner and then on Thursday the whole town invited us to a pot luck! I have never been so well fed in my life! It is a common misconception that we walkers will lose weight while walking across Canada! Then on Wednesday the town of Moosejaw and their local pro life group, run by Elsie Alexander, had another pot luck BBQ and we were greeted by 30+ people there! Elsie Alexander who is 84 years old and doesn’t look a day past 65 and still going strong, billeted our crew, along with two other families, and once again we were greeted with intense kindness. I often tell people that at the start of this walk I had two mothers, one here on earth and one in heaven but by the end I will have at least 60 or 70!

On last years walk the Davidson Pro Life group donated a banner for the back of the RV and this year they have done it again with a beautiful 4X8 foot banner that has a lovely baby on it and says “don’t believe the lie, abortion kills your baby!” We have named the baby Luke because we have a Matthew, Mark, and John, walking with us and now we have a Luke, the full complement of gospel writers.

It is 12:12 PM on Sunday, June 25, in Regina Saskatchewan. I must be off to bed because I am speaking at two masses tomorrow and then on night shift next week all the way to Winnipeg.

May God Bless You and Keep You!

Keep up the good work and please keep us in your prayers,
As always, you remain in ours,

In Christ the Risen Lord,

Michael Hayden.

2011-06-20T23:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

It is with great joy that I greet you from the great province of Saskatchewan! Someone asked me, “now that you’ve seen more of Canada, would you move to another province besides Ontario?” All I could say was, if I did, I don’t know where I would move! All of Canada is so beautiful. We are truly blessed to be living in such wonderful country and it’s a privilege to be walking across our great nation to uphold the sanctity of life.

Even though I truly love Saskatchewan it has given us some new opportunities to make sacrifices. For one thing, restrooms are rare (and sometimes it’s even hard to find a bush!). This is a great inconvenience for some of us. We also got swarmed by mosquitoes this past week. I think we must have looked a little crazy as we walked down the highway, swinging our arms and slapping ourselves and each other, trying not to get eaten alive. I think I prefer the bears in BC over the mosquitoes of Saskatchewan! We also had our first opportunity to walk in the rain this past Friday. Until now we have been blessed with ideal weather conditions. I’ve become used to seeing rain clouds in the distance and knowing that they will somehow miss us every time. If they don’t go in some other direction, it usually stops raining as we begin walking or waits until we stop. However, as we walked through Saskatoon that wasn’t the case. On Friday we walked for about an hour and then the guy driving the support van asked us if we wanted rain gear. As always, we said no and continued walking. Then it started dripping. No worries, it’ll pass over us, I thought. But then it poured! We got soaked to the bone. Only now was I able to fully appreciate the wonderful weather we had until now. Interestingly, the honks we got while it was raining seemed to be more enthusiastic then when it was nice out. Either I just noticed it more because it was so much harder to continue walking, or people realized we’re serious about our mission. Thankfully it happened on a Friday, so we were able to go to a nice warm house, have a shower and wash our clothes. We were also given hot chocolate! I love how being on Crossroads is teaching me to appreciate even the smallest luxuries in my life.

Thanks for your prayers for us. I know that it’s because of your prayers and support that our walk can be a success. We will continue to pray for each of you.

God bless!

Christine Schnurr

2011-06-18T23:46:00.000-07:00

I would Like to Welcome two new members to our team. Bess Broussard age 22 from Louisiana and a veteran walker from the 2008 northern US walk and a musician and Nelson Morris age 21 from Edmonton who left everything, family, home, and work to come and sacrifice his summer after seeing us walkers in Edmonton. They are both wonderful walkers and the Lord has blessed us with their presence.
God Bless,
Mike Hayden

The Beauty of Life

2011-06-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Crossroads has thus far been an incredible experience, to say the least. Of course walking across the country has its challenges, but they do not surpass the positive and beautiful moments that I have witnessed and experienced so far.

Despite the close quarters of the RV, the smell of the van after a day or night shift, or listening to the guys’ poor attempts at English accents, the trip still manages to be very enjoyable. This is my first time seeing any of Canada besides Ontario, and the beauty of our Great nation is quite overwhelming. From the glorious mountains of BC, to the cheap gas prices of Alberta, and the open skies of Saskatchewan (thank goodness for spell check), Canada maintains a consistency in beauty from province to province! But the gorgeous landscape cannot compare to the loveliness of the families we have met so far. Our walk has been blessed with such great support by such wonderful people, who have been more than willing to open their homes to us! My favorite part of the walk so far is getting to meet these families each weekend; getting to know them and hearing about their different pro life experiences. Given all these blessings however, Crossroads has provided many intense experiences.

I would have to say the most intense experience on our walk for life so far was at the abortion clinic in Edmonton, Alberta. Accompanied by the Morris family (our hosts for the weekend) we set out early last Saturday morning (as we do every weekend) to pray outside of the abortion clinic. As I mentioned we do this every weekend, but this was the first time that I ever saw young women enter and depart the clinic. It is sometimes difficult to maintain a strong focus during the walk, but this experience reawakened a strong sense of reality in me. To see women my age enter and leave such a place, with neutral and careless expressions, is difficult to absorb. But such moments help to constantly remind us all of the horrific realities of abortion and the importance of bearing witness to the pro life cause. Like many of the other walkers I have a nephew, with a new one on the way (boy or girl I do not yet know) and I know, as they all do, the beauty that comes with each new born child. The pure happiness that they inspire in us all is a driving force as we continue our walk to Ottawa. May God bless all expecting mothers, and our walk as we continue to respond to Blessed John Paul 2’s call to the youth: to rebuild a culture of life!

Pax Christi,

Jessica Lamb

An Amazing Experience

2011-06-14T00:12:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I would like to start by welcoming two new members to the team: Bess Broussard from Louisiana, a veteran of Crossroads who flew into Calgary last weekend to join us, and Nelson Morris, a student of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, who decided to join the team after we stayed at his family’s house this past weekend in Edmonton. Nelson went to school last year with myself and seven of my teammates, so he fits right in with the team, and Bess has been a great addition to our team and has been a natural fit with the group. We are extremely excited to have both join the team and participate in the amazing experience of Crossroads with us.

It has been an amazing time so far though often a difficult and challenging experience. Both of my knees became inflamed within the first week and I could barely move them. It was hard to walk every day, so I had to take a couple days to rest here and there. My knees feel great now however, so we’ll see what another week of walking on them will do.

Crossroads has not only been difficult physically, it has also been a fight spiritually. Praying outside abortion mills is an intense experience with the devil, as you can sense the evil lingering about the place. I have mixed feelings about praying outside the abortuaries in the cities every weekend. I of course want to, because we have to combat the evil of abortion and prayer is the most powerful weapon. It is often unpleasant because you know what is happening inside the building. Thinking of all the innocent lives being taken right in front of you is very emotional; it has brought me to the point of tears a few times.

On the other hand, there have been so many bright points on the walk. The amount of encouragement and support we have received from hundreds of people along the way has been overwhelming. Every day when we go to Mass there is a new group of people who welcome us and feed us and tell us how much we inspire them. This has also almost brought me to tears, but for a completely different reason. Knowing that there are people who back our cause one hundred percent and offer such strong support helps motivate us to continue.

What really keeps us going though is prayer. I am convinced that it has been through the power of prayer that I have been able to walk twenty kilometers a day on two blown out knees; last week after walking all night my knees would swell up to the point where it was extremely painful to even move them. This cycle continued every night last week, and yet I was able to continue. The devil does not want us to succeed in this walk, but through the prayers of others and the power of God we can overcome anything. Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers! Please continue to pray, we need all the prayers we can get!

God bless,

John D'Agostino

Just an Ordinary Day

2011-06-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ,

Crossroads has not encountered anything out of the ordinary, just the usual. But since it is expected that something should be posted, I will try my best to make the mundane sound extraordinary.

Thus the tale begins…

We had an easy enough walk last week through Calgary. Whilst walking I saw a young man, in his twenties, wearing large aviator sunglasses, he wore jeans and a hoody. He had the largest grin on his face as we made our way towards him. I personally thought he would ridicule us, or make some sort of joke about the Pro-life movement. Next thing I knew vulgarity flew from his mouth. However, what he said was not what I was expecting to hear. He asked what we were doing, and when we told him, he was high fiving us, congratulating us, and apologizing for using vulgarity while using vulgarity. All we could do was laugh and thank him.

As we continued a man came out of his bubble tea drink store: Atomic. He asked what we were doing, and when we told him he invited us into his place for a free drink.

But that is not all that exciting.

Of course we did the usual once we came to Edmonton. The host family we are staying at are farmers. They kindly let us look at their old refurbished tractors dating back from the 1920’s, easily weighing over 20,000 pounds. Many of them still worked. We also picked up baby goats, and we wrestled and rode lama’s.

In the city we had prayed in front a busy abortion clinic, getting the usual remarks and salutes. Ironically enough we were able to go to a building right across the “Woman’s Health Options Center” (abortuary) to the “Woman’s Health Information Center” (aka: Woman’s outreach center, pro-life). Most woman mistake the second one as the abortion clinic, and instead of going to their appointment, they accidently step into a loving and caring home ready to help them and give them support. The outreach center receives about 30-50 woman each month, most of which have an appointment with the abortuary across the street. Some how many of these woman simply cannot see the plain in sight baby slaughter house.

Besides these uneventful things we have had good meals and talks with the host families and enjoying the life we do have: and pray for those who do not share the same opportunity.

On a serious note, I am personally happy to be walking with crossroads and all these people here with me. They are a wonderful group, each with their unique set of strengths and weaknesses. It is a struggle at times, but the sacrifice is worth it. That is what Crossroads is all about: Love and Sacrifice. One cannot truly love unless they sacrifice themselves to others. One cannot truly sacrifice unless they love those they are sacrificing themselves for. Am I truly sacrificing myself for the mothers of the unborn if I hate them? Am I truly loving the unborn if I do not sacrifice myself to them?

This is my first time I can truly say I am beginning to “get” what sacrifice and love means. This is a definite grace, and this is the grace that Crossroads wishes to bestow on its members; it is a grace that allows us to continue trudging on forward, even when all appears bleak. It is by sacrifice and love (as well as prayer) prepares us to be instruments of God’s love and mercy to the broken men and woman of our society. Thus we must love, not hate the doctors, mothers, and fathers involved in the abortions. They are God’s children too, and we need to reach out to them, call them, so that they too may receive God’s graces of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and hopefully we can see them in heaven along side of the Saints.

Please continue to walk with us in your prayers. Your spiritual journey with us makes our walk possible

God bless,

Matthew

2011-06-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

I would Like to welcome my nephew Leo Joseph Marion Baklinski into this world! may all of us continue to walk so that every childs life may be respected and loved.
God Bless you Leo in your life.

Week III Calgary and the Albertan Plains:

2011-06-09T13:03:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends in Christ,

I hope this letter finds you well! It has been a few days since we have updated our Blog and Emails due to our busy schedule and lack of Internet connection. However, the weekend is finally over and we are once again walking, now through the plains of Alberta.
We finished our walk through British Columbia and the Rocky Mountains last Friday with a final goodbye to the mountains and a hello to the plains. The next month and a half will be spent walking across the plains of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba until we hit the hills of Northern Ontario.
Last weekend we spent in Calgary Alberta with our hostess Anne Engel and her Husband Glen. The Engels treated us amazingly well and I can guarantee that she makes the best Chocolate Cake in all of Canada. On Saturday we went as a group to pray in front of the Kensington Abortiuary in Calgary. This facility is a drab; marble and wood building that is incredibly modern and dark. Standing outside of the abortuary, we prayed for two hours with members of the Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical Reform (CCBR) and the St. Lukes parish pastoral assistants. Calgary has some of the most intense ‘bubble zones’ around their abortuaries which ban all demonstrators from being near the clinic and only allow 4 protestors on the opposite sidewalk with no placards. However, our PRO-LIFE shirts don’t count as placards so we got away with it! Please pray that Canada remains a country where free speech is respected along with the dignity of all life.
One of our practices outside of Abortuaries and Masonic temples that we come across, besides lots of prayer, is to take our box of exorcised salt and send one of our members to sprinkle some on the doorstep and around the building while the rest of the members pray. This salt is then tracked into the building on the shoes of whoever enters the building and thus brings a sacramental and the light of Christ into the heart of these houses of death and darkness.
The city of Calgary and its Catholic Community gave us amazing support and many cheers and we were greeted with beautiful weather on Monday when we walked through the city with our Pro-Life Cross in contrast to last year’s torrential downpour. Although there are people who insult us for our work and express outrage based on their misunderstanding or their pain from abortion it is still the people who support us that stick out in our minds. In Downtown we were greeted with a slew of profanities from a gentleman but contrary to the norm these were in support of us! Although we do not necessarily agree that profanity is the best way to support the Pro-Life cause it still brought a smile to our face because of its unusualness! Another gentleman treated all the walkers to bubble team and slushies as he saw them walking by his restaurant. May God Bless Them!
Each night and day we continue to lift up your prayer intentions to our Lord and offer up whatever sacrifices we can.
At the start of our walk we had experienced a lot of setbacks and injuries which were welcomed by the team as a chance for extra sacrifice but I must admit as the leader it was stressful at times. However, the other day our RV's water system miraculously began working again on its own accord and all of the walkers are in much better health! Thank you all so much for you prayers of support!
I have been receiving many emails asking how people may donate to our cause, of course prayer is the most important way, but if anyone wishes to donate they can go online to www.crossroadswalk.org and donate online by phone at 1-800-353-8817 or by mailing a check made out to Crossroads Pro Life to

Crossroads, Inc.
PO Box 2219
Columbia, MD 21045

USA

Thank You all and may God Bless you!

In Christ the Risen Lord,

Michael Hayden,

I Chose You

2011-05-31T23:09:00.000-07:00

It’s been awhile since I last made a blog posting but a lot has happened since the evening of May 23, 2011. It’s been a week and day since then and I realized it was important I share some of the events that have taken place. The Crossroads team has been SO blessed with extremely generous parishes, and most importantly, host families.

But when taking part in something so spiritual, one can expect that with blessings from God, also comes attacks and challenges that must be overcome.

So far of the 11 walkers, 5 have sustained injuries that have left them either unable to walk or walk with lots of pain (large blisters, and severe inflammation in joints).

Over the past weekend, it has started to become obvious to us that our work is not going unnoticed and that weird things are happening as a result.

Both the rental vehicles have had collisions, the RV had unusual water and electricity problems, which eventually resulted in minor flooding inside.

So this morning we decide to go and get the rental van and the RV blessed after attending mass at St. Rita’s church in Castlegar BC.

Last week , I was able to take some amazing pictures while on day crew in the mountains on the way to and overlooking Osoyoos. I can honestly say I have fallen in love with British Columbia!

Sunday night therefore was a switch-up of crews, meaning I was now on night crew. I can also say that this was the scariest thing I have ever done (so far) in my life! I described to a friend, as walking through a zoo at night, without any lights and there are no cages. The only things you can hear are the animals around you and crickets adding to the tense atmosphere!

Needless to say, I went through seven whole rosaries, 1 divine mercy chaplet and about 4 hymns sung about 10 times while walking by myself in the dark for approximately 13km (5 km = approx.. 1 hr.)

Last night while walking we walked in pairs so it wasn’t as scary, until about 1:50am when I was walking along with Ashton and a Purolator semi pulled over right beside us. When we walk we walk towards oncoming traffic. So this semi was coming from the where we were going. The driver turned the vehicle off and said to us “ You guys better be very careful! 13k up the road, a grizzly mother and two cubs were spotted in that area!”

So more hymns were sung out loud for about 2k until Mike drove up and we decided it would be better if we stopped for the night!

A lot of my pictures from this trip can be found on my Flickr page here [mp_d40 Flickr]

And so I end this posting with something really amazing that happened during mass in Osoyoos. One of the readings on Friday (May 27) gave me a revelation-like experience: “You didn’t choose me, I chose you”

Yours in Christ,

Mark Pinto

Overlooking Osoyoos before the night shift

Mike, a bit hyper after the night shift

Sunrise.

2011-05-31T17:12:00.001-07:00

May the risen Lord shine on your hearts and in your lives.

It is another beautiful day in Creston British Columbia and very many amazing things have happened since last I wrote you.
Our first week of walking was greeted primarily by sunny weather and clear skies, B.C. is quite a stunning territory! Our walkers covered 365 kilometers in the first week and now we are looking at covering 565 this week! The mountain passes are steep and winding and the green valleys fall dark below us and the snow capped peaks soar high above. God is so present in this beautifully wild and dangerous land! In the midst of our struggle to continue walking despite having now six injured members of our team (from blisters to turned ankles) we push on, offering up the suffering for the cause of the unborn and all sin and suffering we are witness to.

Last weekend we visited the Kelowna/Summerland area and prayed in front of the Kelowna hospital on Saturday morning. we were met with both negative and positive remarks but once again, the greatest problem we face on this journey and in the hearts of the people of this nation is the white wall of apathy that clouds the vision of so many. Those who react to our message of life, even violently, at least are working on something. Yet it is those countless faces that go by that show no expression or have no opinion on the matter that need our prayers the most.

Although the walk has been a beautiful one our work has not gone unnoticed by the old devil downstairs! Our RV is continuously in need of small repairs and our walkers are getting blisters, blown knees, and tendonitus, at very fast rates. Also on the weekend our support vehicle was crashed into by another vehicle trying to switch lanes on our way to a parish. Which was the same parish that we had such a hard time getting to last year. The vehicle was totaled but thank the Lord that no one was hurt. All of these incidents can be very discouraging coupled with the exhaustion of our walk. And yet it became clear to me WHY we have been getting so much heckling. The same church that we were on our way to when we crashed I found out that last year when our team spoke at that parish a young girl heard John Deuling (one of the walkers from 2010) talk and she changed her mind about aborting the baby and now there are two known "Crossroads Canada Babies" that the lord has saved through our work.

I once again ask for your continued prayers for our protection and for all those people whom we give witness too, that the Lord may bring them to the fullness of truth in him. The Lord can work so much good through our prayers, he can bring new life into this world and change hearts through ours and yours sacrifice and prayers. We continue to say morning and evening prayer together, many individual rosaries, and daily mass for the conversion of all abortionists, the safety of all unborn children, and the healing and conversion of all mothers and fathers who have had abortions or are contemplating abortion. I ask you to join us in whatever capacity you can.

Today I counted up all the animals we have come into close contact with and I realized what a list we have.

8 Black bears
4 Grizzly Bears
3 Caribou
2 Foxes
Numerous Coyotes
Ravens, Eagles, Heron, Wild Turkeys etc...
Countless Deer
Elk
etc..........

Gods creation surrounds us and his joy fills us.

May his light shine on you always,

In Christ who is Truly risen

Michael Hayden.

2011-05-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends in Christ,

I hope this update finds you well. Spirits are high and legs are sore and our walk has taken us through the first series of Mountains along the coasts into the town of Keromeyos B.C. along the Crowsnest pass. It has been a hard week getting into the swing of walking 25-40 kilometers a day. many of the members of our team are blistered and sore and two of them have blown out their knees, but like true heroes they continue on without complaint. I am blessed to know such brave people! God's grace is with us and is driving us on with the prayers of all of you and your support. We unite our suffering with the unborn who are suffering in their violent death of abortion.

Our first weekend in Vancouver was truly amazing and we were blessed with amazing host families who set us off on the journey with love and joy. There has been some opposition to our message of life, people spitting, screaming, throwing coffee, but as usual out of all the responses we receive the majority are positive. We continue to lift all those people up in prayer to our Lord and our Mother.

I have been walking the night shift this week and once again the joy of the deep silence and peace of the wilderness at night fills my heart with peace. Our night shift begins around 9-10 PM and we walk till 4-5 AM. Each person usually walks 4-6 shifts of 5 kilometers each and say a rosary on each shift. At the beginning of the night the traffic is usually still heavy but by 12:30 it dies off and we are left in silence. Around us you can hear the roar of waterfalls down the mountains and the wind in the trees. It can be scary at times in the night, usually around 2-3 in the morning when the tiredness begins to overwhelm us and the forests come back to life. Yet this period only lasts for an hour or two until the glorious sunrise around 5:00 AM. After the night shift the team drives back to the rest of the crew and as a group we go to daily mass at the nearest parish, we eat breakfast, say morning prayer, and then send off the day shift on their walk. Then we pack up the camp and move ahead to the next campsite and then we rest.

Last year our team did not see a single bear until B.C. however, yesterday our team saw FIVE black bears in one five kilometers. But not to worry each walker carries bear spray and bear bells with them.

Thank you for your prayers once again,

May God Bless all of you,

In Christ the Risen Lord,

Mike Hayden.

Matt Hatchen looking over the bridge on Highway 5 after leaving the town of Hope

Matt walking down Highway 5

A family of bears while walking on Highway 3

A macro picture of the precious feet in the support van

On the hills above Princeton BC

Our first campsite

2011-05-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

The view from our first campsite

2011-05-24T18:22:00.000-07:00

Starting the first leg of the walk in Vancouver B.C.

The team was joined by a large group of Vancouverites

Marching through the streets of Vancouver

Praying outside the Vancouver Abortion Facility

2011-05-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

This is the trailer for 'This Side of Eden', the latest documentary by Salt and Light TV on the Westminster Abbey in Mission, BC. More info: http://www.saltandlighttv.org/thissideofeden/

Crossroads day 3 May 21st

2011-05-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends in Christ,

I hope this letter finds you well! Yet another busy day on the walk with our first prayer chain outside the Abortuary and our first speaking and witness engagements at five local Vancouver parishes. At the abortuary we had a beautiful experience among the many negative responses, driving home the spiritual nature of our journey and the protection that the Virgin Mary has over us. A small child was being carried by her mother past us when she asked her mommy for something, the mother came over and asked us if the child could kiss the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which we carry with us everywhere we go. This was a beautiful sign from God to give us courage. All of the church speaking went very well and tomorrow we are off again to the five churches to give our all for the greater glory of God.

God Bless,

Mike hayden

2011-05-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

Archbishop Michael J. Miller giving a blessing to the
Crossroad Walkers

The Westminster Abbey run by the Benedictines

Message from our Walk Leader

2011-05-21T13:54:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today was the first day of the whole team being together. We started our morning out with mass and confessions and then proceeded to the Abbey / Seminary in Mission B.C. to meet with the monks as well as Archbishop Miller to receive his blessing for the success of our walk. The Monastery is a beautiful modern structure built on a peaceful hill overlooking the Fraser Valley. It also serves as a minor and major seminary for many local catholic boys and men where the monks teach. The Abbey is run by a Benedictine order with about 30 or more members. As a matter of fact 4 of the 6 walkers from last year were seminarians at the monastery. The Abbey overlooks the beautiful Fraser valley which reminded me greatly of the alps. Below is a picture of our whole team with the Archbishop and another of our team with the view from the Monastery. The Members are as follows from Left to Right in the picture without his Grace Archbishop Miller.

Back Row:

Jacinta Fox

Jessica Lamb

Matthew Hatchen

Ashton hatchen

Paul Taylor

Mark Pinto

Front Row:

Louise Waclawik

Michael Hayden

Christine Schnurr

John D'Agostino

John Paul Meenan

Paul Goo (Last years walker from the seminary)

God has truly blessed the walk this year with such a vibrant group of young people willing to lay down their lives for the unborn and all other human suffering. Please say a prayer for us tomorrow as we embark on our first prayer vigil outside an abortion mill here in Vancouver at 10:30 Pacific Standerd Time (3 hours difference from Ottawa time zone). May God bring glory from our actions.

Please know that all your intentions have been put into the book of intentions for the walk and we will carry them in our hearts and lift them up to the lord.

Here is also a link to the photo blog being done by Mark Pinto from the walk.

https://cid-e2a87ce9eb9c3676.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Crossroads%20Group!/Crossroads%20group%20May20-%201.jpg#resId/E2A87CE9EB9C3676!417

Until next time,

Thank You ,

and God Bless

2011-05-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

The Crossroad Group after a delicious meal of lasagna
cooked by Bernie and Cathy Hetzler (left)

The Crossroads group with Archbishop Micheal J. Miller

The group outside Westminster Abbey (Mission B.C)

Message from our Walk Leader

2011-05-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends in Christ,

So my adventure begins! Our team has arrived safe and sound in Vancouver B.C. to beautiful skies and sunny weather (In comparison to last years 5 weeks of rain). This is truly a beautiful city. On Tuesday May 11th I began my drive across America with our support RV and God blessed me with the chance to visit my family along the way in Butte MT and Portland OR. It was a truly refreshing and wonderful drive and a great preparation for the walk. Now we are once again at the grindstone of God's joyful labor and tomorrow is full of repairs on the RV, stocking up on supplies, and seminar training in pro-life apologetics and Crossroads Policies.

On Monday May 23rd we begin our walk from the beach on the UBC campus, it looks as though twenty or more people may be joining us on the first day in comparison to last years eight! As soon as I get a picture of all of the 11 walkers from this year I will post it with a short biography of each person so you can all get to know the team. There will also be a picture and written blog up soon and I will send you all the links to them.

Please also remember the power of prayer and sacrifice and that us walkers have a great amount of that to offer up and so if there is ANYTHING you wish us to pray for in any way please send it to me and I will write it into our book of intentions we carry with us, even if it is just "for a special intention."

This year I am the walk leader for Crossroads Canada and so I ask for your prayers in my support so that I may bear all the burdens God sends me. Please know that I carry all of you in my heart and prayers my dear family, friends, and acquaintances and I thank you all so much for your prayers and love,

But now I must be off to bed to rest for the new day is dawning,

God Bless,

In Christ:

Michael Hayden