Becoming a saint is the call of every Catholic, and we can grow in holiness through the ordinary activities of our day, including exercise.
Erin Trautmann, a parishioner at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena Parish in Allentown, a music teacher in East Penn School District, and a member of the Angelorum Voices choir, is an avid cyclist who glorified God through her biking in a whole new way this year.
From March through July, Erin participated in Biking for Babies, an organization whose mission is to “proclaim the dignity of human life by uniting cycling with the formation of young adults into missionary disciples of Jesus Christ.”
Erin joined a team of 10 young adults and spent 6 months training to be a Biking for Babies missionary, which required engaging in daily physical preparation, becoming well-versed in pro-life apologetics and information about crisis pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes, and fundraising for the cause.
This training provided Trautmann the spiritual, physical, and educational formation she needed before beginning her intense one-week ride from July 8th until July 13th of this year. The team began the bike at the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Amsterdam, New York and ended in Arlington, Virginia.
There were various opportunities planned along the route for the team to talk to community members about life-affirming resources, including a stop at Malvern Retreat House.
Trautmann reflected, “So many people [are unaware] that pregnancy resource centers exist and what they do to help women who want to parent and keep their [babies]. I always knew they existed, but I realized there is such little awareness of them.”
More than simply informing people of resources available, the heart of Trautmann and her team’s work was prayer. She shared that there was a strong spiritual component in which “we prayed for moms who might be considering abortion and offered up the actions of our day as a prayer for our intentions. I also saw that God really can use everyone’s gifts and talents, and [we prayed for God to use us.]”
The Biking for Babies experience was an exceptional way for Trautmann to turn her ordinary form of exercise and hobby into an act of missionary work, to grow in her own holiness, and to pray and work for the conversion of others.
For more information on pro-life organizations that can incorporate a passion for biking, running, or walking into missionary work, visit the following websites:
Biking for Babies: https://www.bikingforbabies.co...
Life Runners: https://www.liferunners.org/
Crossroads Pro-Life: https://www.crossroadswalk.org...
By Annaleigh Gidosh
