Fr. Tom Baker is our guest on this episode. He has been a Catholic priest for over 35 years and has participated in approximately 130 triathlons since his ordination. Fr. Tom explains what an Ironman competition is and what it involves. Fr. Tom talks about how he initially got involved in triathlete training and Ironman competitions. He enthusiastically talks about his life as an athlete.

As a Catholic priest, Fr. Tom finds fulfillment in living for others. The support he has received as a priest and a triathlete from the parishes he has served in is very important to him. Fr. Tom enjoys using the lessons he learns in sports as tools to preach the Good News of Jesus to his parishioners. In his personal life and priestly ministry, Fr. Tom compares the discipline of being an athlete with the discipleship of being a Christian.

Fr. Tom ends with the message the Angel Gabriel gave to Mary at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel at the Annunciation: All things are possible.

#catholicpriest #triathlon #ironman #prayerschedule

Curt Tomasevicz is a former Olympic bobsledder and our guest on this episode. He participated in several Winter Olympic games encompassing about ten years and discusses his experiences and lessons learned. Curt is quite humble about the Olympic medals he’s accumulated.

Prior to his Olympic days, Curt played football at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Currently he is a professor of Biological Systems Engineering at UNL and continues to be involved in sports as the Director of Sport Performance for USA Bobsled-Skeleton. Curt also works with the Nebraska Athletic Performance Laboratory and in his spare time he is a motivational speaker at high schools in Nebraska and around the country.

Curt talks about how his faith has been woven in his life, even at a young age growing up in a small town in Nebraska. While a student at UNL, Curt was convinced that creation did not occur by chance, from the balance of the human body to the balance of space and the cosmos. It was during this time he came to appreciate the importance that then Pope John Paul II gave to science. While an athlete, Curt did not pray that he (or his team) would win, he prayed that everyone would be safe.

Much like in bobsledding, Curt believes that life should be taken one curve at a time. He discusses his view of fear, how he dealt with it as a bobsledder and how his experiences can be useful in everyday life.

#bobsledding #cornhuskers #catholic #prayer

Church on Wheels

Chris Massaro is the Director of Mission Advancement for the Biking for Babies organization and our guest on this episode. Chris talks about how his love for sports began at a young age and continued into his college years. His relationship with our Lord grew in college at Vanderbilt University and later at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. Chris’s time at the seminary shaped his understanding of virtue, courage to witness the Gospel, and made him a better man. Chris talks about his saintly devotions and his favorite Bible passage and how they affect his life.

The main topic of his interview is the organization Biking for Babies which exists to renew the Culture of Life in society. Biking for Babies works with young adults and trains them to develop relationships with pregnancy and maternity centers. These ongoing relationships are central to the organization’s mission to help women and families who face unplanned pregnancies. The funds raised by the bike rides are distributed to the pregnancy and maternity centers who have a relationship with Biking for Babies.

Chris talks about how the redemptive suffering experienced for 600 miles on a bike can be offered to God for the suffering experienced by an unplanned pregnancy. He wants all listeners to know that God loves you, desires a deep relationship with you, and wants you to share that relationship with others!

Biking for Babies - Renewing the Culture of Life

Brenda Lorena Garcia is a professional stuntwoman and our guest on this episode. She trains in mixed martial arts, which she compares to the monastic life. Brenda is passionate about her faith and is driven to share it! Brenda eagerly shares her belief that dedication to physical training begins and ends with devout spiritual training. Her rigorous daily physical training for her job can only begin with the rigorous daily training of her spirit.

Brenda explains what her participation in Opus Sanctorum Angelorum (Work of the Holy Angels) means to her and how it helps shape her life. She talks about how her early days working in Hollywood were different than they are now. In her experience, Hollywood is changing for the better.

Brenda discusses the meaning of her statement that “as Catholics we’re not called to fit in, we’re called to stand out.” Brenda challenges us all to be courageous and bravehearted and not to be afraid to be a saint! She wants everyone to know that God really loves us!

Links to Brenda:

https://www.facebook.com/brendalgarcia

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialBrendaGarcia

Instagram.com/BrendaLGarcia

twitter.com/BrendaLGarciaX

threads.net/@brendalgarcia

linkedin.com/in/brendalorenagarcia

For information about Opus Sanctorum Angelorum: Opus Sanctorum Angelorum - Work of the Holy Angels

In this episode, we talk with Dominic Carstens who participated as a Perpetual Pilgrim in the recent National Eucharistic Pilgrimage This event was a precursor to the National Eucharistic Congress held in Indianapolis on July 20 – 21, 2024. The Pilgrimage consisted of four routes, East, West, North, and South which made the shape of a cross over America. Each group took our Lord, present in the Eucharist, as they made their way across the country ministering to everyone they met. Dominic was on the Seton Route from the East that began in Connecticut. Dominic’s love and enthusiasm for our Lord is quite evident in the presentation of his experiences along the way as he walked and traveled with our Eucharistic Lord! Dominic’s sports experience began humbly in a cow pasture in Wisconsin. After graduating from high school, Dominic was a missionary in Kenya where sports was a way to connect with the children. He graduated from college this year and works at the Catholic Ecology Center. Dominic encourages us all to grow closer to our Lord, especially through the Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist and to encourage others to do the same.

Links to Dominic: Instagram: @domdabombc Dominic Carstens: Facebook, LinkedIn Catholic Ecology Center: Catholic Ecology Center