By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

Sister Stephanie Baliga used to compete for the Illini cross country team, then a foot injury took her on a life-altering detour. Now she runs for God in Chicago.

Born and raised in Rockford, young Stephanie was always on the move.

"I had a lot of energy and, compared to other kids, I could run fast," she said. "So at age nine I asked my mom if I could run cross country."

Quickly, running became central to her life.

"It was so central that I ignored things in my life I probably shouldn't have ignored," Baliga said. "Everything in my life had to do with running."

Once she reached Rockford's Auburn High School, she dominated her competition, earning conference MVP honors in each of her four years (2003-06).

Ever the over-achiever, Baliga rejected scholarship offers from smaller schools to walk on as a freshman to Coach Jeremy Rasmussen's 2007 Illini squad.

"I wanted to reach my maximum potential, so I was willing to take the risk of walking on to a really good team, which we were," she said. "The skill of my teammates and some really good coaching helped me to improve almost every day."

An economics and geography double major, Baliga also was focused on her education and anticipated career.

"I wanted to work in environmental policy for either the government or the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)," she said. "I saw a lot of inefficiencies in the government's treatment of environmental issues and that the public wasn't being served appropriately."

But on Valentine's Day of 2009, Baliga suffered a broken bone in her foot and her seemingly idyllic world came crashing down on her.

Going from 70 hours per week of training to struggling around campus on crutches was more than she could handle and she slipped into a depressive state of mind.

"It was much worse than the injury itself," she said. "It was a call to re-evaluate my life. I valued running way, way too much and clearly defined myself by it. I asked myself, who am I, what am I doing, where am I going."

Baliga was raised Catholic, but admits that she wasn't totally invested in her faith. She turned to a group of friends who attended the UI's St. John's Catholic Church on Armory Street. They invited her to go on a retreat and it was during a communion at the retreat that she affirmed her faith.

"I had this very powerful experience," she said. "Catholics believe that Jesus is present in the Eucharist and that you pray with Him. And, that evening, I believed that Jesus was there with me."

At this unexpected turning point in her life, Baliga then understood and believed.

"Running had become a form of god to me," she said. "So when I was running away from Him, literally and figuratively, God drew me back closer to His heart."

It was during her junior year at Illinois when she knew there was something "way more to this than just taking my faith more seriously."

Baliga reached out to Sister Sarah Roy at the Newman Center and took Catholic classes from UI Adjunct Professor Dr. Ken Howell to discern what God was doing in her life. Soon, she dedicated her life to Jesus and the church.

Since her graduation from the University of Illinois in 2009, Sister Stephanie has served the community of Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago at the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels (OLA) on Chicago's West Side.

"It's essentially a protestant neighborhood that's very poor and very violent and very challenging on multiple levels," Baliga said.

Through a regular series of food banks, the donation of clothes and material goods, and faith-based after-school programs, the families of Humboldt Park are the primary benefactors of the OLA Mission.

"Our main goal is to bring Christ to the neighborhood in various capacities through all of our work," Baliga said. "We try to be that presence of God's love that is so desperately needed."

Sister Stephanie says she's always had a desire to serve the poor.

"I've never been one to follow the traditional path of getting a job and earning a lot of money," she said. "To me, those who help others and do positive things for the world are the ones who change history. Once I had my conversion experience, it became clear to me why God planted that seed in my heart."

After being called to become a Sister, Baliga battled with God about her passion for running.

"I said 'God, if this is something you want me to do, I will stop running'," she said. "But God has since given running back to me as a gift that I'm able to use for Him. Running has become a very powerful form of prayer for me and a way for me to raise money to glorify God."

She organizes the running group Team OLA (Our Lady of Angels) to compete annually in October's Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Through individual and corporate pledges, her team raised more than $130,000 in 2017 and has totaled almost a half million dollars in gifts over the past several years.

"It's been an incredible blessing," she said. "Team OLA has been really, really key to keep our Mission open and working."