A seminarian performed a silent experiment when he and fellow seminarians joined SPSE evangelists in Detroit, MI, as part of a recent Nightfever event. During Nightfever, a downtown church keeps its doors open all night long. Inside, priests were available to offer advice and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The seminarian and his companions had been walking up and down the Greektown strip, “witnessing the joy of the Lord to the people”. They asked each person, “Would you like to come light a candle and say a prayer?” He said the response rate was low: Only about 1 in 20 people said yes. Then he had the idea to ask Jesus to personally call His children to them. The result? “When we asked Jesus to bring them to us and open their hearts to receive our invite, our response rate shot up to nearly 50%!” Even he was amazed.
His advice for us is, “INVITE JESUS TO DO THE WORK FOR YOU! Going it alone—without Jesus—only leads to disappointment and frustration. So don’t do it!”
Thank you, Jesus! And thank you, seminarians of Sacred Heart Major Seminary! Please keep all of our seminarians in your prayers. The Catholic Church is growing, by the grace of God, and we need prayerful men like this to both answer the call to priesthood, and to remain faithful to God. Have you joined SPSE and the New Evangelization? If you have, thank you! If you haven’t yet, know that you won’t be alone. And SPSE membership gives you access to the training and the resources to help you be ready.