Chelsea, MI
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This report comes to us from team leader Kathleen with our St. Mary team in Chelsea, MI:
Learning to listen may come easy for some when evangelizing, but not for me. Sometimes an interior voice tells me that ‘listening to a stranger isn’t going to bring them closer to the Lord.’ On top of that, listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit with all the trouble on cable news, my wife being sick, AND my dog getting sprayed last night by a skunk, you might have trouble listening for the Lord too! “Just breathe Joe, the Lord says to me. Just breathe and pray Joe. Now, just breathe, pray and get ready because here comes the young lady you’re going to evangelize!”
Twenty minutes earlier, Sally brought me the waffle fries and beer I ordered. After spending all morning washing clothes, scrubbing skunk smell from my carpet and giving my dog her third bath in less than 12 hours, I needed to get out of the house and now I’m in a lone booth of a local sports bar taking slow breaths and wondering what am I about to hear and say to my waitress when she arrives with my check?
Sally delivers the check with TV blaring in the background. I thank her and tell her that I hope she has a nice day. Turning sideways and patting her belly, Sally gives me a radiant smile and says “thanks, we will”. So deep in my own world, I hadn’t noticed my waitress was with child!! She was telling me about how excited she was to be a first time mom! Yes, Lord, I’m listening!! She told me her due date, the baby’s gender and her parents who are going to be first time grandparents. Also the colors of the nursery, the excited siblings on both sides, and baby showers her friends and family are giving her. She was just beaming and soon sitting down across from me, leaning in and still talking! Yes, Lord, I’m listening and I am at your service. Signing the check, I stood up and proudly said that in my Catholic faith, St. Gerard is the patron saint of expectant mothers. She was all ears now. She learned that St. Gerard is a holy and humble man of God. That he is watching over her even now, she has nothing to fear and that she will soon have a happy and healthy little baby boy. Being 20 and connected as they all are to the Internet, I asked that she Google St. Gerard. My parting words were, “he’ll be happy to listen to anything you have to say.” She was on her smart phone before I was out the door.
The importance of listening can’t be overstated. Without listening I’m not praying. Without listening, I’m not going to heal. Without listening to the voice of God in the Holy Spirit, I’m not going to bring anyone even one step closer to Jesus. Thank you Jesus. I trust in you.