Joliet, IL

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This story comes to us from team leader Nick with our team in Joliet, IL:

Once again, we were invited back to the Catholic school where several of our team members send their children. We were able to encounter not only the children at the event, but their parents, grandparents and relatives who came to see them perform. While we didn’t enter into many deep conversations, we were constantly asked for rosaries, literature, and even a few prayer requests. One 6th grader took a Bible so she could have one for her own, and also took the pamphlet discussing the error of Sola Scriptura so she could better defend her Catholic faith. Other children wanted specific rosaries, and many parents and grandparents took holy cards of their favorite saints. The kids also loved the billion dollar bills with St. Peter on them!
One middle-aged woman approached our table and took a few of the “Reasons to Return to the Catholic Church” pamphlets. Our Station Leader, Angela, asked if they were for anyone in particular. The woman looked up with a serious look on her face and said, “Yes. Me.” Angela then directed her to Trent Horn’s “Why We’re Catholic” book, and she gladly took a copy. She walked away before we could go deeper, but please pray for her!

Next, a young boy came up and asked if we had any holy cards of St. Benjamin. Knowing this saint’s story as my own son is named Benjamin, I told the boy we did not have that holy card, but I shared the story of this great 5th century martyr and deacon with him. He gladly took some other sacramentals. One mother approached our table, and I found out her son was in the same class as mine! She attends a Polish parish in Chicago, and took several pamphlets, as well as a YouCat prayer book for one of her children, but then she asked if she could also take a Bible. We had a hardcover of the ESV Catholic Edition still leftover, and she explained that her first language was Polish and that she only had a Polish Bible in the home. She wanted an English one so that her children could read the Bible in English. I told her that the Bible was hers and she gladly accepted it.

Please pray for all those we encountered and prayed with! One aspect of the new evangelization is to build up our baptized brethren in their faith. We hope that in some small way, we were able to do that today!