Boise, ID
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The following comes to us from team leader Lucy with our team in Boise, ID:
Our Lady keeps an eye, not only on us, but also on our visitors as we work to lead them to her Son. So, thank you again for your prayers for the Boise Catholic street evangelization effort.
A 20-something man named “Nate” came to the table with a smile. He was very interested in the Rosary prayer and said he had “become Christian” only three months ago. We rejoiced with him and asked if he had been baptized yet. He said he wanted to be and was planning to talk to his pastor about that. Then he paused, and said he had been baptized when he was a kid “but it didn’t seem to have done any good”. We shared with him the Catholic understanding of Baptism as a Sacrament that “works” despite our sin, that it had permanently made him a child of God, and so it isn’t necessary to get baptized again. We encouraged him to persevere in faith and promised that we would lift Nate up in prayer. Lord, grant Nate perseverance in faith and an ever-deepening relationship with You.
Three 20-somethings politely declined our offer of a free Rosary as they walked past. Then the young man of the group stopped to say that, hanging on his wall, was a Rosary that he picked up when he was touring the Vatican. He noted sadly that the Pope had not blessed it. Chuck assured him he could get it blessed by any priest and asked him about his trip to Italy. The man’s two companions then went to the table to select Rosaries while he talked about his college’s choir trip when he was attending a local non-Catholic university. Though not Catholic, he assured the evangelists that he had no argument with us and loved us as brothers and sisters in Christ. He again talked about his trip, saying he was in awe of all the beautiful, ancient church buildings. But his most emotional moment came in Paris. They were arriving at a Catholic church just before Mass, and lines of nuns were singing in Latin as they processed inside. Although he did not know what they were saying until later, their voices brought him to tears with both the beauty and the strange sense of gravity he perceived in the song. He later learned that the song was a lament over the faithlessness of Paris and a plea of hope that the city would return to faith. We gave him a Rosary pamphlet and encouraged him to take his Rosary off the wall and pray with it. Please pray for these young people that their openness to Catholicism and Our Lady’s prayer will lead them to true Christian communion.
For the third week in a row, it was raining when we headed out for the session. And again, the rain stopped as we began setting up. Then, just before closing time, it suddenly got perceptibly darker and the rain started up again in earnest. Still, foot traffic was pretty steady until those last 10 minutes, and we were able to give away 15-20 Rosaries and its pamphlet on how to pray it.
Please pray for us again today. Ask God to send people to us with hearts prepared to perceive their need for Our Savior Jesus Christ and His Holy Catholic Church, and that much good fruit for His Kingdom comes of today’s effort.
God granted us a peaceful and joyful session last week. So, thank you again for your prayers and other support for this apostolate. In turn, may God protect and greatly bless you and all those you love!