Greenville, SC
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The following is a continuation of yesterday’s story and comes to us from team leader Caleb with our team in Greenville, SC:
We met Mario, a man from Yugoslavia who fled Communism and seems to belong to the Brethren Church. He opposed denominations and saw the Catholic Church as just another one. He insisted Christianity should stick only to the Bible, believing anything else stems from selfish motives. Our conversation was long, but instead of engaging with our responses, he kept raising new, unrelated objections. We explained how the Bible came through the Catholic Church, touching on scriptural canonization in church councils and the need for authority. To his frustration with denominations, we cited Christ’s command to teach all He commanded—believing and being baptized, for instance, are both essential. He scoffed at the Eucharist literally being Christ’s body and blood, but we pointed to Jesus’ own words and how He didn’t correct those who walked away. Mario then objected to prayer to Our Lady, and we clarified what intercessory prayer is vs. worship, affirming Christ as our sole mediator for atonement but explaining the saints’ role in petition. He brought up the “great chasm” from Lazarus’ story, and we explained how saints ask God, not act alone. When he criticized praying before icons and statues, we explained we pray to the one represented, not the image itself. Unfortunately, he declined any literature on the topics discussed. Some people just aren’t open to new understanding—wanting to determine truth individually is what fuels division and contradicts Christ’s commission. At the end, I even opened Scripture with him to explain things further, and hopefully, seeds were planted.
Finally, I met two ladies who said their father was a Baptist minister. He passed away sometime ago and their mom died very recently. They were very interested in finding a church to attend and I invited them to Prince of Peace in nearby Taylors, gave them my phone number and email and let them know about my experience attending Mass when I was first looking into the Church and that I’d be happy to accompany them. One of them said that she hoped to find a place where she could just worship God, and not feel social pressure. Please pray for us and all those we have encountered or will in the future!
Praised be Jesus Christ!