Cambridge, MA
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This following story comes to us from team leader Marissa with our team in Cambridge, MA:
Yesterday, we had our May outing. It was just one other girl and myself. Beforehand, we prayed, asking the Holy Spirit if He wanted to reveal anything to us, like where to go, or whom we might meet, or what people need prayer for. (This was inspired by the street evangelization portion of the documentary Fearless, largely about Encounter Ministries, and how they prayed for direction.) After some silence, my fellow evangelist got the sense in prayer that we should walk down Mount Auburn St. Typically we walk down Mass Ave, which runs parallel-ish to Mount Auburn. Also, typically we don’t evangelize while walking; we usually stand in Harvard Square and wait for people to pass by. We were excited to try something new, especially because we felt the Holy Spirit was calling us to it! The quarter mile or so that we walked down Mount Auburn yielded THREE divine appointments!
Right at the beginning of our walk, we met a girl who appeared to be college-aged. We asked her if she wanted a free rosary. She said she actually had been needing a new one. (We didn’t get into it, but perhaps she had lost the previous one, or it had broken?) We didn’t chat much more than this, but it seems that the timing had been just right. Then right after we’d talked to this girl, a young man approached us and asked if he could have a rosary too. He told us that he is searching right now and that he’s interested in Catholicism and might be Catholic soon. He was Finnish by descent and selected a blue and white rosary because it looked like the Finnish flag. (A fun detail here is that I only grabbed that wad of rosaries from our stash right before I left my apartment, thinking that maybe we could use a few more for the outing. It’s so beautiful how God cares about the small details, such as giving someone a rosary that reminds him of home.) This young man was with a group of other guys (maybe 7 or 8 of them). We learned they were in town as part of a traveling hockey team. We asked the other guys if they also wanted one. A couple more accepted a rosary. I think we gave a rosary and a pamphlet on how to pray it to all of them, save one or two.
The last encounter was perhaps one of my favorites we’ve ever had. There was a woman sitting alone on a bench who didn’t appear to be doing anything–wasn’t even looking at a phone. We offered a rosary, which she accepted. We got to chatting a bit and eventually asked whether she was Catholic. She told us that she grew up Catholic but hasn’t been to church in 15 years. I asked what holds her back, and she revealed that she doesn’t feel like she’d fit in. My co-evangelist took a risk and asked if this was due to a struggle with same-sex attraction. Our new friend replied “yes”. We assured her that Jesus loves her and she has a place in the Church. We also apologized for anything that any Catholic may have done in the past that made her feel unwelcome. The look on her face as we said these things was priceless. She went from slightly guarded to comfortable (words can’t do it justice). I was reminded of our new Holy Father Pope Leo’s call to build bridges. It felt like a little bridge was built on Mount Auburn that day. Hopefully that bridge continues to be reinforced by other positive encounters with Christians, and ultimately paved with Jesus’ love. As we continued to chat, I recalled that a devout Catholic friend is involved with a ministry for those who struggle with same-sex attraction in the area. I told her about him and asked if she’d be interested in being connected. She said that she was, so we got her email and are putting them in touch! Please pray for the people we met on Mount Auburn St., that they’d be drawn deeper into the reality of God’s love for them!
Praised be Jesus Christ!