Greer, SC
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The following story and comes to us from team leader Caleb with our team in Greenville, South Carolina:
When our team goes out to evangelize, we always begin with prayer. We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, to protect us from hostility, and to open hearts to God’s love. This day, it was Ernesto, Fr. Davison, and I. Right off the bat, we had a challenging discussion with two ex-Catholics, a man and a woman. They brought up many of their issues, and agreed with each other that they were anti-Catholic. Interestingly, they argued with each other as to whether God still performed miracles. I tried to counter their arguments with Socratic questioning or explanations of why we believe what we believe, but was often interrupted or they’d switch to another subject before I could finish. The man left first. Then the lady left when I pulled out my Bible to start giving her some Scripture verses. This was after she had gone on a tirade about the Blessed Virgin.
God did bless us with several meaningful conversations. One young man asked thoughtful questions about salvation and the Catholic Church. We explained that when the Church teaches that salvation comes through her, it’s not about a building or institution, but about Jesus Christ working through the Church He founded. Even those who have never heard His name receive grace through Him. Another young man, a Protestant studying Catholicism, stopped to ask about the veneration of images. Though our time with him was short, we shared some of the Church’s history on the subject and hope to see him again.
A Pentecostal pastor, Greg, stopped by. We prayed for an upcoming business transaction of his and I ended with the sign of the cross. Then we talked about the Holy Spirit, miracles, and suffering. His son’s disabled and he’s seen much suffering, but also has seen God answer many prayers. I got to share some of my faith and encouraging Scripture verses. He then ended by pointing out that we make the sign of the cross when we pray. I gave him a brief historical explanation, and he went into various foreshadowings of the cross that he’d learned in Scripture and in nature. He respected what we did. We both agreed that the sign of the cross was so important because it pointed to Jesus who suffered for us. God turns the greatest suffering into our greatest good. What a blessing. That very weekend the Church liturgically celebrated the Cross. I pray that one day Greg will venerate a true relic of the cross like I was able to at Mass and one day receive his Lord and Savior in the Holy Eucharist.
Praised be Jesus Christ!