Naperville, IL
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This story comes to us from evangelist Ben with our team in Joliet, IL:
The 2026 season has officially started! On Saturday, Angelica led a small team to evangelize at an Irish Parade held in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Our team arrived before a brief snow squall, but many souls were reached in this short time, and many people were prayed for! I made sure to pray for St. Patrick’s intercession over everyone we prayed for, to remind them that St. Patrick isn’t just a symbol of Ireland, but a saint in heaven who loves and prays for us!
We encountered a young man named Marcel who was raised Christian and just getting back into his faith. We gave him a rosary and a pamphlet on how to pray it, and I invited him to come join my men’s Bible study. He gave me his phone number so I can reach out with further details. The interaction was rather brief because he was watching his little daughter and the parade, but I could see an earnestness in his eyes and tone that told me we were there for a reason. We met another young man named Dominic who was also just getting back into his faith. He hasn’t returned to church yet, but recently bought a Bible and started reading it for the first time in years. I asked him if he’d looked into Catholicism at all and he said he was really new to all of this so not really. Unfortunately I forgot to invite him to the Bible study, but I asked if I could pray with him, so I prayed for him right there that the Lord would continue to bless his journey towards the fullness of truth in the Church. Like the previous young man, I saw a genuine desire for the truth in him, and I hope that meeting Catholics will encourage him to explore the Catholic faith and pray the rosary, which we also gave him instructions on how to pray.
Toward the end of the parade, we met three young men and asked if they wanted rosaries or prayer. They happily accepted rosaries and instructions on how to pray them, and they asked that we pray for the business they had recently started together. We did that and got to talking about where they’re at in their faith journey. They all expressed that they too were relatively new to the faith and had an openness to Catholicism. I told them about my Bible study and they all expressed interest in coming by! They gave me a business card with all of their numbers on it for me to follow up with more information.
We also had interactions with people who were Catholic, but not very interested in talking to us. But a number of them, surprised that we even asked to pray for them right then and there, agreed to let us pray. And I could tell that they were genuinely touched that there were people out there who just wanted to love and pray for them. Although they weren’t interested in further conversations about the faith, I hope that our reflection of the love of Christ touched them. One man in particular even said that he hadn’t been to Church in a while, but that he was happy we were there to pray for him and he took it as a sign that he should go back to church! We encouraged him to do this and to pray the rosary, and he was grateful.
Please pray for all those our team reached at the parade, and please continue to pray for our team as we go out to reach souls this year and beyond!