Somerville, NJ
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This report comes to us from station leaders Michael and Alpa with our Somerville-Immaculate Conception parish team in NJ:
On Saturday, the Holy Spirit was reaching the hearts of shoppers at Bridgewater Commons Mall. It’s quite a large shopping complex, with over 130 stores and restaurants, plus a movie theater, so we were guaranteed a lot of foot traffic. The mall’s slogan is “Where You Belong”. Couldn’t help but think that we were about to give them information about where they truly belong, which is ultimately in heaven with Our Lord.
We met Gwen, who wanted prayers for her friend who wrestles with addiction. We prayed for her friend and those who struggle with substance abuse. We also got to speak with her about her own faith. She was a fallen away Catholic. We reminded her about God’s love for her and that she’s one confession away from being a Catholic in good standing.
We met a couple who go to our parish. The young woman was Catholic, but her friend wasn’t. I asked if he was baptized. He wasn’t, but was considering joining the Catholic church. We spoke about our parish OCIA and how you can join any time. I also gave the contact information of the head of our OCIA, as well as my contact info. We encouraged them to move forward with OCIA, and they both seemed enthusiastic.
We met siblings who were open and great to talk to. We chatted about their faith life, and how they were raised Catholic, but their mom now goes to a non-denominational church. We encouraged them to come back to Catholicism, and asked if they’d made their First Communion. They responded that they “had gone all the way through”. They looked sad that they were no longer Catholic. I asked if we could pray for them, and when they said yes, I asked if they had any specific intentions, and the young man said he’d like to increase his faith. I was touched deeply with that prayer request, given the chat we’d just had. We happily obliged!
Praised be Jesus Christ!