Manville, NJ
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This report comes to us from station leader Mary Ann with our Somerville-Immaculate Conception parish team in NJ:
It was a glorious evening when Albert, Wilber, Mary Ann and I set up our booth for the annual Catholic festival. We were nervous as we didn’t have official permission from the parish. Albert was able to talk to a deacon at the church, who texted the pastor. The pastor not only said yes, but moved our booth to a prominent position in the fair! We were so grateful for their willingness to have us. We had many grace-filled encounters over the next three hours. Here are a few:
A man walking by refused a rosary. I asked him about his faith life, which opened up a long conversation. He came from a family of very devout parents who fostered him as a child. He clearly loved and respected them. Because of that, he still thinks of himself as Catholic, but doesn’t go to Mass. He has a lot of contempt for the clergy and what he feels is their lavish and hypocritical lifestyles, as well as for the institutional church. I commiserated with him about his encounters and then shared why I still choose to remain Catholic, and why I feel there are a lot of holy priests out there. I offered to pray with him and he declined. As the conversation was wrapping up, he said “I will actually take this rosary”. It was a very positive conversation.
Two women walked by our table and took rosaries. When I spoke to them about their faith, they enthusiastically said that they both go to Mass every Sunday at this parish. It was a fun and lively conversation. I then asked about confession and offered a brochure about the sacrament, the one woman took it out of my hands and tossed it back on the table and said “I don’t need that!” I shared with her that I go to confession frequently and she asked “Why?”. I joked “Because I’m bad…just ask my husband.” She asked Albert, and he said “She’s not bad, she’s just a sinner like all of us.” I then picked up the brochure as I spoke about why I go to confession, why I find it so challenging to go and how wonderful I feel afterwards. She was smiling and very receptive throughout. When I held out the brochure again, she took it as she walked away thanking us and still smiling.
We spoke to a young family who’d just moved into the area. When I asked if they were Catholic, they gave me an emphatic YES! When I asked them about if they registered at a parish, they said they hadn’t gotten around to it yet. I asked about their sacramental life, and they said they don’t go to Mass often. The mother laughed and said “Yes, I know I should be going to Mass every week!” We prayed together for their young son, daughter and their family. They were very touched, and their little girl was smiling ear to ear as she made the sign of the cross when we closed the prayer. She clearly knew this sacramental! The father also thanked me.
God is so good, all of the time! We are so grateful to be able to share our love of Him!