Open for Business

Last Saturday  we went back to the place where we started this ministry, downtown Berkeley on Shattuck Avenue right by the BART station. This time we came armed with your prayers and a new opening prayer. Here it is-

Come Holy Spirit!
Sezzzt our hearts on fire with zeal for the Gospel, love for all people and the desire for their salvation.
Inspire us that we might proclaim the Gospel persurasively and with charity, giving witness with our words and our lives.
Give us courage in proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the truth, beauty, and goodness of our Catholicy faith.
We beg you also to open the hearts of all people, helping them to know Your love and Your call to the fullness of life in Your Church.
Through our holy patrons, Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Paul, we ask these graces for all the evangelists of St. Paul Street Evengelization and those of us here, and we make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

We sezzzt up adjacent to a small group of young homeless folks. It was the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the last time I ordered Rosaries, they threw in a bag of medals depecting the image, so we made it a point of including one with every rosary we gave out. Your prayers for us were answered because we had a very busy two hours. Here are some exerpts of our encounters-

Met with a man who’s wife is Catholic and he was not. He believes in God and does get involved with corporal works of mercy with the Salvation Army. He was very glad to see us. He wanted a Rosary for his wife.f We asked him if he had ever thought about becoming a Catholic. He hesitatingly said yes, so we gave him a “Why Be Catholic” pamphlet and two medals  one for him and one for his wife. We also gave him a brochure about Our Lady of Guadalupe that We had gotten from some friends of ours who used to have a Catholic book store. Please pray for this man, he seemed very open. It would be wonderful if he and his wife could share the faith.

Rodney and I were in discussion with a young man who is wrestleing with questions about the faith and the nature of God. He was curious about why God can be all good and all powerful if there is evil and suffering in the world. He said that he goes to a lot of Protestant churches with the same questions and they have never given him a satisfactory answer. Our answers were the issue of free will and it is up to each of us, in cooperation wtih God to address issues of suffering, and evil and that this in turn makes us closer to God, which is what He really wants.We discussed things further, but no answer seemed to be good enough. I told him that he was asking important questions but that I was not going to be able to answer all his quesions while standing around on the sidewalk. He would need to read about this stuff in order to think these things through. I gave him a “The Problem of Suffering and Evil” pamphlet. I also I also encouraged him to read “Confessions” by St. Austine  since it goes into some of these types of issues and is a compelling book.  He thanked us and headed on.

“The Problem of Evil and Suffering” got a lot of action that day. A young homeless man was drawn to it. I asked him if he had ever considered becoming Catholic. In an attempt to freak me out, he told me he was a satanic priest instead of answering the question, so I asked him again, “But have you ever thought about being Catholic?” He quietly said yes and immediately scowled and spouted off some diatribe about how the Bible is full of evil acts which God allowed and I just looked at him with a pensive smile and agreed that there are some evil acts in the Bible. He took the brochure, thanked me and left.

Met a woman who when accepting a Rosary and being asked if she was Catholic informed me that she was an omnivore. This gave me a great chuckle and I said, “So you have an open heart and an open mind.” I gave her the Rosary pamphlet and discussed it in terms of a form of meditation. She accepted them graciously along with a medal and was on went on her way.

Also met a woman named Velma. She have moved to the US from Honduras with her 3 sons for a better life . She had not been to Mass in many years. She shared a negative experience she had had with a priest a long time ago, but was not angry about it. She talked about how much she loves Pope Fancis. We gave her “Reasons to Return to the Catholic Church” pamphlet, a Rosary and a medal. She wanted to send an email to the Pope and wanted to know if you knew how to get his email address. We are working on that one.

Here are Rodney’s encounters-

The morning of Saturday, December 12 was crisp and clear as our two-man team worked the plaza outside the Downtown Berkeley BART station on Shattuck Ave. As it was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dave had on hand small medals of “La Virgen”, which would make for a nice handout. On doing some reading at home later that day I discovered that Our Lady was named Patroness of the New Evangelization by St. JP II, which was a pleasant surprise and should embolden me on future outings as I keep her in mind.
On the opposite end of the seating area from us was a group of young homeless people hanging out accompanied by two furry companions – a ginger cat and a hound dog. One of the guys approached, sharing he was from New Jersey and comparing the lesser presence of Catholicism in the Bay Area to what he opined is a greater prevalence in his native East Coast. He asked us to pray for one of his companion who was a victim of crime, living out on the street.
Other encounters of note:
A young male happily accepted rosaries, but only as fashion accessories when he was able to fit one over his head and wear around his neck. We explained to him their purpose as meditation beads and I handed him a pamphlet on the Rosary prayers. He folded and placed it in his pocket, so I considered that a “seed planted”.
A young man, who I assumed to be a local resident because he asked what the Catholic parishes were in the area while expressing an interest to look into the faith. I subtly steered him to our table where Dave gave him a diocesan directory. In response to the question, “what does it take to become Catholic?” I was struck by Dave’s simple but powerful answer of “Baptism.” I was formulating a multi-tiered response of finding an adult program, RCIA, etc. but really the ultimate aim of the initiate should be receiving the sacrament of water which is the liberation from sin and inclusion into the people of God. In my progress as an evangelist I must shape my approach to stick to the basics – the Trinity, the Creed, the Blessed Mother, Seven Sacraments when presenting the tenets of the faith. I left he and Dave to further discussion. This was the day’s best example of using apologetics and philosophical reasoning, for which I applaud Dave’s usage and deft handling.

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