What a great first outing for Lydia with me at McEuen Park in Coeur d’Alene. Again, we didn’t know what to expect on an overcast Saturday morning but it was very good day for our first time together.

The first man who came to our Catholic post was Ryan, a visitor from Denver, here on a work trip. We encouraged each other because he is an active Catholic who had never seen Catholics out in public sharing the Good News. We gave him information about SPSE that he will take back to his parish. We prayed together for successful outing and business venture for Ryan.

The next visitors responded to my question if they would like a free rosary. The two young men came over and had an openness to talk. Matthew said he was spiritual. I asked him to describe his experience which he replied that he was not part of a church but had a spiritual relationship with many beliefs. I replied that Jesus was also spiritual as I offered the rosary explaining the meaning of the crucifix. He was familiar with the rosary because he grew up Catholic and prayed the rosary with his grandmother as a child. We talked about the fruit of the local Catholic Churches and offered an invitation to come to ours. His friend, Brian, was open to learn about our faith in Jesus through the Catholic Church. We explained the true presence of Jesus in each Catholic Church which is the great gift God has given us because of his love for us as his children. We prayed a blessing with them to continue on their journey of faith.

Many people walked by saying no thank you or ignored our presence. We said God bless you with peace and they went off on their walks.

TJ came by and said he would be back for the rosary. When he came back a few minutes later, he took the rosary explaining he had attended Catholic school as a child. He goes to many churches, none Catholic, which implied that he wasn’t connecting with any particular church. We invited him to St Pius and the young adult pizza event Sunday. We prayed that he would sense God’s presence in his life to bring healing and relationship of love. He was very thankful because he said he needed to hear the prayer that day. We will look out for him at church.

We handed out about a dozen rosaries, connecting with a few people. We prayed that our small effort would be meet with the greatness of God moving with grace, mercy and love in the hearts of all who passed by.