Jesus loves every person He created and wants them saved. So, thank you again for your prayers for the Boise Catholic street evangelization effort.

• An event celebrating fictional characters was going on in the main convention center. Many of its participants wore elaborate costumes, and lots of people were in and passing through the plaza. We saw numerous young adults, although many of them seemed quite socially awkward.
• As we were setting up, we had several people stop for a Rosary and stay for the explanation. As the crowd thinned, a smiling woman who had been watching us came over to talk. She is a cradle Catholic but had not been active for most of her life, until a variety of life experiences led her back to the Church. She had just been Confirmed this last Easter. She is a flight attendant so has been in Boise before and has attended Mass here, since she uses a Mass times app to find a Mass whenever she can. She just wanted to tell us how happy she was about being Catholic. Seeing all the pretty Rosaries on our table also gave her such joy, and e. Nancy convinced her to select one in her favorite color and receive its booklet. Give thanks to God for her return home to the Catholic Church and pray for her perseverance in the Faith.
• Four boys in their early teens were talking to e. Chuck when e. Nancy arrived. Three of them were very attentive to his explanations, and one was distracted. But they each got a Rosary and its booklet. Then the mighty struggle began to get the Rosary over their heads. One couldn’t, but he decided it was his favorite and put it in his pocket.
• Two young women, each in her upper teens or early 20s, separately stopped at the table for a free Rosary. One had been walking alone. The other had dropped back from her group to come talk to us. Neither was familiar with the devotion. Trying to learn from her past two epic failures with her follow-up question, e. Lucy softened her voice and put concern in her expression before asking, “Do you know that Jesus is real? And that He loves you?” Each visitor gave a matchingly quiet “yes” response. So, the evangelist explained the Rosary devotion as a way to get to know Jesus better. They each listened politely, chose a Rosary, and accepted its pamphlet on how to pray it. Lord, draw them to use their new Rosary for prayer reveal Your great love for each of them as they do so.
• A mom and two school-aged boys stopped. The boys were excited to tell us they were Catholic and attended a nearby Catholic school. They then each choose a Rosary and accepted its booklet, though they acted like they already knew all about it. Lord, keep them Faithful and help them grow in their love of You.
• Two more Catholic families stopped, the child in each case also happily telling us they go to a local Catholic school. The children, and several of the parents, each took a Rosary as well as the booklet on how to pray it. Lord, grant unity and peace in each family and keep them Faithful.
• A Catholic man who is a chaplain at a local hospital stopped to encourage us. He was wearing a fighter-monk costume from a fictional movie series, and he attends the same parish as e. Lucy. We discussed problematic laws and practices in a neighboring country and encouraged each other to pray. Lord, bless him in his ministry and help him bring the patients he visits to You and salvation.
• A man and his son stopped so the boy could get a Rosary. The man identifies as Catholic, and as belonging to the same parish as e. Lucy. However, he doesn’t attend Sunday Mass, but only a daily Mass celebrated by a certain priest. We at least encouraged him to pray the Rosary. Lord, may the priest he admires draw our visitor back into full practice of his Catholic Faith. And may his son also become Faithful.
• A grandmother and her early-teenage, and perhaps neurologically challenged, daughter stopped so the girl could get a Rosary. She never said a word, but nodded a couple of times when the evangelist asked if she knew Jesus was real and loved her. Besides a Rosary, she accepted its pamphlet. Lord, draw her close to You and help her grow in holiness.
• As a couple passed, the man said, tongue in cheek, “We’re part of the frozen-chosen, but we’re trying.” We appreciate it when people say no politely or with a sense of humor like this man. But today we had a higher percentage of refusals that expressed anger or disgust. Please pray for healing for these people, a softening of their hearts and a growing realization they need Our Savior Jesus Christ and the Church that He founded.
• A man expressed great enthusiasm at the chance to have a Rosary. He told us that, some 35 years ago, he had a girlfriend who was Catholic and they had gone to Rome together where she got her Rosary blessed. The more we talked, the more it became apparent he just wanted the Rosary because it reminded him of an old girlfriend. Pray that the sight of the Crucifix will remind him instead of the great gift and enormous cost of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and that he will be granted the grace of true conversion.
• A woman paused wondering what the pamphlet was that we were holding of, along with a Rosary or two. E. Chuck told her how it was a guide to praying the Rosary and why we use it for prayer. She said, “I don’t want the beads, but I’ll take the pamphlet.” She’d studied comparative religions at a university when she was young and liked to read about the practices of different religions. Hence, her desire for a pamphlet. But it seems religion is just an abstract subject of study for her and not a source of ultimate truth. Pray that she has a life-changing encounter with the living God in this life before she passes on to the next.
• Five young adults stopped, nicely dressed and giddy with the joy of one of them having just been baptized. They seemed to be non-Catholic Christians. E. Lucy brought out a beautiful chain Rosary for the newly baptized to have if she wanted, and she was most appreciative. They thought all the Rosaries were beautiful, and each picked one, received its booklet, and happily listened to the brief explanation of the devotion. Lord, draw them to use the Rosary for prayer and draw each of them ever closer to You.
• A young-adult man stopped. He is a local university student, whom e. Nancy knows from the Newman Center there. He was very impressed by our table. He is a recent convert from a non-Catholic Christian denomination, and works with Catholic 101, an apologetics ministry at the Newman Center. He said he’s just started helping with Youth Ministry also. He studies hard, is so very knowledgeable about the Faith. Lord, keep him Faithful and may his efforts draw more and more people to You and salvation.
• One young man kept walking around and back and forth in the vicinity of our table. He never acknowledged that he heard us offering him a Rosary. (I think each of us ended up asking him more than once, since it was hard to keep track with all the people.) Then he abruptly walked over and selected a blue Rosary, listened to e. Lucy’s explanation, and accepted the Rosary booklet, but never showing much emotion. Lord, just as he responded to repeated invitations to accept a Rosary, please grant him the grace to respond to Your repeated invitations to accept salvation through You.
• A man stopped to tell us that he is happy with Pope Leo: he says our pope is “for immigrants”, while our visitor (mistakenly) judges that our bishop isn’t since he is currently urging Catholics to vote against a radical pro-abortion issue in the upcoming election. However, our visitor did correctly state the Catholic position that “all life is important, immigrants included.” The man then told us that he spends part of every year in another State, known for its liberal philosophy and legislation. He claimed that “everyone is equal in [the other State]; in Idaho, people aren’t equal.” He didn’t want a Rosary. Lord, open his eyes to see just how active our local Church is in defending all people and working for their true good.
• A group of four older teenagers said yes, they wanted a Rosary. They were very enthusiastic about how beautiful they were but had no idea what it was for. They each picked a Rosary and got the booklet. As they walked away, e. Nancy saw two of the girls holding the Rosaries up, admiring and comparing them. Lord, use the beauty of the Rosary that each girl selected to draw her to You and salvation.
• A man with a walker that spoke gibberish wanted both of the yellow Rosaries that e. Nancy was holding. She gave him one. He then took the booklet and listened to her brief explanation of devotion. Then he unceremoniously opened his walker’s seating box, dumped everything in, and walked away. I found out later that he is a frequent flyer and apparently trades the Rosaries for other things. Lord, may the people he barters with appreciate their new Rosary.
• One of the costumed convention-attending women, to whom e. Nancy offered a Rosary, responded with a throat-cutting gesture, as if to say “stop talking”, and then pointed at the evangelist. Lord, save that woman and protect everyone on this team and their loved ones: evangelists, prayer warriors, and Rosary makers.
• An older couple stopped and wanted a yellow Rosary for the man’s granddaughter. I think someone in the family, or the granddaughter herself, is Catholic. Lord, strengthen the Faith of that girl and bring the whole family to salvation.
• A young man with an overseas accent stopped and wanted to tell e. Nancy about his non-Christian meditation practice. He didn’t, though, really believe in any particular religion; he just picked and chose what he judged to be true. The evangelist asked him if he realized that Jesus loves him and has a plan for his life. But our visitor avoided answering by switching to a story about a poisonous-spider encounter he’d had as a child. We agreed the Holy Spirit had a plan for him. He said he would think about it. He didn’t want a Rosary or its booklet. Lord, show him where You were during his childhood trauma and draw him into a life-giving relationship with You.
• A young-adult couple walked by. Then the woman returned. She got a Rosary and its booklet. And then she became more and more interested as she talked with e. Lucy about it. Lord, use our visitor’s enthusiasm to draw her into actually using her new Rosary for prayer and meditation on Your Life.
• An older woman, walking with two others, was in a hurry. She liked the Rosary that e. Nancy was holding and wanted it. She stayed just long enough to say she’d prayed the Rosary off and on for years, and thought her life was more peaceful when she did pray it. The evangelist told her that she, too, experiences peace and hope when praying the Rosary. Our visitor replied, “Yes, hope. That’s right.” Lord, keep our visitor Faithful and help her always to hope in You.
• Quite a few people said they had lots of Rosaries at home. Lord, inspire each of these people to take out their Rosary and pray with it.
• Foot traffic was heavy and steady. The three evangelists gave away about 50 Rosaries and its pamphlet, as well as a “Why Be Catholic?” pamphlet.

Please pray for us again today? Ask God to send people to us with hearts prepared to perceive their need for Our Savior Jesus Christ and His Holy Catholic Church, and that much good fruit for His Kingdom comes of today’s efforts.

“Go with the strength you have” (Judg 6:14).