Boise

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State or province: Idaho

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Lucy Stamm
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Jesus, Today and Forever - 2022-11-27

December 4, 2022

Jesus is still the Reason for the season. So thank you again for your prayers for the Boise Catholic street evangelization effort.

The annual decorated Holiday-Tree event was happening in the convention center, so there was plenty of foot traffic.

On a couple of occasions, a Catholic grandmother, escorting a child or two, came to the table so the children could get a Rosary. We encouraged them to pray it together.

A Catholic deacon and his wife, from a neighboring town, stopped to encourage us. They already were praying the Rosary daily.

A teen girl, part of a large family group, pulled her mouth down in an inverted smile/shared-grief face as she shook her head no thank you. It seemed closer to grief than to disapproval. Whatever turned her heart against the Faith must have been big. Bad, deeply painful. God, help her! Heal her!

Two elderly ladies with cameras stopped, one more interested in the Rosaries than the other. but both friendly. The interested woman said she had her late father’s Rosary. but was afraid to use it because it was so old and fragile. She was not Catholic and seemed to equate her other beads, from a non-Christian religion, to the Rosary. We showed her the how’s and why’s of the Rosary prayer and offered it, partially, as a connection between herself and her long deceased father. We also gave her a “Who Am I?” pamphlet and suggested she contemplate that when tempted to get out her non-Christian beads. The other woman took a “Good News”/kerygma pamphlet. Pray they stop playing with faith and begin to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.

A pre-teen girl came for a free Rosary. Moments later, her younger sister came for one (although e. Lucy at first thought it was the same girl returning. When the first girl returned to stand by her sister while she chose her own Rosary, it was clear they were several years apart in age.)

Though the husband walked past the table to stand in line at the ticket booth, a woman and her small children came to the table seeking a Rosary. She had grown up Catholic, but her family had quit attending Mass when she was twelve. She was never taught how to pray the Rosary. Later, she married a man from another religion, further sidetracking her. But she admitted she had been thinking about the Catholic Church again. Beginning with the Rosary and its deep dive into the life and love of Christ, we reminded her of our desperate need for the Eucharist and other Sacraments of the Church. With a sigh, she said all these things were weighing heavy on her mind, then left to join her husband at the event. We encouraged her to pray the Rosary with her children. Pray she listens to Christ calling her to return to the Church.

Another family, with teenage children, paused at the table on their way to the event. The father hung back but smiled in a friendly way, while the mother said she had been raised Catholic but had long neglected her faith. She, too, had never been taught how to pray the Rosary. We encouraged her to reacquaint herself with Christ through the Rosary and to seek him in the Eucharist. She selected a Rosary that had just been donated. Pray the grim beauty of the Crucifix on her Rosary and the love it represents move her to seek her Savior in His Church.

While e. Chuck was conversing with the previous woman, some Catholics came over to greet us. One woman in the group, “Anna”, donated a Rosary she had made with real stones. E. Lucy lay it on the table, then turned to get Anna’s contact info. E. Chuck said the Rosary didn’t stay on the table even 10 seconds because the woman talking with him immediately claimed it. May Our Blessed Mother use that Rosary to draw the woman and her family into Full Communion with her Son’s Church!

Two teenage boys on skateboards selected Rosaries and even paused to listen to the evangelist’s pleas to seek Christ in the prayer. Later, however, a little girl brought us a Rosary taken by one of the boys but now found on the ground. Pray that the boys do not throw away the love Christ has for them.

“John”, the retired parking lot attendant, showed up toward the end of our session with dog and lawn chair. He sat and swapped stories and shared how he learned to fit in at family functions by offering to serve others. He also told how he ran a halfway house for addicts and served tacos there for Thanksgiving for many years. Remember John and his family in your prayers.

Altogether, the two evangelists gave away 25 or so Rosaries and its pamphlet, and several “Come Home” and kerygma pamphlets.

Please pray for us 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.

We didn’t mention the sour looks we received, but they acknowledge that whether He is loved or hated, Jesus Christ is real and truly Our King. So thank you again for your prayers and other support for this apostolate. In turn, may God protect and greatly bless you and all those you love!

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

https://streetevangelization.com/team-page/?team-chapter=boise&view-blog=true