Boise

Country: United States
State or province: Idaho

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Lucy Stamm
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Double-Dog Dare

May 7, 2023

A dare can lead to prayer. So thank you again for your prayers for the Boise Catholic street evangelization effort.

A nicely dressed Catholic couple, “Paul” and “Nicole”(?), from a state way south of us stopped to offer encouragement. They (and others) wondered why the fountain in the business park wasn’t going yet, since it was 90° F out (compared to 60° F only the previous week). They don’t seem to understand that there’s still a good chance of a hard freeze between now and Memorial Day.

A group of teenage girls stopped, not familiar with the Rosary but wanting one (probably because they were free). They were not Christian, so e. Lucy used the Rosary pamphlet to show the life of Jesus and encourage them to get to know Him by spending a few minutes a day thinking about one of the 4 groups of stories.

“James” (perhaps soon to be “e. James”) brought his mother, “Eleanor”, by so they could see our setup. He had previously invited e. Lucy to give a presentation at the apologetics class he facilitated at e. Lucy’s parish.

“Jason” (“Jesse”?) stopped to banter with e. Chuck. He told us he was just back from spending part of the winter in a warmer state on the other side of the country. He described being in a large Catholic church there for a family event. He wasn’t clear, though, about whether it was a wedding , a baptism, or Easter. (Of course, if it occurred during the Easter Vigil, it could have included all three.) Added to his confused description of the event was his declared need to “get into RCIA” so he “could participate in Mass”. It was difficult to keep him on a single subject in conversation, but he was not going to take a Rosary because he wasn’t yet Catholic. We convinced him that the prayer was not limited to practicing Catholics. So, he finally, reluctantly, chose a Rosary. Sensing that his interest in the Church was superficial, e. Chuck pushed him to commit to actually praying the Rosary. He half agreed to read the pamphlet and we said that it was not the same thing, and that he needed to pray it. Then e. Chuck went so far as to “double-dog dare” him to open himself to Christ in prayer. Pray that Jason can get past his own theories of life and faith, and be transformed by a deep relationship with his Savior.

A Catholic family with 3 young children under the age of 6 stopped. They weren’t yet in the habit of praying the Rosary as a family, so e. Lucy set them each up with one and encouraged them to pray it daily.

Another group of teens, boys this time, stopped. E. Chuck shared the Gospel with them.

A group of 4 college-aged men stopped. They each chose a Rosary, including the last black ones we’d brought. A few minutes later, two of the men returned to ask for different colors. E. Lucy sanitized the black Rosaries and put them back out, where, within moments, they were chosen by other passersby. A big thank you to Rosary makers who give us black Rosaries (which are difficult to make because the hole in the bead is so hard to see).

A grinning man took the Rosary from e. Chuck’s hand and said it was good to see us back in the business park now that the weather is nice. We told him we had been there every Sunday all winter. The man chuckled and replied, “Oh yeah, I guess I’m the one who hasn’t been walking to work in bad weather.” May his good cheer be a result of his growing relationship with you, Lord.

When offered a Rosary, a teenage boy declined, saying he belonged to a non-Christian religion. But his friend, who wore a cross on his necklace, came to the table. However, after hearing about the prayer, he also declined saying he had no pockets to carry it in and, besides, he already had a cross. Pray, Mary, that he can see that your Motherhood will only lead him closer to Jesus.

Four teenage girls, wanting free necklaces, listened politely as we explained and extolled the Rosary. All seemed to be Christian, but they were not very talkative. May the sight of the Crucifix remind them of Your great love for them and draw them deeper in love with You, Lord.

Teenage boys (3 or 4) came to the table, one of whom was not a Christian. E. Chuck set him up with our one-page copy of the kerygma while e. Lucy introduced them to the Rosary as a way to get to know Jesus Christ.

A Catholic family of four (the children were both under 2 years old) seemed undecided about stopping. Finally, the father came to the table. As they discussed what color to choose, we encouraged them to pray as a family.

“John” (the retired parking lot maintenance man) stopped to chat. Please pray for his wife, “Linda”, who recently had surgery to install an artificial shoulder.

Foot traffic was light for 3/4 of the session, perhaps because of the suddenly-summer temperature. Still, we gave away at least 15-20 Rosaries and its pamphlet, as well as a couple copies of the Good News/kerygma pamphlet and our pamphlet on Confession.

Please pray for us again today? Ask God to send people to us with their 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.

Prayer is the best way to get to know Jesus Christ. 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).