Boise

Country: United States
State or province: Idaho

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Lucy Stamm
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Job Security - 2023-05-28

June 4, 2023

There’s still plenty of work in God’s vineyard to be done, so thank you again for your prayers for the Boise Catholic street evangelization effort.

A multi-generational family of about 10 stopped when one of the women wanted a Rosary. They were Catholic (and nominally Catholic and the unsure). Half of the family was visiting from out of state. The young man e. chuck spoke with was an inactive Catholic and kept saying he meant to pray the Rosary but didn’t, and “now I have no excuse” as he chose a second Rosary for his girlfriend. E. Chuck tried to help him see past the idea that prayer is a chore that he has to get through, and to recognize it as time spent with a best friend. After everyone in the group had selected a Rosary for him- or herself, a teenage girl asked about the pamphlets we had on the table. E. Lucy explained how to use the Good News/kerygma pamphlet to introduce Jesus to someone and give them the basic Christian message. One of the teen boys came up at that point and also took a copy of the kerygma pamphlet. Then he asked about our “Come Home” pamphlet. E. Lucy explained that it was designed to reach Catholics who had fallen away from the Sacraments. He thought of someone in his circle of acquaintances who could use it, and so asked for one. Then he asked about our “Do I Need a Savior?” pamphlet. E. Lucy explained that it started further back than the Good News one, in that it tried to get people to just touch on their need for God. He took one of those, too. Two or three people in the group also took Divine Mercy prayer cards. Pray for unity of faith in all Catholic families.

Repeat visitor “Douglas” stopped to say hi on his way to a job interview. He had started reading the Catechism we gave him last week. E. Lucy encouraged him to keep reading it straight through from the beginning in order to “catch” the Catholic worldview. He seemed encouraged.

A toothless woman, who had received a Rosary from us in the past, brought a little girl to the table so she could get one.

The father of a large-ish non-Catholic Christian family saw the Rosaries and told us they loved Jesus. We were glad to hear that and quickly explained that the Rosary was a series of meditations to encourage people to grow closer to Him. It seemed to calm his suspicion of Catholics down a little, and they promised to pray for us.

Some teenagers came over for a free Rosary. They claimed to be Christian, so we explained the devotion and encouraged them to use it to grow closer to Christ. Later, they came back, bringing a few other teens with them, who also wanted a Rosary. May God bless our natural evangelists!

The man who has so often hailed his enemy as he walked by, this time called out an especially foul and false characterization of God. God, please forgive him and grant him the grace of full conversion!

A couple walking two dogs wanted Rosaries but were unfamiliar with them, and the man said he wasn’t sure where he stood on Christianity. So we started with the Rosary, showing them how the Mysteries could help them get to know who Christ is better, and emphasized the Gospel message of God coming to our rescue in the person of Jesus to suffer, die, and rise in order to offer us salvation from sin and death. They were quiet and guarded as we spoke, but accepted a Good News pamphlet along with their Rosaries. Pray that they hear the call of the Holy Spirit.

Three teenagers stopped. One girl did not choose a Rosary and remained silent while the other girl said she was “sort of a Christian” but wasn’t going to church. E. Chuck encouraged her to not “wait until someday” to take her faith seriously, because Christ was calling her now. He also mentioned that many Saints had devoted themselves in heroic ways even in their teens. St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for them.

The father of a passing family group declined a Rosary and stopped to say he had grown up Catholic “but then discovered the Bible.” He went on to say he had heard St. John Paul the Great at a youth thing (World Youth Day, Denver, 1993) and “it didn’t do anything for me” so began looking elsewhere. E. Chuck said he had made the opposite journey but the man just repeated his comment about discovering the Bible and moved on. St. John Paul the Great, pray for him.

Two teenage boys on skateboards came to the table, they didn’t know anything about the Rosary and were not too sure if they were Chrisitan, so we shared the Good News of Christ with them and encouraged them to read through the Mysteries of the Rosary to get to know Jesus. E. Chuck also gave them a “Do I Need a Savior?” pamphlet. Pray that they respond to God’s call.

Altogether, we gave away 25-30 Rosaries and its pamphlet, and several each of our “Come Home”, Good News/kerygma, and “Do I Need a Savior?” pamphlets, as well as some Divine Mercy prayer cards.

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.

On this Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit invited lots of people to visit with us. 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).