Boise

Country: United States
State or province: Idaho

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Lucy Stamm
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Our God Reigns - 2024-09-29

October 6, 2024

Unusually, we had three angry visitors in this one session. (Our usual experience is about one per year.)

A 50ish man on a bike stopped to say he did not want a Rosary, but wanted to say something. He then began to rant. His reaction to e. Chuck’s comments and questions was simply to get louder and angrier. Other people throughout the business park, even from nearly a block away, were beginning to glance over and look uncomfortable. It soon became apparent that our visitor hated his father, both for his being Christian and for holding political views that our visitor despised. When the evangelist said how sorry he was that the man had such a broken relationship with his father, he just became louder and more bellicose. A passing homeless man with a long white beard, evidently encouraged by the man’s yelling, shouted that religion is the source of all the evil in the world. Buoyed by the sympathetic voice, the man on the bike began bellowing at the top of his lungs, throwing out wild accusations and adding his political views. A passing man then yelled at the man on the bike, but again it only increased his anger. The evangelist told the passerby it was okay and to move on. Then two men, in their late 20s or early 30s, came to the table to take their turn at trying to end the confrontation. The evangelist told the man on the bike to leave, and stepped around the table to stand between him and the younger men. One of the younger men also told him to leave, but he bellowed, “I’ll do what I want!” But he did ride away. The young men commented on the situation, but the man on the bike overheard and circled back, yelling at us. He stopped at the table and, in an odd gesture, threw a “$100 bill” on the table and left. (What looked like money was actually a political message.) The two younger men were very concerned and even tried to give us a donation, which we declined. One man declined the offer of a Rosary and e. Chuck encouraged him to pray for the man on the bike. E. Lucy talked to the other man, who had been raised Catholic and gladly accepted a Rosary and its pamphlet. We thank God for the concern and support from those who witnessed the encounter. We also ask you to please pray for the man on the bike who is so filled with hate that he can’t believe a loving God exists. May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding find its way into this man’s heart.

Another man on a bike rolled up to e. Chuck, took his sunglasses off, and with quiet intensity told of a friend who had been abused by a priest and who later died by his own hand. When the evangelist expressed his sympathy and outrage at such evil, but the man didn’t want to hear it. Evidently believing that that Catholic Church promotes this evil, he proceeded to express his complete contempt for the Catholic Church and his determination to keep anything, even a Rosary, that is associated with the Catholic Church away from his family. He rode away before the evangelist could respond. Pray for healing for this man and for all who have suffered abuse in the Church, that the hard work of reform within the Catholic Church continues and that justice prevails.

A woman stopped to thank us for being there. Her mother (grandmother?) had been a Rosary maker, making 1000s of Rosaries for the missions. May she rest in peace!

Somewhat later, we again saw the two younger men from the first angry encounter. They waved as they passed by. Immediately on their heels was another man angry “with all religion”. He had a much quieter, yet apparently still unproductive conversation, with e. Chuck, and then left amiably enough.

Two men, from a part of the country where Catholics are few in number and are discriminated against, stopped for a Rosary. They were in town for a conference. Non-Catholic Christians, they listened to our brief explanation of the Rosary devotion, then each chose one for himself.

A tall man eating chocolate ice cream paused to ask how beads could help him get closer to Christ. He listened as we explained the prayer. Then he asked us where the Rosary was in the Bible. We tried to help him see that a specific prayer doesn’t have to be in the Bible for it to be good and true, and that the Bible does not make such a claim, either. At this point, he changed the subject yet again and wondered how any one religion, in a world full of religions, could claim to be true. Although he would pause to let us answer his objections, he didn’t respond to our answers and simply changed the subject again after each “question”. When he finished his ice cream, he said it was nice talking to us and moved on. Please pray that he comes to see that there is an objective truth to be found, that His name is Jesus Christ, and that only He is our Savior, whom we desperately need.

A boy in his upper teens or early 20s stopped for a Rosary. He had heard the first angry man’s shouting earlier and let us know he’d been very concerned. I got the impression that he ordinarily wouldn’t have stopped at the table. He accepted a Rosary and the encouragement to use it to get to know Jesus Christ and His great love.

On this Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, we gave away 15-20 Rosaries and its pamphlet, and a Divine Mercy prayer card.

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

God brings good out of even the greatest evil, and we thank and praise Him. We thank you, too, 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).