Boise

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State or province: Idaho

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Lucy Stamm
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Evangelization: Always an adventure - 2020-08-30

September 11, 2020

Evangelization: Always an adventure. So thank you again for your prayers for the Boise Catholic street evangelization effort.

“I want to kill you guys,” said a somewhat heavyset, homeless-looking woman as she walked by. Then she went and sat at a picnic table in the middle distance, muttering to herself. E. Lucy noticed that looking her way seemed to trigger a fresh outburst from the woman, so avoided doing so. After a few minutes, the woman passed by our table again, saying nothing quite audible. Pray for her?

A group of 3 people went by, declining Rosaries. E. Lucy experienced a sudden, sharp headache when trying to read the back of the man’s t-shirt. But the pain went away again when she asked Jesus to free her.

A man responded, “Yes, I would like a Rosary,” and came over to our table. He started asking about the process to become Catholic. We explained the RCIA process and said, if he started now, he could come into the Church next Easter. We gave him a map with contact information for area parishes and encouraged him to join the classes now forming.

Another man came over to our table. “Brandon” was Catholic, from across the country, and was interested in connecting with a local parish. E. Lucy handed him a map of area parishes and then asked if he’d also like a copy of the Confession brochure. He gave a sigh, quickly followed by “yes, I’d better do that.” May his enthusiasm to get to Mass again through Reconciliation come to fruition in action.

A woman, perhaps 30 years old, stopped to receive a Rosary. She had been raised in a pseudo-Christian tradition in foster care, but hadn’t been active in any faith for a long time. We encouraged her to dig deeply into the life of Christ in the Mysteries of the Rosary. E. Lucy gave her a copy of the kerygma, to refresh her memory about Christianity.

A pair of 40-something sisters stopped, after one expressed a desire to receive a Rosary. E. Chuck explained the devotion to her. Her sister declined the Rosary, but accepted the pamphlet describing the devotion.

A 20-something man declared his non-belief in Jesus as his reason for declining a Rosary. As E. Mike would have said, “You’ll believe when you meet Him!”

A man on a mission bicycle stopped to ask if we were going to pray for him. He accepted a Rosary and a brief explanation of the prayer. When asked how he was doing, he said cryptically that his life had too much reality.

A 20-something woman stopped and, when she learned what the Rosary was about, said she was not a believer. She accepted one anyway, as well as a Good News/kerygma pamphlet.

While we were talking to her, a man came to the table unbidden, wanting a Rosary. He wondered if RCIA classes were starting any time soon. He also wondered why he couldn’t receive the bread and wine now. E. Lucy explained the purpose of the classes and why he must wait to participate in the Eucharist. He accepted a map of area parishes.

Two women refused a Rosary but the little boy riding on the shoulders on one of the women wanted one. So the adults allowed him to get one and heard about the merits of praying the Rosary.

A woman interested in a Rosary apologized for not knowing what it was. But we said that was good because we got to tell her what we loved about it, which we proceeded to do at length. I don’t know if we overwhelmed her since she was very quiet and stood very still as we talked, but ultimately she thanked us before leaving.

Altogether, we gave away perhaps 20 Rosaries and its pamphlet, 2 maps of area parishes, 2 copies of the kerygma, and 1 Confession brochure.

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

Last week was an unusually lively session for 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).

P.S. Please pray for my pastor, “Fr. Rob”? He has come down with a serious case of the dread virus.