Stories from the Street

Detroit, MI
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This report comes from team leader Mark with our Eastern Market SPSE team in Detroit, MI:
Evangelists from the National SPSE office and Metro Detroit teams attended the recent Rising from the Ashes Revival in downtown Detroit. The highlight and capstone to the one-day event was a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Detroit. During the procession, we handed out holy cards explaining the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
I tried to stay near the front of the procession and talked to curious bystanders. Most people were polite, apprehensive but open-minded. Nearly halfway through, one man approached me asked about the procession. I briefly explained John 6 and handed him a holy card. I encouraged him to read John 6 as well as the Last Supper discourses to understand more.
I experienced resistance from only one person near the end of the procession. One man was standing on the sidewalk, within arm’s reach of the passing procession. When I came near him, he was angrily screaming “That’s Jesus?!?!? Y’all are crazy!!!” I told the man that Jesus Himself said that the Eucharist is His body, so how could I deny that? I tried to hand him a holy card, he backed up and yelled “Don’t hand me that!!!” It was clear that his heart was hardened and any further conversation would be counterproductive.
In the end, only a handful of people showed resistance while hundreds and thousands of others responded positively, so it was plain to see that the procession made a positive difference.
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