Hand holding a card that says "you are invited"

Invitation and Evangelization

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The Invitation

“What are you looking for?” Jesus asks (John 1:38). The disciples, perhaps not knowing how to answer, blurted, “Where are you staying?” Jesus replied, “Come and see.”

Of course, Jesus knew what they were seeking. Is it not what we all seek: peace, hope, salvation? Jesus called the disciples, and calls each of us, to accept His invitation to find everything one could ever need — in Him.

From Jesus’ teaching in John’s Gospel, we know He longs to show us where He abides so that we may enjoy the blessing of abiding with Him. In John 15:4-16, we learn the blessings of choosing to live in communion with Him. “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Scripture reveals that when we do so, we will bear much fruit, receive what we ask, and most importantly, know the Father’s glory.

Jesus’ invitations present opportunities to contemplate deep inside our souls just what we are looking for, what we long for, and to take stock of our lives and discern if we truly embrace the things of God. Do you know what you have been seeking in this world? Are you open to truly being a disciple of Jesus Christ? Can you leave behind your expectations, trust the goodness of Jesus’ invitation, and follow God’s perfect will for your life?

Stepping Out in Faith

Without waiting for His disciples to voice their reaction, knowing their hearts and that the Kingdom of Heaven holds everything they seek, Jesus invites them to come and see. Interestingly, some of Jesus’ disciples came and stayed with Him because they had heard Jesus preach. Moved by the promise, hope, mercy, and life He offered, they directly accepted His generous invitation.  However, others, like Peter, came to follow Jesus after someone else extended an invitation to “come and see” for themselves.

Andrew’s willingness to evangelize led to his brother Peter’s choice to become a disciple of the Lord. Andrew’s love for Peter moved him to share the truth and joy he had found. How blessed to have someone care enough to step out in faith and share the life found only in Jesus—no matter how uncomfortable one may feel or how their testimony may be received.

Those Who Believe Inspire Others to Believe

John’s Gospel also introduces us to the Samaritan woman Jesus meets at the well. Her encounter with Christ spurs a conversion so dramatic — she cannot keep it to herself. Transformed by His love and mercy, and the hope of a life where one no longer has to thirst for acceptance and redemption, she leaves her past behind and becomes an unlikely evangelist. Moved by her transformation from accepting Jesus’ invitation to come and see, she goes out immediately to share the Good News, which causes a ripple effect of discipleship.

One of the most powerful moments in John’s Gospel (4:41-42) occurs after the Samaritan woman goes back to town. The disciples return to the well and soon witness the townspeople making their way toward Jesus. After listening to Jesus, the townspeople say to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is the Savior of the world.” The townspeople, having heard the woman’s testimony, accepted her invitation to pursue an encounter with Christ for themselves. Anytime we accept Jesus’ invitation to follow Him (to abide in truth and love), our lives will never be the same.

The power and beauty of evangelization manifests in the conversion of hearts when an invitation leads to a personal encounter with Christ and the choice to remain and abide with Him. We may recognize our journey within these many roads to discipleship. Which of these paths is yours? Will we pay forward what we have received? Do we have the courage and strength to follow Jesus’ example and invite others to come and see? When we, like Andrew and the woman at the well, tell others about finding the Messiah, we become part of the hope of discipleship present in John’s Gospel. We become conduits for others to encounter the truth and grace found only in Jesus Christ.

 

Copyright 2025 by Allison Gingras

Edited by Theresa Linden

 

Retreat and Discernment

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Retreat and Discernment

Our gospel reading this weekend reports that “Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.” (Matthew 17:1) (1)

Other passages in scripture also demonstrate how our Lord retired into the wilderness, alone or with spiritual companions, as an integral part of his spiritual rhythm. He used these respites to focus on prayer, and to replenish his energies during a demanding physical ministry of teaching, preaching, and healing.

Retreats and spiritual direction offer refreshment for our own lives as Catholics, too. Recently, I participated in a first formal one-day orientation to the teachings of St. Ignatius.

For many years, my primary resource for discernment has been Authenticity: A Biblical Theology of Discernment, written by Thomas Dubay, S.M. (2)

That reading provided a welcome foundation for what I experienced at “Image & Imagination in Prayer,” an Ignatian retreat sponsored by Emmaus House in Urbandale, Iowa on July 22.

Emmaus House was founded in the Diocese of Des Moines by Jesuit priests in 1973, at the invitation of then-Bishop Maurice Dingman. At first, Emmaus House served the diocese by providing spiritual direction and retreats exclusively for Catholic clergy. But it quickly expanded to offer these resources for members of the Catholic lay community as well as some Protestant clergy. (3)

I was intrigued by how original spiritual methods developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola in the 16th century anticipated several techniques employed by archetypal psychologists today.

Swiss physician C. G. Jung, the founder of archetypal psychology, studied Ignatius’ teachings in the early 20th century, and gave a series of lectures about their value in Zurich between 1933 and 1941. English translations of these lectures have been published only recently, in January of 2023.

Both approaches focus on events in ordinary daily life. Both are designed to bring forth the full flowering of human individuality. Both honor the integrity of images and feelings as they emerge from a person’s inner being, and use “active imagination” to help deepen relationship with the unique divine spark alive in each of us.

What Dubay calls outer verifications occurred throughout my one-day introduction to Ignatian method. I crossed paths with dear friends from different parts of the diocese as well as from different eras in my life; and encountered new acquaintances who wandered in my direction for a purpose we discovered together only as we met.

Under leadership of spiritual director Amy Hoover (4), we contemplated a series of readings and questions offered for private prayer and reflection. Then time was provided for optional sharing with individual retreat partners at our tables.

Reported movements of the Holy Spirit permeated the retreat throughout the day. These repeated, meaningful ‘coincidences’ — simultaneous events without any causal relationship — are what Jung called “synchronicities.”

In one humorous example, intending to excuse myself for a trip to the coffee table during a break, I commented to my companion, “I think I need some sugar.”

Snickers bars immediately dropped down from above our heads, right in front of our faces, like manna from heaven.

We both looked up to see the refreshment hostess making rounds with a bag of candy. But how did she manage to arrive at our table — one of more than twenty in a large parish hall — to be there at the exact moment I spoke?

Later, we were asked to write what we noticed about a picture postcard. While I had written about the display of creation — seasonal weather, contrasts in foliage, moss growing on ancient stones — one of my table mates had first noticed that “there’s no human being here.” She had placed herself and her husband taking a walk, right into the picture, as her focus for the scene.

Another companion among us had been seized first by curiosity about the path’s curve into a distance that lay behind bushes and trees. He had written with poetic insight about what might lie unseen around the bend.

Most dioceses in the United States publish a list of trained spiritual directors and local retreat opportunities, often right on their websites. If you haven’t yet experienced these gifts of our faith, it might be worth exploring what resources are available near you.

Scriptural readings for the Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola on July 31, and for the Feast of Transfiguration of the Lord on August 6, are rich with vivid images for further contemplation on your own, too.

I pray that each of us can experience a personal transfiguration this August. May we feel the awe and wonder that enlightened Peter, James, and John two thousand years ago, when they witnessed our Lord in earnest conversation with Moses and Elijah on Mount Tabor.

©Copyright 2023 by Margaret King Zacharias

Featured Photo: View frim summit of Mount Tabor ©Copyright 2023 by Margaret King Zacharias 

NOTES:

  1. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080623.cfm.
  2. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1977, originally published by Dimension Books.
  3. https://www.theemmaushouse.org/history.
  4. https://www.theemmaushouse.org/eighth-annual-ignatian-retreat

Corpus Christi: We Are the Body of Christ, and You Are What You Eat

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Corpus Christi: We Are the Body of Christ, and You Are What You Eat

 

We have all heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” If that’s true, I am parts pizza, BBQ, peanut butter, and have coffee with a side of wine for blood!

So, IF we, Catholics, parishioners, Christians … are the “Body of Christ,” what are we made of—and most importantly, why does it matter?

First, let’s change the word “eat” to “consume.” We are formed by more than just what we eat. Everything we read, watch, listen to, and surround ourselves with has a bearing on who and what we are. If I eat a lot of greasy food, play a lot of high-intensity adrenaline-filled video games by myself, never get up from the couch or walk more than 100 feet a day, and smoke cartons of cigarettes while drinking nothing but energy drinks, my life expectancy goes from 82 years to 56.

But if I eat balanced meals, take time to shut down and refresh, get moderate exercise, and have a community of friends—neighbors, church family, clubs, and so on—suddenly I will be living a longer, and most importantly, happier life.

Now, that’s the outside life. Let’s talk about the inside life—the soul life. When we receive the Eucharist, we do not consume just a piece of bread or a sip of wine. No. We are receiving Jesus himself, in all his divine glory, sort of like a spiritual superpower; let’s call it “Jesus Juicing.” We begin to transform from the inside—out and become more like Him; better able to love and serve others. When our inside, our soul, begins to strengthen from “Jesus Juicing,” we find we have more peace, more wisdom, more self-control. But it not only benefits us, but the larger Corpus Christi, or Body of Christ, the Church! Remember, WE are the Body of Christ, the Corpus Christi. WE are the Church.

 

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Being in a community isn’t a solo event. We are being nourished so we can help others. A great example is a group called New Roots for Refugees, run through Catholic Charities. My wife and I are avid gardeners. Last weekend we went to the New Roots for Refugees plant sale. Refugees from many different countries work together, growing vegetables and flowers that are then sold to gardeners—or after maturing—the fruits and vegetables are sold to eat. Interacting with these beautiful souls, we the Corpus Christi are being nourished by not just by the plants, but by “Jesus Juicing!” We’re strengthening our ties with people in need in the Body of Christ, and doing what we are all called to do—loving and serving each other.

So, there are 3 important things to remember on the feast of Corpus Christi:

  • We don’t need to just strengthen our outside-selves, but also our inside-selves with “Jesus Juicing.”
  • When we take care of the inside-selves, it will change the outside-selves.
  • We are not built to be a solo act. We are strengthening through “Jesus Juicing” to be of service to others.

Questions:

  • Are you allowing yourself to be changed?
  • How will you be of service to our Corpus Christi?

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Copyright 2023 Ben Bongers

Photos copyright 2023 Ben Bongers, all rights reserved.

Who Are the “Scribes and Pharisees?”

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Who Are the “Scribes and Pharisees?”

By the grace of God, I was able to travel to Germany and attend the 2022 Oberammergau Passion Play. I learned why most people blessed with this opportunity can afterwards only murmur, “It was a privilege.”

The experience was truly beyond words. Try, for example, to describe what you feel at the moment of Eucharistic consecration?

But there are a few insights that I think I can articulate. I’ll pass over the incredible chill of an outdoor theater high in the Alps. I won’t waste words to confirm that every villager in Oberammergau, from babes in arms to tottering elders, has indeed been focused on this reenactment of the Passion of Christ, as their personal act of worship, for the past 388 years.

It was like stepping into a time travel machine. In the audience, we felt almost a part of the action, 2,000 years ago on the surging streets of Jerusalem.

But who were “the scribes and the pharisees?”

When we hear this phrase read from scripture at mass, it’s all too easy to think, “Jesus, good. Scribes and pharisees, bad.”

At the 2022 performance, these gentlemen were portrayed as dignified representatives of an ancient religious tradition, caught in an impossible trap by politics of the Roman Empire.

Yes, a few simply dismissed Jesus’ words. But many tried to listen and understand. They stood in groups gathered all across the stage, discussing the new ideas with one another, getting angry, shrugging, stomping away, and returning to debate some more. I couldn’t help but feel that’s really the way it must have been.

Jesus was a 33-year-old man, trying to articulate a new revelation in human language. The scribes and pharisees, who were attempting to take it in, did not share one understanding, nor were they of one mind about what they should do.

The brilliant actor who portrayed Jesus also found the fine edge. I was fully aware of him as our Divine Savior, and that he knew exactly what the consequences of his words and actions would be. But he was also a young man debating theology with his elders in exactly the tempestuous manner that impassioned young human adults tend to use. As our faith teaches us, he was God and human, at the same time in one person.

We live in an era when we are called to raise our consciousness about the different ways we assign people into categories, and then speak as though a category label describes every individual.

This was my third trip to the country of Germany. I’ve admired their religious monuments in cities, villages, and fields; prayed with the people at mass; felt awe and wonder at their abiding faith. That faith has sustained generation after generation of German Catholics through all that they have endured.

We speak too easily in North America about “Germans” as synonymous with “Nazis.”

What if fate had placed you in 20th century Germany, to live the most important stages of your life through two world wars, and under the sway of the Third Reich? How would you have faced the moral challenges? What destiny would you have chosen within a fate you could not escape?

We’ve forgotten that Adolph Hitler hated Catholics as much as he hated the Jewish people; forgotten the martyrs who died terrible deaths to defend their vision of Germany.

Contemporary literary fiction is replete with tales of Nazi-resistance movements in France, England, Denmark, Italy, and Holland.

But the full depth and breadth of Nazi-resistance movements within Germany itself – encompassing laborers, mothers, altar boys, laundresses, aristocrats, Protestant clergy, Catholic priests, members of religious orders, and even rebel German Air Force officers — have been brought forward only in the 21st century.

On this first Saturday of November, I offer a short list of good books about the German resistance to the Third Reich.

  • Von Moltke, Helmuth and Freya, translated by Shelley Frisch, Last Letters: The Prison Correspondence, September 1944-January 1945, New York: New York Review of Books, 2019; Editors’ Introduction copyright 2019 by Helmuth Caspar von Moltke, Dorothea von Moltke, and Johannes von Moltke.
  • Utrecht, Daniel of the Oratory, The Lion of Munster: The Bishop Who Roared Against Hitler, Charlotte, N.C.: Tan Books, 2016.
  • Riebling, Mark, Church of Spies: The Pope’s Secret War Against Hitler, New York: Basic Books, 2015.
  • Zeller, Guillaume, translated by Michael J. Miller, The Priest Barracks: Dachau, 1938-1945,San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2015
  • Rychlak, Ronald J., Hitler, the War, and the Pope, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 2010.
  • Rabbi David G. Dalin, The Myth of Hitler’s Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis, Washington, D.C.: Regnery Press, 2005.
  • Lapomarda, Vincent A., The Jesuits and the Third Reich, Second Edition, Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales, United Kingdom: The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd, 2005.
  • Anonymous, The Persecution of the Catholic Church in the Third Reich: Facts and Documents, Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 2003.
  • Coady, Mary Frances, With Bound Hands, A Jesuit in Nazi Germany: The Life and Prison Letters of Alfred Delp, Chicago: Loyola Press, 2003.
  • Goldmann, O.F.M., Gereon Karl, The Shadow of His Wings, translated by Benedict Leutenegger, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000.
  • Koerbling, Anton, Father Rupert Mayer: Modern Priest and Witness for Christ, Munich, Germany: Schnell & Steiner, 1950.

Copyright 2022 by Margaret Zacharias

Considering a Come and See Discipleship

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“What are you looking for?” Jesus asked, followed by an invitation to “come and see” in response to the disciples’ question as to where he is staying on the road to Emmaus. Jesus knew of course what they were seeking, it is what we all seek—peace, hope, salvation. In this encounter, Jesus calls them, and indeed us as well, to accept his invitation to find those things, and so much more. The invitation to see where he was staying calls to mind a moment later in John’s Gospel, where Jesus teaches in length the blessing of abiding with Him, how we can bear much fruit in our faith, receive what we ask in prayer, and most importantly, know the Father.

Jesus’ invitation begins first with an opportunity for the person to contemplate what they are looking for. Do you know what it is you seek in this world? Are you open to truly being a disciple of Jesus Christ? To leave behind all of your expectations, to trust the goodness of Jesus’ invitation, and to follow where God’s will for you leads?

Without waiting for the early disciples to respond, knowing their hearts and that the Kingdom of Heaven holds everything they seek, he likewise invites us to come and see. Some of Jesus’ disciples came and stayed with him because they had heard Jesus preach. They were moved by the promise, hope, mercy, and life he offered. Others, like Peter, came to see after his brother, Andrew, heard Jesus and extended an invitation for him to see for himself. It was Andrew’s evangelization that brought Peter to seek the Lord. Andrew’s love for Peter moved him to share what he had found. How blessed to have someone care enough to step out in faith, no matter how uncomfortable the situation may be, and share the life found only in Jesus!

Although we come to discover Jesus in a variety of ways, many experience similar encounters on our own road to discipleship. Myriad paths, but only one true destination. When we follow Jesus’ example and invite others to come and see, when we, like Andrew, tell our loved ones about finding the Messiah, we become part of the hope of discipleship present in John’s Gospel.

Jesus’ invitation was no different to the disciples than it is to us today. He still seeks to have us come and see. There will be obstacles, much like those the disciples themselves faced. Commitments to work and family, feeling too busy with pressing tasks to come and see. Jesus did not make arguments, trying to force what he knew was best for them. Instead, he merely extends his invitation again for them to come and see.

Those who believe inspire others to believe. Later in John’s Gospel, we are introduced to the Samaritan woman Jesus meet at the well. Her encounter with Christ spurs a conversion so dramatic that she cannot keep it to herself. Transformed by His love, mercy, and hope of a life where so no longer has to thirst for redemption, she leaves her past behind and becomes the most unlikely evangelist.

Moved by Jesus’ invitation to come and see, she goes immediately out to share the Good News, causing a ripple effect of discipleship. The lives of the people she encounters and invites are never the same once they too accept the invitation to follow and abide in the truth and love offered by Jesus. One of the most powerful lines in John’s Gospel comes from John 4:41-42, at the conclusion of the recounting of the Woman at the Well. “Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is the Savior of the world.’”

Truth be told, this is the legacy I, too, desire to leave.

 

Copyright 2022 Allison Gingras

Confessions of a Journal Writer

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Journal writing entered my life when I received a pastel tie-dye-covered diary for my ninth birthday. The diary came with two dainty little keys, which I guarded with my life, though a sharp pair of shears could have gained anyone entry. That summer, I discovered my aptitude and affection for reflective writing. My first musings revolved around friendships, the unfair punishment imposed by my parents (however, to be fair, each was totally deserved), and I even took a whirl at penning poetry.

I still journal over 40 years later, albeit there is much less personal angst and much more spiritual contemplation. The joy of pen to paper, sorting through the full range of human emotion, connecting random thoughts, and wrestling with questions of theology—continue to bring great satisfaction and moments of remarkable clarity. While some people think out loud, I have learned that I think with a pen. My ideas come to a fuller understanding and bloom to maturity as I scrawl them out.

Muddled ideologies and bumpy spiritual awakenings are smoothed out as they are scratched out in red, purple, or green bold point across the smooth glistening writing surface. As my thoughts come fast and furious, my pen frantically toils to keep up, and there is no longer a need for a key to keep prying eyes from discovering my deepest thoughts. For it would require an expert in hieroglyphics as the words fly across the page, seemingly taking on a language of their own—my grandmother would call what remains chicken scratch.

Yet, I know I can return to these glorious pages and recall every word, every emotion. I decided long ago that the words I can no longer decipher or remember are simply not important or meant for anyone other than me. It is akin to those fleeting thoughts which float in and out of our consciousness, dismissed as inconsequential. The messages God wishes me to relay, I can attest, He repeats and reiterates through various situations and from myriad voices. In the end, I’m confident that what I publish for others to read not only comes from Him but always glorifies Him.

As time progresses, the purpose of my journals has evolved, less of capturing the memories of childhood and more of retaining the highlights of my journey of faith reversion. How the Catholic faith can be lived fully in everyday, ordinary moments of life, which I shared through my non-fiction writing. Between the pages of my collection of journals, one finds contemplation on the Scripture, catechesis on the tenets of the faith, mixed with my own struggle to believe, not lose faith, and cast-off doubts.

Spurred on to share because I’ve recognized, after years of conversations with others, that I am not the only person walking in the same wobbly steps, stumbling on these same rocks.

The journey is humbling, overwhelming, exciting at times, and heartbreaking at others. Yet, I know this is my call: to scribe the spiritual, spending endless hours in prayer, reading the scriptures, and participating in the sacraments. All to stay as close to Him as I can, and I’ll joyfully persist because it is on these pages I feel the closest to my God.

Copyright 2022 Allison Gingras

 

Evangelizing: What is it, and how can we, as individuals, evangelize?

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What is evangelization?

We Catholic/Christians are asked to ‘evangelize.” But for me, the word, Evangelize, has always been intimidating. And what does that word actually mean?  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says that the word, evangelize, is a verb that means “to preach the gospel to” or “to convert to Christianity.” St. Paul VI said, “Evangelizing means to bring the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new.”

Are we called to evangelize?

Does the Bible call on us to evangelize? It sure does, and here are two short examples. Matthew 4:19 says, He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Another is in John 20:21: Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

Evangelli Gaudium—the new evangelization summons us all

Finally, I will call upon Pope Francis and his Evangelii Gaudium. In this apostolic exhortation, published in 2013, the Holy Father “reaffirmed that the new evangelization is a summons  to all the faithful, and is to be carried out in three principal settings.” The three settings are 1) ordinary pastoral ministry (to inflame the hearts of the faithful), 2) outreach to “the baptized whose lives do not reflect the demands of Baptism” and 3) “evangelization to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him.“

First of all, when I think of evangelizers, I envision people such as Billy Graham speaking to a stadium filled with thousands of people or Venerable Fulton Sheen teaching class on television so many years ago. I have even thought of Burt Lancaster playing the character of Elmer Gantry, reigning down words of “fire and brimstone” inside a tent filled with a captive audience. To this very day, we have street preachers praising Jesus and doing their best to convert the unbelievers. As for me, I have never been able to do that.

Do not get me wrong. I have never backed away from a discussion about my faith. If I was in a group or among friends and my Catholic faith was challenged or ridiculed, I would not be quiet. On the contrary, I would defend it the best I could. But I was never one to initiate a conversation. I can still remember my dad telling me, “Never get into a discussion about religion or politics. You can never win.” Well, my dad was wrong. I finally found a way to evangelize. And I want to share it with you.

Evangelizing is not complicated—you just have to be ready for the moment

The first thing I have come to understand is that evangelizing can simply begin as a one-on-one interaction. Since we are all called to evangelize, we have to be ready for the moment. Okay, what does that mean?

First of all, the moment to evangelize is hard to plan. The fact is, the moment can spring up at the most unexpected times or in the strangest of places. You just have to be ready. Here is an example. This happened to me while in line at a supermarket.

There was a young lady in front of me, and she had a child sitting in her cart. The cashier was shaking her head and returning the woman’s debit card to her. The lady slid it back into the scanner. Again it was rejected. A tear ran down the woman’s face. Her child, sensing her mom’s distress, also began to cry. Can you seize this unexpected moment and evangelize? Why not?

The first thing you have to do to be an effective evangelist is smile at people you do not know. Since you are an evangelizer, you have already smiled at both the woman and her child. Okay, she did not want to make new friends—but trust me, she saw your smile. You have also noticed that her grocery cart has about thirty dollars worth of groceries in it. Your moment to begin evangelizing has arrived.

You take your debit card and ask the cashier to put the woman’s charge on your card (I do not do this very often). What do you think might happen? Here are a few examples from personal experience:

A) The lady tells you, “Please mind your own business.”
B) The lady tells you, “No, thank you.” She lifts the child from the cart and leaves the store.
C) The lady gives you a dirty look and says, “That’s not necessary. I have the cash right here.”
D) The lady says, “Thank you,” and accepts your offer.
E) You might have a few expletives thrown your way. You never know.

Paying it Forward

In this case, I am dealing with situation D. You help her save face by saying, “Look, I’m paying it forward. One of these days, you do something for someone else. That’s all there is to it.”

The lady gives you a final “thank you” and begins to leave. I call after her, “Ma’am, can you wait one second? I have something for you.”

She stops and waits while you check out. My moment has arrived. I walk over to her and say, “I was wondering. Do you have Jesus in your life?”

I have thrown it out there, and now I wait. She sighs and looks at me. I sense her nervousness, so I quickly say, “No problem, it’s okay. I just wanted to give you this.”

Evangelizers must choose a primary tool

I have discovered that evangelists need a primary tool in their evangelizing kit. Most evangelists seem to have a Bible in their hand. Not me. I have a cross, a small cross. You cannot see it because it is in my pocket. It is 1.5 X 2.5 inches in size. It is made of  olive wood from the Holy Land and is blessed by a priest. I did not invent this idea: I found these crosses online. They are called Comfort Crosses or Caring Crosses. They have turned me into a quiet evangelizer. I love them. (If you want, you can find them online too).

I reach into my pocket, and I pull out the comfort cross. I hold it up between my thumb and forefinger and begin to explain to her what it is. She is just looking at me, but I cannot get a feel for what is going on inside her. I tell her, “Jesus loves you, and this cross will keep you close to Him.”

She is pursing her lips, and I know it is time to finish what I started. I say to her, “Carry it with you in your pocket or purse. Take it to bed with you. Just always keep it close to you. Squeeze it and tell Jesus you love Him. Trust me, you will feel His love returning to you.”

This turned out to be a GOOD moment. A tear rolls down her cheek, and she blurts out, “You have no idea what this means to me. Thank you, thank you.”

The lady takes the cross and, through her tears, smiles. She leaves the store, and I never expect to see her again.

I certainly am no Billy Graham or Venerable Fulton Sheen. But the moments for me to be a one-on-one evangelizer pop up in the strangest places. Supermarkets, gas stations, convenience stores, auto repair shops, doctor’s offices, hospital lobbies, McDonald’s, and Walmart. I have handed out my comfort crosses in all of those places. And, of course, many of my attempts are not appreciated. It is okay. At least I gave it a shot. I figure they threw rocks at Jesus and look what He did for me; the least I  can do is try.

I will finish by mentioning the woman I profiled. Almost a year later, I was in the same supermarket. A lady comes up to me and says, “Oh my God, it’s you. I can’t believe it. Remember me?”

I was almost sure I did, but I was not positive. She says, “I’m the person you gave the comfort cross to, and you paid it forward for me. Remember?”

I sure did remember. “Yes, of course. How are you?”

She says, “I have been back to this store four or five times hoping to see you. And finally, here you are. I cannot believe I found you.”

I’m thinking, what does she want? I say, “Wow, I can’t believe it either. So why were you looking for me?”

“Well, I loved the cross you gave me and carried it everywhere. And then I lost it, and I miss it so much.  I wanted to find you to see if I could get another one.”

Suddenly I teared up. I reached in my pocket and pulled out two crosses. “Here you go. You now have a spare.”

She gave me the biggest hug I could imagine and thanked me again. It was an evangelizing bonus. You never know what to expect when you evangelize.

One final thought. If you want to evangelize you have to be willing to talk to strangers. Once in a grocery store or a doctor’s office, or a lab for bloodwork, or wherever you may be, the opportunity is usually there. Take a chance—say “Hi” to someone nearby, talk about the weather, or even mention the cold pizza delivered to you. You never know if an “evengelizing moment” is coming your way.

Copyright Larry Peterson 2021

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