Murray Hill, NY. As I relax here over coffee at our place in midtown, reflecting on the exuberant “Alleluia” pouring like a fountain from my heart, my thoughts turn to “the letter” in my wallet, handed to us by Chris Flatz, the Old St. Pat’s parish administrator who was holding onto it for us. It was a letter to Fr. Graebe. It was a letter from one soul.
In the life of a missionary, we rarely get to see what happens with the souls we help draw closer to the Lord; only He knows. And for that reason, we don’t even know how many souls we’ve helped the Lord save.
When asked this question in media interviews, my answer is always something like this:
“I acknowledge it’s a ‘low margin’ business– for every person we greet; there is less than a 0.5% chance we’ll even get them to a confessional, let alone heaven….”
“Exactly!”
“But we make it up on volume.”
“Volume?” usually comes the reply. “How do you know how many of the 15,000 to 20,000 you’ve brought to confession make it to heaven?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then where’s the volume?”
“Well, try this. Forget the 20,000. Would you give me that maybe half of those will make it? Or how about 1,000 of those?”
“Possible.”
“100?”
“Very likely.”
“One?”
“Most certainly. I will give you ‘One’.”
“Well then, I win. Because one times eternity is infinity, and it was all worth it.”
Please read the letter in the photo with this blog. Maybe he’s the ‘one’.
“Alleluia! The Lord is risen! Alleluia!”
A missionary
Thy Kingdom Come!
He is Risen!
Dear Missionaries,
Steve and I can not express enough our gratitude to you all! You were so generous with your time and love! Some of you may not have seen the blogs Steve Auth and Steve Kenney wrote about the mission. These blogs summarize a sampling of the many stories of encounters you had with many of our brothers and sisters in Christ who the Lord put in your paths at the mission. You truly touched many hearts!
During our training sessions I mentioned that it may feel like you are not having any impact unless you are able to convince someone to go to confession. Let me remind you that there is no doubt you made a tremendous impact on all you approached. You were St Paul on the streets of New York! St Paul was largely ignored in the streets of Athens. Many were downright hostile to him! But like you, he persevered. You planted many seeds in people’s hearts. After all, is it commonplace to meet a Catholic on the streets who greeted them with a smile? I assure you they walked away puzzled, and that puzzlement will lead them into thinking about the Church, about what prompted you to stand on the street corner offering rosaries to passersby. No, you have piqued their interest for sure. And that is good! Your kind, smiling image remains in their mind’s eye and the Holy Spirit will bring it back up into their consciousness. You have given the Holy Spirit an opening. You touched their hearts. You advanced their journey!
How do I know this? Over the years, we have met folks who remind us that they have seen us in the neighborhood years prior and that this year, yes, they are ready to go to confession! This is but one example. How many may have been invited by one of their friends to attend a morning or evening of recollection or a weekend retreat and decided to go because their encounter with you was the continuation of God’s invitation to go closer to him? We will never know but we have trust in God’s providence.
We pray these stories will lift your spirit. We pray that the Lord will continue to smile upon you. May you feel his heartbeat that was quickened by His delight with you. May he give you the courage to join the mission again in the future.
In Christ,
Evelyn Auth
