And the Presence Was Made Real
Merry Christmas From Real Presence on the Streets!
This newsletter features two reflections from our in-residence missionaries on their work in light of the Christmas message as well as some ways you can pray for us and those who are growing closer to Christ through our ministry. We hope this encourages our readers to grow in their faith and grow in zeal for the work of the salvation of souls.
In this newsletter
A Receptive Heart
The Word Became Flesh
Prayer Intentions
A Receptive Heart
Reflection from Steven Kehoe, In-residence Missionary
Please pray for Stephan, a Russian by birth and a recovering alcoholic by trade, we met him outside a recovery house just the other day. He had never really heard the message of salvation, a message which we were most pleased to discuss with him. The same simple message that just comes with more detail and depth as we explore it and its surrounding mystery. He knew there existed some higher power, perhaps because it is referred to by alcoholics in alcoholics anonymous as a tool for members to appeal to for accountability and strength. They know they cannot overcome alcoholism themselves so they need an external aid, much like our condition in sin. Proclaiming the gospel was as simple as naming the God that he had referred to all those times as the Christian God, the one who has taken all sin upon Himself on the cross and is willing to forgive it if we are repentant. He was pretty receptive to the proclamation, especially when he heard about reconciliation. He even stated he should probably go to confession before he died. Truly the first inkling of a desire to become Catholic. We left him with an open invitation and with his stated interest in coming.
Here was a man just waiting for the gospel message. One whose heart was receptive to the message of Christ. Receptive to know the one whom he sought throughout his life, the one who could fill him where his alcohol could not. He personally knew quite well the tragedy of sin, the necessity of a savior, and he desired heaven but thought himself too unworthy to go; a man awaiting the good news and praised be God that we were there to deliver it to him.
The experience certainly gave me pause to dwell on his Russian background and the promises of Our Lady at Fatima. Here was a man so willing to hear the gospel but it had not been preached. It required his life being torn apart from sin and vice for him to encounter it in a recovery house by a couple passerbys.
There was a previous occasion he mentioned, when he was in solitary confinement, he received nothing but a Bible to pass the time. And while most of us would not find any objection in the Bible as a light reading selection, Stephan did not want to violate the sanctity of a religious book he had no belief in just to entertain himself. He wanted an invitation to read it, he wanted someone to inspire his faith. This is how Catholics evangelize with an invitation to share in the gospel and the way of life it inspires, for the Bible is the living word of God and it is alive in us. So many read the Bible and walk away unchanged when our lives could inspire them. So many read the Bible and walk away with misunderstandings when the tradition and authority of the Church can clarify them. We are needed to be the living tradition and living guide to the Bible lest those without a sure example and guide fall into the pernicious errors that abound.
How many other members of even Stephan’s family, much less all of Russia, are in the same condition? People yearning for God and attempting to satiate their desire for an infinite God with the finite things of the world that lead to lives of vice and sin. How long it took for Russia to be consecrated to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, how stubborn we are in not praying, especially a rosary, daily for the conversion of Russia, and even more, how many opportunities have we let slip to save souls through a simple conversation about faith? God stays true to His promises, let us live according to them in full confidence of our faith.
The Word Became Flesh
Reflection from Griffin Rain, In-residence Missionary
On Christmas, the word became flesh. God took on human form for our salvation. The second reading from the office of readings from December 24th, a sermon from St Augustine shows just how important it is for us that Christ came to save us from sin and death.
Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became man. You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come. Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.
Had Jesus not come, there would still be no answer for human suffering. We met a man name Richard who has been away from the church for 52 years and is now at a point where he is suffering greatly with sickness in his old age. He left the church and thought that science provided all the answers he needed. When we were talking with him, he now realized that science has failed him. Science cannot save him from the grave and it surely cannot give eternal life. Nothing of this world does. Christ is our only way to eternal life. The world has no answer for suffering. The world will try to eliminate suffering at all cost even at the cost of losing eternal life. Many people lose sight that their suffering has value when it is united to Christ and Today God became man so that we may be united with God through Jesus Christ. Richard while in all of this suffering still is holding on to this life and says he will probably repent on his deathbed which is not here yet. Pray for him that he and his wife may come back to know God’s love for them before its to late.
In the Incarnation, we now know that our God knows our suffering and we can now unite all of our pains and suffering to that of Jesus Christ. God become flesh! Before Jesus came into the world, suffering was seen as a punishment for our sins and those who reject Christ now may still see it as that or have no answer for suffering. With Christ, suffering becomes sanctifying and can bring us closer to union with God and eternal life. There is no way to heaven but through the cross.
Jesus said to him: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." John 14:6
These two great days in the Church, The Incarnation and The Resurrection both point us to just how much God loves us. The Incarnation, that God would send His only begotten son for us and the Resurrection, that he would die and rise for our sake so we may die and rise with Him to eternal life. Today we see that he loves us so much he will give us a savior. Because Jesus came today, we now have the way to the father. God is always seeking us out and
Prayer Intentions
We would encourage our readers to pray for those who we have been working with in our outreach ministry. There is much fruit happening at St. Rose of Lima and we need your prayers!
Please keep those who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic
Maya, Robert, Emmanuel, Jonny, Taylor, Jay, Willis, Scott, Derrick, Romie, Vera, Deborah, Mario, Vygar, Sharon
Please keep those who are in RCIA classes in prayer
Jeffrey, Marcus
Please keep those who are fallen away Catholics that have expressed desire to come back to confession and church in prayer
Richard, Valarie, Daniel, Daniel, Tori, Francisco, Evelyn, Vincent, Slyvia, Tate, Blanch, Yvonne, Wayne, Dave, Christine, Kris
Please keep those who have recently come back to the church after encouragement from missionaries in prayer
Robert, Julian, Jeff, Kurt, Steven, Allen, Jodee
Please pray for those looking for a sign
Nerdo
Please pray for any men who are discerning becoming a missionary
About the Missionaries of the Real Presence
The Missionaries of the Real Presence are a group of lay men who live in common at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Parish in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We are dedicated to prayer through daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours in the church open to the public, Evangelization to the neighborhoods surrounding our parish and assisting in parish ministries.
If you appreciate the work we are doing, consider supporting our mission financially.
Join the missionaries for a day of street evangelization or inquire about becoming an in-residence missionary