Sharing the Real Presence
In this newsletter
Walking Together by Griffin Rain
Reflections from a Missionary Associate
Upcoming Events
Volunteers Needed
Needed Items
Important information about receiving future newsletters
Walking Together by Griffin Rain
In our modern and fast-paced world, people will often not give you much of their time while evangelizing on the street. If you are stationary, many will pass by and some might stop. Others have no interest in stopping until you go along with them. We don’t just stay far off and expect everyone to come. People will come, but many will not. Either way there is abundant fruit if you just get out and evangelize. We each can do it a little differently as we bring our gifts to this ministry.
As Christ enters into the world and enters our lives so too must the evangelist enter into the lives of those we seek to evangelize. Jesus is a disruptor and that is a good thing because we would not be in a good place if he didn't bother us… He comes along, and because of that encounter, things are no longer the same. We may stop walking our own way and walk the rest of our days with Christ.
Today, I wanted to talk about one experience of walking alongside a young Catholic who was not practicing the faith. Often when I am evangelizing along Wisconsin Ave near Marquette’s campus, most people I meet come from a Catholic background, but aren’t always practicing the faith. One of the questions I’ll ask while people are waiting at the crosswalk is, “Are you Catholic?” Often the response is, “Yes, but I don’t really practice much”.
This interaction was similar. I walked with him for a few blocks while he was on his way to class. We talked about how he tries to live and one of the things he shared that I could tell he was longing for forgiveness, but almost acting like he had it figured out. I took the time to share with him my story of going to confession for the first time while in high school and how that was a profound experience of God’s love for me and how I knew on a human level that I did not deserve to be forgiven, but God transcends that merely human love. I thought that if it was my best friend who I did all these sins to, he would have told me that I was no friend of his and to get lost, but God forgave and told me to go in peace.
After this, he stopped and said that he needs to go to confession. He didn’t remember ever going, but it was clear that he desired this so much. We are all guilty of sin and God’s forgiveness is necessary. At this point we had stopped walking and he was asking about how to go to confession and I shared a few things with him about an examination of conscience and putting our hope in Jesus. We may be tempted to despair when we experience the weight of our sins, but confession allows us to give these all to Jesus and be set free.
People often describe coming out of the confessional as a weight being taken off of them. If you have been away for a while. You too can experience this lightening of the burden of life. Cast your cares onto our Lord and experience the love He has for you.
Reflections from a missionary Associate
To come alongside someone is to listen intently and respond with love to something that they have said, to show them that you are actively listening to their concerns, and have an example to share with them in answer to their questions.
Recently, an Economics major who shared their interest in finding out if God exists approached the MRP, but hung back on the fringes of the street discipling we were doing that day.
Coached by Griffin to go around the group discussion and approach her, I asked for the Holy spirit to come in my silent prayer, and stepped out in faith and in courage to approach a complete stranger on the street.
They shared that they were an atheist and were listening to our street discussion because they were wanting to discover for themselves if God existed.
Asking about themselves and where they were at in life, they shared that they were in college and majoring in Economics. Sensing an opening, I asked if Econ required a lot of math. They shared that indeed there was a lot of math involved, and it was much more math than most people would know about for grasping and understanding Economics.
There was the window that God showed me: Math and the fascinating YouTube video I had watched recently about how a Mathematical sequence can be encoded into musical notation.
It was a fascinating find for this student to even consider how well ordered the universe actually is, and it was something that lit up their face when talking about how this was the face of God, in logic and math which can be transposed into beauty.
Because God IS love, is beauty.
They said that they wanted to know more and to discuss more about this and showed interest in coming back again to meet with us.
~ Bonnie
Upcoming Events
Be sure to check the bottom of our homepage for our upcoming events calendar
Talks at Milwaukee area Young Adult Groups - Griffin will be giving a talk at two young adult groups (ages 18-39) in the coming weeks. The first will be at Lolek, young adult group for St Mary's Visitation parish. This talk will be mostly about my vocation story. The event begins with Adoration at 5:30 pm-6:00 pm followed by cocktail social and talk on Thursday, February 27th at St Mary's Visitation in Elm Grove.
The second talk will be at St. Stanislaus, Sursum Corda young adult group on Monday, March 3rd. This talk will be on evangelization. They have Mass at 6pm followed by talk and social to follow.
Come and See – We are encouraging men who are interested in our way of life to visit for a come and see. We encourage longer visits such as a week-long visit. We are open to having visitors most weeks so if you have a week that will work for you, contact us and we can have you for a visit. To set up a visit call/text (414) 235-7307 or e-mail vocations@reaplresencemissionaries.org
Lunch in the Park - We will be serving food at the Cream City Garden homeless camp (1307 N 13th st) Saturday March 15th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Volunteers are needed on two teams. Kitchen team and Evangelist team. Please contact us if you can make it. We begin at the Street disciple house at 11am. You are encouraged to join us for Mass beforehand at the Joan of Arc Chapel at 10am.
Missionary Associates – Join us for our next Missionary Associates Dinner. This month it will take place on Monday February 24th. This is for people who volunteer with the missionaries or are interested in volunteering/supporting our work. We hope that this continues building up the community around the missionaries, getting to know others and energizing more people to start working for the salvation of souls here in Milwaukee. This occurs at the Street Disciple House located at 2126 W Michigan St. Milwaukee, WI 53233. The schedule for the event is as follows:
● Evening Prayer 5:30 pm - 5:45 pm
● Short talk from Griffin with discussion 5:50 pm - 6:10 pm
● Dinner and socializing 6:15 pm onward
If you can't make it this time, plan for the 4th Monday of each month. If you would like to be on our text updates list, please text (414)235-7307 your name and we will add you.
Volunteers Needed
(Contact 414-235-7307 to help)
Way of the Cross through the city streets. Fridays @ 2 pm @ 12th and Wisconsin av.
Saturday big group evangelization at high foot traffic area 10:30 am - 2:30 pm
Needed Items
(Click underline for link to donate)
Street Disciple House Items
Dressers, twin size beds & frames, serving table, serving table, china cabinet
Street Evangelization/Preaching Items
Amazon List (microphone, camera battery, note taker bible, voice recorder)
Financial Donations for Missionary Formation and Street Disciple House
Wood 2x4's (8ft) for the Weekly Way of the Cross
Important information about receiving future newsletters
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About the Missionaries of the Real Presence
The Missionaries of the Real Presence aims to assist in the apostolic renewal of the church by intentionally discipling men living in community and encouraging missionary vocations in the church. We participate in Christ’s evangelizing work for the salvation of souls especially seeking out those who have been spiritually neglected. We introduce people to Jesus through intentional conversation, preaching, teaching, and prayer. We engage in direct evangelization in the public forum on the city streets, on public transit, in homes and share the good news of Christ with those we meet. All of this flows from a life of prayer and union with Jesus as our source.
Support the Mission, Join the Mission
If you appreciate the work we are doing, consider supporting our mission financially Here.
Volunteer with us with our street ministry and house visits Here
If reading about some of our stories inspires you, come and see what life as a missionary is like and visit us for a day or longer for prayer and ministry as you discern Here.
If you want to learn how we evangelize, consider watching videos on our YouTube Channel, Missionaries of the Real Presence
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