Sharing the Real Presence
This newsletter features two articles from the missionaries about evangelizing the worldly and Accompanying people. We invite you to get involved in some of our upcoming events. We will also be including items and ways that you can financially help with the mission at the end of the newsletter. Going forward we will be including an updates section so you can read about what is going on with the mission. Please continue keeping us and those we are ministering to in your prayers. We hope these newsletters can encourage you and our readers to grow in faith and in zeal for the work of the salvation of souls that is so needed in our church.
In this newsletter
Evangelizing the Worldly
Accompaniment to Holiness
Upcoming Events
Updates
Needed Items
Evangelizing the Worldly by Griffin Rain
Last month we evangelized at some pretty large events in Milwaukee. First we set up a table outside of Polish Fest. I have always known the Polish people to be quite faithful to the Catholic faith. I was quite surprised at how many people we met who had fallen away from the faith and were often quite antagonistic. Many of those who have fallen away have been here in the United States for a few generations now. Evangelizing there helped me to realize the scourge of secularism on the faithful. More than half of the people I talked to had fallen away from the Catholic faith. Most of the reasons that they gave were very related to this secular mindset and materialistic tendencies.
We as Catholics need to fight back against the materialist culture and put our trust in God and not worldly things. We are to live for God and not have our sights on only the world here. What things will last? Let us meditate on the last things to avoid getting caught up in the world; Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell. When we lose sight of these last things, we have the tendency to trade in the gospel for the comforts of the world. We go from on fire for the things of God to lukewarm and then finally cold towards the things of God. I met so many people with hardened hearts and they need to be loved by Catholics who authentically care for their soul. I have seen how one missionary who sincerely cares for the soul of a person can pierce through even the hardest of hearts.
Another event that we evangelized at was the Juneteenth Day street festival. Since the holiday is celebrating the freedom from slavery for the African American people, we invited people to write on the cross where they need Christ to set them free from particular sins in their lives. There may no longer be slavery in our country, but sin still enslaves us and Christ came to set us free from our sins. “For freedom Christ set us free” Gal 5:1 We probably had over 200 people write their sins they needed freedom from on the cross at the event. It was a very public expression of the faith with tens of thousands of people at the event and us walking around carrying a giant Cross in the midst of it.
Leading up to this event, I was worried that we would get a very negative response because the week prior to the event, we did the way of the cross along the whole route of the parade route and we had in my three years of this mission, the first outburst of aggression where we were surrounded by a group of angry Black Hebrew Israelites. They were very aggressive with their speech, shoved one of the missionaries and someone grabbed all the papers from my hand and threw them on the ground. We got out before things got too dangerous, but this is not the kind of fighting the lord calls us to, but to turn the other cheek. We saw many people from these groups at the street festival and I was very surprised that none of them even said a word as we were evangelizing at the event.
With both of these events, is it so important that we as Catholics get out to evangelize. Many people are receptive to the gospel and sometimes we forget that this is good news. Christianity is not supposed to sit back as the world gets more secularized. People need and want the gospel. We must boldly proclaim Christ despite any persecutions and this Good News will not fall on deaf ears. It is needed now more than ever. Every time we go out, we reach people who might otherwise continue to drift or never even knew their value in the eyes of God. You are loved!
Accompaniment to holiness by Robert Pauly
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:7-8)
Spiritual warfare is not unique to the Catholic Church; it is experienced throughout the world (wars, conflicts, poverty, etc.) Over the past two years, I encountered people throughout Milwaukee who desire to come to know Jesus Christ not only as a person, but also and ultimately, as their Savior. Some of the people do not leave their homes except for visiting the doctor’s office, court appearances, etc. Otherwise, know they know people who have the ability to drive places or they take the bus to get out of their homes. One woman had her children taken away because of having issues with alcohol, which covers a lot of other pains and sorrows that took place in the past. Several times, she invited the Missionaries inside her home to pray with her family on occasion or teach her about Jesus Christ, which were welcomed by loud music.
One time I visited her with another missionary; she just was not her typical self. I asked her if she wanted to pray or want us to come back another time. She said, “Come inside. Let’s pray.” Not only did her faith need further nurturing, but also other things had gotten into the garden of her heart. During the prayer, the Spirit of Love gave me words to comfort her, which also gave her words to fight the despair regarding her family’s situation. Later that week, we stopped by and noticed how much better she looked. We reflected on the visit for several minutes because the Holy Spirit inspired and strengthened her will to fight for control of her life. Many men and women living in the northside of Milwaukee, do not believe they have control of their lives. After all the things they witnessed throughout their lives, especially the tragedies, can bring them down to the pit of despair. Through the prayer, by inviting the Holy Spirit into her despair, brought her to a place of security in Christ, which gave her more strength and authority to fight to live for each day.
As you can see, the work of learning a person’s life story typically begins at a conversion moment because many people recognize the Lord’s Voice and seek to follow His Will. Each person who visits us, realizes that the missionary life is an amazing experience; simultaneously, recognizes that following the calling requires acting on faith.
Here's the Good News: by listening to the life stories from the streets has helped me realize where the enemy had control in my life; with the help of spiritual direction, constant prayer, and mediation, how to push them back. As Job said after receiving boils and sores from God for unknown reasons, “... We accept good things from God; should we not accept evil?” (Jb. 2:9-10) In the midst of trials and tribulations, do not forget the good gifts God has given you; for they can be used to fight against despair and other thoughts that make us thing think something is impossible for us to do, but not for God, for by His Grace enables us to do all things. I invite you to ask God for the gifts of trusting His Plan and the faith to act on it by asking questions: Why can’t I follow the Lord into (religious life, priesthood, etc.)? What is it they are doing that makes me (e.g. uncomfortable, unworthy, etc.)?
St. Ignatius of Loyola said, “After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the Devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if Satan's temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he'll have an incentive to leave you alone.”
Check out our updates below to see how we plan to help accompany men discerning a missionary vocation with the mission discernment house.
Upcoming Events
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
Missionary Associates – Join us for our next Missionary Associates Dinner. Next Month it will take place on the 4th Thursday, August 22nd. 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 normally occurs on the 3rd Thursday of the month at St. Anthony Catholic Church at 1711 S. 9th St. Milwaukee, WI 53204. The schedule for the event is as follows:
● Evening Prayer in the Church 5:30 pm - 5:45 pm
● Short talk by one of the missionaries 5:50 pm - 6:10 pm
● Dinner and socializing 6:15 pm onward
Updates
House Hunting & Mission Discernment House - We are shifting our strategy for finding a new location for our mission house. We are still looking on the northside for a storefront/church building for ministry, but we are planning on living at a house near Marquette University. We do not have a location picked out yet, have a couple potential houses. The reason for this, we have felt God calling to help men with discernment of a missionary vocation. We will allow students and young adults to live with us while in college or working, while committing to some basic house items. We are still planning out how this will look, but expect that men can live in the house for a small rent and commit to praying morning prayer as a community, weekly formation on prayer & mission, a couple hours a week engaged in mission work. If you are interested in this, please reach out at (414)235-7307.
YouTube Channel - We have begun making more YouTube Videos of our mission work and some How-To videos on evangelization. We encourage you to check it out at Missionaries of the Real Presence.
Vita Consecrata Institute – We were able to raise enough money to attend the Vita Consecrata Institute. These classes have been very formative and are helping the missionaries to learn more about consecrated life and apply the teachings to our lives. This has been incredible to attend each year as we spend a month praying, learning and spending time living in community with religious from many institutes. This year we took courses on the Spiritual Life, Sacraments in the Spiritual Life, Psychology in Support of Religious Life and Theology of the Body for Consecrated Persons.
Needed Items
Many people have been asking what kind of items that we are in need of to support us in a specific way. We will now have at the bottom of our monthly newsletter some items that we are in need of as well as some specific things we will need funding for.
Financial Donations for Missionary Formation
wood 2x4's
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 Anthony Parish in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as they discern a charism for a new religious community to be Contemplative Missionaries for Urban Evangelization. We are dedicated to prayer through daily Eucharistic Adoration and chanted Liturgy of the Hours in the church open to the public and evangelization to the inner-city areas where the Catholic Church is not very present.
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
Check out our Facebook Here or our Instagram Here
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