Stand for Something More

In This Newsletter

1. Stand for Something More by Griffin Rain

2. Some Teaching on Evangelization by Griffin Rain

3. Upcoming Events

4. Volunteers Needed

Stand for Something More
By Griffin Rain

Recently I had an experience evangelizing a person who was protesting. I have found it quite fruitful to evangelize people who are standing for something. I was talking with a man who was protesting the war in Palestine / Israel. I began the conversation by asking why he was there. He shared that he was standing up for this cause because people were dying unjustly. I shared with him that it is a good thing to stand up when there are injustices and that it is better to be either hot or cold, as if you are lukewarm God will "spit you out" (Rev 3:15-16).

I then asked him if he had any underlying faith that he drew his morality from. He said that he was spiritual but not religious. I asked him why, and he said that he didn't want to say that one religion was right or wrong. I pointed out to him that this was a rather lukewarm stance. Here he was standing up for something he saw as an injustice because lives were on the line, but on another issue so large that souls are perishing, he will not decide one way or the other. Using the protestors' phrase, “silence is violence," if we do not take a position on the issue of religion, then we allow people to keep going on to spiritual death. What he was protesting was a very natural thing to protest - the loss of lives - but how many losses of souls are there because people don't pick a side on what matters most?

By the end of the conversation he wanted to look into religion, and I gave him some reading about the Catholic Church. He was excited to look into it. This interaction helped me see how conversion can be a redirection. Think of St. Paul, who was zealously persecuting Christians and then became one of the most zealous proclaimers of Christ after his conversion. People go from on fire for one thing to on fire for another thing.

Another example is lukewarm souls - how do we help set people on fire for the Lord? I had a recent interaction in Chicago while riding the “L." Two high school / college-aged kids got on the train and I noticed one of them was wearing a cross. I shared that I liked his cross and then asked them if they were Catholic. Both of them said yes, though it was clear that they were not practicing. One would go to Mass fairly often with his family and the other would almost never go. I asked them why they thought Jesus came. They answered that he came to teach us how to live good lives. I responded, “Yes, but did he come for anything more than that?” One of them then answered, “He came to take away our sins.” I asked, “What would happen if he did not take away our sins?” He responded, “We would still be in our sins.” I asked him, “What would happen if we remained in our sins?” He responded, "We would go to hell.” I agreed with him and then shared how confession and Mass are the means Jesus gave us of being united with him and strengthening us on the journey so we no longer have fear of judgment for our sins, but hope of eternal life.

A lot of people know parts of the faith, but the parts are not all connected together in their minds. Because of this, they are often neglectful of even the basics of the faith and keeping the precepts of the Church, such as going to confession at least once a year and attending Mass on Sundays and holy days. After this conversation both of the guys realized the importance of going to confession and regularly attending Mass. I left them with a flyer about confession and you could see that both urgently wanted to go back to confession and make a commitment to attending Mass each Sunday.

Some Teaching on Evangelization

Recently I saw a quote from Socrates, "I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think." I find that this "Socratic method" is very good for evangelization. Often when we are evangelizing and objections arise, we are quick to give a response, but it may be too early. We must discover what is below the objections. I encourage you to read the full chapter of Sirach chapter 20 in regards to the wisdom of when to speak. “The wise man will be silent until the right moment” (Sir 20:7).

I thought of the analogy of a tree:

We may be tempted to start by chopping down the branches, which are these initial objections, but then we will wear ourselves out and we won't make any progress, as people often have countless objections that even if answered, will not change their beliefs. But by asking questions about people's objections, we can get deeper to the area where a person has cut themselves off from the tree.

The other temptation is to start chopping at the trunk to try to obliterate the tree. But rarely is the whole tree bad. We ask questions in order to get to the end of the branch that is bad, and to break the branch off. But if we cut the whole tree, then we lose good fruit. On the other hand, if we cut too high, we get tired.

Ask questions to find where Christ needs to be let in, and then the person may be grafted back onto the tree.

"And they also, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.” (Rom 11:23)

I created a YouTube playlist with some techniques for evangelizing conversations, and here is one video in particular that gets at the method of evangelizing described above.

Upcoming Events

Pilgrimage of Hope - Join us for a pilgrimage to the 5 shrines dedicated by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. There will be a walking pilgrimage on October 10th, 11th, and 12th, or a biking pilgrimage on October 18th. Cost is $50 for the walking pilgrimage, but reach out if you need help covering this. The bike pilgrimage cost is TBD based on responses, but will be less than $50. Click here to register.

Lunch in the Park - We will be serving food at King Park (1531 W Vliet St, Milwaukee, WI 53205) on Saturday, October 11th from 11:00am to 1:00pm. Volunteers are needed on two teams - Kitchen team and Evangelization team. Please contact us if you can make it at (414) 235-7307. We begin at the Street disciple house at 11am.

Missionary Associates Dinner - Join us for our next Missionary Associates Dinner. This month it will take place on Monday, October 27th. 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, allows everyone to get to know others, and energizes 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 is as follows:

• Evening Prayer 5:30pm - 5:45pm

• Short talk from Griffin with discussion 5:50pm - 6:10pm

• Dinner and socializing 6:15pm 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.

Men's Open House Discipleship Nights - Join us for the Men's Open House Discipleship Nights on Friday's at the Street Disciple House. This takes place every week unless otherwise noted. See the schedule & speakers for upcoming nights here. It is an open house, so come when you can. You do not need to be there for the whole night. Feel free to invite friends! The schedule is as follows:

• 5pm - Doors open

• 5:30-6:30pm - Dinner

• 6:40pm - Evening Prayer

• 7pm - Formation talk by guest speaker

• 8:15-10pm - Social/games/etc.

• 10pm - We will conclude with Night Prayer

If you would like to help with organizing the night, communication, cooking, finding speakers, etc., please let us know!

Discernment Group - We are hosting a Discernment Group that meets every other week on Saturday evenings. Please contact Griffin at (414) 235-7307 if you would like to be a part of this group. We are reading from the book A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life. We have copies available for those joining the group.

Join our new Street Evangelist Group Chat

This group is primarily for posting events or days and times for evangelization. If you have days that you would like to go out and evangelize, please post in the chat and hopefully someone else would be available to accompany you for evangelization.

Click Here to Join GroupMe

Some recurring times for evangelization:

• Fridays - Evangelization after 12:05pm mass in front of Gesu Church @ 12th and Wisconsin Ave.

• Saturdays - Gig group evangelization at a high traffic foot area.

Needed Items
(Follow the links below to donate)

• Street Disciple House Items

  • Twin sized bunk beds

  • Tall ladder

• Street Evangelization/Preaching Items

  • Amazon List (pamphlet racks, camera battery, note-taker Bible)

• Wood 2x4, 2x6, or 2x8 for the Weekly Way of the Cross

• Financial Donations for Missionary Formation & Operation of Street Disciple House

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, and 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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