[pgrace]

I’m afraid I misread the contractor’s meaning in his text. After he texted me that he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about our conversation, I assumed he meant about my witness to draw him back to Mass. When I tried to get clarification on his estimate, I realized his thoughts were about our conversation on fruit trees and not God. When he didn’t answer my question on the estimate clearly and I asked again, he never responded. What a disappointment.

[pgrace]

1. Praying at the beginning and end of the day: I’ve been praying the morning and evening prayers in the Magnificat daily prayer guide since my wife passed away last April (2021), normally upon waking and upon going to bed.
2. Set aside time and spend 1 to 3 hours before the Blessed Sacrament in the Church, and ask God to guide you in your spiritual life: I spent an hour praying in church after Mass today. I prayed my morning prayers, a rosary, and some Blessed Sacrament prayers from the Laudate app. I asked God to guide me in my spiritual life, particularly for an increase in love for Him, my deceased wife, and others. I have too much silence in my life since my wife passed away. So, adding more silent time to my day is hard for me. I prefer to walk or drive while I pray. I’ll continue to spend time with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament after Mass this week, to include listening. Today’s Mass reading was fitting to start me off; it was Samuel’s call from God when sleeping with Eli in the temple.
3. Intercede for the salvation of souls. I’ve been praying for the salvation of souls for many years, primarily through Mass and the Rosary, and more recently the Divine Mercy Chaplet and other prayers. I also fast two days a week. I’ve been trying to attend Mass daily since my wife passed away, but the pandemic has been an obstacle since the Delta variant emerged. I have been making more of an effort since this past Advent.

[pgrace]

I had breakfast with the husband of one of my wife’s friends following my wife’s death from cancer. He’s a Lutheran who took a liking to the two of us, and helped us on an occasion or two. I shared with him my hope of helping to bring souls to Christ, and asked if I could practice on him. I explained that I know a lot about the faith, but haven’t been fruitful in sharing it with others over my life. I explained that now that I’m retired from the Federal government, I have the opportunity and freedom to evangelize. I shared an abbreviated version of my faith journey, which included a long search for truth, a reading of the Bible, and some experiences. He shared his long past of substance abuse and more recent work in AAA and with the homeless. He’s already grounded in faith in Christ, so it was an easy discussion, followed with me leading us in prayer. Then this past week a contractor visited my home to bid on a job, and when he was leaving I learned that he was a Catholic but hadn’t gone to church since his wife passed away suddenly around 10 years ago. I asked if he was mad at God. He wasn’t really clear about his answer, but I explained how we live in a natural world and can’t blame God. I expressed my sorrow for his loss and for how much he was missing by not attending Mass. I witnessed about my life journey briefly, and how I’ve witnessed amazing things. He was clearly moved by our conversation, and has texted me a couple of times since then. He said he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about our conversation. So I invited him to continue the conversation, said that I’d enjoy hearing more about his story, and I was willing to drive someplace closer to where he lived and worked to continue. I was really impressed with him, and truly would enjoy getting to know him better to help him get through his loss, and return to the sacraments. Pete

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