The Beautiful Journey
Holy Week Mission Blog Day 5 Good Friday St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, SoHo. By late morning, the mists of Holy Thursday had passed, ushering in beautiful sunny early spring day in New York City. Weather means something to street missionaries. For their own comfort, for sure. But they know from experience when the weather is good, casual passers-by are more inclined to stop for a chat. Or maybe I should say, extremely inclined to stop for a chat. Our hit rates from earl
Steve Auth
6 min read
Really
Mission Blog Day 4 Holy Thursday Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral, So Ho. It was a bone-chilling night in SoHo, with temperatures running 20 degrees lower than yesterday and a continuous mist in the air. We have just seven missionaries to support our three wonderful priests. Ten years ago, this would have seemed like Mission impossible. Not last night. It’s difficult to gauge precisely, but roughly what even five years ago would have been a hit rate of 60 to 1, was avera
Steve Auth
4 min read
You're Not Funny. God is Real!
Hi Steve, Once again a great mission! BJ, Katherine and I left filled with joy and hope as always!! I wanted to share my encounter with a soul today. We had just arrived at St Patrick's Old Cathedral on Good Friday. Before I went out on the street to encounter souls I went to confession myself. Standing in line, I met a young woman who was very friendly. She introduced herself, asked how long I'd been coming to this church and then asked me my name. We began a conversation as
Steve Auth
2 min read
Lit Up on the Way of the Cross
Mission Blog Day 3 Holy Wednesday St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Fifth Avenue, New York City. I rushed to the Cathedral from a late lunch meeting, but I didn’t get there ahead of them. The joyful young seminarians had arrived early, and were waiting, praying, where we’d agreed to meet in the crypt below the main altar. Their faces radiated with, yes, a little anxiety about the task ahead, but of the joyful kind. They were primed and loaded for a “real” experience of the mission
Steve Auth
6 min read
Mary Finds Her Soul
Dear Steve, You asked me to send you a summary of what I discussed yesterday with the young man I was speaking with for so long. He was from a secular family and is left-wing. Almost right away I said that there is nothing God can't forgive, and that He never stops loving us. I let him do a lot of talking about what he didn't like about the Christian churches and the guntoting Catholics he meets upstate. I told him how Nicholas Kristof, a NYT’s columnist, said that wherev
Steve Auth
1 min read
