Thy Kingdom Come!
Dear Mr. Auth in Christ:
I just want to thank you for this possibility of doing missions in the very heart of the world! I enjoyed much and could learn many things. Thank you for all your hard work preparing everything.
As you requested, my story is the following:
The missions in NYC was something I was expecting since I was a second year novice in Brazil. Seeing pictures of brothers playing their guitars and handing out rosaries was something quite unexpected to see in NYC. After a long period, the day finally came when I would be in the front line of the battlefield, fighting against my shame and the indifference of so many people.
My mission was to pray the rosary before an abortion clinic. Planned Parenthood were the first words I saw in a not welcoming building. We stood there in front of the building and started to let the beads of the rosary flow between our fingers and the words of the Hail Mary “and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” leave our hearts.
It was a cold night and I was shivering, but as I was thinking in all those women who were entering and leaving that clinic, I wanted to take the heat of the love of Christ to them. We kept praying. We were there for them.
The first commentary of a wayfarer was: “Shame on you!”. A young lady said: “It would be better if you started to help children in need than to pray”. Another lady started to say bad things to us and in this moment I thought how unpleasant was our presence there for the world, how unpleasant was receiving all those remarks. I got sad for a moment, but we prayed louder and louder. I closed my eyes and pressed the rosary against my chest, and then I heard a feminine voice: “Thank you so much for what you’re doing”. I opened my eyes and I saw a beautiful young woman smiling at us.
I interpreted this smile and these words as Mary giving me a tight and warm hug. She was there to thank us for our perseverance. She, the young woman who could’t have a “planned parenthood”, taught me that embracing the will of God can be a sacrifice, but God doesn’t forsake his children.
That man told me to be ashamed. I am ashamed for all the times that I accepted the evil in my life and didn’t fight for the good and truthful. That lady told me to take care of children in need. I will make the efforts and sacrifices to make the charity I learn into the charity I do, and I ask the help of Mary, the most generous mother, to be faithful to her son.
Thank you, also, for the Missionary of Wall Street. We read the first chapter while we were heading to NY and it was a good help to “warm up”. I’m looking forward to read the whole book.
Be sure of my prayers,
Br. Tibério Transfeld, LC