Dear Friends,
We hope this letter finds you and your families safe.
The Corona has changed all of our worlds. Three weeks ago, we were all on a different path, and suddenly have found ourselves caught up within a Category 5 tornado, trying to reestablish some sense of normalcy while our ourselves and our world is still whirling and changing around us. And us with it. Somehow, what mattered last month seems to matter less today. New priorities have emerged.
For Evelyn and I, we are similarly struggling with all that. And as it relates to the mission, and with how as missionaries we can help.
I recently did a podcast with a very creative and faithful young Catholic man named Alex Cortez for Our American Network. (Here’s the link: http://www.ouramericannetwork.org/story?title=The-Missionary-of-Wall-Street) He only posted it recently, in the midst of the Corona storm, and I myself didn’t get a chance to listen to last night. Afterwards, two thoughts struck me. One, Alex Cortez is very talented. Somehow, he pieced together and at times rambling 90 minute chat in my living room a few weeks ago into a powerful story about a simple Catholic guy who falls away from the faith, who the Lord finds and retrieves from a far pasture, and becomes a missionary. Second, Alex chose from the stories we talked about that day the ones in The Missionary of Wall Street from what I call the “Def Con 5” moment—where the missionaries are inspired by the circumstances of the moment to go directly to the prospect of eternity—“with or without the Lord, your choice”. There are only two such instances of this cited in The Missionary, and a reference to a third, and Alex chose ALL THREE stories for the four that he had in his final work.
Starting today, The Missionary has set up a new tab on our site called “Corona Musings”. Our intent, for the duration of the crisis, is to post special musings, either from Evelyn or I or links to others we find helpful, that relate especially to the world as Corona has effected it. In addition to spiritual musings/stories that seem particularly relevant, we also include on it links to Corona-related market commentaries that I write for Federated in my role as its Chief Investment Officer of Equities. Here’s the link:
Yours in Christ,
Steve and Evelyn Auth
