A woman walks into Saint Patrick’s Cathedral for reasons she doesn’t understand or question. Born under Communism in Eastern Europe, she made her way to America in the 1990s and went on to build an investment business with multiple offices in the U.S. and abroad. She is confident and well put together. Perhaps she entered the Cathedral for a moment of peace and recollection. A missionary approaches her near the entrance with a gift of a votive candle and a pink rosary. But through her gracious smile she is peering, searchingly. A discussion ensues about the coming Easter and how broken humans can re-rise with Christ. “This is what I want, exactly what I want” she says, “what do I have to do?” In her native country, Christianity was effectively banned and the only sacrament she had ever received was baptism. The missionary shares some good news: the only thing needed is sorrow for her sins and a desire to give herself totally to God; she can have every sin she ever committed forgiven and forgotten, right now. He tells her Christ already knows everything, was waiting to embrace her, and is sitting next to a bronze statue of Mother Teresa in the person of a priest in a gray habit. He can take her to him. She takes the offered three-fold Guide to Confession and sits down to read. 15 minutes later she is telling Christ everything and opening a path to Easter.
A Missionary
April 12, 2022