One Soul

Spring Lake Beach, Palm Sunday Morning, 2025.  Palm Sunday has dawned, and I’m out for my morning run along a beach in New Jersey.  Across the water, New York beckons, where our band of joyful missionaries will soon descend, enjoining strangers to come back to Jesus.  As I pray and reflect along  barren beach, away in the distance I spot something moving.  It’s a soul.  One soul amongst millions of grains of sand.

At times, I’ve been asked by some very rational people why we even attempt this mission.  “It seems crazy!”  “Ridiculously low odds!"  It's at times like this that I remember the look of utter joy radiating from the soul of a person we've brought home to the Church after 40 years away, as they literally float back towards us out there on Prince and Mott.  Or the equally ecstatic demeanor of a brave missionary, who persevered through a long night of rejection only to be overjoyed by the sudden arrival of a single soul she'd help the Holy Spirit bring back to the flock.  Or the joyful look on the faces of the many seminarians who join us on many an evening as they head back north to Cheshire after having experienced first hand the power of the Holy Spirit.

One famous commentator said to me once in an interview, "Steve, my team has done some math here.  Hundreds of missionaries out there, for over a decade.  Three million people greeted, 250,000 Catholics found, 15,000 confessions heard.  You're a finance guy.  This is pretty ugly math.  In fact, it's terrible odds:  0.5% chance of success, to be precise."  

"Bill," I responded, "I admit it's a low margin business.  But we make it up on volume."

"Volume?  How do you do that?"

"Well, let's guess that not all of the 15,000 stayed on the path that we helped get them back on.  Probably some strayed."

"Definitely. "

"Would you give me 10,000 got to heaven?"

"I'm not sure I would."

"5,000?"

"Perhaps."

"A 100?"

"Easier to imagine but not certain."

"OK, how about one.  Would you give me one?"

"Yes, I'll grant you one. For sure, of the 15,000, one must have or  will make it to heaven because your missionaries changed his course."

"Well then, we win.  Because 1 soul saved times eternity equals infinity.  And so we make it up on volume."

This week, I know from experience, each of our missionaries will touch a soul in a very special way, and maybe, just maybe, help Jesus save the soul for Him, for eternity. 

One soul.

A missionary

April 13, 2025

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