SPSE’s Detroit Festival team evangelized at the St. Florian Strawberry Festival recently. The Strawberry Festival is an annual celebration of Polish culture put on by St. Florian Roman Catholic Parish in Hamtramck, MI. St. Florian Parish preserves elements of Polish culture, while serving people of many ethnic backgrounds through prayer, example, and good works. Through their spiritual and social activities, the parish seeks to be a beacon to all God’s people.

Since most of the people attending the Strawberry Festival were Catholic, the SPSE team focused on the Sacrament of Reconciliation — and on calling their fellow Catholics to go to Confession regularly. They would start by saying, “Hey, would you like a free Rosary?” If the person said, “Yeah,” then the evangelist would ask if he or she was Catholic. If so, the evangelist would follow up with, “When was the last time you’ve been to Confession?” It turned out that most people hadn’t been to Confession in a long time. The evangelists then encouraged the person to get to Confession. Several people actually agreed to go with a handshake, saying, “Alright, it’s a deal!”

Thank you, Detroit Festival team! Catholics, especially, understand their need to stay right with God, but often forget that the actual grace we need to do that is available in the Sacraments — especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is part of the Good News that our teams of SPSE evangelists have the joy of spreading — to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Have you become a member of SPSE yet? Membership gives you access to all of the training modules we’ve developed to bring you quickly up to speed, as well as to all of our pamphlets and other evangelization resources. If you haven’t joined us yet, please pray about doing so today.