Step Aside God; MY Will Be Done!
Sponsored
Catholic365 is sponsored by
Road to Purity
I recently had the pleasure of visiting arguably one of the best Catholic gift shops I have ever been to, and I’ve been to them all over the United States and in four countries. The Retro in the Denver suburb of Arvada is truly unique. The ladies who run it have hearts of gold and exemplify the welcoming light of Christ in the way they interact with guests. In my interaction with one of them, she shared a Surrender Novena prayer card with me and I told her that I was not familiar with it. She told me the back story of Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo, a contemporary of Padre Pio’s from Naples who shared some of the same divine graces as Padre Pio, including the stigmata. When I told her that I was a therapist in corrections, she asked if I would be permitted to give the cards to inmates and I told her that I would be happy to do so and explained that while I could not initiate spiritual conversation with them, I was permitted to engage in it when they brought it up first—and greater than 90% of them do. I promised her that I would pray it. We prayed a Hail Mary together and I left, filled with the Spirit.
(To be continued)...
Joseph Michael is a social worker and writer from Brooklyn, NY. Born into a Sicilian immigrant Catholic family, he attended parochial school throughout his childhood. He studied Journalism at Arizona State University and completed a Culinary Arts degree through Le Cordon Bleu, working for over a decade in restaurants and country clubs throughout California, New York and Wisconsin. He then earned an M.A. in Pastoral Counseling at Fordham University followed by a Master of Social Work degree from New Mexico State University. A writer since high school, his work has focused primarily on faith-based and political commentary. He has worked extensively in the mental health field, providing therapy in residential treatment facilities, behavioral health hospitals and clinics and now works as a crisis interventionist in correctional healthcare. He and his wife, also a social worker, reside in Arizona. Joseph is a Knight of Columbus and has strong devotions to Our Lady, St. Padre Pio and St. Michael. He plays ice hockey, watches baseball, cooks and does martial arts in his free time. Feel free to contact him at jdimarius@fordham.edu.
