Title: Episode 70: Melissa Florian Emily: Thanks for listening to another episode of Open Door Policy. I’m your co-host Emily Mentock, Fr. Patrick: And I’m your co-host Fr. Patrick Gonyeau. Emily: Thanks so much for joining us today. And Fr. Patrick, how are you? Fr. Patrick: Emily, I am doing wonderful. It is the merry month of May. Emily: Yes. Fr. Patrick: The sweet month of our Blessed Mother and I, you know, I was ordained a priest in the month of May, so May is always a very special month. And then, the life, all the beautiful growth happening around us just — it just excites our hearts, I think, to see new life blooming and know that Christ is always doing something new in us. Each day his greatness, his favor are new. How are you, Emily? Emily: I’m doing great! Yes, spring is such a hopeful season. I’ve been really enjoying it, especially downtown. They’ve planted an abundance of tulips all down Woodward and in Campus Martius Park. It’s so beautiful and it definitely just brings that hope that we’re coming out of this — what I think a couple episodes ago I joked about the long Lent of the whole pandemic year. And not that — we’re definitely not totally in the clear yet, but definitely feel hopeful in a way that, kind of emerging from the darkness, in a way, that has been hanging around for the past over a year. I also love this — am excited about this month because I’ve been trying to participate in Pope Francis’s Prayer Marathon of praying the rosary everyday for the end of the pandemic, so that’s been my other little source of hope, that Catholics around the world will unite in, you know, through the intercession of Mary bring an end to the pandemic. So that’s been something I’ve been working on. Fr. Patrick: That’s awesome! That was — I was going to ask you, like, what’s a grace in your life? Something God’s been doing? And that’s clear that’s one of them, is joining in the Holy Father’s call to pray the rosary for an end to the pandemic. Another question for you, because you and your husband are now Detroiters, though South Bend, Indiana — Go Irish! — will always be in your heart. Have you guys gone down to the Riverwalk at all yet this year? It’s an incredible spot, right? Emily: I go there often. We’ve gone a little bit together, but yeah, that’s like my go-to walking spot. Actually, I don’t know, I don’t remember if this was on-air or not, Fr. Patrick, but back in the fall when we had the — when we recorded the transition episode with Fr. Steve, you said something to me about, like, seeing me at the Riverwalk or something, and I was like oh, that’s so interesting. I don’t remember if that was on-air or not. I’ll have to go back and listen. But from that moment, it’s like every time I feel like I need to get outside and decompress, even though there’s a lot of places to walk in the city, but one of my go-to spots is to go and walk along the river. And it’s so — it’s been cool to see the river go through all the seasons. There was, like, icebergs for a while, now it’s beautiful and blue. So yeah, we do go down there. Fr. Patrick: Well I have one awesome update. And I think being close to the river, like, oh yeah, it would be a draw to go down there a lot. There’s something so peaceful about water, right? And, so the update: okay, people out there, get excited. We’ve talked in the past about maybe going to the sacred Holy Land in the midwest, Notre Dame, and maybe doing an Open Door Policy there. Emily used to work for the university, so maybe we could get some — we could do it, like, under Touchdown Jesus or something? Like, here’s the quick update: there’s a person I met, and God, I love to do, like, healing services. And someone from South Bend, Indiana has made an invitation. And I said, could we do it on a Friday night in the fall? Wink, wink. Emily: Nice. Fr. Patrick: Before a football Saturday? So, Emily can we make that happen? Emily: Let’s make it happen, for sure. Fr. Patrick: I could stay in your parents’ garage. Do they have a garage? [laughs] Emily: Yes. [laughs] Fr. Patrick: Ron and I. Ron, we’re staying in Emily’s parents’ backyard, let’s go! Emily: Oh my gosh, yes, let’s definitely figure out how to get down there. That would be so fun. Actually, one of my friends from South Bend — so when I was moving here and telling my friends, and my friends were really surprised because, like, why would I leave South Bend to come to Detroit? It was a bit of a shock to them, I think, when we kind of discerned this decision that God was calling me to come and work here. And one of my friends, she was familiar with Encounter and with some of the healing ministry that you do, Fr. Patrick, and so your name was one of the first ones I had on my radar to look out for, because my friend Tina — Tina, if you’re listening to this — had shared that she knows of Fr. Patrick and to kind of be on the lookout. So, and now here we are, connected and one day, maybe when we go back to South Bend, then you can meet Tina and that would just bring everything full circle and beautiful, gift of communion together, one body of Christ. Fr. Patrick: It would be awesome because Notre Dame also is, you know, it’s known in the history of the Church in the United States for — there was, you know, a lot of graces have flowed there, and particularly, once upon a time, you know, the Holy Spirit’s power was being very much celebrated there and I think there was a lot of good fruit that came from it. So that’s — maybe we can do a little something on that at Notre Dame. So, speaking of awesome things, in the hopper, in the green room, about to be launched is Melissa Florian, our guest today, who has a beautiful story that I’ve been privileged to hear some of it, and we’ll get to sharing it together today. Melissa is a producer at Ave Maria Radio and I was blessed to meet her — as I do help out with Encounter Ministries, their School of Ministry on Monday nights — and she is a second year student, and she is so full of the Holy Spirit. Some interesting things about Melissa is that back in high school, she was a bodybuilder, and — Emily: Amazing. Fr. Patrick: She has a great love of horticulture, plants, some that I guess they’re almost thirty years old, and she is learning to play the shofar, which we’re going to have to ask her a little more about. It’s an instrument of praise. But with no further ado, welcome Melissa Florian! Melissa: Yay! Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you. Fr. Patrick: Thank you for joining us, Melissa. How are you today? Melissa: Oh, I am feeling so blessed and so thankful. Praise God in all his designs. Fr. Patrick: Mmm. Absolutely. Melissa, I just thank you for, you know, your beautiful witness to Jesus. I’m so glad you’re here and I can’t wait to get into your story here. Emily: Yeah, can’t wait to learn more about you, Melissa. But can you share — have you lived in the Detroit area long? I’m a newbie, but I would just love to hear from you, like, what is your connection to the southeast Michigan region, where’s your parish? Melissa: Well I was born and raised in Belleville, Michigan. And we, you talk about the Riverwalk. When I grew up, going down to the Detroit River, we would go down to — before it was a Riverwalk, we went down to Hart Plaza and that wonderful waterfall structure that's still down there with the circle on top, my brother actually climbed that when we were teenagers. Of course, the water wasn’t coming out. So, yeah, going down when the fireworks were called the Freedom Festival Fireworks, and going over to those. So we spent a lot of time in Downtown Detroit. And I guess the Riverwalk is now number one in the nation for riverwalks, I read that someplace. Fr. Patrick: I just saw it, too. Melissa: Yeah, isn’t it cool? It’s so awesome. Fr. Patrick: Yeah, we have the number one! Emily: That’s awesome! I didn’t even know that but yeah, it’s beautiful. Melissa: Yeah, it is beautiful. So, born and raised in Wayne County. I did move to Washtenaw County and I’m at St. John the Baptist in Ypsilanti. My old parish — I was confirmed at Our Lady of Good Counsel. So I go to a lot of different parishes. Most Holy Trinity on Sunday nights for their 7 p.m. Mass, which is out of sight! I recommend people to go at 7 p.m. Our very own Fr. Patrick Gonyeau and Fr. Ryan Adams will celebrate Mass down there at that beautiful, old parish. Yeah, great neighborhood. I saw a bunny rabbit cross the street when I was down there a couple weeks ago and I thought, yay! There’s a bunny rabbit in Detroit! [laughs] Emily: In downtown, I know, there’s not much nature, so. A little surprising. [laughs] Fr. Patrick: Yeah, surprising! Emily: That’s awesome. Well, Melissa, we’re so grateful to you for taking time to join us this afternoon. As you know, from Open Door Policy, this season we’ve been hearing beautiful stories of missionary disciples, how they’ve encountered Christ, how they got to this point of where they are now living as joyful missionary disciples, and we like to start at the beginning, right? So I would like to hear, like, what was your life like before becoming a joyful missionary disciple? Or what was your, sort of, big picture faith journey been, leading up to the moment you encountered Christ? Melissa: Well I’m the youngest of six children. We did have a foster — I had a foster brother for a period of time growing up. My dad taught us how to pray the Our Father, and we would say grace over dinner. But unfortunately, my parents’ marriage dissolved pretty quickly and they divorced when I was ten years old. And I was baptized Catholic but I missed my sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion. Being the youngest of seven, my mom was so busy. And fast forward into being a teenager, just hanging out with the wrong friends, and unfortunately, I just was lost and not sure what I wanted to do with my life. Started smoking marijuana when I was a teenager, just to numb those feelings of not feeling accepted and kind of lost. I was a hard worker, so I would always be employed and met a man when I was 21 years old, he was 12 years older than me, had a great first — we were together for 13 years, married for 12, and the first seven years were great. Unfortunately those last seven years turned out not so great. Because he had his own addiction and I had that marijuana addiction, even though I gave it up for a couple of years here and there, but that was part of my daily life, you know? Like people have to drink coffee in the morning, well, I would smoke marijuana in the morning. But I was functioning. And then to tell — we discovered powder cocaine, and then that evolved into crack cocaine, because that’s something he liked to do. He was a sex addict, and there — we did not live a good, healthy life. And our marriage dissolved and we separated, and the Lord rocked his world. After we divorced, and we were still kind of hanging out, but not so much. After he — [laughs] that’s a different story, but fast forward to June 2016. I wasn’t actually seeking the Lord. I mean, I would pray here and there and ask him to help me out when I was in trouble, but it kind of just was going through the motions with the prayer. But on Father’s Day 2016, I woke up with this feeling of — it was — I don’t know how to describe it other than that I just felt changed. I had this feeling in my heart that I was clean. I was washed. I was changed. I had no inclination to smoke marijuana. I had no desire to — at that time I was smoking cigarettes. All of that taste, the desire was gone. And it was — I went to Cedar Point and it was a wonderful time. I would go to Cedar Point every Fathers Day, and the years before that I would, on my home, I’d stop in Detroit and get my, you know, get my fix, if you will. But that Sunday I was so high on God and so pleased just to be alive — I don’t know how to describe it. There was so much joy in my heart that, okay, I loved myself. I mean for the first time in my life I felt, I love myself. I’m okay. This is a good feeling. It was such a strange and foreign feeling at that time, but in hindsight, it was — God touched my heart. And he was hugging me and he was holding me and he was loving on me. And on Monday, the following day — Sunday was Fathers Day and on Monday, I woke up saying, okay, Jesus, I think I know who you are, but I don’t know — I don’t have a relationship with you. I don’t — I’d like to be friends — I don’t remember exactly what the words I used, but I started going to Mass. I felt this desire to go to Mass. And I started going to daily Mass and then go through — went to the sacrament of Confession, because my friend who — at that point that was at OLGC because my friends were at OLGC and they were inviting me to Mass over the years, and my friend Wendy, I love her so much, my friend of 35 years, said, “Melissa, you need to go to Confession.” [laughs] Fr. Patrick: Ooh. Praise God for friends that are disciples. And Melissa, I’ve got to jump in here for a second. Every person who comes on the podcast brings special graces, and I, like, met you and, like, no one would ever know. You’re like a put-together lady, and no one would ever know, like, when you just start to share your story, like, what? What? And honestly, people — we can get the shivers for a moment, I feel like, just like in the day when Jesus walked the face of the earth. And, you know, how people may have felt, like, “You did such and such?” And, “You were involved in such and such?” And like, Jesus came for us. That’s exactly what he came to heal. The sickness and affliction that gets on our flesh, and it manifests in some of the most difficult conditions, and you’ve been through some of those. I just thank you for your vulnerability and I believe when people hear these testimonies, they get encouraged, because sometimes people have something going on that they don’t want anybody to know about, or they know someone who feels like they’re in the pits there, and then, how beautiful on Fathers Day. Fathers Day, you get this beautiful experience with Jesus. But the next day! So you have this encounter, but the next day when you woke up, on that Monday, that — the grace was on your heart to start to ask Jesus. So tell us about that next day. You were getting into it and then I jumped in but — we got some of the before you met Jesus, holy smokes! And then when you met Jesus, you wake up Monday after Fathers Day, after basically a day of grace, and you’re saying, “Who are you, Jesus? What does this mean?” Tell us more about that, that time of like, growth in the Lord. Melissa: Yeah, I had to have a counter, so I responded. And boy, I thank him for giving me that understanding that, okay, I’m giving you an invitation, and he gave me the courage to say yes, I want to. I just kind of followed my heart — I’ve kind of always been that kind of person, just to follow my heart, if I wasn’t high — but that Monday. Okay, so I went to Mass, and I just had this incredible desire to receive the Eucharist. I remember going to communion before and just, okay, yeah, just going through the motions, but that was just hunger. I can’t describe — it was just a hunger. And part of me also knew that I didn’t receive my First Holy Communion. But I knew — I just felt the Lord was saying, it’s okay. It’s not wrong. But there is, in the Catholic Church, we know that you have to have — there’s the sacraments. You have to receive your sacraments. There’s a process. So I did. I went — I decided to go through the process. I went through — my first confession, I didn’t know what to do. And it wasn’t — it was an okay confession. But then my second confession was out of sight. I sat down and had a face-to-face and kind of had a past life confession. And I explained to the priest, I said, I — this is what I’m doing and I don’t know if it’s wrong or not, I don’t know if it’s a sin that I haven’t received that sacrament but I’m still receiving communion. And he said, “Well, let me ask you a question. How do you feel after you receive communion?” And I told him, I said, I feel that I’m being changed. I feel like I’m being strengthened. I feel like this is what I need, this is my food that will give me — yeah. And he said to me, “I’m not going to tell you not to receive communion. You keep going and you keep receiving communion, but sign up for RCIA.” Fr. Patrick: [laughs] Praise God. Emily: It’s just so beautiful to hear you talk about, you know, that desire. Because I think, it’s interesting, especially in hearing, you know, like, from your story of addiction, and when you wake up and you have, like, that desire for other things, right? You wake up with desire. We all have desires on our heart — Fr. Patrick and I, before this episode just earlier were talking about different, you know, how do we cope with stress? And how, you know, you get older and you find healthier ways to do it, but the desire even to relieve yourself of stress is there. And so, to hear from you, oh, to have the desires of addiction, and then to have the desire for the Eucharist after you’re healed, it’s like, your heart, and as a person, it’s the same desire for something, and how beautiful that you, you know, were able in your life through the grace of God, through that gift of Fathers Day — which mean, I feel like we need to go back there and understand more about what happened that day and how, what it felt like — but to then have that desire for the Eucharist. I totally get that, too. When I was coming back to Mass, after I had, like, kind of my own conversion, I, you know, being a lifelong Catholic knew that I wasn’t supposed to go up and get communion if I hadn’t gone to confession recently. So I sat in the back, but it was, like, a desire of the Eucharist that helped me get over my fear and my anxiety about going to confession. It was like, okay, I’m scared to go and talk to the priest about everything that’s been going on in my life, but I want the Eucharist more, and so I totally get that, that desire to just want — and then how you feel afterwards is just, like, the greatest gift. Fr. Patrick: Oh, praise the Lord. Hey, Melissa, you’re going to help us institute something new on the show. It’s just a very brief — we call it a Fire Hose Grace Break. And so anyone else out there who’s listening, who’s like, “I want to desire the Eucharist more, I want to desire other things in my life less,” just open up your hands for a second, and Melissa, just pray that we would all have that deep, awesome desire for the Eucharist that was so pivotal in changing your life. Go for it! Shoot the fire hose. Melissa: Holy Spirit, come. Come, Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, I ask you to just send a wave of hunger into hearts to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. TO receive a greater outpouring of a desire to receive the Holy Eucharist. Jesus, I ask you to come into hearts and beckon them to come and receive the true food. That you tell them that they abide in you, and you abide in them. And more, Holy Spirit, we just ask for your love. Thank you, Lord. Emily: Amen. Fr. Patrick: Amen. Get ready to receive Holy Communion, everybody! So, Melissa, tell us about your mission now with Ave Maria, a beautiful apostolate. Melissa: It is all, you know, God has blessed me in so many ways after that Fathers Day. You know, Fathers Day is a day that we’re supposed to give our fathers gifts, right? But no, our Father, our Heavenly Father wants to pour out more gifts. And he cleansed me of taht addiction, he healed me of that addiction, but he just keeps on giving me more gifts! I mean, wow. I ended up — oh, gosh, how do I say it? Blessings after blessings after blessings. I went back to school. I had a good job that allowed me to go to school at night, and he gave me — he still gives me — a running car to get from here and there. And during school, I applied for this internship, there was one place I wanted to work, was Ave Maria Radio. I went to Ave Maria Radio after, two weeks after submitting my resume I got an interview with Steve Clark. I got hired the next day. I mean, it was like, woah, Holy Spirit, this is at your speed, and it’s fast! So I’m going to, you know, put on a seatbelt! And then, okay, so, yeah, it was an internship, but then by May — it was an internship and it was November — and by May I was hired part time. Okay, so, alright, I want to work more hours, so I switched to the midnight shift and came in at the radio station during the day, you know, twelve hours a week, but still, I mean, it was, okay, Lord, you’re going to give me the strength, I can trust in you. And then — the Lord takes and he gives. Okay, so, in September of 2020, it was a Sunday, another Sunday, I was getting ready [inaudible] I work midnights, so I try and get some sleep, I keep getting this phone call. Unbeknownst to me, it was the morgue calling me from Colorado. My brother, unfortunately, my beloved brother, 56 years old, died of pulmonary embolism. On the spot. And on Monday, I did go to work, midnight, but on Monday, I did go to the radio station, because I just felt compelled to go into the radio station. I could’ve called in, but I went in. And the general manager calls me to his office and said, “Melissa, we are starting a new program, we want you to be the associate producer! And it starts in a week!” And so, again, the Holy Spirit works really fast sometimes, and it’s at his time, and yeah. So that was really wild. Emily: Yeah. Melissa, you mentioned, you know, and it’s amazing how God gives and he’s been so generous, you wanted this internship, you wanted this job, and then you got it, which is amazing! But I would love to hear from you, like, why radio? Why Ave Maria Radio? What was it — what were you drawn to about that? Melissa: I chose radio because I’d been told over the years that I have a voice for radio, and I went back to school by the grace of God, at night, at Specs Howard, and the first night of class we were asked, where do we want to work? What’s the one place we want to work? And I knew in my heart, in my heart that it was — I wanted to work for Catholic radio. I wanted to work for WDO. I started listening to WDO after the Lord healed me of my addiction. I just was immediately tuned in. My taste in music changed, I wanted to learn more, and my sponsor had told me, “Melissa, just whatever you do, absorb, get involved in anything and everything that you can that will teach you more about your faith.” And Catholic radio does that, and there are so many good programs. And, so yeah, that’s really how I got into Catholic radio life. Well, the Lord put me in Catholic radio, I need to give him all the credit, because he’s the one that steered that for me. Emily: Right, and I think — Fr. Patrick: Melissa, I — oh, go ahead. Emily: Oh, Fr. Patrick, go. Fr. Patrick: Ladies first. Emily: I was just going to comment, so you can ask the next question, Fr. Patrick, but I was going to comment, I just think it’s so beautiful that, like, the way Catholic radio served you in your journey back, in providing that, “What’s next,” some of those answers, and different music, and then to feel called to then go and serve, to then give your life back to what was given to you as a gift, I just think that’s so beautiful and I love that you’ve shared that. It’s a great part of your story. But okay, go ahead Fr. Patrick. Fr. Patrick: Oh, Emily, that’s a great alley-oop. I just think, as you share, Melissa, like, you are a living, breathing example of, like, Bartimaeus in Luke, chapter 18, when we hear Jesus say, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.” Jesus told him, “Have sight. Your faith has saved you.” Pause. You were asking the Lord on that Monday after Fathers Day, “I don’t really know you,” and he gave you that sight to know him. And my favorite verse of that Bartimaeus story, and I see it in your life, verse 43 of chapter 18: “He immediately received his sight,” — you immediately got, like, breakthrough, not that you didn’t keep on working on it, but — “He immediately received his sight, and followed him.” Jesus. Giving glory to God. He followed Jesus. And to see you get set free of addiction, he came to set the captives free, and then follow him. That you wake up and you go into your ministry of Ave Maria Radio and help spread the kingdom of God over the airwaves, you ever just think about that? Like, wow, he pulled me out of the heap and told me to walk with him and gave me a ministry. Does that, like, amaze you continuously? Melissa: Totally. Absolutely. Absolutely. And he gave me a desire to read scripture, and one of my favorites — he keeps directing me towards Sirach. And this is a long, well not real long, but if you don’t mind, I’m going to read it. Because I think he’s continuing, you know, as a disciple, we’re learners, right? And it’s a journey. It’s constant. Constant. So I’m praying for more wisdom, Lord, just keep giving, I just need — please, you know, I need more wisdom. And Sirach 51:16: “I inclined my ear a little and received her, and I found for myself much instruction. I made progress therein. To him who gives wisdom, I will give glory, for I resolve to live according to wisdom, and I was zealous for the good, and I shall never be put to shame. My soul grappled with wisdom, and in my conduct I was strict. I spread out my hands to the heavens and lamented my ignorance. I directed my soul to her, and through purification I found her. I gained understanding with her from the first. Therefore, I will not be forsaken. My heart was stirred to seek her. Therefore, I have gained a good possession. The Lord gave me a tongue as my reward, and I will praise him with it.” Fr. Patrick: [laughs] Emily: Wow. Melissa: Yeah. So I cannot stop praising him. Fr. Patrick: Amen. Sticking with him, I’m staying with his wisdom. That’s just, like, I love that, what he’s given you. Emily, what’s cooking? Emily: Yeah, so, Melissa, what are those ways, some of the ways that you are praising him? Because we’ve talked about, so you know, we’ve had that encounter, you know through that amazing, beautiful, incredible Fathers Day healing story, how you responded, how you grew in faith, you went to school and now you’re giving that back. But then, you know, the witness part, I mean, I assume through, a little bit through your radio show, which I have not heard, so I would love to hear what you’re producing, how would you say that you are now witnessing, giving back? You’ve lived your life differently, aligned to wisdom like we just heard, and besides coming on Open Door Policy very generously, I would love to hear how you witness to your faith now based on all those unique experiences that we’ve had. Melissa: Thank you, Emily, yeah. Witnessing to me — what I’ve been doing with witnessing to others, with the radio st- with the program, Epiphany, on Ave Maria Radio, I first of all, ask the Holy Spirit, help me. Where do you want me to go with this? And seeking out just regular people, they can be professors, they can be priests, they can be just regular people who have their own ministries or apostolates, but then also witnessing in my daily life by seeing people for who they are: my brothers and sisters. I’m trying to. And not being shy, because the Lord gave me a boldness, to speak to people, like in the bathroom. Like, how are you doing? Glory to God, you know? Praise God that he gave us another day, you know? And at the gas station or wherever I am, because again, he gave me a tongue as my reward and I will praise him with it. And, Lord, okay, thank you. I’m your — make my mouth your mouthpiece, you know what I’m saying? Fr. Patrick: Oh yeah. Praise the Lord. Emily: Yeah. Melissa: So, yeah. Just witnessing to him any way that I can. By taking care of his temple, of this body, and witnessing him with my Blessed Mother suncatcher in the back of my car, just having my crosses on my jackets, those little pin crosses, and just trying to keep praising him on my tongue to whomever I speak. Emily: That is the prayer of a person in radio for sure, you know, you hear people who go out and — we’ve had a lot of Christian Service Directors on the podcast this season and they talk about, you know, being the hands of Jesus, carrying out those works of mercy, but you know you’re talking to someone who works in radio when you say you want to be the mouth and have the tongue of the Lord as your mouth. That’s awesome. Fr. Patrick: And Melissa, my heart swells as I listen to you also. I can hear in your DNA, you know, like, the sphere of influence. I know Encounter Ministries you’re a student a second-year student, and some of the reason it exists is to help equip disciples to demonstrate the power, the love and the power of God in their sphere of influence. I just hear that, like, “I’ll talk to somebody in the bathroom!” I’ve got to ask you, though: you know, I love that you’re just going after it with Jesus in your sphere of influence on a day to day basis — that’s one of the graces of the Encounter school, just seeing everyday life, every moment in ministry. But what are your dreams these days? What are you dreaming of with the Lord? What’s, like, the dream on your heart? Melissa: What he’s been putting on my heart — and I’m just asking for the courage to follow through, and asking for the way he wants me to do it — is to help others who are bound by those chains of addiction to break free. And he’s got an idea that, you know, oh gosh. The idea of a man can be different from what God wants. So I’m trying to discern, Lord, is this my idea or is this yours? Because it’s big. I mean, it’s real big, and I’m not sure if I should speak about it, but the seed’s planted, and I know that there — I have a very good friend who is also a second year student. And he and I are talking a little bit about what we want to do, and I think, we’re right now in the planning stages, but it definitely involves street ministry and going out and seeking the lost. You know, I have a saint shrine at my home, and one of the saints, of course, is St. Teresa of Calcutta, and she had that in her heart that she would sense somebody behind a box, or somebody behind — you know, down the street or hidden, that people wouldn’t be able to see. I want to be able to find those people that are hidden, that people just don’t even see. They walk by them. I want to tell them that they’re loved. There’s a God that loves them, and they don’t have to live the life that they’re living now. Which is [inaudible]. I don’t know if that answers your question or not. Fr. Patrick: Absolutely. It sounds amazing. It sounds like you’re sharing the heart of Jesus for the lost, and that experience of being saved by the Good Shepherd, you get his heart for others. And I’m going to pitch it to Emily. Thanks, Melissa. Emily: I was going to comment that when you were talking, Melissa, about, you know, going out and feeling called and not knowing, you know, quite how big of a dream yet it’s going to be or not, so we’ll definitely pray for that. I was thinking of a part of the letter, the Unleash the Gospel letter, where it talks about the one sheep. Fr. Patrick: Amen. Emily: And how there’s so much good work happening in the Church, right? Ministering to the people who are there, there’s so many good things in Encounter Ministries, too, but something that so stood out in what you’re saying that you don’t hear from everyone, because we’re all called in different ways, is feeling that call to go out and finding those lost people, and it’s not turning your back on the other 99 of course, right? But just, like, that gift of what Jesus did and the paradox is in going out and doing that, and actually how your faith grows exponentially by going out and finding that one lost sheep. And I think that people who struggle with addiction, I mean, that’s such a — that’s a hard issue, right? Inside the Church or outside the Church, that’s such a hard thing that people deal with. And so, for you to be uniquely experienced in knowing how to go and minister to those people and love them in such a unique way, and then to use that to go out and find that one sheep the way the letter calls for? I’m just so inspired by you sharing right now, and we’ll definitely pray that as you continue to discern this dream, it will be built up in whatever plans God has for you and for that ministry with your friend. Fr. Patrick: Amen. Praise God. Hey, Melissa, would you like to pray us out? It’s been an honor to have you, thank you. Friends, please check out Melissa Florian’s program on Ave Maria Radio, I believe it is the Epiphany Hour? Melissa: Epiphany, Saturdays at 11:30 and 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Emily: Awesome, and we’ll put it in the show notes too for our listeners. We’ll drop a link. Fr. Patrick: Thanks, everybody for joining us, thank you Melissa, you want to lead us in a prayer? Melissa: Sure. Good and gracious God, thank you so much for this time today to bring glory to you, oh Lord. We ask you to keep equipping us with your grace so that we can move forward, we can walk forward in our identity as children of God. Lord, we just ask more of your Holy Spirit to give us the words to speak at the time they need to be spoken. Oh Lord, we ask for more of ou and less of us. You must increase, we must decrease, oh Lord. And we’re just going to ask a special blessing upon the Open Door podcast, that this continues to grow and flourish and that it spreads across all the nation, this whole world, that people will tune in — by accident! But it’s no accident, because you’ve got your hand in everything, Lord. And we’re just going to ask the intercession of the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, and in your name, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Emily: Amen. Fr. Patrick: Amen! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen. Thank you for asking God to bless the Open Door Policy podcast! Yeah! We receive it! To the ends of the earth! Emily: Amen. And to our listeners, thanks for listening to another episode of Open Door Policy podcast, where we hear stories of different joyful missionary disciples in Southeast Michigan and how they encounter, grow, and witness in their love for Christ. You can find more episodes at unleashthegospel.org/podcasts or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, Amazon Music, anywhere you get your podcasts. See you next time. Fr. Patrick: See you!