There is a young priest, a missionary to a land where the people are non-Christians who call those who believe in God "fictionals" and prohibited any form of religion.
The priest is making his way among the urban poor, seeking out those who are open to the Gospel.
There is a prostitute who works in the neighborhood he has adopted.
What would be a good way in the story for the priest to break the ice with this woman, keeping in mind she has no cultural knowledge of Christianity and the priest has to be on guard for being turned in to the authorities.
I just need an idea, maybe a nonspecific verse or phrase. Thanks for the help.
He talks with her. He realizes she is wanting redemption and hates the evil of the land, so he tells her the story of Rahab and she seizes on it, wanting to be like her.
That openness leads to him telling her about Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well, etc.
Her heart is then open to Christ.
He tells her there is someone who loves her no matter what she has done.
Maybe John 4, when Jesus talks to a samaritan woman, could inspire?
Grabs her by the front of the dress, slaps her real hard in the face several times and yells into her face:
"You're going to hell you @#$%$#", several times. This gets them every time.
Quote from: Michael Wilson on June 15, 2019, 12:14:29 PM
Grabs her by the front of the dress, slaps her real hard in the face several times and yells into her face:
"You're going to hell you @#$%$#", several times. This gets them every time.
:lol:
Ah, I see you set your story in Denver.
He opens a dialogue with her and discusses inclusivity and the positive aspects of her atheism. He explains that God loves her and that He is all merciful. He then thinks out loud and questions if not her innumerable relationships constitute a defacto marriage anyways. He ends by blessing her then strolls to the park to finish his third read through of "Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved?"
But if you think this will not convert the sinner, then I can offer a story that I think came from a Bishop Sheen talk. I am paraphrsing and there may be significant inaccuracies, but I recall a homily in which he told the story in which he met such a person. She met him in the sanctuary, told him she was a fallen away Catholic and had fallen into great sins. After talking and walking awhile they ended up near the confessional - he pushed her in and heard her confession.
Maybe you can setup some similar scenario. Presumably in your not to distant world there is no visible sanctuary for a prostitute to stumble upon. But maybe she collapses outside of a rundown building which houses a secret one. The priest helps her in and as she comes to she is astounded by the beauty of the surroundings, the gentle face of Mary, the penetrating eyes of Jesus, and the holiness of it all. He eventually bumps her into the confessional and I'll leave it up to you if absolution is given.
This appears it will have to be told in 3rd person omniscient. You are going to have to juxtapose the characters to the environment in about 5 - 10% of the words used at the beginning and accelerate your exposition from there. You will almost have to open up the story with a story constructing how the whore fits into the gray, dark picture of the eastern europeanesque landscape, but give physical and characterization clues running concurrent with where the theme and plot are heading through foreshadowing, both in the conflict and denouement. At precisely what time do the heroine and hero meet, and how does this offset the antagonists? Thus then the dialogue to match.