It was November 28, 2016 and I was Christmas shopping in an area about 30 minutes from my home. I was totally enjoying the day and actually the whole Holiday spirit. My cell phone rang and it was a friend of mine. Coincidentally, this same friend had starting calling me Mary Margaret. I could tell by the tone of his voice that something was wrong and he asked what I was doing and if I would have time to meet with him; he was troubled about a few things and needed to talk. Therefore, I immediately made plans to meet him for lunch.

As we sat down to our meal he was sharing with me all the thoughts and feelings that he was having that day over certain issues. I could tell he was agitated and fearful all at the same time. He was talking fast and almost not making sense sometimes and obviously just not in a good mental spot. As the meal was drawing to a close he was still not anymore calm than when our conversation had started. The snow was lightly falling and I thought that possibly he really should not drive just yet. I was quickly in my head and just asked for help for this man. What happened next is what I consider a “God Shot”.

Paying the bill and parting ways, I looked at him and said “get in my car, there is somewhere I want to take you.” I had no idea why I said that because I had no idea where to take him nor was I extremely familiar with this area. He balked for a minute and then got into the car and said, “Where are we going”. I had no idea! However, as I looked around quickly I saw a cross on the hill in front of us. OK, I thought, I will head that direction. I started up the drive and he exclaimed “You’re taking me to church!?” he is not a big fan of organized religion. I just calmly said, “We need a place to go and sit quietly and allow the Spirit to speak”. I drove to the top of the hill and parked the car. There was not a sole around and we got out and walked to the church only to find all of the doors locked. As we were heading back toward the car a woman pulled up next to us and said, “Can I help you?” I asked if we could get into the church for just a few minutes and she had no keys. Then she said, “there is another church about 1 mile up the road that has a school attached to it, I bet it is open”. Therefore, we thanked her for her information and set out for the next church.

We pulled in to the parking lot, got out and checked the doors… locked again. However, what happened next was priceless. He was standing there with a look of disbelief on this face and said, “Look at the name of this church.”

As you can see by the photo, the name was St. Margaret Mary. That amazed both of us and we looked around. Mary Margaret Holywater had been exactly at the right place at the right time to help a fellow man. For some odd reason on this cold day, we saw one lone woman walking around in the “prayer maze”. We made our way to her and asked if it would be possible to get into the church. She said I bet if we go to the rectory and see Father Frank you can. Once again, we looked at each other in disbelief. Margaret Mary… Father Frank… weird right? We ended up getting into the church and were allowed to stay as long as we needed. I can tell you that in the moments of silence that followed, his breathing became less labored, his body seemed to relax, and after about 20 minutes he was ready to leave and feeling much better. All of the issues that had been tormenting him had dissipated.

Are these types of things coincidences? Can a woman just show up with your next message? Can the church have the name that one is “nicknamed”? Can the priest have the same name as the person needing help? I think not. I believe that if we ask we receive. These types of situations are my idea of what God Shots are.

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