Through no fault of my own, I was seated next to a woman from Puerto Rico. Throughout the day, we interacted one-to-one or with other couples on the various discussion topics as a part of this evangelization training workshop. On one occasion, we finished the training exercise with time to spare so we made small talk. Her accent was very heavy, making understanding her a challenge. I was also distracted by her facial expressions which seemed too consistent with my stereotypical impressions of people from Puerto Rico.

She mentioned mournfully her two-month-old grandchild whom she has never seen.

"How's that?" I asked.

"Because of the mother's father," she replied. "He's racist."

Whoa, that was strong language and my slow brain struggled to process it. I pondered if the maternal grandfather is racist, then why did he allow his daughter to marry a man whose mother is from Puerto Rico? And how is this "racism"? Isn't this merely "prejudice"? The mother's family is Italian and Catholic, too. Doesn't a common faith count for anything?

I am naive because the two parents are not married to each other. The father is interested in supporting the child but the mother's family will handle things on their own.

My ivory tower crumbled a little bit as I realized that this lady represents half the Church in NJ. Oh, I exaggerate. But if I want to do evangelism, I need to communicate on all levels with people different from myself.