The Sheen Center & The National Review Center
present
The Streamed Event

CONVICTED BY MERCY
The Story of FRANK SIMMONDS

An Interview with his widow RITA SIMMONDS
Hosted by KATHRYN LOPEZ

https://www.sheencenter.org

July 22, 2020 3 p.m.

A true tale that overpowers any novel, the life of Frank Simmonds is a powerful amazement and inspiration. Having sunk into the gutter, addicted to crack, he experienced what most would call a miracle. A real miracle. Told from his own lips. No exaggeration, embellishment, self-pity, finger-pointing, no blaming. The naked truth in all its ugliness and glory.

Born on Long Island in 1955 to parents from the Virgin Islands, Frank was the youngest of five children in a loving, happy home. Above all he adored his mother. When she was diagnosed with cancer, Frank, strong in the Catholic Faith he was raised in, prayed endlessly for God to save her. When she died, a bitter Frank turned his back on God. Age 17, he lost all belief and started his downhill slide.

One night on a dark street, he decided to rob the next person who walked past. A pedestrian came into view. But wait. The man was dressed all in black, with a white sort of collar. A priest! Frank debated with himself. Had he really sunk so low that he would jump a priest? He decided against it. The priest passed, then turned. He told Frank that God would not crawl down in that gutter with him, but if Frank asked, God would lift him up.

Frank’s not buying it. He decides to kill himself. Walking toward the train tracks, Frank defies God to stop him. And God does! Suddenly Frank is filled with a feeling of hope. He dials a help-line number and goes into drug treatment. The rest of his life was one of giving, sharing, and helping. His story is kept alive in the book CONVICTED BY MERCY, written by his widow, Rita. A life-long poet, her latest work is “He Called: Selected Poems”.

Perhaps the most powerful part of this livestream is the video clip of Frank telling his own story. Sadly, he has left this world, but his power remains with us.

-Karen D’Onofrio-