18 Jul 2015
Going out and making disciples is hard work. You try to pass Catholic values onto our
kids, and they may or may not listen.
You try to “keep Christ in Christmas” and others are offended. You try to help somebody in need, but they
refuse. It’s frustrating sometimes to be
an evangelizer. It’s hard work and, like
Jesus said, sometimes you just have to turn around, shake the sand from your
feet, and go onto the next person.
It’s helpful to remember that Jesus didn’t always succeed in
his mission. There were lots of people
who loved him. And there were lots of
people who hated him. But, regardless of
how people treated him, he just kept going around trying to reconcile the
people around him with God. He gives us
a perfect example of perseverance—not a hard and pushy perseverance, but a
gentle and steady perseverance.
When he learned the Pharisees wanted to kill him, he just went
away and preached the Kingdom and healed sick people somewhere else. Jesus knows how hard it is to soften the
human heart and make a disciple. And so,
whether it’s with family or friends, or with other parishioners or just
somebody on the street, if you feel like somebody is rejecting you and your
Catholic faith, well, pray for them and move on.
Who knows . . . maybe their encounter with Christ through you
will be enough to start getting their spirits softened a little. Going out and making disciples is hard work. And so, just do what the Spirit moves you to
do, and then leave the rest up to God.
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