Give Them to God and Let Go!

The Community homily today focused on a reflection from the Catholic Exchange. Sometimes the simplest and the shortest homilies have the greatest impact. Here are some of the highlights from today's Community homily with some photos from Lifteen Notre Dame Leadership Conference.

Some problems have no easy solutions, but that doesn’t stop the toughest of us from continuing to try, and try, and try again. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” And more often than not, persistence pays off. But there are few problems that can be more intractable than matters of the heart and the challenges of changing hearts. So what are we to do when hearts are frozen in place, and not a good place at that? Jesus addressed this very matter a number of times, and He gives us part of the answer in today’s gospel.
In essence, He tells us never to give up on people, but to recognize that sometimes, no matter what we say or do, certain folks just aren’t ready yet to move forward or to hear the Good News. In that circumstance, Jesus tells us not to badger, get angry, or condemn. Just move on. Shake the dust from your feet and move on. Hold those folks always in prayer, and hope for the future, but let them be.
It’s hard to do, but in the long run, the best gift we have for such folks is our silent, respectful caring and hoping. So when that moment comes, don’t judge, just commend them into God’s hands and let go!