Be Persuaded

Dear Faith Family, ​

This weekend’s Gospel is obviously very challenging. It always is when there is a discussion of the afterlife. Lazarus, the poor man, was more open to the idea of heaven than the rich man who lived an extravagant life. While this is a message that we often hear about in scripture, there is one line that really stuck out to me regarding our lives as Catholics.

At the end of our Sunday’s Gospel, the rich man implores Abraham to send a message to his brothers to avoid “this place of torment.” He claims that if a ghost appears to them, it will scare them straight and convince them to live holy and humble lives. Abraham’s reply is quite powerful:

     “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded should someone rise from the dead.”

Is Abraham’s statement true for us at times? I think so. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have the urge to rely on a personal miracle for me to change or understand God’s will for me. When we rely only on personal miracles, we forget about the most important message. Jesus is the Resurrected God and we need to let people know.

Through the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, we sometimes forget to be persuaded by God’s rising from the dead. Yes, we can experience miracles and intercession from the heavens, but they mean nothing unless we get to know who Jesus is. This is why our parish motto of “Encounter Jesus, Be Disciples” is so powerful. Without that encounter of Jesus, even the most groundbreaking miracle can mean nothing to a person’s life.

This rings true on the other hand, as well. Our goal of discipleship is not to meet a quota. While it would be nice to have an official number of souls that we have impacted, we will never know the number of people we have evangelized. We have to remember that we are simply planting seeds and those seeds are the message of the Resurrection. While we may be prophets, our work means nothing until they are persuaded by it. 

Miracles do happen and they certainly aren’t reserved for believers. But this is why knowing Jesus is so vital; it opens our eyes to the miracles of our lives. I pray that we continue to be disciples, so we can always be impacted by the miracle of the Resurrection.

​God Bless,

​Brett Becker
Youth and Young Adult Ministry