A couple of weeks ago, I had this sudden desire to get my hands dirty with some yard work over at my grandma's house. Grandma has roughly 20 acres, including a pond surrounded by tree saplings that need trimming every few years. On most days you can find me in an office setting, so the idea of doing some manual labor was enticing, and I knew Grandma would appreciate it.
When I arrived, I pulled out my grandpa’s personally modified weed whacker. Grandpa had replaced the usual strings with a saw blade to make it that much better. With much excitement I set off on the tractor to get started. As I attempted to trim the trees, things weren’t going as smoothly as I remembered. The saplings weren’t cutting down with ease, and I felt like I was fighting every single one. As I struggled, I thought to myself, “It might be faster to cut these by hand!” At that moment, I heard my dad’s voice speak to me: “Let the tool work for you, not against you.”
Isn’t that just like daily life? We work tirelessly on one task, only to look up to see several more waiting for us. We solve one problem at work, and another deadline appears. We finally cross off that home project that’s taken years, and five more pop up, waiting to be done. The calendar fills up fast, and before we know it, the year is about over, and it’s time to make the Christmas list! On top of it all, we come to church on Sunday to rest, and hear Jesus tell us about the Great Commission from Matthew 28:19: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” These words can feel like one more thing to add to an already never-ending list, as we experience being overwhelmed by tasks and limited time.
Here is the good news: it’s not all on us. Like Mother Teresa said, “I’m a pencil in the hand of a writing God.” We’re not doing the heavy lifting; God is. We just need to let Him work through us, much like that weed whacker, once I figured out the right way to use it
It reminds me of the story from Mark’s Gospel we heard a couple Sundays ago, about a deaf man with a speech impediment. His friends brought him to Jesus, and Jesus is the one that healed him with a single word: “Ephphatha,” which means “Be opened.” That man had never heard a sound before, but suddenly he could hear and speak clearly. He didn’t find Jesus on his own, rather he was brought to Jesus by others. Our job is to do the same – we bring people to Jesus. Jesus performs the miracle. Jesus makes a way when it seems as if there is none.
During the weekend of Sept. 14-15 in the Diocese of Gary, we were encouraged to invite someone to come back to church. You may have asked a friend, a family member, a coworker. Maybe they said, no. Keep asking! Maybe you didn’t ask this time; pray for the strength and courage to take that first step. You don’t have to fix their life or have all the answers, just make the invitation and let Jesus do the rest. Hopefully we are inspired to continue to invite people to join us at Mass each weekend!
Standing there that day by the pond, staring at those saplings, and hearing my dad’s voice in my head, I let the RPMs come down on the weed whacker, and as the saw blade slowed to a stop, I looked to see what I was doing wrong. I realized I was using the saw blade backward and cutting against the teeth! That’s when I heard my dad’s laugh, and as I laughed to myself, I hit the gas and started using the weed whacker in the opposite direction, the right one! Sure enough, those saplings fell effortlessly. It’s a perfect reminder: we need to work with God, not against Him.
So, this week, pray about who you can bring to Jesus. It’s not about doing more; it’s about letting God do what He does best through the Holy Spirit! Our job is simply to invite someone to come to church, to introduce them to a God that gives meaning in a meaningless world, a God that gives joy in a world full of anger and anxiety, a God that gives peace in a world torn apart by division. You and I are like the friends of the deaf man, we bring them to Jesus, who will change their lives. Let’s make that invitation and see what happens!
Father McNicholas is the Director of Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization for the Diocese of Gary. He also serves as Associate Pastor at St. John the Evangelist in St John.