You have heard me, time and again, encouraging you never to give up. But today, the Lord teaches us that sometimes, we have to give up. Jesus admonishes us to ceremoniously shake-off the dust from our feet should they refuse to listen.
The issue here, my dear brothers and sisters, is that as soon as we realize everything humanly possible has been one, we must entrust the matter to God and not break our heads over it anymore. We can try and try so hard, to the point of going crazy, killing ourselves or making ourselves sick. But we must remember that all this is the work of God. Paul recognized that. He knew when to give up and when not to give up.
It is part of our salvation never to give up doing what is good. But it is also part of our salvation to know when to give up because all human efforts have been exerted, and we realize that only God accomplishes the business for us. It is wise to know when to give up and when not to give up.
The problem with us is, sometimes we give up when we should not, and sometimes we don’t give up when we should have done so long ago. This calls for wisdom.
Today at Mass, let us ask for those graces. The grace to know what we can change and the grace to know what we cannot change. What we can change, we must continuously work for. What we cannot change, we must not take upon ourselves, instead, let us surrender to God who alone can accomplish the impossible.
GIVE UP!
Mt 10:4
Jesus In My Heart
