It is true that, as Luke’s Gospel says (12:48), “much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” But that heavier responsibility can be balanced by the opportunities that life offers.
The church’s Code of Canon Law requires that, for an infant to be baptized, “there must be a founded hope that the infant will be brought up in the Catholic religion” (No. 868.1.2).
One of the most common comments I heard about the crowd of storm trooper wannabes marching with backyard tiki torches and wooden shields through the streets of Charlottesville was how many young people were among them.
How can we be Christ to our neighbors? How can we live a life in our community that proclaims the Gospel by genuinely loving the people God puts right in front of us: the man struggling with a language barrier at the bank, the pregnant teenager who needs a home, the black baby orphaned by a mother in jail for life, the lady in your parish who feels exiled because she is the child of immigrants and the women around her are affirming rhetoric that denies her dignity?
The obstacle of suffering
In our Gospel this Sunday, we hear Jesus Christ announcing that He will rise from the dead. Knowing what we know now about this promise, we would think that this news would bring great joy to His Apostles. The Son of God will defeat death and be raised to life again, which will lead to our own Resurrection and eternal life.