Last Sunday, I had two conversations that seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with each other. The first was with a family member and fellow Bulldogs supporter. We were talking about the NRL finals race and, in particular, the Brisbane Broncos.
The Broncos won’t feature in September this year. But that doesn’t mean they are irrelevant. In fact, they could still have a significant say in who does make the finals – particularly when they eventually meet the Bulldogs.
It struck me as an interesting quirk of sport: a team can be out of the race itself and yet still have a major influence on the race. Later that same day, I was having a completely different conversation with someone about the power of a single interaction between two people.
What if one conversation could change the direction of someone’s life? What if one encounter could be the reason someone thought differently about God? What if it was the moment they became open to the Church, returned to the sacraments, or simply realised that they were loved?
At the time, I didn’t realise those two conversations were connected. Now I do. Because perhaps we need to start looking at our own lives a little differently.
We can become so consumed by what we are doing, achieving and trying to accomplish that we forget there are people around us whose lives we are affecting simply by being there.
We tell ourselves we’ll have that conversation next time. I’ll tell them I love them next time. I’ll invite them to Mass next time. I’ll ask them how they’re really going next time. I’ll apologise next time.
But what if there isn’t a next time? That isn’t meant to be morbid. It’s meant to be a reality check.
As Catholics, we believe that eternity is real. We believe that salvation is real. We believe that every human person has an eternal destiny. So what if we actually lived as if that were true?
What if, every time we encountered someone, we remembered that this person isn’t simply another customer, colleague, teammate, stranger or friend?
They are persons made in the image and likeness of God. And perhaps, in God’s providence, this particular conversation is the opportunity we’ve been given to help them take one step closer to Him.
That doesn’t mean every conversation needs to become a sermon, nor does it mean forcing our faith into every interaction. Sometimes evangelisation looks like an invitation to Mass. Sometimes it looks like answering a question about faith. Sometimes it looks like saying the thing we’ve been putting off.
And sometimes it simply looks like being the person who treats someone with enough love that they begin to wonder why.
The Broncos might not make the finals, but they can still influence who gets there. And perhaps that’s a useful reminder for the rest of us. We’re not in heaven yet, but we can still help people get there.
We don’t need a platform, a title, a successful career or thousands of followers. We just need to recognise the opportunities God has already placed in front of us.
Because while we’re busy worrying about our earthly race, there is another race taking place – one that ends not with a premiership, but with eternity. And the person standing in front of us might just need us to help them get there.
