Dear Parishioners,

This is one of my favorite gospels…particularly the part about not cluttering up your life with things, useless talk and gossip. Jesus is entrusting His disciples with the precious gift of the proclamation of the good news and He wants their total attention to be focused on preaching and proclaiming to all whom they meet.

I have often commented and thought about the relevance of the gospel message to our own lives. In this present age, the word I like to use is distracted. We are so distracted by all the noise and activities that permeate our lives every day. I am sure we have often asked ourselves the question—how much of this is really necessary to what I have to do today? The answer is inevitably…not much.

What we wish for is peace and hope for ourselves and for others whom we love. This is exactly the proclamation that Jesus proclaims in the gospel, “Peace to this household.” The key for each of us is to discern the difference between our needs and our wants. We have most of what we need, much of it God given, but wants can be without end because as I often say, “The world wants to sell you stuff.”

Ultimately, our lives should be about fulfilling our needs in union with the creator and enriched through the salvation won for us by Jesus His Son.