Proper 7A + Open your heart + 6.25.23
M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Genesis 21:8–21; Ps. 86:1–10, 16–17; Romans 6:1b–11; Matthew 10:24–39) A friend recently gave me a book on focusing on just the essentials as a way to lead a productive life. It's called Essentialism by Greg McKeown and in the first part he talks about the priorities that we have as individuals and organizations. He says that historically, in the English language at least, a priority meant only one thing – literally the thing before the moment you were in, the prior thing. But over time, we have decided to have several "priorities" and having so many we lose the opportunity to do great things with a single focus. If you know me, you know that I have a hard time finding just one goal because I like to be open to various parish projects and needs. I often want to do all the things! But I think that today’s gospel invites us to think about priorities. In today's gospel, Jesus says: “Whoever loves father or mother more ...