Below are the last two lines of Mark’s gospel which tells the story of the Pharisees’ complaint about Jesus’ disciples eating grain on the Sabbath.

My aunt, who is 95 years old, is at the Josie Harper Hospice House in Omaha, NE. It is a wonderful place. My dad died there in October 2004 so our family has a long tradition with the Harper Hospice house.

When I was visiting my aunt last Saturday she said, “There really aren’t very many things that are very important.”

You might guess that my aunt is faith-filled in all ways. The theme of her life has been: “Family is important.” In fact, when she sees some cousins are not communicating with each other, she steps in and says, “Your mother would not be very happy about your relationship. Don’t you think it is time for you to make peace?”

She is the last “matriarch” in our family. From her position in life she can see that “not many things are really that important.” She knows the family values that have been a long tradition:

This gospel reminds me that daily we all need to remember “what is really important” and not get upset by the “little things” that distract us from our purposes in life.

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help us develop internal peace so that our minds and hearts will not be distracted from what we know is most important in life: Our relationship with You in the service of others. Amen.