Never Allow Any Distraction to Take the Important Things in Our Life

07-24-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Tony Okolo

In the First Reading from the book of Genesis we are presented with the Mysterious visitors who announced that Sarah would bear a child. These visitors prefigure the annunciation made by the archangel Gabriel to Mary. It also shows us that God is always with us, and there are times when God’s presence becomes tangible. Sometimes God’s visits come in the form of a good idea or with a strong awareness that we are not alone.

The visit and the annunciation are manifestations that what is not possible from a human perspective or human point of view can become a reality through the power of God. From the story Sarah was barren and beyond the age of child bearing but the visitors assured Sarah that by this time next year she will conceive of a child. The miracle became reality because Abraham was able to recognize these men as God’s agents and welcome them into his house. It shows us that we may lose the grace and blessing of God if we are not careful to see beyond the ordinary.

In the same way in the Gospel, we see Jesus visit two sisters, Mary and Martha. As we heard, Martha was very busy trying to get things for Jesus or to serve Him, while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. Martha was distracted with much serving and she went to Jesus and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone.” Which means she was the person who went to Jesus to complain. She was distracted. She allowed other things take her attention from Jesus which is most important. As we read, the Lord told her “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.” Therefore, it is not that Jesus was against her service, but that she was troubled and anxious about many things which were not very important for her then. The most important thing is to give attention to the Lord who is present in their house. When we are distracted by things not very important we lose the very things that give meaning to our lives.

We should not allow our minds to get so clouded up from turmoil of everyday living that we lose sight of our priorities in life. We are living in a busy age and for most often we have little time and attention for God who is supposed to be our first priority. We should ask ourselves what are those things that distract us from what is important in our lives? Let us begin with our families. In most of our families some men or women are taken up by their jobs that they have little or no time for the family. Some men do many jobs to meet up with bills and the up keeping of the families that they pay little or no attention to their family, which should be the first priority in their lives.

Teenagers

Many young teenagers are so distracted by the social media that they give little or no attention to their families. They hardly stay together with their families without being distracted by Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, Instagram, TikTok, or their Video games. Some kids could have done much better in their school and academic work if not for the over attention to TV and social media. Some kids keep watching movies and different programs on the television that they have no time to do their take home work or study hard to prepare for the next day’s classes.

There was report on CNN some time ago of a man who mistakenly caused the death of his two-year old daughter because the little girl distracted him from his video game. The wife went to the grocery store with the older child and left the father with the two-year-old girl. As the man was playing his video game this child came calling him and touched his tablet, in anger he pushed her on the floor and the child fell on her back and died. Today’s message calls our attention to always prioritize our goal and to not allow unnecessary distractions take hold of us to the point that we miss our goal in life.

Fr. Tony Okolo

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