Some challenges in the peace of summer

The response we take to the challenging situations in life is a theme today in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. Even when we take some time to get away from our usual routine and retreat to the lake we may find the peace we desire is accompanied with concerns of the world. Jeremiah is one who takes the changes in Judah and worship in the Temple as the will of God. He responds to God calling him as a prophet and finds, not surprisingly that his call to repent and turn away from idol worship is received poorly by the priests and prophets, who wish to kill him. Martha, who along with Mary and Lazarus are presented in the Gospels as close intimate friends of Jesus, is portrayed in two different aspects in the text from John or the alternate text from Luke. The death of Lazarus and the response of Jesus has evoked the declaration from her that she knows her friend is the Christ, the Son of God. In the passage from Luke, we find that her choice to be the perfect host to the guests who arrived with Jesus at her home is placed at a lower priority than the choice of her sister Mary to attend to the discussion of Jesus with the people. Our time away may be our need to choose to be in intimate relationship with Him or to let the lower priorities block our true peace.