Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

     “Decisions, decisions, decisions,”  I’m sure many of you are familiar with this lament if you have not already expressed it yourselves.  From the moment we wake our life is filled with decisions- making and though we often do it spontaneously there are indeed times when thoughtful consideration and discernment are necessary.  So we are faced with a hierarchy of decision-making.  Some would express it as: “what are my priorities?”  When we find ourselves perplexed in this process to Whom do we turn, i.e, Who has the most influence in our lives?  Should it not be the Lord?  But how often is He the first and foremost Influencer?  Perhaps, too often, it is society, other people ,celebrities, coaches, even  children who are the most influential in the course we will follow.

    In today’s First Reading, Joshua proposes a choice for the people of Israel. Either they choose to follow and be obedient to the God Who saved them from Pharaoh’s wrath or they go another way.  Indeed, as Scripture recounts, many times they had gone another way and things ended up in disaster.  Our Blessed Lord in today’s Gospel also presents a choice for those who to date had been following Him.  Some decide that the “Bread of Life” teaching was too much to bear and so they left.   How many today make the same mistake.  Looking for so-called greener pastures, they become satisfied with far less and by their choice miss out on the greater good, namely the Holy Eucharist.

     But the largess of God is that He so respects our free will that He gives us the power to make the decision to follow Him or not. And as a result we deprive ourselves of the greater Good.  What then will our future bring?

With Blessings,

Father Langan