It is easy to get distracted in our fast-paced, image-saturated, consumeristic world. We get distracted by Instagram pictures, new gadgets, positions of power, the promise of more money, or an easier life. We frequently forget what really matters in life.   

We learn today that this isn’t a new problem. Even the apostles, who were personal friends of the Incarnate Lord, fought about who was going to be greater in the Kingdom of Heaven! 

I take some comfort in having a struggle similar to men who knew Christ in the flesh. At least I’m in good company. 

Life is full of distractions. The apostles were distracted. The early Christians were distracted. We are all distracted. 

In the second reading, St. James, writing to early Christians, chastises us for this distraction. All those distractions, he tells them, just serve to confuse you! But wisdom from above brings peace. 

I am reminded of a good friend who frequently tells her kids that it is the devil who sows discord and division. If you are confused and uncertain, that isn’t from Christ. 

When we focus on Christ, when we seek his peace, the discord falls away, the confusion falls away, the distractions fall away. 

And we are left in the arms of Jesus like the child in the Gospel today. We are left in his arms where there is peace—where God will defend us and uphold our life, and where, as St. Augustine says, our restless hearts will finally be at rest.