When the twins, Hazel and Hannah, first arrived home they entered a nursery adorned with wallpaper sporting images of little violins.

No surprise. Both of their parents were concert violinists and instructors, who filled the house with violin music throughout their childhoods. It's no surprise that Hazel and Hannah would pick up the violin at a young age, grow to love practicing and playing, and themselves head off to college on music scholarships pursuing an instrument and a kind of music they had grown to deeply adore.

When people would hear them play in concert they would marvel at their knowledge, expertise, and skill - and how they could bring joy and happiness into the world. How did they know so much? How could they play so well? No surprise, it's because their entire world was sculpted and formed around the violin.

In Sunday's Gospel Jesus tells his disciples not to be anxious about what they're doing and where they're going. And when the disciples respond with worry and concern, he paints for them a picture of oneness with God, of a deep anchoring in love, of a sculpting and forming of their lives around a greater realization and conviction that God is in their midst.

Jesus wants his followers to know that we are greatly affected by the environments we create. Regularly calling to mind the reality of God with us, love watching over us, and charity showing us the way - is the kind of life he commends to his followers.

Friends, every moment of every day we take a vote on the kind of person we want to be. We do that as we choose the kind of things we listen to, the people we hang around with, the activities we pursue, the ways we spend our money, and the ways we spend our time. The challenge for you and me is to continually examine these things and evaluate them according to Jesus's ways. For his is the way of peace. His is a way of love. Like Hannah and Hazel, our environments make us who we are!

May we find ways to be more fully aware of the presence of Jesus, that his music may bring joy and happiness to all who hear it.