April is here! April means showers and gardening and spring-cleaning. The thought of spring-cleaning scares me a little. I know how much I have accumulated over the years. I know I am hanging on to a lot of things, thinking that I might need them one day. But the truth is, there are some boxes we have never opened in the last four years.

So, this past Sunday we heard from Luke’s gospel about a time when Jesus visited Martha and her sister Mary. Short story even shorter, Martha is busy trying to do all the tasks that are expected of her as a hostess, while Mary hangs out with Jesus. Martha’s mindset makes sense. Remember that in this time and place how you treat guests is extremely important; the guest-host relationship is sacred. But when Martha complains to Jesus about the uneven division of labor, Jesus basically tells her she shouldn’t be so worried, and that Mary has actually done something quite right.

The 2019 Chicago mayoral election is drawing closer, and one of the leading topics that stands in front of the Chicago voters is the two candidates’ stance around rent control in Chicago apartments. Earlier in February, state lawmakers introduced a bill HB2192 which would repeal the ban, create six, elected, regional rent control boards across the state,  and provide benefits to both landlords and renters.