Deacon Tom Writes,
“First Things First!”
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
We have so many demands upon our time that we can hardly keep track of them. Fortunately, we have the technology to remind us where we have to be and when we have to be there. We have electronic calendars, email reminders and cell phones, Ipads and Ipods. We leave ourselves voice mail messages, stick post-its on the refrigerator. All this busyness and the technology to keep up with it is a part of the great reality in which we live, but it comes at a price. And the price that we pay seems increasingly that we crowd so many other important things out of our lives, like God! …. Really, who has time for God given our demanding schedules?
Working God into our daily lives has become a challenge for us today, but it hasn’t always been that way. From the very beginning the Jewish people were encouraged to place God at the center of their lives – physically, spiritually and mentally. Moses laid this obligation before the people in what has become the famous Jewish prayer, the “The Shema” which begins with the command, “hear, O Israel!”
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.”
These words that God spoke through Moses were a simple message intended to help the people find their happiness in this world by cooperating with God’s plan. Keep it simple; put first things first God says; live according to my plan; love me above all else…… with every fiber of your being.
Today we are busy. We are busier today than yesterday, and it doesn’t stop: the laundry, the shopping, the portaging the kids to sporting events and school plays, the extra projects at work... phew...and on and on it goes. If you have any doubts, just ask someone you know who’s retired! “We don’t have time,” they complain. “We don’t know how we got things done when we were working” you’ll also hear.
The challenge we face today is consciously putting God first in our lives. And, to do that, we have to increase our awareness that he is present in all those activities that fill up our day. We need to develop a mind, heart and spirit that is tuned into God’s presence... in those little and big things that fill up those limited and priceless minutes of our lives. It’s a matter of practice…of building the habit of inviting God into all the activities of our day, into all that busyness that so often overwhelms us. Invite God to be with us during our evaluation at work. Invite God to be with us when we’re running the kids or grandkids to soccer or piano lessons; invite God to join us in the Dentist’s chair or when we’re getting the oil changed. All the activities of our day are opportunities to draw close to God and to show him that we are mindful that his desire is to be a part of the lives of those who love him. Inviting God into all our daily chores will make those insignificant things we do throughout the day more meaningful and help us experience the presence of God in all that we do.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
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