Give God priority

“WHOEVER loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me…” (Mt 10,37) These are some intriguing words Christ spoke to his apostles. They are intriguing to us as well.

We, of course, love both God and our parents, but sometimes we do not know anymore whether we are loving our parents more than God. It’s a tricky situation that requires of us constant vigilance and sharp and prompt discernment.

We need to avail of guiding indicators to avoid getting confused and lost in this business of giving God priority always. Whatever we do, we have to make sure that it is God who should be our first object. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” we are told, “and all these things will be added unto you.” (Mt 6,33)

I suppose what is necessary here is that we pause from time to time during the day to see if our intentions are still on the right track and whether what we are doing is actually what God wants us to do at the moment. Very often, we get carried away by all sorts of worldly factors.

We have to be guarded against the usual things that undermine this ideal—our weakened flesh, the different allurements of the world, the wiles of the devil. We cannot overemphasize the dangers these things can occasion in us.

We need to be always reminded of the formula Christ himself gave us as to how to follow him closely. And that is simply to deny ourselves, carry the cross and follow him. Our spirit of sacrifice, mortification and penance should be deep and abiding.

Given all these considerations, I imagine that we really need to be prayerful so as to always be in God’s presence, ever mindful of his will and ways. We should learn how to be recollected while in the midst of the hustle and bustle of our daily activities and concerns.

This, of course, will require a certain discipline. We have to train our senses and our other faculties to discern God’s presence and providence in everything. In short, we have to become real contemplatives in the middle of the world.

Thus, a certain plan has to be developed and followed, a plan consisting of a number of acts of piety that can help us to be in God’s presence and to decipher his will and ways all throughout the day and in all kinds of situations that we find ourselves in.

This can mean a daily period of prayer and meditation, recourse to the sacraments, thorough study of the doctrine of our faith, and some devotions that will keep our heart aflame all the time.

We have to learn how to relate everything to God, a process that may involve the practice of relating things to the different lawful authorities that we are subject to.

Let’s remember that our relation with God usually passes or is developed through our relation with others. That’s because, as St. Paul said, “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Rom 13,1)