Our Priorities Matter

There is an order to things. When making a PBJ sandwich, the peanut butter goes first. There is an order to things. Period.

When my husband makes a sandwich, he puts the jelly first. Something feels wrong with it. He may as well put two left shoes on my feet and ask me to carry on with my day.

However, regardless of how I feel, the sandwich tastes the same when it arrives in front of my daughter.

I'm quirky—but we all have our preferences.

Today's Gospel speaks to the order of things… The actual order of things, not just a preference.

Matthew writes, Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me….

The order of things. 1.) God 2.) Everything else

This week, we're talking about the domestic church—the family—the space God designed for the human person to first encounter and receive His unconditional love and then learn to share it with others. Pope St. John Paul II (lovingly referred to as JPII) wrote in Familiaris Consortio that the specific mission of the family is to guard, reveal, and communicate His love.

If the mission of the family is to guard, reveal, and communicate the love of God—then GOD is who gives the family purpose.

Like Matthew said, there is an order to things. God first; everything else follows.

So often, especially in today's culture, God seems to be the first thing that slips from the schedule of a busy family life. Work, soccer, baseball, laundry, grocery shopping, dinner, sleep—all of it takes up 25 out of the 24 hours of the day. Somedays, there just doesn't seem to be enough time for God.

Does that sound familiar? I know it does for my house.

The reality is this is an urgent problem. Matthew explains that when we don’t get the order right, we hurt ourselves by cutting ourselves and our children off from God’s heart. The root of human dignity is man’s ability to choose to participate in His love. We’re worthy of choosing Him—but we actually have to do it.

At the risk of a silly example, back to the peanut butter sandwich—I have to take the lid off the peanut butter before I can place my knife into the jar to then spread it on the bread. Order matters. I have to access the peanut butter before I can spread it.

The same goes for family life. I can't give what I don't have. God is love. The love I have for my spouse, children, and anyone I encounter is communicated by first sharing in the heart of Christ. I can't love without God. Period.

Families are the building blocks of society. Like all building blocks, they must be of the utmost integrity for a structure to be secure. This means that when we fail to put God first, we get the mission of the family wrong, and society begins to crumble.

As parents, we have been entrusted with children worthy of God's love. They are worthy because God says they are. When we get "too busy" for prayer, the sacraments, and works of mercy, we will fail to communicate the sanctity of their precious life. We will fail to guard their hearts from the evil of this world. We will fail to reveal the invitation of God for them to share in His divine life and love, which is the very root of their dignity.

We are facing a generation who has no idea how seen, known, and loved they are by God because so many families are getting the order of day-to-day life wrong.

God first. Everything else is secondary.

Don’t forget to download this week’s Pray, Grow, and Serve devotional!