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Is Jesus Your Priority? By Father Andrew Bahhi

July 04, 2021
in The Word
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Today is the feast of St. Thomas, which we call the first of the middle Sundays of Easter. During these 3 main periods after Easter, we have a) eight Sundays after Easter, b) Then the middles Sundays of Easter, 8, and then c) The later Sundays of Easter. These three periods usually run to the consecration of the church, which ends exactly eight weeks before Christmas.

When we learn virtues taught by our Lord, with hope and happiness, nothing will put us down. And this is the importance of priorities. Jesus says do not love parents, kids or siblings more than him (Matthew 10:37). When our love for Jesus is #1 in our life, the Lord wants to have a very beautiful place for each one of us. These priorities are very important in our life.

  1. We know about the time Jesus visited Lazarus, and the sisters Mary and Martha, for a feast. “Martha, you are troubled and worried about many things,” he told Martha as she complained about her sister. A lot of times we are worried and troubled about many things, “but one thing is needed” – which means the #1 thing is most important, and everything follows after that.
  2. Later on, we know the story of the rich man in the book of Mark and Luke, and he asked how he can inherit the kingdom of God. Then, after talking with him, the Lord discovered this person’s heart is not ready to put the Lord as the #1 priority. Then Jesus said, “one thing you lack.”
  3. In Philippians, St. Paul said “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” Again, he is talking about one thing.

In each of these stories, we learn about ONE thing. This teaches us how to put priorities in our life and organize our life. There are things we call important, but there is only one thing that is most important. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

When our interests and concerns become #1, that will turn our life to become a source of confusion, trouble and worries.

As John 12:25 says, “Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Believe me brothers and sisters, life is short. It will end one day, and we don’t know when. Since all these things are not guaranteed, we have to organize our priorities and remember what the Lord said to Martha, “But you need one thing.”

We will ask the Holy Spirit to give God priority in our life. To put him in the center of our life. Put Jesus as the captain of our boat. And make Him the head of our family and our life.

The Lord is telling us, if we put him #1, our time will be blessed, and we will have a lot of things to do in His name. God will bless our hard work and family.

I always mention this. If the Lord is #1, he will defend me against evil. But if you put your love to somebody else, anything will happen to him, and you will be disappointed. Jesus will never ever put you in shame or leave you behind. He will always be there for you.

The things you see – family, position, money, health – one day will end. These are temporary and one day will finish. But the things that you don’t see, the unseen things, these are eternal.

The more we are connected in our heart to the unseen, Jesus, the less we are going to be connected to the seen thing, the less important.

We must know who the captain of our boat is. Do we know Him and have Him in our life? Do we learn from Him, and swim the big waves of temptation every day? Before we lose our life, let Him be #1 and invite him, “Come and be my savior, be my God and my only #1 in my life.”

Learn more in Father Andrew’s sermon video here.

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