Catholic Husband

Love / Lead / Serve

Above All Things

Starting in our earliest years of formation, we learn that we were made to love God “above all things.” This ideal is a daily challenge to each of us to set aside our heart’s desires, the desires of our family, and to focus first on God, who provides for all things. Even in our Act of Penance, we remind ourselves of this truth by repeating these words.

I was watching the commentator Michael Knowles engage in a discussion with some sex workers, and he noted that one of them frequently wears a cross. He brought up this juxtaposition not as a condemnation, but as a symbol of the constant struggle with which we contend. Michael noted that he wears a scapular, and he will be reminded of that fact when he’s about to sin, and it presents an invitation to reconsider his course of action.

Loving God first, and trusting in His Providence, is difficult because we also know that God wants us to be people of action. We must balance between superstition and idleness in both our discernment and our action.

Regardless of our time, circumstance, or difficulty, the solution almost always is to love God above all things. If we love Him first, as we were made to do, all good things will certainly flow from it.