Meditations

Finding Your One True Priority in Life

Lately the word “priority” has been sticking with me. I learned that when it first entered English in the 1400s, it was singular—there was just one “priority,” the first and most important thing. Only in the 1900s did we start talking about “priorities,” as if we could have many “most important” things at the same time.
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As a Catholic, that little language shift makes me pause. If everything is a priority, then nothing really is—and for me, it raises the question: who or what actually comes first in my life? In my faith, God is meant to be that one priority, the One everything else flows from and returns to.
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Another word that has been on my heart is “consecrated,” which means something set apart, made holy, reserved for a special purpose. In Catholic theology, to be consecrated is to belong to God in a particular way, to be given over to Him in love. The ancient burnt offerings in the Old Testament were a symbol of this: something given completely, not partly, to God.
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Christians believe that Jesus is the “Lamb of God,” offered not as a thing, but as a living person who gives Himself totally for us, for our forgiveness and healing. In Jesus, God is not distant or abstract; He draws close and offers His whole self so that we can live in friendship and union with Him. Even if you do not share that belief, there is something moving about the idea of a love that holds nothing back.
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What encourages me is that God does not just give words, but also gives a language of actions, symbols, and even our everyday choices to communicate with us. The way we order our time, our energy, and our “one priority” becomes its own kind of prayer—a way of saying, “This is who I belong to, and this is what I’m living for.” That feels like good news in a scattered world: we are invited into a simpler, deeper center.
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A Scripture that captures this for me is Romans 12:1: “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” It speaks of life, not destruction: offering our ordinary selves—work, family, struggles, hopes—as something set apart for good, for love, for God. Whether or not you share my faith, it is an invitation to ask: what is my one true priority, and what am I willing to give myself to, wholeheartedly, in love?

As we close this reflection, please join me in prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
You are the one true priority and the Lamb of God, consecrated and given for our salvation.​
Teach us to set our hearts on You above all things.
Gather our scattered desires into a single yes to Your will.
Consecrate our minds, our work, our relationships, and our rest,
so that all we are and all we do may be set apart for Your glory.​
By Your Holy Spirit, make our lives a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to the Father, our true and spiritual worship.​
Mary, Mother of God, and all the saints,
pray for us as we learn to live with one heart and one priority in Christ.​
Amen.

Stumbling Along

Recognize

Everyone who comes to know Jesus stumbles because of him. He fails to meet our wrong expectations. He calls us to do impossible things or to become something we think we could never become. This is his way of teaching us how much we need Him. He breaks us to pieces so that he can put us back together in His image. -Michael Card

Renew

The rule is this: Christians are people who remember their own weaknesses and failure. They are under reconstruction. So they offer hope and forgiveness to people who fall and who need Jesus’ healing grace and hope. -Donald M. Joy

Revive

1 Corinthians 1:20-31
2 Corinthians 4:1-12

Commentary

1 Corinthians 1:20-31 – I found this passage oddly confusing, but the last part gelled it together: “…For this world in its present form is passing away.” It’s all temporary. To remember the way we were when Jesus calls us is important because that status (no matter how terrible or difficult it may have been) holds a key to the hope of our future: For all that we have, reflect as if we do not have it. For all that we lack, think not of our deprivation. Whatever status we are in is only temporary in the grander picture of eternity.

2 Corinthians 4:1-12 – A nice passage about how our own resurrection is through our dependency and our tie to Jesus Christ. We are in need of Jesus’ saving grace and hope. We are totally and completely dependent on Him for salvation.

More on Prayer and Meditation

Searching for the keyword “meditation”, I found a relatively new blogger on the block, “Aurora Astra” who also focuses on meditation, the spirit and God. For those of you interested in exploring further the benefits of meditation and want to know how to connect with your inner spirit, the blogger shares a personal way of starting meditation using prayer. In the article: “Prayer as Preparation“, there is a step-by-step description using The Lord’s Prayer to build focus and calmness in one’s mind.

As the writer states, there is no right or wrong way to pray… just your own way. I really liked the article’s focus on the physical state of being (breathing, thinking and awareness) towards the preparation provided through prayer. It certainly can be used at any time: as a morning wake-up, to take a break in a busy, hectic day or as a wrap-up in the evening. I can’t wait to give it a try myself. Thanks “Aurora Astra” for sharing your technique!

The Tree

A Passage on Trees

From one of my reading sessions, I found a nice life-parable to share from the works of Australian author and inspirational speaker, Matthew Kelley. In his book The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion & Purpose, he remarked an observation of a tall, old tree on the grounds of the monastary where he was staying, that “despite its imperfect forms and crooked branches, it had a perfection of its own.” Kelley admired the great tree and went on to remark on its significance.

Later in the year, Kelley writes of an experience on a nature walk after a storm that revealed a meaningful metaphor for him and his spiritual growth. The violent storm had uprooted and destroyed many of the trees in the surrounding area, but this large, lone tree was virtually unaffected. He observed that

A tree with strong roots grows strong. A tree with strong roots bears much fruit. A tree with strong roots bears good fruit. A tree with strong roots can weather any storm. If a tree is uprooted and replanted often, it will not be able to sink its roots deep into the earth and therefore will not grow strong or be fruitful.

Likewise, for people, these tree roots are a metaphor for our intellectual and spiritual growth. The things that we do to grow and to establish these roots affects our strength to weather overpowering challenges and strife, as well as the quality of our existence through the fruits that we bear on our branches.

Meditations as a Tree

Another reflection on trees comes from Eastern Asian philosophy (I’m not sure exactly which one though) which I learned a long time ago as a teenager from a family acquaintance. It’s a meditation that also involves thinking of trees – its thought processes gives you the opportunity to relax and expel negative energies from the body.

Imagine your body as a tree. Your leaves and your branches on top pull in the pollution, carbon dioxide and negative energies from the atmosphere. These toxins pass through your branches, down your trunk and into your roots. As a tree, your body processes these negative energies and converts them to basic, life-giving ingredients to put back into the earth: oxygen, water and nutrients.

Imagine your tree-like body as a part of this earthly cycle. Absorbing, processing, releasing. Whatever problems or strife you have experienced and “absorbed” into your self, let it pass through your branches, down your trunk and out of your body into the ground.

Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Each breath pulls in more from the atmosphere, then pushes it down and releases it into the ground. Know that you are a part of a cycle – not an ending point in the absorption of those negative energies. Whatever you’ve endured to this point in the day is just as easily released back into the earth. Think and feel yourself through several cycles of breathing, allowing yourself to relax.

I like to think of life’s daily events as generators of energy (both good and bad). We can choose to react – which catches and holds on to the energy,  or we can simply let it pass. Over the years, I have managed stress and stress relief very well with this simple visualization. Give it a try and see if it works for you!