Setting Priorities

I attend Church nearly every Sunday, and I confess that there are too many times when I don't pay enough attention to the message that my priest delivers in his sermon. But on those occasions when I do pay attention, I almost always hear something useful and inspiring. And sometimes, what strikes me the most is an idea that is not even central to the message that the priest is sending.

A good example of this occurred this past Sunday, when Fr. Joe Scalisi made what many may have considered to be a rather off-hand remark during the preface to his sermon. He said, "What we choose to do with our lives is a direct reflection of what we believe life is all about." I had heard this theme presented in other ways on several occasions, but I never heard it put in such an all-encompassing and comprehensive fashion.

It caused me to think about what I have done with my life. More importantly, it caused me to consider, based on what I have done with my life, what I must believe life to be all about. It was a revealing and not altogether complimentary exercise.

Up until the past dozen years or so, I devoted my life to the pursuit of money, prestige and temporal pleasures. I wanted to accumulate enough wealth do whatever I believed that I needed to do in order to satisfy my desire for comfort and pleasure. Not much else mattered, unless some pleasurable experience could be derived from it.

Even during the past few years, I have found myself from time to time slipping back into this selfish pattern. But my priorities have changed over the years, and although I still recognize the value of earning a living, I have learned that there is more value in contributing to life than in taking from it.

Setting priorities and deciding "what life is all about" has been an ongoing process for me, and my concept of what is most important in life has changed over the years. In evaluating what I have done with my life in recent years, I have discovered that the things that matter most to me involve first my relationship with God and family, followed closely by my intense desire to make a difference in the lives of those people who come to me seeking professional help.

I still fall into some of the old selfish habits that marred my younger years. However, as long as I remember to pay close attention to those Sunday sermons, I can be reminded of what I really believe to be important and what I really believe life to be all about.