Other gods

“You shall have no other gods but me”.  “Other gods” doesn’t just refer to gods such as those worshipped by the ancient Egyptians.  People can put other things in place of God by treating them as the most important things in their lives.  Some people treat themselves like that by thinking and acting as if they were what mattered most in the world.  In other words, they make a little god of themselves.  Or people may live for pleasure and amusement as the things that are all-important.  Others may love money most, and you can love money whether you have it or not.  There was a man once who, when he was young, had very little money but he loved it so much that he toiled and pinched and scraped to make a lot for himself.  And one day, when he was old, he was telling his parish priest how successful he had been in making money.  And the priest said, “You can’t take it with you when you go, you know”.  And the old man answered, “I know, but don’t I wish I could”.

Dedication

But God made us for himself, to possess him and to be possessed by him; and people who live for other things, such as themselves or pleasure or money, when they come to die will not have discovered what this life is all about.  But we shall never live for God until we really belong to him, and we shall not really belong to God until we freely give ourselves to him.  We should do this in particular in our daily morning and evening prayers and at every Eucharist so that we may be truly his all and every day.

Remember, Jesus on the Cross has given himself to us completely.  He kept nothing back whatsoever.  And we have to give ourselves completely to him.  Jesus is not and never will be satisfied with anything less than our whole selves.  It is not enough to offer him half or even three-quarters, and to keep the remaining half or quarter from him.  We have to make a present to him of our whole selves and our whole life to be his for ever.