Currently, the Jewish people are in the middle of celebrating their Passover season. Beginning on the evening of Friday, April 6, 2012 and ending on Saturday evening, they celebrate the night that the angel of death passed over the houses of their ancestors and slew the first born male Egyptians according to the word of the pharaoh.
After the children of Israel fled Egypt and escaped Pharaoh's chariots and horsemen through the Red Sea, they came upon the holy mountain, Mt. Sinai, where it is said that God dwells. "And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, in the very top of the mount, and he called Moses to the top thereof." (Exodus 19:20)
There of the top of the mount, God issued the 10 Commandments.
"Locutus quoque est Dominus cunctos sermones hos: Ego sum Dominus Deus tuus qui edui te de terra Aegypti de domo servitutis. Non habebis deos alienos coram me. Non facies tibi scupltile neque omnem similitudinem quae est in caelo desuper et quae in terra deosum nec eorum quay sunt in aquis sub terra. Non adorabis ea neque coles ego sum Dominus Deus tuus fortis zelotes visitans iniquitatem patrum in filiis in tertiam et quartam generationem eorum qui oderunt me. Et faciens misericordiam in milia his qui diligunt me et custodiunt praecepta mea."
TRANSLATION
" And the Lord spoke all these words: I am the Lord thy God, Who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting, the iniquity of the fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of those that love me and keep my commandments."
Have I doubted in matters of faith?
Have I murmured against God at your adversity or at the prosperity of others?
Have I believed fortune-tellers or consulted them?
Have I gone to places of worship of other denominations?
Do I put my worldly things before God?
Does what God wants for me not a priority in the decisions I make every day?
Have I failed to keep one or many of the Commandments because of what is going on around me?
Do I consider what I have more important than who I am?
Have I let things other than God take precedence in my life?
Do I fail to give God his due time in my life?
These days, there are many things that people generally put as a higher priority than God. Whether it be work or school or sports we have many excuses that we don't have the time to devote to God that we should set aside! Though doing all the things we do is not a bad thing, as long as we do it ad majorem Dei gloriam, we must realize that we need to set GOD's will as a precedence.
On her deathbed, St. Therese of the Child Jesus said these words. "Père, tout ce que vous voulez, mais ayez pitié de moi." Which translates, "Father, everything you will, but have pity on me."
In the the Lord's Prayer, we say "Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra." Which translates, "Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven."
St. Faustyna asked God that if by her suffering more people would learn of and be aware of His infinite compassion, that He inflict more pain on her.
The whole point is that if we love God enough, we will keep him at the top of our priority list and then and only then may we be able to deal with all the countless other cards He has created to deal to us. His will, should take precedence to all other things including our feelings. According to St. Faustyna, in that God is our Lord, we must trust Him to rule over our lives. Once we trust and love Him enough, we can put our lives in his hands and trust in his will, that he has a plan for each of us, and though we may suffer we should trust in His compassion and wisdom because we can be sure that He knows the way through this life. If that's not being at the top of the list, I'm not sure what else can be.
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