The First Priority

From the Holy Father's sermon at the much-reported Midnight Mass:

For most people, the things of God are not given priority, they do not impose themselves on us directly. And so the great majority of us tend to postpone them. First, we do what seems urgent here and now. In the list of priorities, God is often more or less at the end. We can always deal with that later, we tend to think. The Gospel tells us: God is the highest priority. If anything in our life deserves haste without delay, then it is God's work alone.

The Rule of Saint Benedict contains this teaching: "Place nothing at all before the work of God (i.e. the divine office)". For monks, the Liturgy is the first priority. Everything else comes later. In its essence, though, this saying applies to everyone. God is important, by far the most important thing in our lives.

The shepherds teach us this priority. From them, we should learn not to be crushed by all the pressing matters in our daily lives. From them, we should learn the inner freedom to put other tasks in second place, however important they may be, so as to make our way towards God.