Sixteenth Friday of Ordinary Time

In those days: God delivered all these commandments: "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The first commandment is one which makes clear where our minds, hearts, and souls should be focused during life… upon God. He is the one and only thing we need to know, love, and serve in this world. He is our Creator, Master, and Just Judge. He will look at our lives and measure them out not according to our worldly successes, but by how much we kept the commandments and gave Him the first and last place in our hearts. Thankfully, God is merciful and forgiving because we often fail to give God what is due to Him. We let the world lead us stray and into worshiping false idols. But God is patient and give us every chance to avoid His strictest punishments and instead enjoy His Mercy in this life and His Divine Presence in Heaven.

Are we following the commandments? Have we given God the first and last place in our hearts? What can we do to avoid those things that are false idols?

O Lord, you are our God, who delivers us from the slavery of sin and death.

Amen.