Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church

"LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things by your command. Answer me, LORD! Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to their senses." The LORD's fire came down and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust, and it lapped up the water in the trench. Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"

Sometimes we can get so caught up in our daily jobs, sufferings, and struggles that we lose sight of God. We start to give our time, talents, and treasures to things that lead us astray... away from God. We make false idols out of all manner of things from money to TVs to computers to everything else. However, we must resist this temptation with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. We must make our lives into an offering to God and not to evil. We must fall to our knees in prayer and renew our baptismal promises. We must be confident that "The Lord is God!" and will never abandon us... even when we fail to follow Him as we should. We must trust that God will bring us back our senses after we sin and help us to confess, do penance, and sin no more.

Do we need to be brought back to our spiritual senses? What false idols do we need to reject from our lives? How can we prepare ourselves to be a living altar dedicated to our Lord and our God?

O Lord, prepare our hearts with your grace so that they will be completely dedicated to you.

Amen.