Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
This is the ultimate question for each and every one of us. What do we value more than anything else in the whole world? What do we choose to love most? In his infinite love for us, God has given each one of us the ability to choose. We are totally free to decide what we want to place at the center of our lives. It’s up to us. But we are finite, limited beings. We have to choose. Those who make relationship with God the most important aspect of their Ives will get relationship with God. Those who choose something else will get something else.
We have to be extremely careful about even our small choices and habits in our daily lives because they shape us in ways that have deeply lasting consequences. This is why the Examen is such an important part of daily Jesuit life. We are meant to frequently examine our choices and the roots of those choices in order to understand what it is we are really serving in our lives. Are we really oriented towards striving after the love of God and good of neighbor above all else? Or have we chosen to serve something else instead?