Today, we hear from The First Letter of John: “Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” In the end, what is the most important decision we make in life? Is it what we decide to do in life or what type of person we plan to be? Bishop Robert Barron writes that from a scriptural perspective, the biblical authors point to the answer of whom or what you worship. Everything in your life will flow from our answer. Even in our supposedly secular society, we can appreciate the appropriateness of the biblical terminology, for everyone, even the most un-churched, operates under the aegis of something they consider supreme, a summum bonum or highest good. No one would get out of bed in the morning unless they believed in some value that ultimately motivated their actions and decisions. This might be bodily pleasure, fame, material goods, or one’s country or family. Still, if it is functioning as the prime mover of a person’s activity, it is playing the role of a god, and it is, in effect, being worshiped. My intellectual hero, St. Thomas Aquinas, said that if we want to live a happy life, we should love what Jesus loved on the cross and despise what he despised on the cross. What did he despise but all of those objects of false worship to which we tend to erect altars? Many of us worship wealth, but on the cross, he was utterly poor, stripped naked; many of us worship pleasure, but on the cross, he was at the limit of suffering, both physical and psychological; many of us worship power, but on the cross he was nailed in place, unable even to move; and many of us worship honor, but on that terrible cross he was the object of scorn and ridicule. In short, the crucified Lord said no to the idols as radically as possible. But what did he love on the cross? He loved doing the will of his Father. A lost soul plays to the world’s endlessly fickle audience, hoping to acquire the fleeting goods that the world can provide. The uncorroded soul plays to God and the friends of God, seeking to please them alone. That is the direction of one’s life centered on Jesus, the Son of God we should pursue.