Word to the Wise
Monday, July 31, 2023 - Monday in the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
[Exod 32:15-24, 30-34 and Matt 13:31-35]Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people ever do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?" Aaron replied, "Let not my Lord be angry. You know well enough how prone the people are to evil. They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.' They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out." [Exodus]
JULY 31 ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA SJ
What a scene this is!!! Moses and God can't leave the Israelites alone for very long without trouble happening! Aaron proves to be a weakling and the faith of the Israelites proves to be pretty fickle. Moses' reaction is colorful. Not only does he break the Ten Commandments (quite literally), he grinds the golden calf into powder, makes kool-aid with it and makes them all drink it! Idolatry and fickle faith can have dire consequences!
Well.....we might have a chuckle over this scene, but it could be an uneasy one! How often do we ask God, "What have you done for me lately?" Power, wealth, substance, sex - you name it - could all form a virtual pantheon of "golden calves" that we could find ourselves wandering around amidst, wondering which one might make a good substitute for what we think is an "absent God." Do we need a Moses, like the school teacher who leaves the classroom for a minute only to come back and find the place in chaos? Do we make God "share the limelight" with a golden calf of our own designs? Is the God of Judaeo-Christian faith to become, in our time, like the "unknown God" whose altar St. Paul saw in the Areopagus in Athens? [Acts 17:23] Moses and the KNOWN God of our faith invite us to consider all of this very carefully!! AMEN