Monday, XVII week of Ordinary Time
(Exodus 32)
Upon seeing a picture of Lindsay Lohan for the first time, a sixty-seven year old friend remarked that movie stars don’t seem to last very long anymore. Their attraction may be more ephemeral than before, but still the public never exhausts its need for these idols. Both entertainment artists and sports figures seem to contend with God as the fulfillment of people’s hopes. John Lennon thought that his crew had the better of the match when he boasted that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus?
What could the people have possibly seen in the golden calf made with their own hands as worthy of worship? If it were displayed today, we might answer that it would be the first prize in a lottery. Forged from gold, that would make many mouths drool. But in the ancient world the calf was a symbol of God. Worshipping it was sinful because the first commandment of the Decalogue prohibited such images. The people probably did so anyway because Moses delayed so long in his conference with God that they wanted to conjure God’s presence.
Like the Israelites we often have a hard time waiting. Worshipping God seems to bring such a slow payback that we turn to idols for excitement. However, if the fulfillment we receive from attentiveness to God takes its time and arrives without sweeping emotion, it brings a joy that lasts forever. In the meantime we have the consolation of good company waiting on the Lord.
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