Monday of the
Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus 32:14-24.30.34; Matthew 13:31-35)
In a famous remark John Lennon once boasted that the Beatles
were more popular than Jesus. It was the
brash statement of a rebellious youth, but it did indicate the hold that idols
have on people’s consciousness. Just as
the Beatles commanded the attention of young people fifty years ago, the golden
calf stirs the imagination of the Israelites in the reading from Exodus today.
What could the people have possibly seen in the golden calf
made with their own hands? Is it the
magnificence of gold that gleamed in their eyes or the vitality that the image
of a calf conjures? In any case the
object is sinful because the first commandment of the Decalogue prohibited such
images. They are to rivet attention on
God who can fulfill all their needs.
Like the Israelites people today often turn created things
into idols. Some talk about food as if
they lived only to eat. Others seem
preoccupied with electronic devices – the last phone or computer. We must be wary of such pursuits to keep God
in the forefront of our minds. Only He
provides what is necessary for a life truly worth living.
Tuesday of the
Seventeenth Week in Ordinary time
Exodus 33:7-11.34:5b-9.28; Matthew 13:36-43)
Years ago a movie entitled “The Bad Seed” showed an eight
year-old girl twice committing murder. It
turned out that the child was the natural daughter of a serial killer. The movie along with today’s gospel, which
could be given the same title, asks the questions: Is the doing of evil
predetermined by factors such as nature or, to take the contrary position,
environment? Or does each human person
have a free will to choose right from wrong?
In the gospel Jesus uses a parable to illustrate why God
allows evil to exist in the world. He is
not giving a philosophical discourse on its origins. As the world knows, good and bad populate the
earth simultaneously. Jesus is saying
that God allows the coexistence in order that the good may not be harmed in an
attempt to eradicate evil. But, he
assures, in the end the good will remain and the wicked will be consumed.
As research continually shows, both genetics and
environment affect how we behave. Yet there
is a core choice that each person makes that supersedes these tendencies. Those inclined toward aggressiveness can
choose reconciliation. Those raised in
households virulent with lies can opt for the truth. Christ will determine at the end of time the
extent of each person’s achievement. Our
task is to pursue goodness as best as we can and to set example for others.
