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 a brash statement that exaggerated even the Beatles’ fame, but it did indicate the hold that idols have on people’s consciousness. Just as the Beatles commanded the attention of young people forty years ago, the golden calf stirs the imagination of the Israeiltes in the reading from Exodus today.
What could the people have possibly seen in the golden calf made with their own hands? Was 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 was sinful because the first commandment of the Decalogue prohibited such images. Their attention is to be riveted on God who fulfills 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 transformable devices that serve as telephones, computers, cameras, and what have you. We must be wary of such pursuits and keep God in the forefront of our minds. Only He provides what is necessary for a life truly worth living.
Showing posts with label John Lennon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Lennon. Show all posts
Homilette for Monday July 30, 2007
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.
(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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