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| “Ignatius of Loyola” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34
Commentary on Ex 32:15-24, 30-34
In this passage from Exodus, Moses has gone up Mt. Sinai and has been absent from the people for some time. In their ignorance, the people are afraid that they have no leadership in the wilderness and ask Aaron to make for them an image of God. (Most scholars agree that the calf was intended to be an image of God rather than a false God. Graven images of God were forbidden.) Moses smashing the tablets upon which the Law had been engraved by the hand of God was a symbol that the covenant between the people and God had been broken through their sinful actions.
Moses' actions in destroying the idol and then having it ground to powder, put in water and drunk by the people creates an ordeal by which the innocent would be spared and the guilty would be punished (see also Numbers 5:11-28). Note also the weak argument Aaron provides. In Exodus 32:4 he fashions the idol from gold, here he states he simply melted down the gold and the calf miraculously appeared.
God’s response to Moses' intercession is that those who committed the sin would be punished on the Day of Judgment. Moses offers his own life as an atonement saying: “If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written.” This statement presupposes God has a list of names, a book of life (see also Psalm 69:29) from which a name may be struck and that person shall die.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 106:19-20, 21-22, 23
R. (1a) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Commentary on Ps 106:19-20, 21-22, 23
Psalm 106 is a national lament remembering the events from Exodus 32:7-14, where the Jews brought out of Egypt by Moses fell into idol worship, even as he received the Law on Mt. Horeb. The psalmist reminds the people that Moses interceded and turned away God’s wrath.
CCC: Ps 106:23 2577
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Gospel: Matthew 13:31-35
Commentary on: Mt 13:31-35
The Lord continues his descriptions of the Kingdom of Heaven using two parables. The parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the yeast have the same point. What appears to be small grows to miraculous size. What has been insignificant is vastly important; what cannot be seen is unknowingly immense. The parables of the “Mustard Seed” and “Yeast” (see also Mark 4:30-32 and Luke 13:18-21) emphasize that from the smallest of beginnings with the proclamation of the word, the Kingdom of God expands to encompass all peoples.
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Reflection:
We see the events that took place in the Exodus couched in the language of the Hebrew author who recorded them after they had been passed down orally from generation to generation for two thousand years. We marvel at the truth contained in God’s interaction with humankind. The children of Israel had been led out of Egypt with great hopes and expectations by Moses (accompanied by Aaron). They had come to Horeb at the base of Mount Sinai footsore and hungry from their journey. Things were not turning out as they had expected. They had anticipated a quick and easy journey to a land that flowed with milk and honey. Instead they find a harsh desert, hardship, and in this passage, Moses disappears up the mountain and is gone for a good deal of time.
In easier situations in the modern times, people would act the same way. Deprived of leadership, a new leader would be selected or self-proposed. Deprived of God, a new god would be selected as the object of adoration. We see it time and again, those searching for God and failing to find him. In spite of all attempts to show them the Kingdom of God, the face of Jesus, they pick the Golden Calf instead. The calf may be represented by material wealth, or perhaps a passionate pursuit of a hedonistic lifestyle, completely self-engrossed. Failing to find God or dissatisfied by what God stands for, they invent a personal god that ultimately is unsatisfying, hollow, and in the end denies them the love, comfort, and peace they are seeking.
We might ask how and why supposedly bright people can be seduced by the Golden Calf. It does not take long thought to understand that those who give free reign to their desires for only their own pleasure can easily see and reject God, who tells us that only when all are comforted can we find comfort, only when no one is thirsty can our thirst be satisfied. The Golden Calf represents the selfish and shallow side of human nature. The standard bearer is Satan, and its golden invitation is to eternal damnation.
It is always good to recall that ancient time when the Hebrew people, our predecessors in faith, fell prey to their basest impulses and turned to a false god. We are reminded of the frailty of our own wills and cautioned to be on guard unless we begin to build our own version of the Golden Calf. Our standard is the Cross. We have the Lamb of God who calls us to holiness.
Pax
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