March 15/Fourth Thursday of Lent
Our fathers made a calf in Horeb and adored a molten image;
They forgot the God who had saved them, who had done great deeds in Egypt. ~ Ps 106.19, 21
Today, let us walk for a moment in the sandals of the infamous children of Israel who fashioned a golden calf. Daunted by the hardships of the desert and frightened by the world’s wildness, they also found themselves without a leader: Moses had ascended the mountain weeks earlier to speak with God, and they did not know what had become of him or whether he would return. Although they had been sincere when they promised to obey God’s commandments, their resolve was eroding. It was simply taking too long for things to get better; perhaps, thought the children of Israel, they never would. With no visible reassurance that God had not forgotten them, they forgot God, and soothed their anxiety with idols of their own making. Perhaps we, too, impatient and uncertain, frightened by the world’s wildness, are similarly afflicted by a failure to trust. We may be challenged by an addiction, an estrangement, or some other circumstance that defies our control. We may feel disappointed or abandoned by the leaders of our church, our city, or our nation. Perhaps we have experienced God as absent or unhearing. So we, too, take matters into our own hands, and erect false idols in the mistaken belief that they will bring us peace and happiness. But in the end, neither material goods, nor the natural world, nor political ideology, nor a toned and fit body, nor any of the other objects of our adoration, will deliver us from evil. Instead, let us pray for the trust that transforms waiting into hope, and let us keep our hearts and minds focused on the living God who loves us and remembers us, wherever we may wander.
God, Grant this day that in all my comings and goings I may maintain keep you uppermost in my heart and my mind. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/031518.cfm
