April 3/Fourth Thursday of Lent
They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a cast image.
They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. ~ Ps 106.19-20
Today, let us walk for a moment in the sandals of those infamous children of Israel who fashioned a golden calf. Life was hard, the future was uncertain, the desert wastelands were engulfing them. They were experiencing a leadership vacuum: Moses had ascended the mountain weeks earlier to speak with God, and they did not know what had become of him or when he would return. Although they had been sincere in stating their intentions to obey God’s commandments, their resolve was wearing down under the stress of daily existence. It was simply taking too long for things to get better. And so with no visible reassurance that God had not forgotten them, they forgot God. Lacking the trust that makes waiting possible, they opted to appease their anxiety with idols of their own making. Perhaps we, too, impatient and uncertain, are afflicted by a failure to trust. We may feel disappointed or abandoned by the leaders of our church, our city, or our nation. We may be engulfed by the desolation of illness, a broken relationship, or some other circumstance that defies our control. Perhaps we have experienced God as absent when we are in pain. So we, too, take matters into our own hands, and erect our own golden calves in the mistaken belief that they will bring us peace and happiness. But in the end, neither material goods, nor career success, nor political ideology, nor a toned and fit body, nor any of the other objects of our adoration will bring us closer to the living God who has chosen us as his own children, wander where we will.
God, Grant this day that in all my comings and goings I may maintain infinite trust in you, whom I adore above all things. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040325.cfm
To hear the Cambridge Singers sing “O, for a closer walk with God,” by Charles Villiers Stanford, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP_KjpYAyZo
