Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest, July 31, 2023

Reading 1 Ex 32:15-24, 30-34

Moses turned and came down the mountain with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, front and back; tablets that were made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God himself. Now, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "That sounds like a battle in the camp." But Moses answered, "It does not sound like cries of victory, nor does it sound like cries of defeat; the sounds that I hear are cries of revelry." As he drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. With that, Moses' wrath flared up, so that he threw the tablets down and broke them on the base of the mountain. Taking the calf they had made, he fused it in the fire and then ground it down to powder, which he scattered on the water and made the children of Israel drink. Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people ever do to you that you should lead them into so grave a sin?" Aaron replied, "Let not my lord be angry. You know well enough how prone the people are to evil. They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.' They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out." On the next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a grave sin. I will go up to the LORD, then; perhaps I may be able to make atonement for your sin." So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Ah, this people has indeed committed a grave sin in making a god of gold for themselves! If you would only forgive their sin! If you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written." The LORD answered, "Him only who has sinned against me will I strike out of my book. Now, go and lead the people to the place I have told you. My angel will go before you. When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin."

Reflection

So in this passage Moses has just received the 10 commandments and finds the Israelites have already broken multiple. I find it ironic that Joshua thought there was a loud battle happening in camp and Moses said no, the shouts were neither that of defeat nor victory but revelry; so not a battle but a loud party. I had to google the word “revelry” to be sure I was understanding correctly and yes it means lively or noisy festivities especially with alcohol; which was perfectly fitting to describe what was taking place. I think what stood out to me the most was when Aaron said…”Let not my lord be angry.

You know well enough how prone the people are to evil.”

Basically saying eh you should have known, I mean people are going to sin and do evil things so why be angry…What does that even mean though? It sounds like an excuse to me. Is it a valid reason to continue and indulge in evil and bad behavior…just because we are inevitably prone to it?

I think we can all agree that this excuse is still often used today. And it simply isn’t right. We should strive to be better, we should want to be better, but in order to have this mindset we have to ask God for help. We are as incapable as the Israelites when we're on our own. And while it is okay to make mistakes, and yes it is true we are all sinners, it is incorrigible and irresponsible to use that as an excuse to enable our sinful actions.

Towards the end of the passage the following quote reminded me how like sheep we really are; in need of a good Shepard.

“They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader;…So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.'

They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out." The people so craved leadership and just wanted to follow and worship something or someone. I imagine they were scared, lost sight of the bigger picture and certainly lost their faith.

Moses being gone for 40 days is all that it took for them to lose hope and put their faith into a golden cow.

This also reminds me of how we are made to worship a higher power. We are oriented towards this purpose and crave connection in that way. But we are also a lost people who lose their way like sheep and need a good shepherd, Jesus. Our priests are also like shepherds sent to guide us but they too are people like us and are in need of our prayers. PAPA has a great prayer that we can pray for our priests, here is a link to the prayer.