Reflection on Today's Readings, Monday of 17th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1, and the Memorial of Ss Joachim and Anne, July 26th, 2021
Texts: Ex. 32:15-24. 30-34; Ps. 106:19-23; Mtt. 13:31-35
Reading today's first reading could make one ask a lot of questions: What has the absence of Moses got to do with God's presence with them. We may think, perhaps, no one to meditate for them. If the problem was that of meditation, would they not have asked Aaron to stand in for Moses and to meditate for them! The reading shows that the problem was more of confusion; they confused God with Moses. They could not see God any longer without Moses. For them, the absence of Moses was absence of God. This still happens till date: some of us have tied God down to our spiritual leaders. We can no longer see God without them. Let us know that we are all His children in Christ and so we have direct access to Him. Let us learn to search for God by ourselves through the reading of His words and personal prayer. The God who wills that we come to Him as a body also wills that we come to Him privately on our own. Jesus Christ says, _"But when you pray, go to your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray to your Father who is in that secret place"_ (Mtt. 6:6). We are to relate with God individually as we relate with Him as a body.
Another thing that could raise question was the request of the people of God: "‘make us gods ...'" This shows that the people understood gods as creations, that is, makes of man. They saw man as the creator of gods. Hence, they would have seen God as a creation of Moses. We could now understand why they could not see God any longer when Moses left them. They, then, asked for gods who were to be the makes of Aaron. God is not the make of anyone. God is a creator, not a creation. Some of us today are still following God created by man. For such people their faith leaves once they are disappointed by their spiritual leaders, the creators of their God. For those who follow the true God, they do not anchor their faith on their spiritual leaders but God. Let us stop following God created by man, lest we fail to reach the promised land. Prophet Hosea says, _"My people perish for want of knowledge"_ (4:6).
The reading also shows a leader who did not know God. Aaron might have also thought that God was the creation of Moses. He would have guided them right if he had known God. Moses challenged him thus: _“what did this people do to you that you have brought a great sin upon them?”_ Leaders must have the knowledge of God to be able to lead his people aright. Jeremiah says, _"When I go out in the fields, I see the bodies of men killed in war; when I go into the towns, I see people starving to death. Prophets and priests carry on their work, but they don't know what they are doing"_ (14:18).
We also see in the reading how the people of God can lead their leader into sin with their demand. Aaron said, _“Let not the anger of my Lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’"_ Let us allow our leaders to be directed by the Holy Spirit; let us not lead them astray by our demands. Today is also the memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. With them God performed the miracle of Immaculate Conception. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a sign that St. Joachim and St. Anne enjoyed the favour of God. We also enjoy favour in Christ, their grandson. They gave Mary good upbringing. They taught her the way of the Lord. They continue to be examples of good parents to people of every age and time.
We also see the power meditation and intercession. Moses intercede for the people and God forgave the people for the sake of Moses. This prefigures the forgiveness of sins in Christ (Rom. 5:12-21).
Jesus Christ, in today's gospel reading, reminds us that we have the germ of the kingdom of heaven in us. The germ grows and develops if nourished with the words of God and practice of devotions. As we grow in knowledge of God so also the kingdom of heaven grows in us. The possession of the kingdom begins here and now, not until we get to heaven. By our lives here on earth we possess the kingdom to certain degree. Our possession of the kingdom continues to grow till when we shall see God face to face and possess the kingdom in fulness.
Lord our God, banish in our hearts the darkness of ignorance and give us the light of knowledge, that we may know You and not perish. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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