Year of Saint Joseph
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386); Saint Edward the Martyr (962-978)
Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 39 The Proper Amount of Food
Mass: Ex 32:7-14; Resp Ps 106; Jn 5:31-47
Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
HEART OF JESUS, ABYSS OF ALL VIRTUES,
HAVE MERCY ON US.
Yesterday we sang one of my favorite psalms at the Liturgy of the Hours and I hoped to be able to use a few verses in a reflection. It just so happens that today is the day. Every time we sing Psalm 115, especially verses 4-8, I smile, thinking how silly it is to worship things. Guilty as charged! Here are the verses.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands,
They have mouths but do not speak,
eyes but do not see.
They have ears but do not hear,
noses but do not smell.
They have hands but do not feel,
feet but do not walk,
and no sound rises from their throats,
Their makers will be like them,
all who trust in them.
Today we have our first reading from the Book of Exodus and the "stiff-necked people" who have gone and made a molten calf for themselves. They are busy worshipping the calf and sacrificing to it when the Lord tells Moses to down the mountain and intervene (Ex 32:7-9). I can't help but think of one my favorite movies, The Ten Commandments, where the scene is vivid. I can see the calf there, with the nose ring and the people engaged in all sorts of revelry. Lord, have mercy.
Not unrelated are Jesus' words in today's Gospel: How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? (Jn 5:44). I turn to Saint Benedict in the Prologue of the Holy Rule (Prol. 30-32), where he quotes Psalm 115:1, "Not to us, Lord, not to us give the glory, but to your name alone", and Saint Paul, "By God's grace I am what I am" (1 Cor 15:10); "He who boasts should make his boast in the Lord" (2 Cor 10:17). And in today's reading from Ch 39 "The Proper Amount of Food", where Saint Benedict turns to the Lord's words in the Gospel of Saint Luke: Take care that your hearts are not weighed down with overindulgence (Lk 21:34/RB 39:9). Whether it is with idols in the form of food or drink, molten calves of one kind or another, those with mouths that can't speak and feet that don't walk, overindulgence weighs us down. Indeed, we the makers will be like them, all who trust in them. As Saint Benedict writes: "For nothing is so inconsistent with the life of any Christian as overindulgence" (RB 39:8).
From today on abstain from every evil thing. Let your tongue not speak insignificant words, nor let your sight look at sin, nor let your mind wander toward what is not profitable.
(Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, catechesis, in Magnificat "Meditation of the Day", March 2021, p. 285)
SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM,
SAINT EDWARD THE MARTYR,
SAINT JOSEPH,
PRAY FOR US.
Today's photo: I went outside yesterday around 5:30 p.m. to look for a photo and looked up to see what the sky was doing.
© Gertrude Feick 2021
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