Saturday of the Eleventh Week
We might read discussion of boasting in today’s first reading as a reflection on the proper ordering of all things in the life of a Christian. The appropriateness of “boasting” depends upon it how it moves people toward God. While telling the truth about Paul’s own spiritual fruits would make sense, Paul expresses reservation about doing this precisely because that truth could misdirect people to him instead of to God (2 Cor 12: 5-7). Since the Corinthians, to whom Paul is writing, presumably no nothing of the man about whom Paul does boast, misdirecting them is far less likely in that case. Why is this so important? Precisely because we are always tempted to direct our drive to worship God in all sorts of other directions.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus draws out the implications of worshipping God alone and challenges us to consider whether we are really idolaters, that is those who worship false gods. Even though we don’t worship golden calves or go Athena’s temple, it seems that many of us are idolaters and polytheists, because our lives are ultimately set in the direction of many things.
When we proclaim the creed at Mass, we say that “We believe in God.” The “in” is important! This doesn’t simply mean we believe that God exists. Rather, it means we set our whole selves, our hearts, our lives in God’s direction. We are aimed solely at Him. So we are idolaters insofar as we set our hearts and our lives in the direction of things and people who aren’t God, even ourselves.
Thankfully, Jesus hasn’t left us on our own to figure out how to sort through these many masters we like to have. He has given us His Church. It is by living and participating in Christ’s Church that we come to see the rightful place of all of these things (food, family, money, air conditioners, and doctor’s visits). The more we set ourselves in God’s direction, the more these other things fall into their proper place (cf. Mt 6:33-34).
Today, let us pray that we may have the help of Christ’s Church to discern all of our idolatries, so that we may grow to set our hearts completely in God’s direction. Let us pray too that God help us to identify one thing or person in our lives that serves as an idol, so that we may learn to put it in its proper place.
- Tim Gabrielli