HOW WE MAKE IDOLS FOR OURSELVES


TUESDAY, FOURTENTH WEEK IN ORDERINARY TIME

Hosea 8:4-7,11-13; Ps 115:3-10; Mt 9:32-37

The Constitution of Idols

God made us to know him, to love him, and to serve him, so that we may be happy in his communion forever and ever. This is the Catechism response to the question: Why did God make you? The response may seem simple, but it has depth that we can never fully comprehend. From the simple response, we understand that God did not create us for ourselves; that means we do not exist or live solely to carry out our own plan in life. We are not supposed to plan our lives without God, our Creator. It is a grievous sin to live our lives without reference to God. What makes such an attitude very sinful is the fact that life itself is a participation in God, who is the supreme Being or Life. Understood correctly, every level of life draws from the existence of the supreme Life we call God. So, if sensible animals do not live without reference to God, how then can a rational soul live without being mindful of the Maker of all things?

Reference to God is within every one of us, for our deepest part yearns for life that has no limit or end. This is the testimony of God within each of us. We set up idols for ourselves when we attempt to satisfy this deepest yearning within us with any creature; food, drinks, sex, power, fame, etc. Because nothing created can satisfy us, or take the place of God within our hearts, our attempts to plan a life that seems good, meaningful, or profitable to us without recourse to God are sinful. This is the point of the prophecy of Hosea to the people of Israel. “They have set up kings, but not with my consent, and appointed princes, but without my knowledge. Out of their own silver and gold, they have made idols, which are doomed to destruction.” The northern kingdom of Israel, wanting to be separated from Jerusalem and the Temple of God therein, decided to build their own national shrine, and they managed all the affairs of their kingdom by themselves without recourse to anything in the southern kingdom of Judah, including God and his prophets. Many of us behave like them; we usually restrict our worship of God to churches or places of worship. We have a different mindset in our business or when carrying out our professional activities, believing that our religious convictions must not interfere with our professional life. This is setting up idols for ourselves.

God made us for himself. This means that we must strive to know him better, love him more, and serve him more committedly. No aspect of our lives is to be placed or left outside the supervision of God’s word. We must let the light of his word guide our undertakings; our professions and careers must be decided in union with him, for they are all aspects of our love and service of God. To dedicate ourselves to anything without his consent is to build altars to idols. “Ephraim has built altar after altar they have only served him as occasion for sin.” For our lives to really proclaim the glory of God, we must conform our whole being to his divine plan. To activate every aspect of our lives to glorify God, we must submit ourselves to Christ, just as they brought the dumb demoniac to him. Living outside the plan of God for our lives is to live in the company of demons. The Spirit of God inspires and works with us only when we draw our inspiration from the word of God. The Son of God appeared in human nature to guide us back to the will of the Father for us. He calls us to pray and work with him to restore all to the Father’s will. “And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’” Our earnest prayer must be that God may make us labourers in his harvest.

Let us pray: O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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