One commentator describes Exodus 32 as “a homily on patience and faith.” Moses had led the Hebrews to Sinai, where he received the tablets of the Law from God. While he was on the mountain, the people demanded an image around which they could celebrate. The “molten calf” was probably a wooden object that was gold plated. It may have been the throne on which their God, Yahweh, sat. It may have been in imitation of the images of foreign gods. The author may also have been playing on the pagan image by using a calf rather than a more impressive animal, such as a bull. The Egyptian goddess, Hathor, was often depicted as a cow, from whom the calf would be nourished.
|
Some scholars see both the threat and promise of God as foretelling the destruction and exile of the northern tribes of Israel in the Eighth Century BC and their eventual return and reunification with Judah. Jeroboam, the first King of Israel, restored the calf as a symbol for Yahweh (see 1 Kgs 12:28, but cf. 1 Kgs 14:8-9). In this context, the passage warns that the northern tribes will be swallowed up by their neighbors.
One of the curious uses of the Hebrew word for “god” is that it is in the plural form. The word can refer to Yahweh or the pagan gods. However, whenever it is used as a term for Yahweh, it is referred to in the singular. When it is used in reference to the pagan gods, it is in the plural.
God speaks about the people to Moses as “your people.” This may reflect the comments of the people in the first verse of this chapter, when they attributed their deliverance from slavery in Egypt to Moses. Moses asserts that they are “your people.” The power of God brought deliverance “out of the land of Egypt.” It reaffirms and recognizes a basic doctrine of the people.
God threatened to do at Sinai what he had done in the time of Noah – re-start His people after the death of those, who proved unworthy, through one that He had chosen. Moses recalled the promises of the patriarchs. He reminded the Lord that God had given His word. By doing this, he reaffirmed his own role to recall the people to the traditional faith of their ancestors, too.
Second Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
After suggesting that some in Ephesus were misusing the Law, Paul uses himself as an example. He has been “mercifully treated,” a phrase that is mentioned twice in these verses. Paul echoes the advice in the wisdom literature that speaks of God’s “patience” in meeting out judgment as a call to conversion.
The central message is “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” This is an unearned grace, which can only be received and not earned. Paul holds himself up as an example. He uses three words to describe his former life – blasphemer, persecutor, arrogant. The collection of three intensifies their meaning. Thus, the power of the following triad, grace, faith and love, is also heightened, since it overturns the righteous judgment, which has been earned in his former life. Paul offers this same power to “those who would come to believe in Him.”
Sometimes one’s unworthy past is not something to be hidden. It becomes their biggest asset and tool in helping others to come to faith. Our deacon, Deacon Ernie, is a reformed alcoholic. Honestly, when he first used this description of himself in his homilies, I thought that he was trying to use the congregation as a form of personal therapy. But I saw that his “preaching from the gut” struck to the very heart of many of the people in the congregation. They really listened to him! He acknowledged a past, which was unworthy of the calling, which he received from Christ, as he stood before them. He tells us that himself! There are many in our parish, who feel that same unworthiness. Yet, when our deacon stands before them, he becomes a sign and an offer of “grace, faith and love.” There is no denying the power of being “in Christ”!
Gospel: Luke 15:1-32 (short version: Luke 15:1-10)
Although we have already heard the Parable of the Prodigal Son during Lent, it is placed within this narrative at the last of three parables. The context suggests concentrating on what the Father does in bringing the family together, rather than on the waywardness of the son. All three parables are about the concerted effort to bring back something, or someone, who is lost. This chapter reflects the image of God as a shepherd, who gathers Israel together. It recalls the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:10-20.
The introduction to this passage prepares us for the end of the third parable. The “Pharisees and scribes began to complain,” when Jesus received the tax collectors and sinners. These two groups represented the fringes of religious society. They were outcasts, “outsiders.” Just like the elder son, who refuses to accept the younger as “my” brother,” the Pharisees and scribes, the “insiders,” saw others as people who were unworthy of table fellowship.
The first parable is about a man, who has lost one sheep. The vast majority of what he watches over is still in tact. But the number is not complete without the single sheep, which has been separated from the flock. The parable points out the initiative of the shepherd to seek out the lost sheep. The image of the shepherd was used in the Old Testament as a metaphor for the civil and religious leaders of Israel. Jesus takes on this image of saving the lost in Luke 19:10, “to seek out and save what was lost.”
The second parable is about a woman, who loses one of ten coins. Again, the focus appears to be on the effort to retrieve the coin, which has not wandered off by itself! Both of these parables end with rejoicing: “Rejoice with me. . .” After these two parables, Jesus raises the rejoicing to heaven itself. He says: “There will be rejoicing among the angels of God. . .” The third parable intensifies the joy, when the Father concludes: “We must celebrate and rejoice. . .”
In the third and longest parable, the Loving Father does not go after his younger son. But he “caught sight of him” and “ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.” The Father is watchful for his return and eager to confirm his return to the family home. The elder son “refused to enter the house.” The Father “came out and pleaded with him.” There is no one who is left out of the Father’s generosity and his concern to be with them.
We are not told what the response of the elder son was to the Father’s invitation and urging. We are also not told what the response of those Pharisees and scribes was to the invitation of Jesus. The evangelist is asking for our response, no matter what role we have in the parable of life.
Remember what I said earlier about three? It intensifies their meaning, when they are put in a series. Here are three parables about joy. God is the one, who seeks and finds sinful human beings. He is also the one, who waits for us. The joy of God is complete and so is our own, when we are reunited with our Creator.
Fr. Richard C. Macey is pastor of Our Lady of the Woods Parish, Woodhaven.
