Do not be a bad influence to others-Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola-Homily for Monday of the 17th week in ordinary time 31st July 2023

Do not be a bad influence to others-Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola-Homily for Monday of the 17th week in ordinary time  31st July 2023

 

After the successful exodus from Egypt, and having encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai, the mountain of the Lord. The next thing therefore was to seal the relationship God established with the Israelites, hence He summoned Moses  to go up the mountain and collect these written guides. 

 

Unfortunately, before Moses could return from collecting The Law, the Israelites had already contravened the same Law, by convincing Aaron to mould for them a golden calf to worship as their god, simply because as they said; Moses was “delaying” at Mount Sinai. Aaron, in order not to offend them, obliged and asked the women to submit their jewelries, and they did. From those jewelries, Aaron fashioned for them a golden calf to whom they paid homage and served as their god.  

 

Today, we read about the consequence of the action of the Israelites, as well as the consequence of the action of Aaron. Moses got angry with the Israelites when he descended from the mountain and discovered they were already worshipping a man-made-god other than the God who brought them out of Egypt, and as a result, he unconsciously let go of the tablet containing the Ten Commandments, and it got destroyed.  

 

If the Israelites had not become so impatient with God, they wouldn’t have pressed on Aaron to provide for them a god they could see, and if Aaron had not listen to the demands of the Israelites, he would have moulded the golden calf for them, and if Aaron had not moulded the golden calf for them, Moses wouldn’t have broken the Ten Commandments.  

 

We can see how sin spreads like wildfire. Today we all are being admonished to be careful with what we do or say, because like a mustard seed, it could grow into something we never ever expect. May God give us the grace to be careful of what we do, being mindful of the fact that our shortcomings could affect others negatively. Amen.