Jesus the judge

A Reflection for Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Find today’s readings here.

What other gods do I worship? Obviously it is not Jupiter or Apollo (although I do study Latin!), or Hindu deities, or any other higher power. I go to Mass on Sunday, try to pray every day, try not to gossip about people because I know that is not what God wants of me. I consider myself to be a pretty normal Catholic, and worshiping someone other than God is totally anathema.

So how could the Israelites even begin to worship other gods, when everyone in their tribes, both past and present, worshiped the God who saved them from slavery in Egypt and delivered them from enemies. It seems like after the judge (our first reading is from the Book of Judges, after all) would die, they would quickly revert to worshiping other people’s gods. We don’t really have this problem today; if my local archbishop died, I would not decide to go to my nearest Hindu temple. 

Maybe this is because I live in a mostly Catholic region, but we also do not hear news about Christians living in Muslim-majority lands attending a mosque instead of a church because of stubbornness or weakness. Were the Israelites really so weak?

The actions of the Israelites and the very first commandment about having no foreign gods refer not only to deities, but also to earthly possessions that can be venerated above God. Of this, I admit, I am far more culpable. Most people reading this are not vowed religious who have pledged to be poor, and we have things. I have recently moved (again, but this time from one “permanent” place to another), and I am reminded of how much stuff I have acquired in two years in Germany. 

What do I worship? Quite a few things come to mind. Money: I worry about money as a full-time student. It is heady to earn it, but it needs to be spent on necessary—and often unnecessary—things. Acceptance: I have a strong desire to be liked and to please others, and making and maintaining friendships can feel like at least a part-time job. Romantic relationships: I have a serious boyfriend, so my thoughts are often spent on our conversations and where we will go on our next day trip. Social media: I have a time limit set on Instagram so that I do not waste my day away on there, but it almost always gets ignored. Good grades: Assessments are necessary for my degree, but sometimes a desire for straight A’s goes above what is expected of me.

None of these things are bad; something like gambling is not a vital part of my life, for instance, and my list above is good in moderation. The point is that there is something else that cannot and should not be in moderation—it is impossible to pray too much or to love God too much. 

In today’s Gospel, a young man approaches Jesus and asks what he must do to get to heaven. Jesus says to keep the commandments, and then to sell all that he has and give to the poor. The young man leaves, disheartened, because he had many possessions. Like the Israelites, who turned to other gods out of weakness, he worships his material goods. We do this too, like the young man, with our possessions or our desire for acceptance or praise or love—it is human to be weak and to fall back into bad habits. 

The Israelites were faithful to God when they had a judge to assist them, but when he died, they would turn away again. We have Jesus as a judge who aids and saves us, so we have the ability to turn away from whatever gods we worship every day anew with his grace.

• Facebook
• X
• Mail