In today’s first reading we meet the Hebrews at the foot of Mount Sinai. They have walked with Moses and with God for a while now. They have had many ups and downs in their relationship with the Lord. They had daunting problems, like being trapped between the Egyptian Army and the Red Sea and having no water to drink in the middle of the desert.

In each such instance they panicked and complained as though God did not exist. Yet, the Lord delivers them by providing what they need. Could God not have taken them on a route that did not have these impediments? Could He not have provided for them earlier so that they would not have panicked? Or was He preparing them for something special, making use of each crisis as an opportunity for purification? As I look back on my own life, it is in the time of trouble that I have grown significantly. Like the Hebrews I have not been the ideal student. I have messed up, complained, got disturbed, and lost the peace in my heart. Yet in the struggle as I repeatedly returned to the Lord, He came through for me, raising me to discover Him as Lord and savior in a new way. Each crisis has blessed my life, and also prepared me to understand and minister to others in crisis.
Today we meet the Hebrews at an important juncture. Moses and Aaron have just returned from a powerful encounter experience on Mount Sinai. This occurred before the eyes of the Hebrews. Not only had the Hebrew people prepared for this day through their trials and tribulations, but they had spent three days in preparation, making sacrifices and refraining from earthly pleasures. On this day, the Lord takes the covenanted relationship with the Hebrews to the next level. He reveals the responsibilities of the Hebrews about their part of the covenant. While we can come to God as we are, we cannot remain as we were. We embark on a journey of change and purification.
Today’s first reading does not constitute the full giving of the Law. It starts with today’s reading and continues several chapters into the book of Exodus. But before He hands out the law, He reminds the people who He is. He is the God who entered their orbit via a breakthrough when they are down, helpless and have no answers.

He gives them a purpose:“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6a). They will not only enjoy God’s favor (treasured possession),but they are also set apart by God (holy nation) to stand before Him for the sake of other nations(priests). However, to fulfill that purpose, they must live in a particular way.

The law starts out by saying “you shall have no God’s beside me.”Perhaps the Lord was aware of how vulnerable they were to the influence of the nations around them and how easily they could lose their purpose. This applies to us as well. We too are vulnerable to a world that has ignored the existence of God and thinks it has all the answers, just like those who built the Tower of Babel. Bishop Robert Barron says that there are four gods commonly worshiped in our times. They are the gods of wealth, power, pleasure, and honor. In today’s Gospel reading we see Our Lord Jesus chasing out the traders from the temple. What did the traders do to anger our Lord Jesus far more than the deeds of other sinners He encountered during His lifetime? For all practical purposes, the traders were assisting the functions of the temple by providing goods and services necessary for those who came to worship. By accusing them of “turning the His father’s House into a marketplace”, our Lord Jesus is implying that they were serving the god of wealth under the guise of serving God. This is a warning to those of us who serve the church in one way or another. We may not seek the god of wealth, but we may seek the god of honor or the god of pleasure as we serve. The first reading reveals that the repercussions of serving other gods flow from one generation to another. Yet, His mercy has an even greater impact than the repercussions of sin. So, in His mercy, He allows situations and challenges into our lives that expose the gods we actually serve. If we return to Him and give Him the truth of our hearts, He is able to turn the curses we have placed upon our children into blessings that far exceed the curse. In today’s second reading, St Paul reveals the way God works. It may not be logical nor does it happen in the time, place, and manner we expect. Just like how the disciples discovered later that Our Lord was talking about His body when he referred to the temple, it is only in a relationship with Him that we discover the heart and mind of God. We too are called to this personal relation with Him.

Prayer: Abba Father, grant us the grace to treat every challenge as an exposing of the gods we serve and help us to return to you constantly. As we give the truth of our hearts, purify our hearts, so that the false gods and idols will be rooted out from our lives. Amen