SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, PRIEST (MEMORIAL)

He ground [the golden calf] down to powder . . . and made the children of Israel drink.

Why would Moses make the Israelites drink the water into which he had thrown the powder from the golden calf? This wasn’t just some act of vindictive punishment. It was his way of destroying their sin and setting them on the road to redemption. But how?

First, by making the Israelites drink the gold-dust water, Moses made sure they could no longer forge any idols to worship. Second, by treating the gold powder as a simple additive, he destroyed any false sense of power that the people might have attributed to their idol. And finally, by having them drink the water, Moses gave them a stark and memorable way of acknowledging the consequences of their sin so that they could truly repent.

As much as we might condemn the Israelites for their lack of faith, we probably do something similar. We, too, might feel our trust in God faltering when we encounter challenges or when we are waiting for him to finally answer our prayers. We, too, might turn to “idols” to fill the void instead of waiting patiently on our God.

But we don’t have to resort to drinking gold dust to set ourselves free! We can rely on the grace of the Holy Spirit instead. We can ask him to open our eyes to whatever idols we may have set up in place of the Lord—idols like possessions, status, comfort, or pleasure—that could be leading us into sin. We can also ask him to show us that these idols don’t have any real power over us. Jesus has overcome all sin and has given us the power to put to death these works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21).

Finally, we can ask the Spirit to lead us to repentance and sorrow for any ways we have already fallen into sin. Through the gift of repentance, we can experience the Spirit’s power to redeem us and heal us in ways we could never accomplish on our own.

Brothers and sisters, our God is a God of mercy. Just as he did for the Israelites, he can lead us along the path of forgiveness and redemption whenever we call to him.

“Come, Holy Spirit, and set me free from any idol I may be worshipping instead of you.”

Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34
Psalm 106:19-23
Matthew 13:31-55