Gathered at the base of the holy mountain, a great spiritual battle had begun.
Moses had been gone for 40 days … up the mountain, disappearing without a trace.
The people – God’s people – had been left to wonder about their future.
Where was Moses?
Where was God?
Within their hearts, a battle of good vs. evil spirits was raging …
It is a battle that continues today for all of us.
Appropriately, we honor the Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola today on the Church’s liturgical calendar. The founder of the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, most famous for developing “spiritual exercises” that serve to help us discern God’s will in our lives and our response.
My juvenile brain would picture two little cartoonish spirits on my shoulders, both barking orders into my ears – one good (dressed like a white angel) and one bad (a little red guy with a pitchfork).
But that’s not too far away from what Ignatius described as the interior battle – the interior movements – within us that prompt us to make decisions that either move us toward God or away from God.
So much anxiety occurs within our hearts and our souls as we navigate this complicated life on Earth. Despite being told over and over and OVER in the Bible that we should “be not afraid” … we fear. We fear the unknown.
We should overcome those fears by placing our faith squarely on our Lord who has promised to never let us down.
But those people at the base of the mountain … they had lost that faith.
They let their fears get the best of them and created a “false god” to follow.
There are many false gods today … money, fancy cars, visual perfection, celebrities, self-satisfaction on a variety of levels … just to name a few.
The god created in our first reading today is described as a “golden calf” pieced together by the golden jewels of the people who had given up on Moses and on our Lord.
What are the golden calves in our lives? How often are they at the center of our thoughts and prayers and deeds?
Spend some time in reflection … think about what drives our passions. Do we yearn to be closer to God or do we seek other forms of pleasure?
Today would be a good day to get to know a little more about St. Ignatius and his Discernment of Spirits.
Those poor souls at the base of the mountain are not unlike the poor souls we have in our family, in our neighborhoods, in our selves.
We are truly all just one deed, one decision, one step away from turning our backs on God and following the spiritual pull of the evil one.
This is a spiritual battle that rages within.
But just like the mustard seed in today’s Gospel, even the tiniest deeds and decisions we make can blossom into great fruits that bear witness to our faith, hope and charity that we all carry in our hearts.
We must all make the time and take the time to identify the spiritual winds that blow through our minds and hearts. Good and evil coexist. We have the free will to choose which one to follow.
Choose well.
