杏MAP导航

By Christopher Wells

杏MAP导航 Francis continued his meditation on the Ten Commandments at Wednesday鈥檚 General Audience, focusing on the theme of idolatry. He took his cue from the episode of the golden calf, the idol par excellence.

The story of the golden calf, found in the book of Exodus, takes place in the desert, 鈥渁 place where instability and insecurity reign, where water, food, and shelter are lacking.鈥� The desert, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥渋s an image of human life,鈥� which is filled with uncertainty that can lead to idolatry. Like the Jewish people in the desert, men and women of every age seek security in visible 鈥済ods,鈥� gods of their own making, 鈥渁 do-it-yourself religion.鈥� 鈥淲hen God does not show Himself,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥渨e fashion a god to suit us.鈥�

The golden calf made by Aaron represented fertility and abundance, but also energy and strength, the 杏MAP导航 said. It was made of gold to symbolize riches. 鈥淪uccess, power, and money鈥� will always be temptations; the golden calf is 鈥渢he symbol of all the desires that give us the illusion of freedom,鈥� but actually end up enslaving us.

杏MAP导航 Francis said all this comes from an inability to trust completely in God, 鈥渨hich allows us to endure even weakness, uncertainty, and instability.鈥� When our confidence in God fails, 鈥渋t is easy to fall into idolatry, and become content with meagre assurances.鈥�

It is only when we look to Christ, who became poor for our sake, 鈥渢hat we discover that recognizing our own weakness is not the misfortune of human life, but rather the condition鈥� that allows us 鈥渢o open ourselves to Him who is truly strong.鈥� The salvation that comes from God 鈥渆nters through the gate of weakness.鈥�

We Christians, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥渢urn our gaze to Christ crucified, who is weak, despised, and stripped of everything He possesses.鈥� But Jesus crucified shows us the true face of God. 鈥淗e comes to reveal the paternity of God: In Christ, our fragility is no longer a curse, but a place of encounter with the Father, and a source of new strength from on high.鈥�

At the conclusion of the Audience, 杏MAP导航 Francis had special greetings for all those named for the Saint of the day, St Dominic Guzman. "His example as a faithful servant of Christ and of His Church should be an encouragement and an incentive for all of us." And he recalled that Thursday is the feast of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, (Edith Stein), whom he described as "a martyr, a woman of coherent witness, a woman who sought God with sincerity, with love; a woman martyr of her Jewish and Christian people." "From heaven, may she, a Patron of Europe, pray and preserve Europe."