April 21, 2024.
“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling. And not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth them, scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.” (John 10, 11-13)
Many try to take God’s place in the Heart of men. They want to be in the first place and their desire is that mankind adores them, that they bow to them. This is not new, but perhaps in our era it has had especially evident manifestations. There are the terrible cases of idolatry carried through by some nationalist ideologies, such as the Nazi, which intended to transform the native country and race into a new god to worship.
What is so serious is those many who have tried to supplant God in the Heart of man have not yet been exposed and are still tricking thousands of credulous people. What we have to do is avoid being seduced by these false gods. The idols of our era: money, power, success at all cost, comfort, continue to be attractive to many, possibly also to us.
This week we learn to identify the seducing voices of our temptations, of our idols, to distinguish them from Christ, who is the only one who doesn’t beguile us, the only one whom really worries about our well being.
Intention: Identify and reject the idols that in practice I adore. Above all be especially attentive to the most subtle and pernicious: comfort, laziness, and inertia.