Ideologies and Idolatries Blind Us
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
“The Lord gave them bread from heaven.”Ps. 78
Time and again, we can see that ideologies often lead us away from the truth. Just like with idolatries, passion enters that prevents us from seeing things objectively and sensibly, driven by the desire to see what we want to see, distorting the perception and interpretation of reality and truth to fit our own ideas, prejudices, or interests.
For instance, the gender ideology departs from science and evidence itself, claiming that one cannot determine a person’s gender at birth until they decide later in life. Some say they will ask the child what they want to be at age 4, while others postpone it, even resorting to surgeries to change someone’s gender from male to female or vice versa.
Similarly, proponents of abortion deny that the unborn child is a living human being in order to dispose of it without remorse and without considering it murder. Or the communist left, often condemned by church documents, continues to assert that its policies are good and beneficial, despite there being no real-world examples supporting this claim-wherever they are applied, conditions invariably worsen, leading to autocracy or dictatorship.
Therefore, we must be cautious about the ideas we accept as true and question whether our interests lead us to manipulate reality to fit our ideological narrative, perhaps influenced by societal trends and fashions…
Idolatry occurs when the heart is set on something other than God, whether things or people, worshipped as supreme. This could be a sport, an athlete, money, pleasure, food, pets, and so on. All of these also divert us from the natural order of reality as God wanted it, prioritizing imperfect and fleeting material things over what is most important-God, the spiritual, and the eternal. Thus, straying from the truth prevents us from achieving happiness, as there is an inextricable connection between truth, God’s will, and true goodness.
If one lives for money and idolizes it, everything can collapse if it is stolen or lost. Placing one’s heart in anything other than God can lead to sudden ruin, as everything is ephemeral and can be lost. These idolatries distance us from the truth and hence from God, as they take His place; it is distorting reality to accommodate a misguided human desire. Perhaps the worst form of idolatry, lying behind all others, is that of ego itself, which in its arrogance seeks to deify itself to assert control, clinging to things and people that separate it from truth, faith, and love for God.
“I assure you, you are not looking for me because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”John 6,26
Weekly Readings
Sunday: Ex 16:2-4, 12-15/Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54 (24b)/Eph 4:17, 20-24/Jn 6:24-35
Monday: Jer 28:1-17/Ps 119:29, 43, 79, 80, 95, 102/Mt 14:13-21
Tuesday: Dn 7:9-10, 13-14/Ps 97:1-2, 5-6, 9/2 Pt 1:16-19/Mk 9:2-10
Wednesday: Jer 31:1-7/Jer 31:10, 11-12ab, 13/Mt 15:21-28
Thursday: Jer 31:31-34/Ps 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19/Mt 16:13-23
Friday: Na 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7/Dt 32:35cd-36ab, 39abcd, 41/Mt 16:24-28
Saturday: 2 Cor 9:6-10/Ps 112:1-2, 5-6, 7-8, 9/Jn 12:24-26
Next Sunday: 1 Kgs 19:4-8/Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (9a)/Eph 4:30-5:2/Jn 6:41-51
Observances for the Week
Sunday: 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday: The Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major
Tuesday: The Transfiguration of the Lord
Wednesday: St. Sixtus II, Pope, and Companions, Martyrs; St. Cajetan, Priest
Thursday: St. Dominic, Priest
Friday: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr
Saturday: St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
Next Sunday: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
