IDOLATRY AS THE WORSHIP OF SELF

20151013 IDOLATRY AS THE WORSHIP OF SELF

Readings at Mass

First reading

Romans 1:16-25 ©

I am not ashamed of the Good News: it is the power of God saving all who have faith – Jews first, but Greeks as well – since this is what reveals the justice of God to us: it shows how faith leads to faith, or as scripture says: The upright man finds life through faith.

  The anger of God is being revealed from heaven against all the impiety and depravity of men who keep truth imprisoned in their wickedness. For what can be known about God is perfectly plain to them since God himself has made it plain. Ever since God created the world his everlasting power and deity – however invisible – have been there for the mind to see in the things he has made. That is why such people are without excuse: they knew God and yet refused to honour him as God or to thank him; instead, they made nonsense out of logic and their empty minds were darkened. The more they called themselves philosophers, the more stupid they grew, until they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for a worthless imitation, for the image of mortal man, of birds, of quadrupeds and reptiles. That is why God left them to their filthy enjoyments and the practices with which they dishonour their own bodies, since they have given up divine truth for a lie and have worshipped and served creatures instead of the creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen!

Psalm

Psalm 18:2-5 ©

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God,

  and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.

Day unto day takes up the story

  and night unto night makes known the message.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

No speech, no word, no voice is heard

  yet their span extends through all the earth,

  their words to the utmost bounds of the world.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps118:135

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let your face shine on your servant,

and teach me your decrees.

Alleluia!

Or

Heb4:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of God is something alive and active:

it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 11:37-41 ©

Jesus had just finished speaking when a Pharisee invited him to dine at his house. He went in and sat down at the table. The Pharisee saw this and was surprised that he had not first washed before the meal. But the Lord said to him, ‘Oh, you Pharisees! You clean the outside of cup and plate, while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and wickedness. Fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside too? Instead, give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.’

IDOLATRY AS THE WORSHIP OF SELF

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Rom 1:16-25; Lk 11:37-41

In ancient days, idolatry was simply seen as the making of images of gods and worshipping them. It is important to understand the rationale for condemning the making of images of gods, or even God, in the bible.  How can worship of statues made of clay harm us? Indeed, the danger of carving images of God lies in that so often the end product is no more than the projection of our selfish aspirations.  When we make God according to our image, the purity and truth about God becomes compromised. The consequence is that by worshipping such idols, we end up worshipping ourselves.  In other words, we have created God in our image.  God is nothing else but a projection of the desires of men.  Indeed, St Paul in the first reading remarked that the Gentiles “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for a worthless imitation, for the image of mortal man, of birds, of quadrupeds and reptiles.”

Today idolatry has not only taken a new twist but has even gone beyond that of simply making images.  In the name of self-respect and love of self, which is consistent with our society’s preoccupation with individualism, hedonism, materialism and narcissism, we make gods of ourselves.  This is what St Paul wrote, “The anger of God is being revealed from heaven against all the impiety and depravity of men who keep the truth imprisoned in their wickedness.”

Heresy, it is said, is half-truth and half lie.  If many of us have embraced the current values system, it is because we have not been discerning.  We worship ourselves under the pretext of love.  We confuse individualism with individuality.  It is true that today there is a need to underscore the individuality and the uniqueness of every person.  Christianity exalts the dignity and fundamental freedom of every human person.  For this reason, the Church protects human rights and speaks for every person, regardless of race, language or religion, especially those who are oppressed, the marginalized and those that do not have a voice, such as the unborn babies.  But to overemphasize the rights of the individual at the expense of the community would lead to a lack of balance.  Freedom of the individual cannot be exercised at the expense of the rights of the community.  Otherwise, we give an exaggerated regard to the individual, making him a god. When such individualistic behaviour takes place, it will destroy the fabric of society, because everyone is for himself.  Individualism is the cause of division in the world today because the consequence of individualism is relativism, where no one can agree on any common values to be held by all.

Similarly, hedonism and materialism also have some truth.  We are called to love ourselves and to love creation.  We are not to despise what we have.  Creation, as we read in the first reading, is the manifestation of God.  Through creation, we can come to know God.  St Paul clearly said, “For what can be known about God is perfectly plain to them since God himself has made it plain.  Ever since God created the world his everlasting power and deity – however invisible – have been there for the mind to see in the things he has made.”  So creation is beautiful and good.  The psalmist declares, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God.”  But where do we draw the line between self-indulgence and a proper appreciation of God’s gift in creation?  Appreciation of God’s creation is different from worshipping its creatures.  Whilst we must take care of our bodies, it can be done in an exaggerated manner. So today, people are spending an inordinate amount of money to dress well, even going for cosmetic surgery and makeover, eating the best foods so that they can live long and healthy lives. Do all these lead to narcissism?  The climax of such narcissism is the present attempt of man to clone himself.  Have we not revived the old temptation of Adam of wanting to be like God?

The worship of self is most clearly demonstrated in the sin of lust.  From love of things, we are led to the love of the flesh, where the body becomes a thing for us to enjoy rather than an expression of one’s dignity and an instrument of love.  The sin of lust is a perverted love of self, as St Paul understands it, “That is why God left them to their filthy enjoyments and the practices with which they dishonour their own bodies, since they have given up divine truth for a lie and have worshipped and served creatures instead of the creator.”

The height of idolatry is that man today takes pride in himself and desires to be worshipped.  He desires popularity and acceptance.  His dignity and happiness is dependent on how many people know him or agree with him.  He is desperate for publicity and affirmation.  Some use Tweets and Facebook, not so much for social contact, but to publicize themselves and their views, hoping that many will think highly of them.  We are more concerned with the impressions we create and our reputation, rather than our character.  We are becoming very superficial in the way we live our lives.  It is all about popularity and making ourselves attractive.  No one is bothered about the inside of the person.

In the final analysis, the root of all sins, in St Paul’s assessment, originates from the sin of impiety when God is not acknowledged as the Lord.  “They knew God and yet refused to honour him as God or to thank him; instead, they made nonsense out of logic and their empty minds were darkened.” When man supplants the place of God, it leads to all kinds of sins, for man becomes the norm of all values.  Without God, man in his blindness and selfishness, sees everything from his desires and needs.  He is completely absorbed in himself, as if he is the be all and end all of all that is.  Everything and everyone exists for his pleasure, for him to use and abuse.  Consequently, atheism, agnosticism and secularism have resulted in a world that is individualistic, materialistic and hedonistic.

Isn’t this what Jesus is warning us as well when He challenged the Pharisees to go beyond what is external?  Jesus said to them, “You clean the outside of cup and plate, while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and wickedness.”  Indeed, they were more concerned about what the public thought of them.  But their hearts were far from godly.  They were proud, arrogant, judgmental and self-seeking.  Hence, Jesus advised them, “Give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.”  This is because if they were to reach out to the poor and the suffering, they would grow in compassion and sensitivity for others.

The capacity to do everything for love would determine whether what we do is truly for the Lord.  If not, then we have made an idol of ourselves.  Likewise, whether in worship or in service, we too must ask if we are truly loving God and our neighbour, or ourselves.  Some of us are faithful to prayer and worship, but never translate our love for God into love for humanity.

Indeed, it is important for us to ask what it is that motivates us in our ministry.  Why are we so concerned about whether our projects are successful?  Why are we envious of those who perform better than us in the ministry?  Why are we overly worried as to whether people think well of us?  We are more concerned with observing the rituals, the rites, the music and the way we worship, rather than whether we are worshipping in faith and in love.  Similarly, for those serving in Church, are we more concerned with helping those who come for our services to worship meaningfully and prayerfully, or are we more anxious about the number of people who come and what they think of us?  Sometimes, Church choirs can forget that their role is to lead people to pray with their heart, soul and strength, and focus instead on putting up a performance for people to enjoy, listen and watch.  Lay volunteers must ask whether they are serving God or serving man and the Church leaders.  Do we help out in the community for the sake of love and service, or simply to get into the good books of our Church leaders?  If what we do spring from insecurity, then we are bordering on idolatry.

How can we have that capacity to love selflessly?  St Paul tells us that we must found our ministry on our faith in the love of God for us in Jesus.  This “is the power of God saving all who have faith.”  This is the Good News He has come to proclaim.  St Paul says, faith leads to faith and “the upright man finds life through faith.” Only with the assurance that God loves us unconditionally and faithfully, can we live our lives in security and peace.  This is the Good News that St Paul preached.  We are not saved by observance of the law but by faith in the love of God made visible in the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So only faith in His love can heal us of our insecurity, our low self-esteem and our failures, because we know that regardless of our sinfulness, the Lord loves us no less, or rather, even more, because He knows we are hurting ourselves.  Only the love of God poured into our hearts in the Holy Spirit can purify the inside of us, removing the sinful areas and sins in our lives.  Let us in faith therefore cling not to the world or what the world thinks of us but rather, what God thinks of us.

What we need to do in order to be filled with His love is to surrender our hearts to Him.  This is what St Teresa of Avila exhorts us when she wrote, “In my opinion, if I had understood as I do now that in this little palace of my soul dwelt so great a King, I would not have left Him alone so often. I would have remained with Him at times and striven more so as not to be so unclean.  We should give ourselves to Him with complete determination, and we should empty the soul in such a way that He can store things there or take them away as though it were His own property. And since His Majesty has the rights of ownership, let us not oppose Him. And since He doesn’t force our will, He takes what we give Him; but He doesn’t give Himself completely until we give ourselves completely.” (Way of Perfection, ch.28)

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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