Lent Retreat – Week 4, Thursday
God is the source of all being, and so all creation is good because he made it and continually holds all things in being. So creation testifies to God’s goodness and, when it is properly ordered, it points to God’s beauty, truth and goodness. However, every good thing can be misused, misdirected and abused. Worse still, we can become so enamoured by created things that we love them for their own sake and fail to acknowledge and love the creator of all that is good.
The idolatry of the Israelites in today’s First Reading is not an isolated past event, but the lure of idolatry is ever present whenever we turn from God and place our hope in created goods, whatever they may be. During Lent, we forsake certain goods by fasting, alms-giving and prayer so as to focus our attention on the greatest good, God himself. And we give up certain things – whether it is chocolate, or alcohol, or money, or sex, or work, or the internet, and so on – not because they are bad in themselves, but precisely because they are good gifts from God, and the pleasure they bring us should not be an end in itself but should stir love and gratitude in us for God himself. The aim of Lenten penance and abstinence is to liberate us from our enslavement to the pleasure of created goods, so that we can properly use them to redirect our hearts to God alone, who is the source of all good.
So, in today’s Gospel, the Lord reminds us that even such great goods as the study of Scripture, or the testimony of his cousin, the Baptizer, or the law of Moses, are subordinated to the greatest good and point to him. Thus, we are called to move beyond all the good things given us by God, and to put our faith in Christ who alone can satisfy our deepest desires and who is infinitely good.
