Modern Idol

We may think today’s first reading a bit obsolete, since very few people literally eat meat sacrificed to idols nowadays.

Actually, what St. Paul says here is painfully relevant to our lives today.

Today’s idols are not statues: today’s idols are the things that the world cherishes and upholds as the highest good.

Sad to say, too many of us sacrifice our faith and our integrity to the gods of today’s world, from the politician who promotes abortion to the entrepreneur who cheats and steals. We turn away from God in favor of that which is not God, that which is nothing or worse than nothing – agents of destruction; in a figurative sense (at least): demons.

Thus St. Paul warns us
You cannot partake of the table of the Lord
and of the table of demons.
Or are we provoking the Lord to jealous anger?
Are we stronger than him?

We must turn away from the idols of this world and keep our focus and our communion with God.