Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori
August 1, 2023
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5b-9, 28
While Moses communed with God on the mountaintop the people fell into idolatry, worshipping a golden calf. In anger, Moses broke the tablets of the law.
God forgave the Israelites’ sinfulness, but the fervor of his relationship with the people had cooled. God’s friendship with Moses persisted as before, however. They related to one another as friends. Moses served as intermediary between God and the people. Moses reverenced the Lord and the Lord responded by describing his nature to Moses: rich in kindness and fidelity, yet not declaring the guilty guiltless.
God shared his presence with Moses and directed him in the preparation of a new copy of the ten commandments. God shares his presence with us too, in ways best known to him.
