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"That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed.
In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.
The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old." — Micah 7:3-20

"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen." — 1 John 5:20-21

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols”.

I have often meditated on this Scriptural verse.

Dear Dr. E., I perceive that you offer this from 1John as a reminder of the “idol-worship” that is so often referred to as a Catholic practice by non-Catholics on this forum.

It occurs to me that if that were possibly your intention with this quote, that it’s perhaps more in line with the complaints of non-Catholics to refer to “graven images”.

When I think of the “idols” to whom St. John refers, I am more inclined to reflect on the everyday idols in our lives that cling to our consciousness and get in the way of our daily and hourly focus on the Lord. Of these idols, there are many, and they are often doing their insidious work quite unobserved by us.

I would like to just a handful:

*desire for personal affirmation from others
*desire to be noticed and/or praised
*desire to know everything and to let that fact be known
*desire to be the recipient of worldy pleasures
*the hidden pleasure of schadenfreude
*the habit of uninvited interference in the lives of others
*the focus on information and learning rather than wisdom
*the “here I am” as opposed to “there you are”
*the addiction to activity rather than silent repose
*the desire to escape pain rather than embrace the Cross
*television
*cyberspace and it’s companions: the keyboard and anonimity

I mention this mere handful and these are only a very few of the idols that we seldom perceive are capable of robbing us of closer union with God. There are many more such idols, depending on the culture and the times in which we live. Each age and each culture offers its own enticements to put idols in our lives.

As for “graven images”, I have been a Catholic for many years and I have never once worshiped a graven image.

I send my regards and am respectfully,

ROE