The Israelites had just concluded a covenant with God; but when Moses left them for just a brief time to commune with God and to receive from him the ratification of the Covenant in stone tablets, the people quickly reverted to their pagan practices, in effect betraying God.

When Moses discovered this he was moved from disappointment to shock to outrage. I think some people here, especially parents, might understand how Moses felt when their children exercise their freedom to abandon their faith. This freedom is a gift from God which he will not take away.

Follow the story through Moses' outrage which turns to compassion. He goes before God to intercede and to plead for his people again as most parents do for their children. God does not want us to be left in disappointment or shock. He does not want us to be outraged but to love.

Turning briefly to the gospel, we might be tempted to think that everything we do even pray must be big. Big is good, and if it isn't big enough, it isn't good enough.

But when it comes to spreading the gospel and sharing our faith the idea of bigness can get in the way of doing anything at all. If" I can't write a best seller or give the best homilies or go on television or travel the world as a famous evangelist than maybe I just shouldn't do anything at all.

That is part of sinful pride, the pride that the Hebrews were feeling, like thumbing their noses at God. The parable of the mustard seed, the micro chip seed, is Christ's simple object lesson that the kingdom of God dwells within us; but if we refuse to recognize it and do the little personal things that might lead others to faith, the seeds simply stay seeds and do not sprout and accomplish nothing at all.