Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34 / Matthew 13:31-35
Babies and very young children have this peculiar tendency.
They will cry out in distress when they don't see their parents around them.
Their parents are certainly still around; just that they are momentarily out of sight.
This tendency is especially manifested on the first day of nursery, when the parents leave their children under the care of teachers.
The reaction of the children can be anything from frowning to hysterical cries.
Such is the need of children for a visible presence of their parents.
We see a similar situation with the Israelites in the 1st reading.
Moses had left them to go up to Mt Sinai, and they began to feel abandoned and insecure.
They needed a sense of security and they turned to a thing to satisfy them.
Yes, we might criticize them for being idolatrous, etc.
But what they felt only illustrates the human desire for the presence of God in order to feel secure.
The presence of God is like the mustard seed and the yeast parables that Jesus used to describe the Kingdom of God.
Where God is made present, there is the Kingdom.
We are like the mustard seeds and the yeast.
God is within us and He is waiting.
He is waiting for us to make His kingdom present in the world.