Homily for June 10th, 2016. 1 Kings: 19:9a, 11-16.
The prophet
Elijah, whom we encounter in today’s first reading, is one of the great figures
in the Old Testament. He and Moses appeared with Jesus at his Transfiguration,
when Jesus’ face and clothes shone with an unearthly, heavenly light. Elijah
has just achieved the greatest triumph of his life. In a contest atop Mt. Carmel
Elijah
prepares his own altar and sacrifice. To make his achievement more dramatic,
and to demonstrate the power of the true God of Israel to do the humanly
impossible, Elijah orders the altar and the sacrificial gifts he has placed
upon it to be drenched with water. Then, at his prayer, fire comes from heaven
to consume everything Elijah has prepared.
Enraged at
Elijah’s triumph over the Baal worshippers, whom she favors, the wicked queen
Jezebel vows death for Elijah, who flees for his life to the cave at Horeb,
where we meet him in our first reading. Deeply disillusioned, he pours out his
complaints to the Lord God. “I have been the most zealous for the Lord, the God
of hosts,” he cries out. . . . “I alone am left,” he tells God, “and they seek
to take my life.”
The Lord’s response to these
understandable complaints is to send Elijah on a new mission. “Go, take the
road back to the desert near Damascus Aram Israel
What does this
tell us? No individual, no matter how great his or her achievement and
character, is indispensable. Elijah’s work is finished. He must prepare others
to carry it on.
So must each
one of us, one day: when the Lord calls us home to be with him, and with the
loved ones have preceded us, forever.
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