Tuesday of the
Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
(I Kings 17:7-16; Matthew 5:13-16)
The recent movie Philomena
opens with a devout woman at prayer.
Later it is learned that she asks God constantly to enable her to know the
whereabouts of her son who was separated from her many years before as a child. Eventually the woman decides to pursue an
offer that a journalist makes to find her son.
Could it not be said that the Lord answered the woman’s prayer by
telling her to trust the journalist? God
seems to be speaking to Elijah in this way in today’s first reading.
The Scripture is quite explicit. “So the Lord said to
Elijah:” it says, “’Move on…’” It may be
that Elijah hears a voice ordering him, but it is more likely that Elijah
intuits the Lord’s command. The difference
between Elijah and most other people who say that the Lord spoke to them is
that Elijah constantly waits on the Lord attending to every word from Scripture.
God speaks to us as well.
Principally He communicates through the Scriptures, especially the gospels
in which we hear the words of Jesus. We must
discipline ourselves to intuit what He intends for us personally by constantly
carrying out His will and praying for guidance.
