Thursday, June 16, 2022

 Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 48:1-14; Matthew 6:7-15)

Every year forest fires in the American Southwest destroy millions of trees.  Fire also devastates buildings and too frequently kills people.  Yet pyro-technology has been a tremendous human achievement.  Most transportation over long distances is facilitated by fire.  In today’s first reading the prophet Elijah is celebrated as the Bible’s great pyro-technician.

Elijah called down fire to consume the animal sacrifice that showed the Lord as the one, true God.  He also was sent to heaven in a whirlwind of fire.  Elijah’s fire symbolizes God’s fierce love for His people.  As fire flares up, so God demands that His people care for one another.  He is especially concerned that the rich do not forget the needy.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a twentieth century mystical theologian, used fire to describe the power of love.  He wrote, “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

(Sirach 48:1-14; Matthew 6:7-15)

Although no book of the Bible bears his name, Elijah may be considered the preeminent prophet of Israel.  As a prophet, he received revelation from God, spoke on God’s behalf, and suffered because of God’s message.  However, he was not martyred, which was considered the prophet’s fate.  Rather, he was taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot.  Pope Benedict in his book Jesus of Nazareth writes that the people of Israel awaited Elijah’s return so that he might experience a true martyr’s death. 

Because of his expected return, some thought Jesus himself was Elijah reincarnated.  When he asked his disciples who the people were calling him, they answered that some considered him to be Elijah.  But Jesus had another candidate for the Elijah role: John the Baptist.  John, like other prophets, was beheaded after telling the truth about Herod Antipas.  For Jesus, John’s death anticipates the prophetic “Day of the Lord,” the day of reckoning. 

Christians understand the prophets as foretelling Jesus’ coming.  How did Elijah do this?  There are incidents about Elijah that parallel experiences in Jesus’ life like providing food for the widow and her son prefiguring Jesus’ feeding the multitude.  Perhaps more indicative, however, is the story of the Lord God coming to Elijah as a whisper at the mouth of a cave.  We see the whisper as Jesus, the full revelation of God in the quite unassuming figure of a carpenter from Nazareth.  The cave too invokes Messianic meaning. It is the depth of being from which Jesus talks with the Father with whom he is one.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

(Sirach 48:1-14; Matthew 6:7-15)

Although no book of the Bible bears his name, Elijah may be considered the preeminent prophet of Israel. As a prophet, he received a special revelation from God, spoke on God’s behalf, and suffered at the hands of kings and people because of God’s message. However, he was not martyred, which was considered the prophet’s fate. Rather, he was taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot, which was fitting since fire was Elijah’s trademark. Pope Benedict in his book Jesus of Nazareth writes that the people of Israel awaited Elijah’s return so that he might experience a true martyr’s death.

Because of his expected return, some thought Jesus himself was Elijah reincarnated. When he asked his disciples who the people were calling him, they answered that some considered him to be Elijah. But Jesus had another candidate for the Elijah role: John the Baptist, who was beheaded after telling the truth about Herod Antipas. For Jesus, John’s death anticipates the prophetic “Day of the Lord” which is how the evangelists saw the paschal event.

Christians understand the prophets as foretelling Jesus’ coming. How did Elijah do this? There are incidents about Elijah that parallel experiences in Jesus’ life like providing food for the widow and her son prefiguring Jesus’ feeding the multitude. Perhaps more indicative, however, is the story of the Lord God coming to Elijah as a whisper at the mouth of a cave. We see the whisper as Jesus, the full revelation of God in the quite unassuming figure of a carpenter from Nazareth, and the cave as the depths of his being where he talks with the Father because he is one with Him.