Elijah is considered the greatest prophet in the history of Israel. He is the one for whom an empty seat is left during the Passover meal. Today, we hear about the moment before Elijah is going to be taken up to heaven by the Lord, when the mantle of prophet is passed to Elisha. Elijah offers to do what Elisha wants before he is taken up by the Lord. Elisha’s response is remarkable: to receive a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Elisha desires to serve the Lord as a prophet just as Elijah did; he wants to be legitimately recognized as the prophet and to have Elijah’s spirit follow him. In the end, God blessed Elisha in this way; Elisha is able to part the Jordan River just as Moses and Elijah were able to do.
I am edified by the tenacity and fervent faith that Elijah and Elisha display in wanting to serve the Lord as prophets, knowing the difficulty and danger that they will endure in service to the Lord. If we could all feel such fervor in whatever way we serve the Lord in our own lives. Many in society look for the easy way out, or a life filled with pleasure and material success. Let us open our hearts to the ways we can serve the Lord with humility and selflessness.
Today, June 19, is the anniversary of the death of Lord John Acton. He died in 1902. He was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer. He is best remembered for the remark he wrote in a letter to an Anglican bishop in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He was the editor of the monthly Catholic newspaper The Rambler, taking over from John Henry Newman, who would later become a cardinal. Even though he opposed the doctrine of papal infallibility that came out of First Vatican Council, traveling to Rome to lobby against it, he remained a devout Catholic in good standing his entire life. It is interesting to see the different ways the Catholic faithful live out their faith.
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