8/10/2014 – 19th Sunday ordinary time – 1 Kings 19: 9, 11-13

     In our first reading from the first book of Kings, the prophet Elijah is in quite a predicament.  He’s fleeing for his life, knowing that King Ahab and Jezebel are out to kill him, knowing that the people of Ancient Israel have broken their covenant with God by worshipping the foreign god Baal.  Elijah flees into the wilderness in haste and despair, wishing for a quick, peaceful death.   The word of God comes to Elijah, telling him to stand on the mountaintop to see the Lord pass before him.  But God isn’t in the great wind, or the strong earthquake, or the tremendous fire – all the powerful and wondrous places he expected God to be.  Elijah looked out of the entrance of the cave where he was hiding, watching all those powerful manifestations of nature pass by where God often appeared to his prophets.   He saw God not in those grand acts of nature, but in a tiny, quiet whisper.  We might be looking for God in certain things ourselves, we might be expecting God to speak to us in a certain way, but God often presents himself to us in some very surprising ways. 

      Elijah is one of the greatest prophets in the history of Israel.  He had just defeated the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel right before today’s reading starts.  In that gentle whisper, God reassured Elijah that he was to continue his mission in speaking for God to the people of Israel.  In this reading, we see how even a great prophet like Elijah needs encouragement on his journey.  Even though Elijah had accomplished so much as a prophet, even though he had some amazing victories in fighting off the forces of evil, he still felt afraid and alone at times. In the midst of victory, Elijah felt loneliness, discouragement, and doubt.  But, rather than rebuking Elijah for his fears, God encourages him.

     How is God encouraging us?  How is He speaking to us in subtle ways?  We are all human. Even Elijah, who was called by God in a very special way, was human.  What I take away from today’s first reading is this:  God did not give up on Elijah.  And he does not give up on us. God was patient with Elijah, taking him to a place where he was able to respond.  God is patient with us.   And we must be patient with him and not give up.

       As I thought about how God speaks to us, especially in the context of our faith community of St James in Tupelo, two things came to my mind.  First, God calls us not only as individuals, but as a community of faith as well, and we are called to be loyal to that community.  Someone who is not a Christian or who is a member of a Protestant denomination might enter a Catholic church and notice first and foremost how our altar is front and center.   The Eucharist we celebrate on that altar there is considered the source and summit of our Catholic. We may be hurting or disgruntled or in pain about things that are going on in our lives, in our world, perhaps even in our Church our in our parish.  The Church calls us bring all of that to the altar of the Lord, to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist as Jesus speaking to our hearts, as Jesus bringing us healing and comfort and strength.  It may take an extreme act of courage to even come to the Lord’s table on some days, we may be hurting so badly, but that is what that quiet whisper of God residing in the recesses of our hearts is calling us to do. 

      The next thing I want to say is this – sometimes the way God speaks to us is not the way God is speaking to others.  So many of the revered saints and movements of our day were mocked and criticized during their lives here on earth.  Teresa of Avila was brought before the Spanish. John of the Cross was thrown into a dungeon in the middle of winter by his brother monks and died of exposure.  Both of them are now Doctors of the Church and two very beloved saints.   The world now looks on with joy and hope as Pope Francis, a Jesuit priest, leads our Church.  Even though the Jesuits are largest Catholic religious order of priests in the world, in the late 18^th century, the Jesuits were suppressed and not allowed to work in ministry in the Church for 40 years. Even Hildegard of Bingen, named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict in 2012, who is described to have a very creative theology, was often criticized and condemned in her day – way back in the 12^th century.   The point is – many of the theologians and saints whom we esteem today were criticized for the message they once proclaimed in their own day, a message that often becomes accepted and appreciated with time.  It is easy for us to think that the theology we personally embrace is the only right and orthodox theology.  It is sometimes easy to snub our noses at theologies that we are skeptical about or that don’t personally speak to us.  However, think of how such remarks and comments can be hurtful to our brothers and sisters who find God in those theologians and movements. 

      God speaks to us in many ways – through a clap of thunder sometimes, through a quiet whisper other times.  God can come to us in very expected ways in the different situations we are confronted with in life.   God often comes to us in those seemingly mundane, ordinary events that make up the majority of our days here on earth.  Maybe we’re looking for a specific way for God to speak to us, so much so that we miss the way he is already present to us.  Let’s be open to the ways God is opening our hearts to his presence.  And let us do so with patience and kindness.