Cannot Run Away from God

Homily for Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s story of the prophet Elijah finds him running away from the danger that is posed by Queen Jezebel. He has been broken in his attempt to bring the people back to the one, true God. He hides in the cave and appears to be licking his wounds. There he learns that it is not possible to run away from the voice of God who has called him to be a prophet. The voice of God tells him to go and stand before the Lord at the mouth of the cave where he experiences a great wind, an earthquake, fire, and finally, a light, silent sound. The great wind and the earthquake and the fire are reminiscent of the experience that the children of Israel had at the base of Mount Sinai. They are manifestations of the presence of God, but they are not in themselves the presence of God. The light, silent sound, an oxymoron if there ever was one, tells Elijah that he is to take up, once again, the prophetic service to which he has been appointed.

There are many stories in the Scriptures of people trying to hide themselves from God. Adam, Cain, and Jonah are all predecessors of Elijah in his attempt to run away from his responsibility. They all forget that it is impossible to run away from God, to hide oneself from God’s omnipresence.

God calls each of us through the gifts we have been given to build up the community of the faithful. Like Elijah, we will all have moments of success and failure. We will constantly have to struggle to realize that our successes are the result of God working through our gifts, and that our failures are but temporary obstacles that the world throws at God’s efforts. Each of the stories about Elijah have but one purpose; namely, to illustrate the faithfulness of the God of Israel. That fidelity is promised to us through Jesus, present in our midst.