Elijah on Horeb

The first reading for this Sunday’s liturgy comes to us from the First Book of Kings and is part of the Elijah-Elisha tradition.  I suspect that we are all probably familiar with the story and have heard more than one homilist tell us that the story exemplifies the need for us to be quiet in order to hear the voice of God in our lives.  There is no denying that this is certainly part of the message being conveyed through the story.

However, what the excerpted reading in the Lectionary for Sunday Mass fails to convey is the fact that this story is occasioned by Elijah’s discouragement.  He actually has come to the point where he feels that God should simply end his life.  This discouragement comes on the heels of a very successful episode during which Elijah bests the prophets of Baal rather convincingly.  Yet Ahaz and Jezebel are so intent on Elijah’s violent death that he comes to Mt Horeb in a sorry state of discouragement.

The sacred writer includes details that bring to mind the story of Moses on Sinai.  (Horeb and Sinai are one and the same.  The names reflect the tradition out of which the story comes.)  Moses also found himself in a state of discouragement.  After successfully leading the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, he now finds that the children of Israel have turned back to idolatry and are not satisfied with all that God has done for them.

Both Moses and Elijah hide themselves in a cleft in the mountain.  Both are visited by God.  However, while Moses hears God in the thunder and stormy winds atop Mt. Sinai, Elijah hears God in a tiny, whispering breeze.  God is present to both men. 

It is obvious that the Lectionary is using this reading as a companion to the Gospel reading for this Sunday in which Jesus demonstrates his power over nature.  I am sure that this is where my homily will lead this Sunday.  At the same time, I cannot help but feel that we might also find comfort in the fact that God visits Elijah (and Moses) in the height of discouragement.  All of us have experienced this very human emotion.  Like Elijah we feel like retreating from the fray.  It is at this point that God asks us just as God asked Elijah, “What are you doing here?”  In other words, God tells us not to give in to the discouragement, not to flag in our efforts to preach the Gospel to all.  We, like Elijah and Moses, must place our faith and our trust in the fact that God is with us, especially in times when all seems lost.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M.