Elijah the Prophet

Perhaps the most interesting, most widely acclaimed prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures, Elijah (Elias, Ilias) stands head and shoulders above all the other prophets. The stories surrounding this prophet are some of the most gripping and exciting. So integral to the history of Israel, he holds a place of honor in all of the Abrahamic faiths of the world: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The prophet's name could very well be nothing more than a title as it means "Yahweh is my God." Elijah appears in Israel's history at a time when the worship of Baal began to win more followers than the worship of the Most High God of Israel. Elijah challenged the kings as well as the priests of Baal throughout his life. He left behind no writings like the classical prophets in Israel; yet he is still regarded as the preeminent prophet. It was the prophet Malachi that led to expectation that Elijah would return to announce the advent of the Messiah. This prophecy has cemented Elijah's place in all the faiths of the children of Abraham.

When the disciples question Jesus about Elijah, he points to the person of John the Baptizer as the embodiment of the prophecy of Malachi. John is certainly a major figure in our Advent Scriptures and stands as the one who points to Jesus. It is he who labels Jesus as the "Lamb of God." It is he who prepares the hearts of the people through repentance so that they will be open to God's Word.

References to Elijah abound throughout the Scriptures. He points the way to God. John the Baptizer does the same. These two men stand as examples of complete fidelity to God and God's Incarnate Son.

The very name of the prophet poses the central question of today’s liturgy.  Who is my God?  Can we make the same claim as Elijah?  Do we place all our trust in God?  I am sure that all of us would claim this to be the case or we wouldn’t be here this morning.  However, we must renew this claim every single day of our lives.  It isn’t a one and done sort of thing.  Claiming to be God’s own means constantly turning to God and turning away from ourselves and our own will.  This season asks us to pose the question again as we prepare to celebrate the feast of the Incarnation.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator