Perhaps some of you have traveled to the mountains this summer, or in past years. I love the mountains. They fascinate me. I look at them, and I just want to say, “Good job, God.” Sometimes I feel that the power and strength of a mountain represents God watching over His world.
Elijah went to a mountain to look for God. The particular mountain he went to was the mountain of the Lord, Horeb. This mountain was also called Mt. Sinai. You remember Sinai. That was the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments. Remember how Sinai was presented in the Book of Exodus:
Exodus 19:18
And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
Exodus 24:16-17
The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.”
It was on Mt. Sinai, Mt. Horeb, that Moses received the Ten Commandments, written, as Exodus says, with the finger of God. This was the mountain that Elijah was on in the first reading for this Sunday. Elijah was had been told by a voice to go “and present yourself on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord will be passing by.” Elijah went and waited for the awe inspiring presence of God. As he must have expected there was a huge wind that threw boulders around like pebbles. But Elijah, the prophet of supreme faith, did not sense the presence of the Lord in the wind. Then there was an earthquake. But Elijah’s faith told him that the Lord was not in the earthquake. Fire followed, perhaps started by lava flowing through the fissures caused by the earthquake, perhaps due to volcanic activity. We all know how powerful a raging fire is. But Elijah’s faith told him that the Lord was not in the fire. Then there was a tiny whispering sound. That voice was the voice of the Lord. It was more powerful than wind, earthquake or fire. That voice was the voice of faith.
Sometimes we look for the Lord with pre-conceived notions of how He should appear. We expect to find God in powerful manifestation of His presence. Sometimes we are so concerned with finding Him in a mighty display of natural events that we miss His presence in the quiet whispering voice of faith. We seek the Lord in powerful miracles, and we miss hearing His voice in our children, family and church community. Perhaps, we have to stop determining how God should be and simply be open to His presence wherever He is, in others and even in ourselves. We have to let God be God: mysterious, loving, present in more ways than we could ever understand.
You often hear people say, “I come to Church, but I get nothing out of it.” Maybe we have all said that at times, or at least felt that way. Perhaps the problem is that we are deciding how God should be present instead of opening ourselves to however He is manifesting Himself. Maybe we are looking for feelings of spiritual satisfaction. But, perhaps, today God might not be in the fire, or in warm fuzzies. Maybe we are seeking an answer to one of our problems. But, perhaps, today the Lord might not be in the earthquake, or in instant solutions to our
difficulties. Maybe we are looking for a new insight into our lives, but perhaps today the Lord may not be in the wind breaking the boulders of our self-perception. But the Lord is still here. He is always with us. We might not know where, but He is here. For there is a small voice that says He is the reason for everything around us in Church and in our world, from the crucifix over the altar to the Word of God proclaimed, to the Eucharist we share, to the blessing we ask for over our food, to the evening prayers we say and the bedtime prayers with the children, to the wonders of every person God has ever created, and the beauty of his babies, to the marvels of nature. Everything radiates the Presence of God. He is within each of us loving us as individuals and uniting us into the community of love. If we come to Mass and claim we are not getting anything out of it, if we go through life claiming that we cannot find God, it is because we are looking for God where we expect Him to be, not where He is.
How is it that Elijah heard the tiny whispering sound in the middle of the roar of the wind, the crashing of rocks, the earthquake? He settled himself down; he suppressed his own expectations, and he let God speak to Him as God chose to speak to Him.
There is noise around us. We are so accustomed to it that we don’t even notice it. We may be living near a busy road, but we tend to tune out the traffic. We even are able to tune out the Loud Family that lives next door to us. We tend to tune out the external noise, but we don’t make as much of an effort to tune out the internal noise. We let our thoughts ramble in prayer. We let our minds fly attempting to solve a problem. We need to quiet ourselves down. We need to free ourselves for quiet time. This is more than freedom from external noise. We need to allow ourselves to experience internal quiet and peace that comes from being in the Presence of God.
That is the simple message of today’s first reading. God is present for each of us. He speaks to each of us. We just need to do a better job listening to Him.
1 Kings 19:12-13
After the earthquake there was fire—but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.
The readings today help us recognize the gifts we have been given and the responsibility we have to give them to others. The first reading is from the second section of the Prophet Isaiah often referred to as the Book of Comfort. Come to the water, you who are thirsty. Come eat you who are hungry. The greatest happiness in God’s creation is given to us freely. But we have to come and drink, come and eat. The second reading, from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, tells us that no one and nothing can take this Source of Life from us. “What can separate us from the love of Christ? Anguish, or persecution, or nakedness, or famine or the sword. Nothing can take Christ from us. We alone can reject Him.
We are called as Christian to come and eat, come and drink. We are told to guard against those forces within us and around us which would destroy the Presence of the Lord. So we do all this, and then we are told, “My gifts are not for you alone.” The people are hungry and thirsty. Give them what you have to drink and eat.” It is here that we realize that our responsibility to stay united to the Lord has a deeper dimension then our own needs. We need to be united to the Lord out of a responsibility to the spiritual lives of others.
Parents know this so well. They know that when they brought children into the world or into their homes they no longer had the luxury of being concerned only with their own spiritual lives. They now had the obligation of leading their children to the Lord. In fact, leading their children to Christ became an essential element of their own spirituality. They looked at their lives and eliminated anything that would prevent them from bringing Christ to their children.
We need to realize that the presence of the Lord is not ours to hoard. He is given to us so that we can bring His Love to others. Therefore, some of the things we do, some of the places we go, some of the things we say, all have to be eliminated not just for our own good, but for the good of those to whom the Lord is sending us.
There is a profound liturgical action that takes place at the ordination of a deacon. After the bishop lays his hands on the candidate and says the prayer of ordination, and after the deacon is vested, the bishop hands the new deacon the Book of the Gospels and says, “Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” No one can proclaim the gospel unless he believes in the gospel and lives these gospel beliefs. This is emphasized in the ordination of deacons, but it is fundamental to all Christians, ordained or laity. Everyone here is called by Christ to proclaim His Gospel. All of us are empowered to do this. All of us are sustained in this mission particularly through the gifts of the Eucharist and the guidance of our Mother Mary.
We experience the need of others. We recognize our emptiness, our inability to help. We go to the Lord, and he gives us the ability to provide. This is the good news, the Gospel. For nothing can prevent us from being united to the One who provides for us.
How beautifully positive the readings are for today. God will always provide. We have only to go to Him, stay united to Him, and we will receive bread for His people.