Sunday Reflections

“Elijah went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree.  He asked that he might die.”

~ 1 Kings 19: 4

Elijah was the greatest of the prophets, the one who was expected to return. Some thought Jesus was Elijah, and it was Elijah who appeared with Jesus transfigured on the mountain. Yet here we see him discouraged and defeated, ready to give up and asking to die. He is on the run from Queen Jezebel who has ordered his death  and so he sits and asks to die. His attitude is difficult to understand when we realize how God has taken care of him during the years of drought and famine and supported him when he was challenged to a showdown of power by the pagan projects of Ba’al.

We might be tempted to criticize Elijah but perhaps we had better ask ourselves how often we have been in that position when we are discouraged, when we feel unloved and unloving. Trust in God and in his unconditional love for each of us is something we must keep firmly in our hearts and souls. Nor should we forget that Elijah was given food to eat which gave him the strength to go on to the mountain where he would encounter God. 

There is so much written these days about a healthy diet, what we should be eating in order to live a healthy life. For our spiritual health that food is the Eucharist that nourishes and strengthens us on our earthly pilgrimage. That is why it is so sad to see so many depriving themselves of the Eucharist.

Do I take advantage of the Eucharist as often as possible? What is the Eucharist for me?