Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Lord asks Elijah a strange question today: “Elijah, why are you here?” It is strange because the Lord told Elijah to go to the mountain! Rather than acknowledging the obvious, the prophet acknowledges his unwavering zeal for the Lord when the people had fallen into worship of false gods. Moreover, he defeated false prophets in a contest and then executed them – the reason why he also needed to head to Tabor to escape certain death. There on the mountain the Lord reveals himself in majesty to Elijah.
God asked Elijah to come to the mountain then asked why he came(?!). This is strange. Here at the monastery our daily life is full of obligatory events and assignments made by someone else. I encourage my brothers to not simply do these by compliance. Instead, I invite them to make a free act of the will, choosing to do those things that we are obliged to do anyway. This will assuage resentment or cynicism, especially as they witness other brothers perhaps not doing the required things. “I choose to do this.” In fact, one can always choose not to do it as he does it outwardly. When Elijah was both zealous and obedient the divine countenance was revealed to him! And it came not in flashiness of violent wind, earthquake, or fire, but in an anticlimactic breeze.
This faithfulness can happen when looking at human dignity too. Pope St. John Paul II said that the problem with pornography was not that it showed too much but that it showed too little. We can reduce others to superficial qualities or use. Deeper goodness is harder to see. To choose to not objectify another person, even when there are some natural attractions we have, is difficult but not impossible. Tomorrow we will be admonished to make our “yes” mean “yes” and our “no” mean “no.” May our intentions and actions be in virtuous harmony so that God may break into our everyday life.
Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections