Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Our first reading today presents the remarkable story of the Prophet Elijah taking on the prophets of Baal in an epic confrontation. As the last remaining prophet in Israel, Elijah is determined to call the people back to the One true God and to demonstrate the futility of serving false gods. This powerful narrative serves as a reminder to us to serve the Lord our God and God alone. Today let us repent of the ways in which we may have placed our trust in anything or anyone other than God and to recommit ourselves to Him, asking for the grace we need to be faithful and obedient followers.
If you haven’t already, please pause and carefully pray the first reading. This is truly a remarkable and compelling story. The account begins with Elijah appealing to the people, saying, "How long will you straddle the issue? If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him." The name Baal in Hebrew came to refer to any number of deities worshipped by the ancient people. In Hebrew, that name means “owner” or “lord.” I find that denotation striking. Our sin can “own” us, can’t it? Any worldly thing or person that we place our trust and confidence in can “own” us. Our possessions, jobs, fears, worries and preoccupations, addictions – whether to substances or social media or the news, scrupulosity, relationship issues – all these things and more can “own” us and become gods to which we bow down. The ancient Israelites had turned away from God to these false gods that became lord and owner of them. How about you? How about me? What people, things, or situations in our lives have we subjugated ourselves to? Who or what owns us?
Elijah asks the people, “How long will you straddle the issue?” When it comes to the practice of our Catholic faith, let us ask ourselves, am I straddling the issue? I might ask myself, do I have one foot in the world, as it were, and one foot in the Church? Am I straddling a fence, with my legs dangling on either side? Into which pasture will you jump? Into which realm will you immerse yourself? Today’s scripture invites us to get off the fence and go “all in” with practicing our faith and embracing the beauty and majesty of the Church, her liturgy and her Sacraments. If you’re not attending Mass at least every week and seeking to grow in your faith daily, what’s holding you back? What false “owner” is holding you hostage?
The worshippers of Baal cried out to this deity of their own making, and twice the text tells us, “But there was no sound, and no one answering.” They went through theatrics such as hopping around the altar they had made and even tragically and horrifically slashing themselves with swords and spears. We, too, go through all kinds of mental, emotional, and spiritual gymnastics in our lives, contorting ourselves in vain attempts to satisfy ourselves and the things that control us. “But there was not a sound; no one answered, and no one was listening.” We must understand that whatever or whoever it is that “owns” us, will not listen to us nor answer us when we call. Any improperly placed trust and confidence is folly. As our psalm proclaims, “They multiply their sorrows who court other gods.”
But our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is a God who hears and answers our cries. Our living and true God, will, as the psalm continues, “show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.” Elijah cried out to God, “Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to their senses." The Lord proved himself faithful to Elijah and to the people by sending fire to consume the sacrifice in a mighty display of divine power. The people did indeed “come back to their senses,” and falling prostrate acclaimed, "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"
So today, let us renounce and turn away from anything that falsely “owns” us and consecrate ourselves anew to our only Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us reaffirm our faith, trust and confidence in the Holy Trinity and let us renew our commitment to the Church. Let us not “straddle the issue,” but rather go “all in” in the practice of our faith. Lord, graciously hear us and help us – thank you! Amen!
—Elizabeth Wells