Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call; have pity and answer me. Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks. Your presence, O Lord, I seek. Hide not your face from me.
Today’s responsorial psalm (27:7-9,13,14) not only speaks to me; in it I also imagine Elijah from today’s first reading (Book of Kings) praying these words as he is taking shelter in a cave, hiding from those who seek his life.
We read that the Lord summons Elijah from his hiding place to wait for the Lord who will be “passing by.” What a wondrous opportunity for Elijah! And yet, God does not appear the way Elijah expects. In this familiar reading, we hear that the Lord is not in the strong and heavy wind that was “rending the mountains and crushing rocks”; the Lord is not in the earthquake that follows, and is not in the fire that appears after the earthquake. It was to Elijah’s surprise that the Lord finally appeared in “a tiny whispering sound.” And it was that tiny sound that caused Elijah to hide his own face in his cloak knowing that it was the Lord who was present to him.
Not in a show of power or might, but in a small sound, a whisper, that could only be heard in the quiet. That’s how the Lord appeared to Elijah. And I suspect that is how the Lord shows up in our lives more times than not. So the question follows, are we quiet enough to hear God? And are we patient enough to wait for God when God doesn’t appear in the ways we are anticipating or expecting?
Returning to today’s psalm we are encouraged, like Elijah, to “Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.” Trusting that God does indeed hear the sound of our call, our longing to see God’s face, to hear God’s voice. Not in the mighty and powerful of this world, but in the meekest and most vulnerable. May we be granted the grace and patience of the prophet Elijah to hear and see God in the quiet, in the unexpected this day, this week, this year.
-Eileen Miller