The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today affirm our need to maintain faith in Providence even as we seek wisdom to address our disputes and frustrations without delay.
In the reading from the First Book of Kings, Elijah Ends the Drought.
* [18:1–45] The story of the conflict with the prophets of Baal (vv. 21–40) is embedded in the story of the drought and its ending (vv. 1–20, 41–45). The connection between the two stories is found in Canaanite theology, in whose pantheon Baal, “the Cloud Rider,” the god of rain and storm, was recognized as the one who brings fertility. Worship of many gods was virtually universal in the ancient world; the Israelite requirement of exclusive worship of the Lord (Ex 20:3) was unique. The people of Israel had apparently become comfortable worshiping both Baal and the Lord, perhaps assigning mutually exclusive spheres of influence to each. By claiming authority over the rain (17:1; 18:1), the Lord was challenging Baal’s power in Baal’s own domain. The entire drought story in chaps. 17–18 implies what becomes explicit in 18:21–40: this is a struggle between the Lord and Baal for the loyalties of the people of Israel. (1 Kings, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 65 offers thanksgiving for Earth’s Bounty.
* [Psalm 65] The community, aware of its unworthiness (Ps 65:3–4), gives thanks for divine bounty (Ps 65:5), a bounty resulting from God’s creation victory (Ps 65:6–9). At God’s touch the earth comes alive with vegetation and flocks (Ps 65:10–13). (Psalms, PSALM 65 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount is Concerning Anger.
* [5:22–26] Reconciliation with an offended brother is urged in the admonition of Mt 5:23–24 and the parable of Mt 5:25–26 (//Lk 12:58–59). The severity of the judge in the parable is a warning of the fate of unrepentant sinners in the coming judgment by God.
* [5:22] Anger is the motive behind murder, as the insulting epithets are steps that may lead to it. They, as well as the deed, are all forbidden. Raqa: an Aramaic word rēqā’ or rēqâ probably meaning “imbecile,” “blockhead,” a term of abuse. The ascending order of punishment, judgment (by a local council?), trial before the Sanhedrin, condemnation to Gehenna, points to a higher degree of seriousness in each of the offenses. Sanhedrin: the highest judicial body of Judaism. Gehenna: in Hebrew gê-hinnōm, “Valley of Hinnom,” or gê ben-hinnōm, “Valley of the son of Hinnom,” southwest of Jerusalem, the center of an idolatrous cult during the monarchy in which children were offered in sacrifice (see 2 Kgs 23:10; Jer 7:31). In Jos 18:16 (Septuagint, Codex Vaticanus) the Hebrew is transliterated into Greek as gaienna, which appears in the New Testament as geenna. The concept of punishment of sinners by fire either after death or after the final judgment is found in Jewish apocalyptic literature (e.g., Enoch 90:26) but the name geenna is first given to the place of punishment in the New Testament. (Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)
Jeanne Schuler comments that Wisdom takes the long view. We see forces moving in our direction. On the horizon emerge possibilities and storms of many kinds. At times the big picture is more than we can manage.
Let me focus on the day’s tasks. Ignore climate change. Disregard wars and forced migration. Tune out messy social movements and disturbing critiques. To shield ourselves, we wonder who really knows what’s true? The only hunger I must address is at my kitchen table. To see at a distance takes resolve; like Elijah we must pray, so we can take action and bring what is far away into our lives.
Matthew’s gospel reminds us that a righteous person attends to small things. Laws punish murder and robbery. Behind disaster lies a string of mishaps. Crimes are mesmerizing, so misdemeanors hardly register. We overlook the flirting that gives way to infidelity. Like Elijah, Jesus uses threats to redirect us to our lapses and slipups. Mend relationships early. The same mouth that screws up must learn to be sorry. God yearns for a humble spirit, not gold heaped on the altar. (Schuler, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Taming the Tongue,” by Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD).
"What are we to do? Whoever says, 'You fool!' hall be liable to the hell of fire. But no human being can tame the tongue. Will everyone therefore go to the hell of fire? By no means. Lord, you have become our refuge from generation to generation (Psalm 90:1). Your wrath is just. You send no one to hell unjustly. Where shall I go from your spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence (Psalm 139:7), unless to you? Thus let us understand, my dearly beloved, that if no human being can tame the tongue, we must take refuge in God, who will tame it. Does your own human nature prevent you from taming your tongue? No human being can tame the tongue (James 3:8). Consider this analogy from the animals that we tame. A horse does not tame itself; a camel does not tame itself; an elephant does not tame itself; a snake does not tame itself; a lion does not tame itself. So too a man does not tame himself. In order to tame a horse, an ox, a camel, an elephant, a lion and a snake, a human being is required. Therefore God should be required in order for a human being to be tamed. (excerpt from Sermon 55:2) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Kings 18:41-46 comments that Elijah kept sending him back. The servant must have wondered if his master had lost his mind! Imagine how relieved he felt when he finally spotted a cloud “as small as a man’s hand” (1 Kings 18:44). Rain was on the way, and now they could make their escape.
How often have you felt like Elijah’s servant?
The kind of patient waiting that Elijah showed, coupled with the persistent seeking that he asked of his servant, is the perfect response to God’s apparent silence. Because sooner or later, the Lord will answer you. Sooner or later, he will shower you with his blessings—maybe in ways you aren’t expecting. And along the way, he will produce in you the kind of stubborn, trusting faith that will sustain you in feast or famine, in drought or downpour, in success or failure.
“Lord, help me to keep looking for your coming, no matter how long it takes!” (Meditation on 1 Kings 18:41-46, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the battle of Elijah against the worship of Baal in which Yahweh brings rain after the perfect number of expectant gazes at the sky. The fertility aspect of Yahweh is emphasized in the Hebrew description of the small cloud. Friar Jude reminds us that Jesus wants us to treat anger in the widest interpretation to avoid killing important components of people’s lives and how we understand purgatory as a purification of the unhealed parts of our being.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, considers expressions of love that exist in our passion for one another.
Sexuality is a much broader mystery than its physical expression. It’s an inner drive—which some call eros—toward the other and beyond the small self. A commitment to celibacy doesn’t negate this pull to give oneself to another. And at the same time someone can be sexually active and totally self-absorbed, which is not eros at all, but merely “lustful.”
Healthy intimate relationships take away our existential anxiety. Even without touch, true intimacy overcomes our feelings of separateness and insecurity: “I’m not attractive; I’m not important; I’m not …” is our desperate and disparate state. Once someone affirms that we’re lovable and enough for them, once we begin to deeply trust ourselves, then we discover that what we also desire is agape, or divine love. Agape is much more inclusive and all-embracing than eros. Yet agape builds on eros and even deepens eros because it hugely expands our sense of True Self. Agape love includes and transcends all other genuine loves. [1] (Rohr, n.d.)
We are encouraged to take the long look when we ponder our role in the plan of God for our lives and paradoxically to be prepared to deal with anger and discontent quickly as to avoid disruption in our loving response to the people in our life.
References
Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5?20
Meditation on 1 Kings 18:41-46. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/06/13/995351/
1 Kings, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1kings/18?41
Psalms, PSALM 65 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/65?10
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/eros-and-agape/
Schuler, J. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. OnlineMinistries. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/061324.htm
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Be Reconciled to Your Brother. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=jun13
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