Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Homily)
August 09, 2015 11:00 am · Deacon Rick Nevins
"Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you." These are the words spoken to Elijah by God's Angel as the prophet lay exhausted, and without the will to go on any further. On the run from those that want him silenced, and just plain wore out. Elijah felt unfit for what lay ahead. A long an arduous journey up to God's holy mountain. You see the life of a prophet is not meant to be soft, but God provides and the eternal reward is greater than anything this world has to offer.
The truth is that Elijah was unfit on his own. He needed God to nourish him be able to finish the task that lay ahead. He needed the Angel, God's messenger, not just to touch him and give him the miraculous bread and drink. He needed to be prompted a second time to get up and continue his pilgrimage to Mt. Horeb. Today's first reading provides for us a mirror of sorts. In some respects we can all relate to Elijah. A man who wants to do what is right and just but simply doesn't have the energy or the will to go on any further. He was physically, emotionally and spiritually drained.
