Listen like Elijah

Dear sisters & brothers in Christ,

I pray that you are blessed and all is well. In our first reading today from 1st Kings The Lord communicates with Elijah. He hears all of these powerful and explosive events. Things we often describe as “acts of god.” But Elijah knows that God is not present in any of these big and noisy things. But when he hears this gentle whisper of a wind, he immediately covers his eyes for he knows he is in the presence of God.

God does not always communicate with us through a burning bush or a 40 day flood, or even fire & brimstone. In fact, more often then not, God’s communication with us is very subtle, just like that tiny whisper of wind that Elijah heard. In our busy and often noisy lives we have to tune our senses to be able to pick up those subtle communications. We have to learn to quiet ourselves so we can hear what God is trying to say to us. While we Catholics have an ancient tradition of meditation and quiet prayer, we usually fill our prayer time with words. We have prayers for every occasion and every need. We ramble on and often don’t give God a chance to get a word in. We need to balance our prayer with periods of silence, listening for our God, watching for the subtle signs. If we can do this, then we can be like Elijah and easily distinguish our Lord from all the background noise. We wont waste our time running around in circles or straying off the path, but instead, we will continue to walk in The Light and stay in step with our God as we journey along The Way.

May you find the pathway of your God, and may our Lord continue to walk with you, so that you remain true to the calling of your God and under the shadow of His protection.

In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick