Faith-Word of God-Witness-Elijah

HOMILY WEEK 10 05 – Year II

Shining like Bright Stars with the Word of Life

(1 Kg 19:9-16; Ps 27; Mt 5:27-32)

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“Shine on the world like bright stars; you are offering it the word of life.”

That gospel acclamation, and the readings today, invite us to deepen our faith in Jesus and his Word through contemplative prayer, and then share that faith to an unbelieving world.

In the gospel, we see Jesus, the Word made flesh, the one who came to fulfill the law, doing just that. By this comment, “You have heard it said,” he is implying “in the Torah,” the highest authority of God for the Jewish people. So, when he adds, “But I say unto you…” the meaning is clear – he is above the Torah, strongly suggesting to his Jewish audience that he was therefore divine, God present before them. No wonder they would accuse him of blasphemy.

This was Jesus fulfilling the Torah by elevating it to its highest level, to its highest standard. The teaching on adultery is a good example. When Jesus states, “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ he was referring to the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, the Ten Dabar or Words of God forming the Ten Commandments at the heart of the Torah. By adding “But I say to you, everyone looking with lust at a woman has already committed adultery in his heart,” that is almost a new commandment. Certainly, it is presenting the ultimate standard of life for us, seemingly out of reach for the average person, but not for those striving to shine like bright stars to a world so often preoccupied with sexual pleasure as an end in itself.

Jesus goes on to say we should cut off parts of our bodies if they cause us to sin, rather than risk eternal damnation. Here he is resorting to what is called Semitic Hyperbole, a form of holy exaggeration, something parents use all the time to underline the importance of an action to do or avoid, with the expression, “I told you a thousand times …!” No one is counting, but the meaning is clear. Something very important is being urged onto us. Here it is the message that sin truly has no more place in the lives of those seeking to offer the world the Word of life by shining like stars into that worldly darkness.

Finally, Jesus sets the bar very high for married couples, declaring divorce also has no place in the lives of those striving to shine like bright stars. Bishop Robert Barron offers this comment on this passage: “Is there any better description of sex anywhere in the literature of the world than that provocative line, ‘The two of them become one flesh?’ In a Jewish context, flesh carries the sense of the whole person. Hence sexual union is meant to be a union at all levels. A husband says to his wife, ‘My life is no longer about me; it’s about you and the children we will have.’ And the wife says the same thing to her husband: ‘My life is not mine anymore; it belongs to you and our children.’”

“Some might expect Jesus to have a soft or relativized teaching on divorce, but later in Matthew’s Gospel he firmly declares: ‘What God has joined together, no human being must separate.’ The husband and wife, who become one flesh, are brought together, not just by their mutual attraction, but by God. Their union is ingredient in God’s purposes. And this is why it cannot be undone. God doesn’t go back on his word.”

This teaching may seem out of reach of we ordinary human beings. It reminds me of a small booklet by Stuart Briscoe years ago, who learned from his experience that Christianity was not easy, nor was it hard – it was impossible! Struck by this insight, I realized that to try to shine like bright stars and offer the word of life to a hardened world, was an impossible task on our own. We absolutely need the help of the Holy Spirit to even come close to living at that level.

That, I think, is the role of the first reading. Elijah is on the run from the weak King Ahab and his pagan wife Jezebel, who had led the Israelites and even numerous false prophets into deep idolatry and sin. After Elijah confronted them with their infidelity and had overcome the false prophets, they wanted to kill him. He then has an encounter with God whom he meets not in the violence or power of a hurricane, earthquake or forest fire, but in the “sound of sheer silence.” That experience of hearing God’s voice in the silence empowers him to fearlessly return to Damascus to carry out the risky task of anointing kings and prophets. That is similar to the front-line workers during this pandemic, who are daily risking their lives to care for the needs of others.

I think the message is clear for us. If we are to be prophetic like Elijah, shine like bright stars and offer others a word of life, we must first of all be in touch with the Word made flesh, with Jesus in the silence of contemplative prayer, of centering prayer, of prayer from the heart. We must spend time in the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, soaking up God’s love like St. John leaning on the chest of Jesus at the Last Supper, hearing his heartbeat, and looking out at the world from that place, with the eyes of Jesus.

Speaking personally, that happens for me during my Holy Hour each morning, allowing the Word of God to percolate deep within, and from which quite often a homily will emerge, as it did this morning. I also recall a time when I took a tram up the mountain in Jasper to Marmot Basin. There, on the top of the mountain and in that bowl, there was not a sound – no train, plane, car, bird or animal – just the sound of sheer silence. It struck me that might be what Elijah heard, and in which he intuited the will of God for him. May it be so for us.

The Eucharist, our greatest prayer, is itself a mini-theophany, an encounter with God through Word and Sacrament. We listen to God’s Word, and are nourished by the very body and blood of Jesus, the Word made flesh. Forgiven and healed, we are then empowered to go out, shining like bright stars, to offer others the word of life, a word of hope, love and encouragement.