Homily: Tenth Friday of Ordinary Time
Tenth Friday of Ordinary Time (1 Kings 19:9a, 11-16) “I Am in a Whisper”
Sometimes people will tell me about an apparition of Mary that has occurred somewhere in the world. Or they will inform me of some extraordinary healing miracle that has been brought about through the intercession of one of the saints. They usually are very excited and such events seem to energize their faith.
At other times people will ask me why they never see God acting in a miraculous fashion in their life. Perhaps they are discouraged and feel like that God seems to be dead in their world.
At those moments I want to recommend this passage from Scripture. Elijah is hiding on the mountain. Once more, he is running for his life from King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. He is at his wits end and wondering what to do next. He has tried to convince the king and queen to change their ways, but it is obvious that are not going to.
He comes to the mountain to seek the wisdom of God. Then we have the story we read. Great natural events happen. There is a thunderstorm there is an earthquake, but Elijah does not feel God is speaking to him in these events. Only when there is a tiny wind does Elijah hear God’s voice and move forward with anointing a new king and prophet that will succeed him.
Great spiritual masters often point out that God is always acting in our lives. We often fail to recognize this. Could it be that we are looking for God to act in some grandiose manner? God is in all the events of our lives be they big or small.
Perhaps we need to just take time to reflect. One of my favorite prayers is in the daily examine. In that prayer we stop at the end of the day to replay what has happened. We take note of how God might have said something to us.
God might be in a compliment we receive. God might also be in a disappoint we have experienced. The Lord speaks to us in both positive and negative experiences. Sometimes the negative experiences might be the Lord telling us gently that something needs to change. The key to hearing God’s voice is that we pay attention.
Reflection Questions:
- How does God reveal himself to me? Does it have to be in extraordinary events?
- Has there been something unpleasant that has happened to me that I perceived was a message from God? What was God trying to say to me?
Dear Parishioners,
Next week I will be attending a retreat in Henry, Illinois with other priests from our diocese. I usually like to make an eight-day silent retreat, but that is not going to work out this year. I haven’t been to our new diocesan retreat house, so I look forward to experience being at new Sacre Coeur Retreat Center.
When I was a newly ordained priest, I went to several retreats at King’s House which sat in the same location as Sacre Coeur. Those were special days when I got to know a lot of the older priests. Now I am the older guy. Maybe I can get to know some of the younger priests better.
Since I will be on retreat, I will not be writing these reflections next week. I will start them again a week from Monday.
May Our Lady of Peace pray for us today.
Fr. Mark