Monday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary time (1Kings 17:1-6) “A True Prophet”

Monday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary time (1Kings 17:1-6) “A True Prophet”

We don’t like to receive bad news.  Politicians are afraid to give us sober assessments about the state of our society.  When political leaders constantly tell us that things are wonderful, even though they are not, they eventually lose all credibility.

We might have been part of organizations where sycophants surround the leader and they give them good news. The underlings know this will please the leader, but the result is disaster for the company, church, unit, that the leader heads. Poor leaders are those who only want people who only tell them positive things.

Elijah, whose story we begin today, was a man who spoke the truth to power.  He tells King Ahab that there will be a drought in the land because of the king’s sin of apostacy.  God tells Ahab, after his prophesy, that it is time to get out of town.

Ahab flees into the wilderness running for his life.  Elijah’s career as a prophet seems like it is over before it has started.  But God takes care of Elijah.  He does not allow him to be killed.  God sends ravens to feed Elijah with scraps of food.  Eventually, Elijah is taken care of in many other wonderful ways which we will read about in the liturgy of the church in days to come.

Elijah was willing to suffer in service of the truth rather than to tell lies to please those who were in power.  He refused to be a false prophet.

Reflection Question:

1. Have I been part of an organization where there were people who were afraid to give honest opinions to leaders?  How did I feel in that situation?

2. What kind of disciples did Jesus pick as his apostles?  Did they question Jesus at times?  Did Peter’s questioning of Jesus’ plans cause him to lose his status as an apostle?

Dear Parishioners,

            Today Bovard Studios will be back at our church to continue with window restoration.  We have eight large windows yet to be installed.  We hope this work goes quickly so we can return to our church for daily Mass.  We had planned to be in our temporary chapel at this time, but with the physical distancing that we must keep, we would only be able to have a small number of people in our chapel space.  For that reason, we will continue to livestream and distribute communion in the parking lot for the next two weeks.  We will see if we can return to the church after that. These things are beyond anyone’s control.  It is better to let the workman move ahead unhindered than to try to stop their work and start it again. We would have to sterilize the whole church every day. I thank you for your understanding.  100-year pandemics are not easily planned for.  The hope is that once the work is done it will be done.

            This weekend we will be back in church for Mass at our 7 a.m. service and 11 a.m. service. The 4 p.m. Mass will be livestreamed and the 9 a.m. Mass will be outdoors weather permitting.  To sign up for the 7 a.m. Mass or the 11 a.m. Mass please go on our website and enter your reservation. We hope to begin sign-ups at noon today and continue until 9 a.m. Friday. It is first come first serve. If you are not adept with computers, call our office and we will help you.  On Friday we will finalize a list we will use to check people in.

Thanks for paying attention to these daily messages and passing the news along.  It was impressive to see so many people at our outdoor Mass yesterday. It is not the way we are used to celebrating Mass, but hopefully we draw inspiration from each other. I am positive the Lord appreciates the love that we are expressing and loves us in return.

May the Our Lady and the angels and saints protect us today.

Fr. Mark