enth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Author: Fr. Antonio Izquierdo, LC Source: sacerdos.org/english Green Stole and Gospel Readings: 1 Kings 17:17-24, Galatians 1:11-19, Luke 7:11-17 THEME OF THE READINGS God’s power is made evident firstly in the resurrection of the son of the widow of Zarephath thanks to Elijah’s intervention, but even more so in the resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain through Christ’s work. Divine power is manifested in a special way in the “spiritual resurrection” of Paul, who from an enemy and persecutor of Christ in Christians, he becomes his Apostle and witness. We learn from all of this that God’s power, revealed above all in Jesus Christ, is made present in history for the good of mankind. DOCTRINAL MESSAGE Let the life breath return to the body of this child. The series of events in Elijah’s life in which this miracle is situated takes place in the controversy against the Canaanite religion and its principal god, Baal, lord of fertility and life. In this context, Elijah’s miracle highlights that the only lord of life, the source from which all life comes is the Lord, the only and true God, the God full of power and majesty. Elijah is fully aware, on the one hand, of the divine power, and on the other, of the need to protect the people of Israel from being contaminated by the Canaanite cults, preserving them in the Yahwist religion, the religion that God himself revealed to Israel through its fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For this reason, he raises his soul to God (moreover to show that the accusations the widow levels against him are false) and makes his supplication sincerely and intensely: “O LORD, my God, let the life breath return to the body of this child.” The Lord hears the cry of Elijah and the child revives. Elijah then gives him back alive to his mother. In this way, he demonstrates before the eyes of the Canaanites (the widow and her son belonged to this people) that the lord of life is not Baal, but the Lord. Young man, I tell you, arise! God’s power, which was manifested in Israel’s history from its beginnings, and which we have seen in the resurrection of the son of the widow of Zarephath through Elijah’s intercession, comes to its supreme revelation and its tangible manifestation in Jesus Christ. Christ does not ask the Lord to intervene to do a miracle. Jesus directly commands the dead man to rise so as to continue living and helping his mother. In the very person of Jesus, God’s power is revealed in a marvelous and impressive way. In the case of Elijah, divine power was put into action to show that the Lord is the only lord of life. For Jesus, this is not what matters, but rather his compassion for the widow who was left alone, without her son’s help: “He was moved with pity for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” Elijah withdraws to a room and performs a sort of rite to make him come back to life. Jesus raises the son of the widow of Nain before the whole entourage that accompanied the dead man, with no other gesture than his powerful and imperative word: “Young man, arise!” Truly, Jesus is the “incarnation”, the visible and tangible presence of God’s power among men. Power that changes life. Saul of Tarsus believed in God’s power; perhaps he felt invested with a certain quasi-divine power to defend monotheism and the Hebrew religion in the face of the Christian conception of God and the new religion that was starting to spread throughout Israel and the neighboring countries after the death and resurrection (at least this is what the Christians believed) of Jesus of Nazareth. It never crossed his mind that this power of God would one day, on the way to Damascus, throw him to the ground and make him hear a voice from on high saying to him: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? … I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” The power of God that knocked him to the ground and that revealed to him whom he was really persecuting when he persecuted the Christians, and that left him blind for three days, forever divided Saul’s life into two halves: before the encounter of Damascus, and after the encounter. From a fierce persecutor, he came to be, from this moment but also through a long process of maturation from this unique experience on the way to Damascus, the most hardened witness of the risen Christ and the most decided Apostle of the gentiles, that is, of all non-Jewish peoples. PASTORAL APPLICATIONS A powerful God, present among us. God’s power continues to show itself in the world and the history of our time. Still, it’s necessary to have the clear gaze of faith to easily and clearly discover it. His power continues to be active in the physical miracles performed through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, not only in Lourdes but also in so many other sanctuaries spread throughout the world. As well, it is shown in the physical miracles performed through the intercession of the saints (the fact that the Church requires two miracles to canonize someone makes this clear). Moreover, and above all, there are the “spiritual miracles” that God’s power does in so many persons: conversion, the radical change of life, the continued action in souls to purify, elevate and transform them, uniting them more to Him. Only in heaven will we be able to know in all its amplitude the daily marvels God’s power works in souls! God wants to show you his power. God is superabundant and most generous in his love, wisdom and greatness; so too is he in his power. God, in his goodness, has looked upon you to show you his power. How does he show you his power? For example, through the sacraments, particularly those two sacraments that we can receive most frequently: Eucharist and Reconciliation or Penance. As well, through the actual graces he grants you daily: You recognize some of them easily, others you hardly notice, but God’s power is made present through them. God manifests his power in you, but so that the step is made from manifestation to fulfillment, your free acceptance and generous response to the divine power is needed. For every person, but especially for a Christian, it is thus important to be top of yourself to discover God’s power acting daily in your own life. People of today before God’s power. God’s power changed the life of Paul on the way to Damascus. Together with Paul, however, there were many other Jews, hostile to Christianity, who equally persecuted Christ, and who were not “touched” by this power. Isn’t it the case that people can react in different ways before God’s power? Some focus on the invasive character of divine power that collides with our freedom, and so they reject and oppose it. Others think that God’s power is a nice creation of man, that the only powers that really exist are those of man and nature; therefore, God’s power doesn’t count in their life because it doesn’t exist. There are also those who see in God’s power a rival to man’s power, thinking that slowly man’s power, thanks to the progress in science and technology, will gradually occupy the spaces in which people of yesteryear felt God’s power most acutely. The authentic position of a Christian is to accept God’s power and presence among us, cooperate with it in bettering one’s life and contributing time and energy such that God’s power be accepted by others, changing more and more the mentality of people and human society.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 02:24:47 +0000