On Facing Adversity (19th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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This Sunday’s Old Testament reading is a rather ironic follow-up to the preceding story about how Elijah overcame the prophets of Ba'al, and showed that Yahweh alone is the true God (1 Kings 18). Even though God gave all of Israel a remarkable display of power during that contest of divine power, many continued to worship Ba'al, and Jezebel in particular sought to kill Elijah for having the prophets of Ba'al eliminated and her god shown to be false (1 Kings 19:1-3). The scene is reminiscent of the Pharaoh in Exodus continually hardening his heart, despite all of the plagues that were wrought in his midst.

Even more ironic is Elijah's reaction to the whole situation. He despairs of ever bringing Israel back to God, and even asks God to take his life. It is almost as if he had forgotten of the miracles that God worked through him. This is reminiscent of how Israel would often lose faith in God, despite having witnessed His miracles, which were evidence of His providential care for them. Even a mighty prophet of God such as Elijah is not immune to doubts, and we should not be surprised or be dismayed if we observe similar tendencies within ourselves.

God has to gently remind Elijah that He is still with him, and that his task is not yet done. The prophet still has to bear witness to the true God, and will be protected from the unbelieving leadership until his task is done. It is interesting that He does this by causing a cake of bread to appear before Elijah, which, just like last Sunday's reading, connects with this Sunday's Gospel reading by acting as a foreshadowing of Jesus offering Himself as the Bread of Life.

This story serves as encouragement for us when we see that the unbelieving world disbelieves in the truth, and moreover seeks to persecute believers for standing up for the truth. We must remember that God is our protector and provider, that He will strengthen us for the task at hand by His grace communicated through the Sacraments, and will bring it to its completion. Our task, as St. Paul puts it, is to merely plant the seed and water it, and wait upon God to bring about its growth (1 Corinthians 3:5-9).

J. Luis Dizon