ELIJAH
I
am struck down by the warrior sun in the desert.
I
am a string attempting to stand.
I
cannot move my legs—
They
are stones hammered into the earth.
I
cannot lift my arms—
They
are branches felled by a storm.
I
am a house unable to move,
A
hoary salt bed cooked entirely dry.
Depletion
is my abrupt affliction.
I
am a well filled at bottom with sand.
I
long for a jug of sweet water,
For
a bundle of fresh steaming bread
To
bring life to my legs, hope to my heart—
Who
will bring me wherewithal for my journey?
Originally
published in Marathon, Issue 7
(February 2015)
 |
|
He
prayed for death: “Enough, Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my
ancestors.”—1 Kings 19:4
|
The Pope focused on the the prophet Elijah, from whose book the First Reading of the Day was taken. The Holy Father recalled how Elijah was victorious, how he “fought so much for the faith,” and defeated hundreds of idolaters on Mount Carmel. Then, he reaches a breaking point: one of the many acts of persecution aimed at him finally hit its mark, and he collapses in discouragement under a tree, waiting to die – except that God does not leave him in that state of prostration, but sends an angel with an imperative: get up, eat, go out:
ReplyDelete“To meet God it is necessary to go back to the situation where the man was at the time of creation, standing and walking. Thus did God create us: capable of standing full upright before Him, in his image and likeness, and on our way with Him. ‘Go, go ahead: cultivate the land, make it grow; and multiply.’ [Then, to Elijah], ‘Enough! Go out and go up to the mountain and stand on the mountaintop in my presence.’ Elijah stood up on his feet, he set off on his way.”
Link: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-morning-homily-we-must-wait-for-god-in-silence/
Gonzalinho
Image: An Angel Awakens the Prophet Elijah (1667) by Juan Antonio Frias y Escalante
ReplyDeleteImage link:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Juan_Antonio_Frias_y_Escalante_-_An_Angel_Awakens_the_Prophet_Elijah_-_WGA07537.jpg
Gonzalinho