Still, Small Voice

At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter.
Then the LORD said to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this,
Elijah hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.

1Kings 19:11-13

Of all the figures of the Old Testament, Elijah has always stood out for me.  The most powerful of the prophets sent by God, he lived at a time of mass apostacy in the Kingdom of Israel. Under King Ahab and his Queen Jezebel, a daughter of the King of Sidon and a priestess of Baal, a great spirit of what many today would call ecumenicalism went forth, as Israel turned away from the stern God Yahweh, to the pleasure seeking ways of Baal.  Elijah, his name means “Yahweh is my God”, would have none of it, and led the Traditionalists among the Yahweh worshippers who opposed the new spirit abroad in the land.  The deeds of Elijah are well known, from the battle of the gods on Mount Carmel, to his being taken up to Heaven by a chariot of fire, but the most striking passage in his career is the incident of the still, small voice, set forth in today’s reading at Mass.

In this Vale of Tears we cry out for miracles on the scale of those performed by Elijah, so weak is our faith and so unwilling are we to accept that we are the instruments of God in this world, yet this passage underlines that God is ever near to us and is ever speaking to us, if only we would stop to hear and heed Him.  Great miracles are wonderful to behold and are a comfort to us, but if we need them to shore up our faith we are poor Catholics indeed.  Today, let us all stop and listen for a moment, and hearken to the message of love, repentance and amendment that God, in His grace, is ever telling us.