Thursday 18 June

Today is Thursday the 18 June, in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time.  

Silent, surrendered, calm and still.  Open to the word of God.   In all that is going on around me, all the movement, all the noise, Can I find a moment of calmness and stillness now, Can I feel God’s presence here,  And surrender myself to it, Opening myself to listen to God’s word?  

Today’s reading is from the Book of Ecclesiasticus.  

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 48:1-11

Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch. It was he who brought famine on them, and who decimated them in his zeal. By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens, he also, three times, brought down fire. How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah! Has anyone reason to boast as you have?- rousing a corpse from death, from Sheol by the word of the Most High; dragging kings down to destruction, and high dignitaries from their beds; hearing reproof on Sinai, and decrees of punishment on Horeb; anointing kings as avengers, and prophets to succeed you; taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses; designated in the prophecies of doom to allay God's wrath before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob, Happy shall they be who see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love; for we too will have life.

These are not only harsh words, but they describe harsh deeds by Elijah.  Yet these words and deeds  are aimed at shaking the people of his time out of their complacency, and, ultimately, opening them again to the God of love.  Am I complacent in my relationship with the world around me and what is happening in the wider world?  Do I perhaps need shaking out of this?  

Are there areas in my life that need to be opened to the God of love?  

As you hear the words again, remember that God is present and active in every situation in your life.  

“Happy shall they be who see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love; for we too will have life.”  Let these words touch you.  Speak to God from your feelings.  Invite God into the areas of your own life – and those places in the world – that need God’s healing love.  

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.