Scripture for
meditation: I Kings 19:11-13
Then the Lord said, “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.
Christ tells us:
John 10:27
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”
Chris Lowney, in his book Heroic Living (Loyola Press) states:
Perhaps, if we attune ourselves to hearing that still, small voice, we
will find it whispered all around us and, more important, from within us. As
the Quaker minister Parker Palmer put it, “Vocation does not come from a voice
‘out there’ calling me to become something I am not. It comes from a voice ‘in
here’ calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original
selfhood given me at birth by God.” And just how might we recognize the voice
“in here”? The Protestant minister Frederick Buechner hears God communicating
to us through our profoundest human concerns and interests: “The place that God
calls us is that place where the world’s deep hunger and our own deep desire
meet.” And one of my friends, asked how God might influence our job choices,
said she saw God’s fingerprint on our skills and circumstances: “The gifts and
talents God has given us are clues as to God’s plan for us.” Another friend
spoke similarly, focusing on the passions and interests that not only motivate
us to excellence but also touch all those who see our excellence in action:
“What fuels one to perform with excellence has a spiritual quality that
inspires, nurtures, and sustains one’s work. . . . I find when I experience
extraordinary talent in someone—whether it is playing tennis, singing,
preaching, caring for the sick—it reminds me of God’s grace and seems to be a
very wonderful way for that person to use his or her time and energy.”
My thoughts: If you ever start to feel sorry for yourself, read 1 Kings and see how tough life was for Elijah the prophet. Called by God to bring the kingdom of Israel back to the Lord, he was ignored, hated and ridiculed for his preaching and prophesying. At the time of the above passage, he has complained to the Lord that he has done all that was asked of him, and now he is alone and everyone wants to kill him. God reminds him that he is never alone, that he can find God in the tiniest little voice, a whisper. We must remember that as well. God is not going to use earthquakes and fire to get our attention when he wants us to do His will. He is quietly going to remind us of who we are, who He created us to be. Did you ever listen to a homily and wonder how the priest knew you needed to hear those words just then? Have you ever read a book and had a line jump off the page and hit you right where you were hurting or confused? I once saw an episode of Fr. Barron’s Catholicism on TV and sat straight up in my seat. Questions that had been plaguing me for months seemed to disappear at that moment. How did he know? He didn’t, of course, but God did, and I don’t believe it was an accident that I was moved to catch that show. Learn to be obedient when you hear a prompting inside your soul to call a friend, send an email to an old acquaintance, stop by and visit a lonely or depressed individual, read the Bible or go to confession. Jesus tells us that He is our shepherd, and He knows us. He says when we hear his voice, we follow him. If we become obedient in little matters, we will be ready to respond to God’s word in the big ones. It is like a military drill. Over and over again the soldiers “play” war. They respond to the commander’s voice. When the call to action is made, they know what to do. Do we?
Our prayer to God:
Here I Am Lord -- Music & Lyrics by Dan Schutte Copyright 1981
Here I am, Lord. It is I Lord.I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, where you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
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