Elijah and John - Prophets of Israel

In those days,                                                                                
like a fire there appeared the prophet, Elijah
whose words were like a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord's word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your friendship.(Sirach 4:8- 1-4, 9-11)

As they were coming down from the mountain,
the disciples asked Jesus,
"Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
He said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. 
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands."
Then the disciples understood
that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
(Matthew 17: 9A, 10-13)

The readings today speak of two of the greatest prophets of all time. Elijah and St. John the Baptist.  Elijah lived during the twelfth century B.C. during the reigns of King Ahab, Queen Jezebel, and King Ahaziah of Israel.  He has had his hands full because the Israelites were undergoing one of their periodic movements away from Yahweh and His Laws and turning to worship idols and false gods. He called the people back to God.  He warned them that they were not going to be happy if they failed to return to God. And as he predicted a drought afflicted the land.  For three years not a drop of rain fell. There was, as he predicted, misery throughout the land.  During this time Elijah was fed by ravens!  Jezebel, who was not an Israelite, did not follow the Hebrew religion of her husband Ahab but rather moaned and groaned and nagged until Abab built a temple to her god, Baal.  Elijah decided to have it out with Jezebel and her false god once and for all.  He challenged the priests of Baal to a contest between Baal and Yahweh.  They would build two altars and the god who was real would reveal himself by consuming an offering put there for him.  It kind of was like the Olympic Games of the gods.  The holocaust was prepared for both contestants and the games began. The priests of Baal started chanting and dancing to no avail.  Elijah was a rooting section for them and encouraged them by telling them to chant louder because perhaps Baal was sleeping.  They were less than appreciative of this help and they started cutting themselves to show their devotion to Baal, still, nothing happened to the sacrifice on the altar dedicated to Baal.  After a while, exhausted, they gave up.  Now it was Elijah's turn.  The sacrifice was placed on the altar amongst straw.  Elijah called for the sacrifice to be drenched in water and it was.  The straw was really, really wet.  There would be no way that the sacrifice would be burned up with all of that wet straw on the altar.  The priests of Baal were very confident that Elijah would fail.  Elijah raised his eyes to heaven, uttered a brief prayer and boom, the sacrifice was burned up into nothing in a brief second.  The priests of Baal were astounded and the king ordered them to be taken away and executed for it was proven that they worshipped a false god.  

Sometime after this, his work amongst the people of Israel being done, Elijah was taken away in a fiery chariot and he left his mantle for Elisha who took over the job of being the Prophet of Yahweh. 

We are all familiar with the story of John the Baptist. He was the cousin of Jesus but it was quite probable that they did not know each other and only met one another when Jesus was baptized at the Jordan.  John was a man who brooked no nonsense. When King Herod indulged in adultery, John called him on it and let it be known what a jerk the king and his wife were for violating God's law.  Herod held a grudging respect for John and was loathe to do anything to him and turned a deaf ear to his preaching and condemnation.  But Herodias who actually was the wife of Herod's half-brother was ticked off to no end.  To keep peace in the house, Herod had John arrested and placed in jail.  This did not keep peace in the house at all.  Now John could be heard day and night condemning the king and his concubine.  At a party, the daughter of Herodias did a dance for the king that left him with his tongue hanging out and he rashly promised her a reward of up to half of his kingdom.  I guess he could not hold his liquor very well.  The daughter went to her mother and asked her advice as to what she should ask for, a trunk filled with gold perhaps?  Her own palace?  No, her mother said, none of these things.  She told her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter.  She went back to the king and delivered her demands.  He tried to talk her out of it but she insisted.  Since this had been done in front of all of his friends, he would appear to be weak if he did not fulfill his promise to the young slut.  Painfully, he dispatched a guard and John was beheaded and the head was brought to the daughter who brought it to her mother.  (Yuck!) 

These two men were both prophets of God.  They each displayed courage and fortitude and preached the truth of God caring not whom it might offend. They both took on the mighty and powerful in each of their times and in doing so prepared the way for the Messiah to come.  In this season of Advent, we can do one of two things with the time.  We can wait silently or we can become prophets in our own neighborhood.  We can make sure that the reason for the season is made known and that it is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, who came into the world to save us from our sins.  The lights, the presents, the parties are all well and good but we need to make sure that we do not lose sight of why this feast if called Christmas which could be translated as Christ's mass.  Bring Christ to someone today and every day between now and Christmas.  Belay the happy holiday greetings and give out a hearty Merry Christmas.  Each time you say this it is like you are delivering a little sermon.  Jesus is coming and He is coming for me and for you.  Merry Christmas!  

I wonder if the poor souls in Purgatory celebrate Christmas?  I am sure that their love for Christ manifests itself of this day in a major way.  Please remember to pray for them.  They WILL remember those who pray for them and they WILL help you on the day you need it most.  Remember too:  As they are now, perhaps someday you shall be.