The life within us is given by God at the time of Birth has the death as the boundary due to sin and its effects. The food that we eat everyday sustains the life that is within us temporarily. But Jesus offers the food that is his Body and Blood which perpetuates the life that is within us erasing the boundaries of death.
OUR PRESENT STATUS AND ATTITUDE:
In the first reading, we see the prophet Elijah who complains to God of his abandonment. His mental & psychological status is rather surprising and discouraging others while distressing him. What bothers the prophet is: after all the historical events in his life, what is happening to him and where does he stand and what is his fate?
It is surprising, that the man who brought fire to burn the Sacrifice on the Mount Carmel who killed 400 Ball prophets so courageously; who brought life to the dead for the first time in history of mankind is now on his run for life from the Queen Zezebel who threatened him. He forgot the strength of God when it came to his own life. Why he did not stand back courageously to prove queen Zezebel also the strength of God?When his life is at stake he was lost and forgot everything else except running a way for life.
We, being the bearers of God as Christians, we do behave in a similar way: when Difficulties are encountered, when Our lives are at stake and When we do not have the spirit of Christ which condemned evil; which tried to establish love and peace; which stood for Justice and tried to revive the lives of the Jews.
As the prophet Elijah had the Challenges in his life, right now there are numerous challenges before us. A few to be mentioned:
Challenges regarding Family Spirit, the conflicts and emptiness in the families;
Challenges regarding individual relationships’
Challenges regarding Abortions, the threat to the life of unborn children;
Challenges regarding uncertainty of the identity;
Challenges regarding religious, social and moral values;
Challenges regarding the dry & die of the existence of the Religion as being visualized in the slow emptiness of the churches;
Challenges regarding the reception of the sacraments especially confession;
Challenges regarding the Liturgical Celebrations reducing to a mere ritualism and so on.
Very often they are left UNATTENDED and we do not want to stand against them and to look for a solution or to set right them.
Very often it so happens that we mask ourselves with FREEDOM and we just allow things to happen.
2.
THE INTERVENTION OF GOD: In similar situations God always intervenes one way or the other way as he intervened in the life of Elijah providing food and drink in the desert when he complained. But what is the connection between his problem and food? Here whatever the problem may be: God wants to affirm, ‘Don’t worry, I am with you. First eat, drink, relax, refresh and get back to yourself’.
And the underlying message is: “
GO AHEAD TILL YOU FIND/MEET ME!!!!!!!!! ”. And we see the tremendous power that made him to journey forty days and nights!
SIMILARLY, God intervenes also in our lives. Here Jesus offers his own Body & Blood as food & drink that gives eternity to life and eternity to the SPIRIT.
This new life has tremendous power as to the prophet to reach to Mt Horeb, to go back to the same people of Israel; to anoint Jehu as king in the place of Ahab in spite of threat to his life; as to Apostles at Pentecost; as to martyrs at the point of their death.
THE NEW LIFE GIVEN TO US IN THE EUCHARIST and when you go out being fed by the BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS being filled by the same spirit of Jesus; one need not to be spelled out what one should do, but be able to know where to stand in the given challenges of the present society:
in building up of the Christian families ;
in building up of the people of God;
in building up of the public relationships;
in building up of the faith living communities;
in building up of the community of social, moral and Gospel values.
It is then: WHERE WE GET THROUGH THE CHALLENGES, THERE WE HAVE THE NEW LIFE!
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-Fr John Raju Junjunuri Mail: [email protected]