Elijah - Prophet for Our Times - Part 1

Hello Everyone:
We are going to cover St. Elijah for the next several days. I have a few books on this history written by Carmelites and will reference them at the bottom. I am not sure if they are still available as they were printed in the 1920’s. The story of St. Elijah can be found in the First Book of Kings, Chapters 17 and 18. This part is 1Kings Ch 17:1-4

As was stated in yesterday’s article, St. Elijah has a prominant role in the Order of Mt. Carmel because of his presence on Mt. Carmel and because of all the monks that lived in imitation of him and offered their prayers to God in asking for the Messiah and His Mother to come.

St. Elijah, also known as Elias in Scripture, was called by God at a difficult time in history for Israel, similar to Moses and St. John the Baptist.

It had only been a little more than fifty years since the new nation of Israel had stood under the power of David and Solomon. In that short amount of time, the people turn from God. It was with the bad influence of a new king named Ahab. He was literally addicted to evil. Religious, moral and social rot were consuming Israel (which is why I felt it important to cover him during this Novena. We too are experiencing such social decay). Men are the same. The entire body and life of God’s own chosen nation were decaying and dying under the influence of inner moral corruption. Ahab had rejected the God of Israel. There were all kinds of crimes going on – very similar to today from sex crimes to government greed and theft. Over and over again, Israel had been challenged to separate themselves from the corruption of false heathen cults. They knew from past history that to turn your back on God in pursuit of pagan practices was to invite total destruction. But like the centuries that would follow …. The warnings had been ignored.

His wife Jezebel was no different. She had been reared amid the pagan rituals of Baal. Her father was the king of the Zidonians and priest of Ashteroth in whose domain the worship of Baal was perpetually practiced.

Like today, we see sinister goals and plans to destroy this nation of USA from the United Nations globalists. Also in their day, Ahab and Jezebel plotted sinister influences that were determined to destroy Israel as the people of God. Like us, they stood in mortal peril of total extinction and this would come from within (although I think we have forces from without as well as within).

God had sent Elijah to Ahab to challenge him and called Israel to repentance. It would be her only remedy, her sole salvation from utter ruin and total degradation. The parallels with our own time in history are starkly sobering. We use to call ourselves a Christian people, who put their trust in God. Like ancient Israel, we are beginning to behave as if God really did not exist. He is taken out of every aspect of our living. One does not break God’s laws and make it a way of living without God intervening and putting it to a stop.

Elijah was therefore sent by God to get Ahab to repent and change his ways. Elijah means “My God is the Lord”. Elijah was the servant of the most High God and would do the will of the Father and not be silenced.

Elijah…… Raised his voice…..spoke for his God.. and would sound the alarm that all was not well with Israel.

With the prideful rebellion of Ahab came the first chastisement which was a drought that caused famine and hunger.  Like Pharoah with Moses – Ahab was not going to bend and we will see how this story unfolds in the next coming days.

Catholics and all those who call themselves Christian, believe in the love of God but rarely talk about or think of the righteousness and justice of God.  The result is that many people assume that they can sin with impunity.  God never changes. His impeccable character demands that justice be done, that sin be dealt with, that wrongdoing be counterbalanced. Preoccupations with luxury, ease, sexual perversion, licentiousness and lawlessness will inevitably bring a counteraction of divine intervention. We too, like Elijah, must preach to all those around us a message of repentance or we will see destruction.

​Books used for this presentation...
The Life and Times of the Prophet of Carmel, Most Rev.. P. E. Magennis, Benzinger Brothers, New York, 1928
The Prophet of Carmel, Rev. Charles B. Garside, M.A., Carmelite Monastery, Wheeling, WV, 1924

St. Elijah – pray for us.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.

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