Touch Someone

Elijah went a day's journey into the desert, until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.  He prayed for death saying: "This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."  He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree, but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.  Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water.   

After he ate and drank, he lay down again, but the angel of the LORD came back a second time, touched him, and ordered, "Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!"  He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

Our first reading reminds me of the dramatic television series "Touched by an Angel" that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for nine seasons.  Its 212 episodes chronicled the cases of two angels, Monica (Roma Downey) and her supervisor Tess (Della Reese), who brought messages from God to various people to help them as they reached a crossroads in their lives.

We all experience crossroads in our lives.   What angel touched us to give help and guidance?   Have we ever thought of death such as that considered by Elijah sitting under a broom tree?  Who helped us think more of life and how to overcome despair, frustration, and loneliness?

Better said, whose angel(s) are we?   Let’s speak to those we find sitting under their own broom trees.  Let’s reach out and touch someone. What message from God will we bring?

Deacon David Pierce