Put Out The Fires

In those days, like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as 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.

This reading from Sirach speaks of Elijah but was used by Gospel writers as a harbinger of Jesus: his wondrous deeds and unequal glory.   The Transfiguration scene makes that clear – the new Elijah as well as the new Moses.  Jesus wasn’t taken aloft in a fiery chariot or in a whirlwind of fire.  He “simply” rose, ascended.

This Advent we fathers with our wives urging us on should mimic what Elijah was charged to do: turn our hearts towards our sons and re-establish relationships that may be strained or even broken.  We must awaken in our friendships with them; otherwise, the fires will still burn and we remain shattered.

Deacon David Pierce