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SHARING IN THE SPIRIT OF ELIJAH IN MINISTERING AND EVANGELIZING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ECCLESIASTICUS 48:1-14; MATTHEW 6:7-15
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In the first reading today, we read how the author recounted the greatness of Elijah. Indeed, he is seen as the greatest prophet in the Old Testament. As the author sang his poetic praise of this great prophet, we cannot but also join him in giving praise to God for giving us such a great prophet.


Elijah was described as one like a “fire.” Fire is a symbol of cleansing, purifying impurities. Through “his word flaring like a torch”, Elijah brought “famine on Israel”, “shut up the heavens”, “three times, brought down fire”, “rousing a corpse from death”, “dragging kings down to destruction” and “taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses.” Indeed, Elijah had an illustrious vocation. He was certainly a man so filled with the Spirit of God and therefore able to speak His Word. Significantly, many times, we are told that he did all things by the power of the Word of the Lord.


Like Elisha, we too must ask for a double portion of the Spirit of Elijah if we want to be a great prophet and messenger of the Lord, bringing about conversion and demonstrating the power of God at work in our lives. How can we have this Spirit of Elijah? Namely, three things are needed, a greater love for the Word of God and most of all a deep faith in Him demonstrated by a life of holiness and purity.


If Elijah were such a great prophet, it was because he was a man who was deeply attentive to the Word of God. Before he spoke, he first heard it for himself. Without a deep consciousness and understanding of the Word of God, there can be no proclamation of the gospel. Unfortunately, many of us, including ministry leaders, hardly read, pray and meditate on the Word of God day and night. No wonder, there is no power or conviction in the way we worship, or in the way we live out our lives in Christian witnessing. How can we have leaders who do not have any love for the Word of God! Who then is guiding them to guide us?


Secondly, we are told that Elijah was a man of deep faith in God. Or course such a faith flowed from his deep love for the Word of God. If Elijah could perform miracles, it was because he heard the voice of God so clearly and distinctly that he knew that what he said was from Him alone. And thus being a man of discernment and conviction, he had full confidence that what he said would come true. Not because he would bring it to fruition but that the Lord would do it as He is faithful to His word.


With such a faith, the prayers that he prayed were always from the depth of his heart; a heart that was so much attuned to the will and the love of God. Hence, when he prayed, his prayers were always answered. His prayers were so powerful that he had control over nature e.g. in calling down fire, stopping the rain, separating the waters of Jordan, multiplying the loaves and even raising the dead. Such was the faith of Elijah.


Thirdly, it is important to take note that if Elijah could perform such great wonders, it was because he also walked the talk. He was a holy man. We cannot purify others if we do not first purify ourselves. We cannot transform people’s lives if we do not first seek to transform ourselves in the image and likeness of God. The trouble with us is that so often when we seek to change people, our correction springs from pride, anger and selfish motives. That is why we tend to be judgmental and lacking in compassion. What is more fundamental is that we must first seek to live holy lives ourselves, a life of compassion and forgiveness before we can even think of serving God. So if we want to become great prophets of the Lord, we must respond to that basic call to holiness of life.


All that we said above about Elijah of course is seen in Jesus Christ in a par excellence manner. In the gospel, we see Jesus as a man full of the Holy Spirit, anointed at His incarnation and reaffirmed at His Baptism when He received the power of the Holy Spirit to go about proclaiming the Good News in word and deed, performing miracles over nature, of healing, even raising the dead and delivering all those under the bondage of evil spirits. All that Elijah did, Jesus did even more powerfully and mightily.


So if today we want to share not just in the Spirit of Elijah but in the Spirit of Christ who is THE prophet, we must ask Jesus how we can have a share of His Spirit. In truth, He has given us the clue today in the Lord’s Prayer, which is the pattern of all prayers. If the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, it was because they wanted to imbibe in the Spirit of their master so that they could also do what He did. The Lord’s Prayer in a succinct manner provides us the principles of what we should pray for and how we should live the prayer we pray.


The foundational principles are firstly, that we must desire to give God all the glory and so we pray, “Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy.” Whatever we do or say or think, we must seek that God’s name be glorified through us and that we would not do anything that would scandalize His name and His image and likeness in us. Secondly, we must desire holiness, which is why we pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” Holiness is nothing else but living the life of the Kingdom according to the values of the gospel and doing His holy will in all things. When we place holiness above all things, then we will strive to align all our desires with God’s desires. With the psalmist we say, “Rejoice in the Lord, you just! The Lord is King … justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne.”


Once we get the foundational principles in place, we can then pray rightly, asking for our spiritual and material needs. This is the second part of the Lord’s Prayer. From focusing on God, we now focus on the means of living the Kingdom life. We pray, “Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us. And do not put us to the test, but save us from the evil one.” We pray for our daily bread which includes all our basic material and physical needs. Without the essential needs of life, we cannot feel the love of God for us nor have the strength to accomplish His mission in life. As human beings with a body, we need to be sustained and this too is the way we feel and experience His providential love and care. But beyond material needs, we need to pray of course for the bread of life, which is the Word of God and the Eucharist. And finally, we need to ask protection from the temptation of the Evil One. Our battle is not only against human beings who are evil but the source of evil, the Devil. So we need grace and supernatural strength to be alert to the snares of Satan and his demons who are trying to seduce us to sin.


Most of all, there is a clear emphasis and reiteration to forgive, which is a prerequisite for prayers to be efficacious. No matter how holy we are or how fervent our prayers are or how active we are in ministry, if we are unable to forgive, we will never be able to accomplish much. So long as we harbour resentment, anger and unforgiveness in our hearts, no matter what we do, we cannot perform great things for God. Not that the Father does not forgive us but that we cannot experience His forgiveness because of the hardness and blockage in our hearts to receive and experience His love. Forgiveness of others is the pre-requisite to receiving the fullness of God’s grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.


Let us learn from Elijah and most of all from Jesus, the Word of God in person, the Bread of Life, and the Bearer of the Holy Spirit, and pray for an infusion of the Spirit of God so that we too can live holy lives of faith and charity, filled with conviction of the Word and proclaiming the power of God’s words in our lives through our actions.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh