Homily, 6-10-24: Monday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time:
At the time of Elijah, Israel had seen a succession of very bad kings. But Ahab was the worse. In the previous chapter of the 2nd Book of Kings it is written: “Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than any of the kings of Israel before him.” It was a time of civil unrest with the population split 50/50. Half the people followed the wicked king who built altars to the pagan god, Baal. The other half rejected. In a way it’s not much different from our country today.
Through Elijah, God punishes the people by withdrawing the rain. Unfortunately, the good were punished with the evil. And again, we can expect that this might happen in our day as well.
But the psalmist gives us hope in Psalm 121, today’s responsorial psalm. The Lord is Israel’s guard and our guard as well. The translation of the psalm used in the Evening Prayer is slightly different. This is how it goes:
I lift up my eyes to the mountains: from where shall come my help? My help shall come from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
May he never allow you to stumble! Let him sleep not, your guard. No, he sleeps not nor slumbers, Israel’s guard.
The Lord is your guard and your shade, at your right side he stands. By day the sun shall not smite you nor the moon in the night.
The Lord will guard you from evil, he will guard your soul. The Lord will guard your going and coming both now and for ever.
A God who made heaven and earth, who never sleeps, will protect us and guide us in times of trouble. He will not necessarily prevent all our troubles and difficulties in this world, but He will guard us from evil, guard our souls, as the psalmist writes.
Guarding our souls from evil is more important to our eternal happiness than solving our everyday problems. We may have to suffer along our earthly journey, on which God guides us, so that our journey can lead us safely home to Heaven. Our country and our world are facing many troubles and attacks on our religious beliefs. It is a time for us to remember Jesus’ words: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied….Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”