How awesome you are, Elijah! Whose glory is equal to yours? You brought a dead man back to life...You sent kings down to destruction...You heard threats at Sinai...You are destined, it is written, in time to come to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord...and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob. Sirach 48: 4-10
Our focus today is on Elijah because he came up in class during Advent and it seemed opportune to share this while it’s still fresh in my mind.
Elijah came up during religion in 4th grade during the second week of Advent as we were going over the upcoming Sunday Gospel reading as we do each week. Elijah is mentioned in the reading from the Gospel of John and as I began excitedly to talk about Elijah I realized I was looking out at 28 sets of blank eyes. Quelling my enthusiasm for the time being I looked at them and asked, “You do know who Elijah is, don’t you?” 28 heads simultaneously began to shake from left to right indicating they had no idea who I was talking about.
That was during Advent. Ask our 4th graders today and they can tell you many things about him, and with not too little bit of zeal, I may add. (Please, though, wait a few more weeks before you ask them about Elijah and the chariot as we still have a couple more stories to read about this amazing prophet of prophets.)
What I enjoy about Elijah, and the 4th graders have come to enjoy also, is that he’s a hero-legend who grabs your attention and you don’t forget. He is also a colorful character full of drama. He’s all over the map with human weakness, but also with a deep love and sense of fidelity to the Lord. In the course of a few short chapters Elijah will, among other things, predict a three year drought, challenge the worship of false gods, whine and moan and beg to die, show just a tad bit of arrogance, and experience God in, what we in 4th grade have come to call, ‘the not noise.’* Though Elijah has a wonderful habit of appearing and disappearing suddenly, he doesn’t quietly slip into the scene, he takes it over and you are fully aware that he is there.
With that said, 4th grade invites you to take another look at Elijah (1 Kings 17-19, 21 and 2 Kings 1-2) and be reminded why he is so fascinating, why the Jews expected him to return, and why he is there, along with Moses, at the Transfiguration of Christ.
This time rather than send you to a video on Elijah, the link below is to Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Elijah.” It’s an hour long, but put it on and have it in the background while you read and as you continue on with other things. May God bless you with love and joy.
*The term ‘the not noise’ came about when Madison meant to say ‘silence’ but said ‘noise’ instead. In 4th grade we sometimes don’t err so much as find new ways of saying or doing something. So ‘noise’ quickly became ‘the not noise.’ I realize you had to be there for the full effect, but it was funny and they actually now better remember Elijah’s experience in the cleft of the rock than if we hadn’t had this little slip.
There is always a tendency among the devout to look for something more because they have not looked deeply enough into what they already have. Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.P.