If you look closely at history, and look closely at current events, you will observe an important theme of history and politics. In all of history, all government seeks to control religion. Look at the Church of England. Look at China and the Catholic Church. Look recently at government attempts to shut down churches in some states here In the USA due to the pandemic. In many places ministers and church members have been arrested or barred from their churches. If you look closely, you will see this theme repeatedly. Governments attempt to control the Church and church teachings.
This is one of the themes of today’s first reading. The Israelite king and his pagan wife killed all God’s prophets except Elijah. Elijah then performed a great miracle besting the “official” pagan prophets, some 300 of them. After the miracle of bringing down fire to devour Elijah’s offering to God, Elijah had all the pagan prophets slaughtered. Then, he fled for his life into the desert.
Today’s reading picks up here. Elijah wants to die. He is fleeing for his life, as the royal officials want to kill him. They needed to silence him. Exhausted, Elijah lies down under a broom tree, asking God for death. Instead, God gives him more strength and life.
The Angel of God placed a loaf of bread and water at his head, wakes him and told him to eat. He does this twice, saying to Elijah,
“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.
There is a strong echo of the Eucharist in this story. Elijah could not have made it walking 40 days to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai. This mountain was where God spoke to Moses many centuries prior and gave him the Ten Commandments.
Strengthened by “Bread from Heaven” Elijah was able to walk for almost six weeks to Mt. Horeb. Bread from Heaven gave him superhuman strength. At Mount Horeb, God would speak personally to Elijah as he had to Moses.
Think of the strength of God’s heavenly food. Elijah had no more fear of the pagan king and his wife in Israel. God fed Elijah and he went on to even greater things that would free Israel from the pagan powers. That is the power, also, of the Eucharist. With the Eucharist we shall not need fear any earthly power. The Eucharist and the world are at war even today. The world doesn’t know it, but the Eucharist has already won. What is missing is our regular participation in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Eucharist will not just give us strength to journey from Mount Carmel to Mount Horeb, but all the way to Eternal life in Heaven.
In the Gospel of John, in chapter 6, we have Jesus’ most complete teaching on the Eucharist.
The worldly people who heard Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life, refused to accept it. Jesus repeated the message in different ways for them, insisting,
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
Elijah did not have the Eucharist more than eight centuries before Jesus’ birth, but God fed Elijah and gave him supernatural strength with bread from heaven. Jesus gave us his body and blood, our Eucharist, food for eternal life.
St. Paul tells us how to live with the Eucharist, in the Church.
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
The world, despite every kind of politics, will never understand or encourage the Sacramental life of the Church and will always seek to dominate and control the Church. If you have eyes to see, then see. And hold fast to the Sacramental life of the Church.
Recall that we will see Elijah once again, centuries later, walking and talking with Moses and Jesus on Mount Tabor, at Jesus’ Transfiguration. Then, heed the Angel’s words to Elijah,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!”
With the Eucharist you can get all the way to Heaven.