10TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, “The Lord is God!”

Extravagant birthday parties have become commonplace in some parts of the world.   But recently, some parents have even begun celebrating their child before birth! At these “gender reveal” parties, the parents-to-be announce the gender of their baby—in elaborate ways.   They might delight their guests with cupcakes with pink or blue filling inside or even a display of pink or blue fireworks.   These celebrations allow the parents to “go big” and share their excitement in a very public way.

In today’s first reading, Elijah is planning his own dramatic “God reveal.”   He is hoping that his spectacular event will convince the Israelites that the Lord is the one true God.   He hopes that they all will believe and turn away from worshipping Baal.   Hopefully the drought will then be over.   God responds to Elijah’s prayer with a powerful gust of fire that quickly consumes the meat offering and the wet wood—and the people bow down and acknowledge the Lord.

Many of us can understand Elijah’s frustration in trying to bring people back to God.   We all have people in our lives—children, siblings, or friends—who don’t believe in God and find themselves stuck in a spiritual drought.   If only we could have an amazing “God reveal” the way that Elijah did!   Maybe that would help our loved ones to begin to believe in him.

Why not ask?   Notice how Elijah went big with his “God reveal.”   He didn’t just recite rote words or hold his tongue.   He prayed for the Lord to do something dramatic—and believed that God would follow through.   Now, we shouldn’t set up some life-or-death showdown like Elijah did, but we can go big with our prayers:  “Lord, reveal your love to this person, and bring their faith alive.”   “Holy Spirit, make your presence known to this person in a tangible way.” “Jesus, I believe you can heal my friend of cancer.”

So go big in your prayers.   Ask God for powerful solutions, always knowing that he will answer in his own way, in his own timing.   You never know what might happen until you try!

“Lord, I pray boldly:   please reveal yourself to my loved ones!”

Psalm 16:1-2, 4-5, 8, 11
Matthew 5:17-19