Elijah, a man of contrasts

The prophet Elijah has been known in Carmel since the beginning as our ideal and model of inspiration, both in terms of contemplation (or silent prayer) and apostolic zeal.

In iconography he is represented with the Latin inscription on his sword: «zelo zelatus sum pro Domino Deo exercituum», that is: «I burn with zeal for the Lord of hosts».

In fact, the prophet Elijah is the first prophet of monotheism… because if we go to the origins, the Israelites, those who came out of Egypt, were deep down polytheists… Perhaps they entrusted themselves a little more to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob… but without ceasing to believe, in some way, in other gods, such as those of fertility and war, the gods of Egypt, and those that were imported from Canaan following the marriage of Ahab and Jezebel.

So, Elijah marks a before and after in the history of the people of Israel. With the defeat of the false prophets of Baal, he demonstrates that there is no other God than Yahweh.

One thing is certain: The prophet Elijah is a man of contrasts. If the Muhraqa showed zeal for the Lord God of hosts, for the Lord, the only God in Israel, paradoxically… when the knights of Jezebel were pursuing him, during the crossing of the desert… (going towards Mount Horeb) … He had to fall on the weight of his weakness and allow himself to be fed by the angel of the Lord.

Important contrast: he discovers the power of God and his human weakness, now he will still have to purify his vision of a God capable of showing his ‘superpowers’… and then… in Horeb (to his greater astonishment!) he had to discover it in the light breeze, in a silent wind. Hence, for us, Elijah is also a model of contemplative, silent prayer.

Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of the prophet Elijah, that we be contemplatives in the monastery and contemplatives in action, that he make us living and ardent witnesses of his presence, that his grace make us strong and brave to respond with all our hearts to the vocation we have received.

 

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