Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

Revelation.  The word itself is a noun formed from the verb “to reveal,” and for Christians, the revelation is that Jesus is Lord.  This is one of the most basic truths of Christian theology, yet for the average Christian (and for many non-Christians) the word revelation is not always understood.  Putting grand theological ideas aside for the moment, revelation, simply stated, is the act of how God reveals himself to us.  To help us understand this idea of revelation, we turn to our readings for this 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Word for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time 1Kings 19:9a, 11-13a Psalm: 85:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14 Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 14:22-33 We open with a reading from the 1st book of Kings.  We enter the passage with great prophet Elijah as he is seeking shelter in the sacred mountain in the Sinai (mount Horeb).  While in the cave God tells him to stand outside, because the Lord will be passing by.    A strong wind comes, but th...

The Word for the 13 th   Sunday of Ordinary Time : 1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21 Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 Galatians 5:1, 13-18 Luke   9:51 -62 Our first reading from the 1st book of Kings has the great prophet Elijah choosing his successor, Elisha.  The scene in our reading is fairly straightforward (which I will discuss in a moment…), but the context of how we got here and where we are going in the narrative also play an intriguing roll, because for at the moment, Elijah is on the run.  Through Elijah the Lord has brought the great drought to an end, and King Ahab and the people rejoiced in the Lord, while slaughtered all the prophets of Baal (one of the great Canaanite gods) in the process.  This infuriated Jezebel (Ahab’s Canaanite wife and queen), who ordered that Elijah should die.  Fearing for his life, Elijah flees to Mount Horab (in the Sinai… some 150 miles south of Jerusalem… yes, that same mountain where Moses was given the 10 Commandmen...