Angels In Our Lives

In Father Hanly’s lovely homily for 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, he looks at Elijah the Prophet and the role of angels in our lives. 

Readings for Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

• First Reading: First Kings 19:4-8
• Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
• Second Reading: Ephesians 4:30–5:2
• Gospel: John 6:41-51

Recording

Transcript

This is the third Sunday of the five Sundays dedicated in Year B in the year we usually read St Mark’s Gospel and now we read St John’s Gospel. It is all about the Eucharist and what the Eucharist means to the people of their day as well as to us today.

It is really, in a sense, the soul of the Church’s teachings from the beginning of the life of Jesus to his resurrection and it explains why we are gathered here together, for we come to the Eucharist, the thanksgiving, the representation of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection in our own hearts.

Today, though, the First Reading is very interesting for us, because we tend to forget about Elijah the prophet.

Now, Elijah the prophet was the greatest of all prophets. There was no prophet greater than Elijah the prophet.

And how come we don’t know so much about him?

Because he never wrote a word.

And you say, “Well, how could he be a great prophet like Isaiah and Jeremiah who wrote these wonderful books and they’re quoted all over the place,” until we remember that Jesus was also a prophet who never wrote a word. Everything that he gave was face-to-face, eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart.

Now, Elijah was kind of the (Father says something in Chinese), as they say in Chinese, of prophets. He was a man of great vigour, a man of great talent.

He was a man we know very little about his early life because he appears suddenly on the scene when the Israelites are in danger of betraying the Covenant and turning away from Yahweh and following the gods of the Baal — the gods of that time — further and further away.

Now, the Baals were not just one kind of god, they were a mixture of gods. And they represented, the original anyhow, represented the god of power, the god of anger, the storm, the god of the storms. He was the one that soldiers followed because everyone knew that in power lay strength and in strength you could overcome everything.

This is a god that we still follow today! Unfortunately, he’s as false today as he was then.

Because this is a god that believed in might is right and power is what we seek most of all in order to be accepted and to stand above our brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, it ends in mayhem and destruction, and it was leading the Israelites in the same direction.

Another Baal was the fertility Baal, the Baal of sexuality, and his temples could be seen at the top of the mountains in and around Canaan and it would be filled with women. And so, to worship this god, you had to give yourself over, totally and completely, to wine and sexual abuse. This was the second great god.

And, of course, here comes the prophet, and his job is to bring the people back.

Back to what?

Back to the only God, the God of Yahweh, the God who is kind and merciful, given to forgiveness. This is the God that the prophet was to preach.

Today, we pick him up at his worst time. He has given up.

He is deep into the desert. He looks up at God and says, “Enough is enough. I am tired. I am weary. Take my life. I do not want to continue. I have nothing to hope for. And I have failed you as my fathers have failed you.”

This is the nice part of the Old Testament: all the heroes have weak points and all the heroes come out quite humble, or they are humbled in their stories, so that we can relate to them. Because nobody relates to strength and power and all this nonsense, but the tears behind our eyes well up in compassion to those who suffer.

And this is when you become like God, the God of the Israelites. And this is what Elijah believed in and this is what he gave his life to.

And he falls asleep. I think all of us have understood that when you get to the end and you say, “Enough is enough,” then the next thing you do is really fall asleep, because you’re exhausted from your failure.

And why has he failed?

Well, because Ahab, the king, has fallen under the trance of his wife from Tyre, Jezebel.

And Jezebel brought in all the people who preached these other gods and she was destroying the name and the strength of Yahweh among the Jewish people.

And even though Elijah had triumph over the ministers, the ones that she had sent for, the priests of this god, the Baal, he still lost in the long run because Jezebel sent an army after him to kill him and destroy him.

And so he had run all the way down from the north of Israel and now he was in the middle of the desert. And that’s when he said, “I have had enough,” and he slept.

And when he woke up, there was a meal for him — the Bible says given by an angel. It means given by a messenger of God.

He woke up and he saw a cake and a glass of water, a tureen of water. And he ate the cake and he drank the water and he was so tired he fell asleep again.

And he was going towards, he was trying to escape her by going through the desert to the original Sinai mountain that Moses was. And he wanted very much to talk to God and to let him know how unhappy he was.

And then he fell asleep again. And when he awoke again, there was another cake, and this one was to last for forty days and forty nights, a symbolic number, until he himself had reached where he was going.

We say, “Who was this angel?”

Well, probably, this angel was his servant who loved him and cared for him this whole time in all his adventures.

And why do we call him an angel?

Because God works through people, and when people do good things and they come in like to save you from some embarrassment or unhappiness or that, if you are a believer, you always say what? You say, “An angel sent you.”

This is a very important part of the story of Elijah, who preaches through his stories — and not just what he says but what he does — because this is the way God works among us. He sends us angels.

Angels: they might be close friends; they might be someone you just ran into. But when you reach those desolate times of your life, you will always remember that, when you awake from your sleep, you will find someone to help you.

And all through the traditions of Christians it is we are surrounded by angels and they use the human beings that surround us and we take for granted every day.

There is a story that goes with this idea, this very important idea. The story goes like this:

There was a man who had a deep faith in God and he loved God and he prayed to God and every morning he knew that he would go out and give his whole life to God etc, etc.

And then, all of a sudden, this great storm came. And he was in his basement and the basement was flooded, so he went up to the ground floor.

And a canoe passed by and he said, “Old man, I’m going to save you. You know, this water is going to get worse.”

And he said, “No, no, no. God will save me. I believe in God. I have faith.”

The man went away.

And then it got deeper, so the first floor was filled with water and he jumps up to the second floor. And he peeks out the window and there is a boat there.

And the man on the boat says, “Old man, I am going to save you. Come on, jump in and I’ll bring you to shore.”

And the old man says, “No, no. My faith is in the Lord. My faith is in God,” and he continues to pray.

Then he’s on the top of the roof and he’s looking out and the rain is still coming down. And when he is on the top of the roof, a helicopter comes down.

And the helicopter man yells at him, “Old man, old man, we will rescue you.”

And he says, “I don’t need to be rescued. I believe in God. God will save me.”

And so what happened was the rain got deeper and the house went under and the man drowned.

Then he goes up to heaven and he’s quite angry. He’s up there and he can’t wait to see God, you know.

So he gets in there and he meets God and he says to God, “You let me down.” He said, “Here I was telling everybody you would save me and you didn’t do anything to save me.”

And God says, “Of course I did. I sent three people and you rejected all three of them.”

This is the way God works, you see. He doesn’t work directly, like bolts from the blue. He works through those he chooses to work. He works through our friends and neighbours — and people who might not be friends and neighbours but suddenly get an inspiration to find us out in tribulation and time and trouble and pain. And when we think nobody cares, suddenly an angel appears.

Anyhow, Elijah thinks of what he has eaten and he realises that it was just like the Jews eating the manna in the desert. It was the bread of God. And that is why this, too, in the story is called the bread of God. And one cake alone allowed him to walk forty days and forty nights till he got to the mountain.

And he went up the mountain and, all of a sudden, there was a storm on the mountain.

And he was praying to God and saying, “What does it all mean? Why don’t you appear to me? What am I supposed to do?”

And then he goes outside and there is a shocking thunder and lightning and the mountain shakes, just as in the days of Sinai.

And then he finds out that God is not in the thunder and God is not in the lightning.

And when the thunder and the lightning pass, there’s a sweet breeze that blows through the cave, and Elijah recognised that God is in the breath, the sweet breeze.

And what does that mean?

He means, “Elijah, what you must understand is that it is not power and it is not self-possession and greed and these things. This is not what makes the world go round. It is the simple breeze of life itself.

“And it is in this that you will always find me. For I am a God not in storms and not in might and not in strength that you would want your armies to have or your leaders to have. I am one who serves. I am there and I give you my daily bread.

“And my daily bread is the bread of kindness and the bread of forgiveness and the bread of love and the bread of caring. And if you eat this each day, it will change your lives.”

And that is what Jesus says, “I am not going to give you bread, food. I am going to give you bread and food for your souls, so that you will know that my bread is when you learn to receive my love.

“For my bread is myself and it is my love reaching out in compassion and caring and sharing and building that you will hear God and see God and understand God.”

And that is what Jesus means when he says, “Unless you eat this bread, you will have no life within you.”

God Has Chosen You

In this beautiful homily for 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, Father Hanly reminds us that it is not we who have chosen God, but God who has chosen us.

Readings for Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

• First Reading: First Kings 19:4-8
• Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
• Second Reading: Ephesians 4:30–5:2
• Gospel: John 6:41-51

Recording

Transcript

You can tell from the readings today that Jesus is back in this place, the Sea of Galilee. The readings move from one to five (of the five Sundays on the Bread of Life) very easily, but they get more and more obscure in some ways.

But, as you know, it all began with Jesus going across the sea on a boat to go on a short period with his disciples, and there were lots of people waiting for him on the other side. And instead of this short period of rest, he began to preach and teach them.

And then, having taught them, he said, “How are we going to feed them?”

And, of course, this is the desert part across the Sea of Galilee and nobody had any solution. But the little boy had a solution. He came up and he had five barley loaves and two fishes and he offered them. And Jesus took it and he fed five thousand people.

This is a lovely story and you can hear it again and again and again.

Philip says, “Where are we going to get the money?” He still had that idea that money can do anything. And the little boy was just holding these little rolls out, five barleys loaves, very small little barley loaves.

Then we know that he begins to, after they feed them — all these five thousand people — Jesus says to take up the scraps that nothing be lost, which is a very famous line. As they take up the scraps they fill up the baskets, and there are a large number of baskets, twelve baskets of leftovers left.

Anyhow, the people look at it. And, of course, the people came to hear the word of the Lord and came to hear all kinds of things, but they saw what was happening and they came to decide to make Jesus a wonderful king.

Why?

Because he delivers the bread, you see. They’re all excited now. They’d forgotten all the lovely things about, “If you love me, I will love you and I will call you my friends,” etc, etc.

Now they’re thinking about, “Well, now we’ve got this man on our side, because he does wonderful things. He takes little loaves of bread and creates wonderful possibilities for us, one way or another.”

And so Jesus does the only credible thing: he runs away and he hides. And that’s how he goes to the other side to go to retreat to Capharnaum.

And, at first, they chase him, because they’ve got, you know, someone like Jesus, who can do miracles all day long for you, then you don’t have to worry about anything.

Poor Jesus, he always sees…

He does something that has incredible meaning.

What is the incredible meaning?

Well, he’s brought five thousand people who all didn’t even know each other, he’s brought them into one family. He has broken the bread with them and he will give them the Eucharist and all of these wonderful things that we have.

And they’re worrying about: Will he drive the Romans out? Will he create a world free of (inaudible). We don’t have to worry about anything anymore, because Jesus of Nazareth will supply us with everything.

So what they think is the beginning of new life is really the beginning of new death, because he doesn’t work that way.

Anyhow, we are now where Jesus is being confronted by the people who are his own neighbours.

As you notice, the Gospel begins,

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,
“I am the bread that came down from heaven, “
and they said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?

He couldn’t possibly be anything special — he’s Joseph’s son.

Do we not know his father and mother?
Then how can he say,
‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Stop murmuring among yourselves.

And then he says these words which are very true:

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,

We take our faith for granted. But the reason that you are here and others are not is because you have answered, whether you realise it or not, the call of God. You have been touched with the belief that Jesus is indeed what he says he is.

He is the Bread of Life and we come to give our lives to him.

They shall all be taught by God.

This is an old saying that when the Messiah comes, they shall all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.

And what he’s really telling us is this: that we feel that we come to him because we’re interested in him or because we want to be with him or whatever it is.

And what Jesus is saying is that, no, it’s just the opposite. God wants you. God has chosen you. God is the one who says, “Come and follow me.” You don’t say to Jesus, “Come and follow me.”

“Come and follow me,” means come and give me your life, give me your love, give me everything, don’t hold back, nothing.

And then you will know what it means when he says, “I give you the Bread of Life.” Because the meaning of bread is much larger than just eating your breakfast rolls or something like that.

What is this meaning of bread?

Jesus himself will take that bread at the Last Supper and he will break it and he will say, “Take this and eat it, because this bread is me, myself, me, body and soul.”

And then they will all stare at him and they will not understand, because they never understand.

But, ultimately, they will understand.

And why do they understand?

Because they love him.

Everybody’s running away from him now because he says these things.

And then Jesus says to his disciples, “Will you run away, too? Are you going to run away? Is it too tough for you? Is it hard for you to understand? Are you disappointed?”

And then you stop and you have to say either “yes” or “no.” It’s a great moment and a terrific moment and a difficult moment.

And Peter has the right answer. Peter says …

When Jesus says, “Will you, too, Peter, go away?”

He said, “Who can we go to? You have the words of eternal life.”

You have the words of eternal life. We love you. We accept you. And there is something when we are with you that is different from any place or any other person that we’ve ever been with.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

 “I am the Bread of Life.” And you should know this because every time we come to Mass we break the bread and we say those words, “This is my body. This is my blood.” And you are given to take the bread and eat it.

And having done that, you begin to realise that this bread is the Bread of Life, not just for you, individually, but it is the Bread of Life that makes us a community, that locks us into something that we would never dream of on our own or make up for ourselves on our own. It locks us into an eternal life, with walking through life with Jesus our Lord, one with him.

And, of course, that is the mystery that we are celebrating each Sunday as we come.

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.

We have two more Sundays where we will talk about the Bread of Life.

But the main idea is Jesus stands before us, he has always been with us and, each time we look and we come to the Mass and we pray and we sing and we do all these things, he stands there and he says, “Come, follow me.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.