For about ten days, the Church has been reading to us about Elijah. Today we conclude this series. Before we move on, we need to be sure that we receive the message exemplified by Elijah. Elijah successfully brought down the culture of death led by Ahab and Jezebel. We have a similar mission: to bring down secular humanism's culture of death in the Western world.

Elijah's success was based on prophecy, listening to God's whisper (1 Kgs 19:12ff), and discipleship. These three essential dynamics of life in Christ are critical for the modern Church to operate in power. Most Christians are unaware that they have been baptized into Christ, the Prophet. They have not obeyed the Lord's command to seek the gift of prophecy more than any other spiritual gifts (1 Cor 14:1). Secondly, listening to God's whispers in solitude and silence is a rarity in our media-driven culture of noise. Finally, few Christians have their primary identity as disciples of Christ. Thus, they are in no position to make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19).

When we learn Elijah's lessons, we will see Elijah's victory over our culture of death. Be another Elijah as were Jesus and John the Baptizer (see Lk 1:17).

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert A. Stricker, December 13, 2003

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 18, 2003