Sunday Homily 8-9-09, 19th Ordinary Time
Readings: 1 Kings 19, 4-8; Psalm 34, Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord; Ephesians 4, 30-5, 2; John 6, 41-51
Kings: a review–
Subject: The kings of Israel. The Big 3 were Saul, David, & his son Solomon. The Book of kings follows the Book of Samuel, which describes the lives of the the kings up to the death of David. Kings takes up the life of Solomon, his building of the temple, his death, and the fate of the kingdom following his death, i.e., it divides and is conquered.
Time Period: : from ca. 900 – 550 BCE, or from Solomon to Nebuchadnezzar & Cyrus of Persia (Iran).
Authors: a compilation of many sources that was put together at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 550 BCE.
Our Selection: focus is on one man, the prophet Elijah. The kingdom has already been split. Our story takes place in the northern state, Israel. Time of severe drought. The king is Ahab; his queen, the famous Jezebel. The prophet Elijah has scolded them for turning to false gods to end the drought.
There has been a contest: Elijah vs the 450 prophets of Baal, ultimately to see which side would be more effective in bringing rain. 2 bulls were slaughtered. Naturally, Elijah wins when Yahweh answers his prayer, sends down fire, and consumes the bull Elijah has slaughtered. When he wins, he slaughters the 450 prophets of Baal.
We enter at a point where Jezebel is furious with Elijah for killing her favorite prophets and aims to kill Elijah. He is going to run away all depressed.
We will read an expanded chapter 19, from 1-13.
Taste and See the Goodness of Life
The psalm today says to "taste and see the goodness of the Lord." I would like to suggest that we taste and see the goodness of life. I have a Yosemite story that exemplifies this.
The scene. It is day 5 of our 9 day trip in the park. We are at about 9,000 feet. Our last campsite has been at a beautiful high altitude lake called Miller Lake. No one else was around it but our group of 10. It has rained every afternoon since we entered Yosemite, more rain than I have ever seen in all the years I have come to Yosemite.
We have to descend from the lake, reach the bottom of Matterhorn Canyon, then climb up the canyon as far as we can go & still have shelter from trees. I've told the guys in the lead to look for just the right spot to camp in overnight before we go over our third pass of the trip, the third of four, all above 10,000 feet, the first one above 11,000.
When I arrive in the campsite the guys have chosen, it is close to the time for the rain to begin. Everyone has set up their tent except me and one or two others. I notice we are not in compliance with camping rules, but who am I to suggest that everyone move their tent 100 feet away from the trail and the mountain stream.
So I set up my own tent in a wooded area with lots of vines & bushes, take a quick dip in the mountain stream to clean up, and climb into my dry tent for a brief snooze before the rain passes and we get out for dinner around 5:00.
Just before 4:00 while the rain comes down a ranger lady arrives at the lower level of our camp. She asks to see our permit, like happened on our second night with no problem. This is the first time in years I see rangers again in the park. Everyone tells her that Stack has the papers. She arrives at my tent. I open up she informs me there in the rain at 4:00 P.M. that we have to move our campsite. We are too close to the trail, too close to the stream, we have built a small, illegal fire ring, and we even had a shower rigged up in a tree over the trail. She could give us a dozen citations, even fine us, really me as the coordinator of the group.
No discussion would budge her. Not the rain, not the hour, nothing. She left saying she would go up canyon, then return later to see our progress. I felt horrible. I remember sitting in my tent thinking, "What next?" I figured at least we could wait until 4:30 to see if the rain would stop.
Meanwhile, on the lower level of the campsite, Rob & Ray spring into action, rain or no rain. They head up canyon, at least we would be getting closer to the pass, and search out a campsite, across the river, which the ranger had suggested. We had already waded 3 times the same mountain stream and each time had to put on sandals because the water was higher than our boots. There was a little bit of resistance, with hope to find something on our side of the stream.
In the end we chose the site across the stream, everyone packed up wet rain flies, crossed the river, and set up on the broad grassy slope. The campsite ended up being terrific when it stopped raining.
In many ways this experience could have turned our trip into a trip from hell. As a matter of fact, looking back, there was a special beauty, a special good. First, I did not have to initiate the change of camp. Everyone pitched in with acceptance & without complaint. Then we found an even more beautiful campsite which was a half mile closer to the pass than I have ever camped before. And finally, after packing up wet the next morning, we climbed over Burro Pass and found my most favorite and the most beautiful campsite that I have ever enjoyed. We dried out quickly and stayed here two delightful nights.
I could taste & see the goodness of life on this trip.
In your life, what are 2 places or ways you taste & see the goodness?
Picture 1: Mass with Kevin & T.J.
Picture 2: Alexandra & her dad, David
Picture 3: Cara & her mom, Christine
Picture 4: Shelby & her mom, Debbie