Strip away some of the glitter from the account of Elijah confronting the priests of Baal in the first reading and what we find is someone from our own era.
Elijah is a persecuted, non-politically correct, isolated man, intimidated by the political powers that govern the land. Yet, what courage he shows. At this present time, I will pray that the Lord raise up good lay-Elijahs to take on the all-pervasive dictatorship of skepticism that we see about us.
In the Gospel, Jesus condemns those who break the commandments and teach others to do the same. How many Catholic politicians do we have who vote for abortion, same-sex marriage? How many Catholic teachers in our Catholic schools do the same?
Today is the feast of St. Anthony, patron of finding lost things. I shall pray that he find a good Elijah or two to place in our governmental bodies and our Catholic schools. They seem lost or are in hiding.