by  Fr. Leopold

Camtelites take their primary inspiration from the fiery prophet of Mount Carmel, Elijah the Tishbite. The Books of Kings relate the exploits of this committed man of God, a hero to Jews, Christians and Moslems alike. His name means "My God is Yahweh," and Elijah is uncompromising on that fact.

The story is set in the 9th century BC, during the violent reign of King Ahab, velto probably ruled from about 869 to 850 BC. He represents a new low in corruption and infidelity to Israel's faithful God. Ahab complicated his own shortcomings by marrying Jezebel of lyre, a queen whose name has become a symbol of evil and debauchery: Jezebel worked actively to stamp out the worship of the true God, and kill those vitro tried to remain faithful.

She promoted the worship of Baal, the lyro-Canaanite god of storms and fertility. Baal ("the Lord") was identified with the forces of nature which sustain crops and domestic animals. Worship was simple and uncomplicated by any moral standards. Symbolic offerings of grain and animals were seen as "bribes" for favorable weather conditions. Male and female prostitution through temples of Baal invited worshippers to "greater union" with the god. Jewish prophets preached vigorously against contact with idolaters, because of the dangers of following these rites in a moment of weakness.

So Elijah's confrontation of Ahab and Jezebel is presented as a showdown between Yahweh and Baal. It is not a question of which god is stronger, but of which is truly God. Elijah asserts that No rain or dew will fall on Israel until the word comes from my mouth." Since rain and weather were the realm of Baal, Elijah effectively slaps Ahab's god in the Lace.

Israel begins to dry up. Elijah went to his town of Tishbe beyond the Jordan. Beside the Wadi Cherith, ravens brought him food, just as God had fed the Israelites in the desert. When even this water source went dry, God directed him to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon. Deep in the heartland of Baal's cult, Elijah stays with a poor widow, who is also feeling the scarcity of the drought. The widow is not Jewish, but she recognizes the holiness of her guest. Her supply of food never fails, and God even raises her son to life. This simple woman accepts Elijah as a man of God.

After three years of drought, God sends Elijah back for a final test of strength. Jezebel likely ran the religious and domestic affairs of the kingdom, so Elijah takes aim at her hold on power. He challenges her prophets of Baal to a contest. On the slopes of Mount Cannel (a parallel to Sinai) he arranges for his competition, Two bulls are slaughtered and placed on altars to be burnt. Only the fire is missing. He taunts the prophets that their god of lightning and fire should make short work of the sacrifice.

As they pray and shriek loudly, Elijah ridicules the prophets and their god, very effectively making fools of them. Ile suggests that Baal is too stupid or incompetent to hear them, even day-dreaming, napping, or "on a journey' (which is a euphemism for answering the call of nature). After hours of wasted hysteria, the prophets have totally discredited themselves. Elijah calls the people to God. He drenches the bull and altar with water, an extravagant waste after a three-year drought.

Elijah addresses a simple prayer to God, and receives fire without delay. Just as the fire and the blood are the people's proof of God's power, so the rain will be the proof for Ahab. Elijah announces that rain will finally come. The wisp of cloud rising from the sea represents the hand of God, present in human affairs. The cloud grows, the rain begins, and Elijah runs ahead of Ahab's chariot back to Jezreel. There is no doubt who has won the contest between gods.

Ironically, Elijah has a crisis of courage after his greatest triumph; he feels afraid, and runs for his life. This retreat from Israel presents a vibrant image of our prophet as one who truly "stood before God." By describing himself in this manner, Elijah is describing an attitude: he lives in the conscious recognition that God and his power are everywhere.

Elijah's pilgrimage to Horeb takes him into the southern desert, away from Israel. God's question Elijah, why are you here?" is a mild rebuke to one who has left his assigned land. Elijah responds with self-pity that he is the only faithful one left. So God points out that there are still thousands of good people and that Elijah's work is already bearing fruit. God confronts this lack of courage with a demonstration of his presence. we learn that God is not in the wind, earthquake, or fire. Yet Elijah finds God's presence in the gentle silence which follows the more spectacular physical display. God is spirit, not a natural force, and talks to prophets as directly as he wishes.

Elijah returns home to food and companionship, and prepares the final stroke against Ahab andJezebel, who compound their evil activity by the murder of Naboth. Poor Naboth is treacherously killed because he is faithful. Elijah predicts the end of king and queen in grisly detail, and passes out of their lives forever. God is done with them, and so is he!

He selects Elisha as his successor, and then is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. The "double portion- of his spirit which Elisha requests is a special blessing, since the eldest son traditionally got twice the inheritance of other children. Elijah's cloak symbolizes his continuing presence, and the chariot sunds for the protection which God gives to faithful people.

Elijah shows how God is exciting enough to take our breath away. He lives in God's presence, confronts injustice and evil, and stands for a kind of allegiance to God which no one can misunderstand. If Ahab and Jezebel seem to be hapless victims of their own mistakes, their first failure was ignoring the God who is really there.

by Fr. Patrick Thomas McMahon, O.Carm.

Lay Carmelites seek God's presence in prayer while living an active life in the world. This duality of contemplative prayer and active ministry was modeled by the first Carmelites who lived as hermits on Mount Carmel, then later became mendicants in the cities of Europe.

Carmel is Elijan

That means we look to the prophet Elijah, the great prophet who lived on Mount Carmel eight centuries before Jesus, and we find great inspiration in him. Carmelites from the very beginning of the Order have looked to Elijah for inspiration. They saw in the prophet everything that they wanted to be. He was a man of deep contemplation, one who sought solitude in the wadi Carith or in the cave at Mount Horeb. All Carmelites need to know the Elijah stories that we find at the end of the First Book of Kings, and in the beginning of the Second Book of Kings in the Bible.

We see in these stories that Elijah was a restless man. He was filled with energy for God like we want to be, and he was anxious to spend that energy on God’s kingdom. But he was always searching to know what God asked of him. He is the model, along with Mary, for each of us Carmelites. Elijah was a fearless prophet who stood strong and tall against the injustice of his day. He defended the farmer and the peasant against the mighty kings and lords. And that is why the Order of Carmel today has stood with the Church in making the preferential option for the poor. Carmel chooses to stand up for the cause of the poor. We stand with the teachings of Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, and now Pope Benedict XVI, and with their teaching about the rights of immigrants and the rights of workers and the rights of women and the rights of all human persons for housing, health care, and education. Carmel stands for nothing more than what the popes have stood for in their brilliant encyclical letters when they call for rights of the poor to be protected.

The trouble is that many Catholics do not know what the Church teaches in the areas of social justice. Let me say that, tragically, our bishops and our priests often have not done their job in this area. Too often the laity intimidate them from speaking the truth. Too often some clergy preach only that part of the Church’s magisterium that their congregations already agree with. But we Carmelites cannot depend on others for our knowledge of the Church’s teaching. Carmelites have an obligation to learn the social gospel of the Catholic Church and to put it into practice. I am going to be very blunt on this point. If our politics aren’t formed by our Christian and Catholic faith then we’re not good Christians, good Catholics or good Carmelites. Some Catholics think that all they have to do is vote for the candidates that are opposed to abortion, but while the protection of human life from the moment of natural conception until the moment of natural death will always be the chief priority, the social teaching of the Catholic Church is far broader than that one issue. We must know our faith. We must be familiar with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Papal Encyclicals. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Papal Encyclicals belong in our hands as we vote, even as they belong in our hands for every decision we make in our lives. Some might say ‘Render to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s,’ but I can tell you what is not Caesar’s business and where in my life I don’t have to be obedient to Caesar. But you tell me where you don’t have to be obedient to God. You tell me what in life is not God’s concern, what is not subject to God’s authority. The whole world belongs to God. And our whole life belongs to God. And every decision we make must be according to the will of God. The Carmelite, like Elijah, is enflamed with the spirit of God and stands for truth in the face of every obstacle. The Carmelite, like Elijah stands up for the poor, for the victims of injustice, for those who have no voice of their own with which to cry out to heaven.