Elija Mission

In the midst of our Lenten journey, the great solemnity of the Annunciation shines forth—the day when our redemption began as Mary said “yes.” Although we are undoubtedly familiar with the corresponding biblical passage, we never tire of hearing the first proclamation of the Good News, when God revealed His plan and invited Mary into His saving work.

Lk 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.’ And the angel left her.

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How does one survive for several days in a lions’ den after being thrown in to be devoured by seven hungry lions? In today’s reading (Dan 14:27–42), Daniel gives us an answer.

Why did the Babylonians want to get rid of Daniel? The reading recounts that they went to King Cyrus of Persia and said: “Hand Daniel over to us, or else we will kill you and your household.” Faced with this great violence, the king was forced to hand him over (vv. 29–30). Read More

Today’s reading (Jonah 3:1–10) is a source of great joy on our Lenten journey. An entire city, along with its king, takes the prophet Jonah’s warning seriously. So there are indeed situations in which people turn from their evil ways. The people of Nineveh did penance when the king issued the proclamation:

“And he made proclamation and published through Nin′eveh, ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?’ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it.” (vv. 7–10)

How would people take this today? Can we imagine a prophet arising to warn of an impending catastrophe and actually succeeding in bringing about the complete conversion of a nation, a city, a town, or at least a Catholic parish? How would such a prophet be treated today? He would certainly be ridiculed—and that is to mention only the mildest form of rejection. He would likely be treated like someone who warns of an impending fire but is then blamed for it.

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Our Lenten journey has brought us today to what is known as the “First Sunday of Passion” and draws us ever closer to Holy Week. The confrontations and disputes between the hostile Jews and Jesus continue and grow increasingly aggressive (Jn 8:46–59). We can see that the Lord is faced with stubborn hearts that are simply unwilling to open themselves to the truth.

We had already noted that neither the miraculous healings, nor the resurrection of Lazarus, nor the wisdom that flowed from the Lord’s mouth had managed to convince the Jews. In this context, Jesus utters these words, in which His lament is perceptible: “Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (vv. 46–47)

With these words, the Lord gives us the key to understanding why the hostile Jews were so obstinate: they do not come from God, nor are their thoughts, words, and actions guided by Him. That is why they close themselves off more and more the further Jesus leads them into the truth.

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In today’s Gospel (Jn 8:12–20), Jesus, speaking to the Jews, utters words that remain relevant for all time: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (v. 12)

These are words that must be deeply internalized—words that illuminate and thus communicate to us the light that is Jesus Himself. The Lord addresses them to the crowd listening to Him, even though He knows they cannot yet fully understand them. With the Pharisees, however, the situation was becoming increasingly tense.

They are repeatedly scandalized by the authority that emanates from Jesus’ words—words meant to reveal to them who He was and to open the way of truth so that they might recognize Him as the Messiah. If they recognised Him as the Messiah, the door would have been opened for them to know more fully God, the Heavenly Father, who had sent Him into the world. When this path is taken, the Holy Spirit can reveal more and more of the truth to us, and our knowledge of God becomes more accurate and broader, and our love for Him grows.

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After reflecting on the figure of St. Joseph as part of our Lenten journey, today we hear, both in the reading (1 Kings 17:17–24) and in the Gospel (John 11:1–45), the account of the resurrection of a dead person. In the first case, it concerns the prophet Elijah, who raises the son of the widow who had taken him in. This miracle fully convinced the widow that Elijah was a prophet: “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth” (v. 24).

Thus, what must follow from such a miracle came to pass: faith in the work of God. In fact, one could say that the resurrection of a dead person is the visible proof that God is the master of life and death, and that only a man who belongs to Him can perform a miracle of such magnitude. Unfortunately, however, not everyone comes to this conclusion, as we must sadly note in various passages of the Gospel.

Today’s Gospel also tells us of the raising of a dead man. In this case, it is Lazarus, whose story is so familiar to us. Prior to today’s passage, the evangelist Saint John tells us that more and more people were coming to believe in Jesus (cf. John 10:42). His witness and the signs He performed were so powerful that those who had not closed their hearts to Him were convinced. And now the great event of Lazarus’s resurrection was added to this.

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On the occasion of the Solemnity of St. Joseph, we will reflect today, in context with our Lenten journey, a little on the one whom God chose to be the foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mt 1:16,18-21,24ª

Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ. This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Her husband Joseph, being an upright man and wanting to spare her disgrace, decided to divorce her informally.

He had made up his mind to do this when suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins. ‘When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

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The twenty‑ninth day of our Lenten journey invites us to reflect on the people of the Old Covenant, from whom our Lord descended according to the flesh, as well as the apostles. To this day, they have not recognized the Messiah. Consequently, some Jews continue to await His coming, while others see the messianic promise fulfilled in the State of Israel, or run the risk of following false messiahs—if religion still matters to them at all.

As the people of the New Covenant, we should always keep in our hearts and in our prayers the intention that, after so long, the Jews may finally recognize the Messiah, who is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In today’s reading, we hear the prophecy that God will gather His people from among all nations, bring them back to their land, purify them of all their impurities, and give them a new heart (Ezek 36:23–28).

The context of these words is that, since the Israelites did not live in their land according to God’s will, He scattered them among the nations.

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Returning to the biblical texts that accompany us during Lent, we hear in today’s reading (Ex 32:7–14) how the Israelites fall into idolatry. Moses must listen to these words addressed to him by the Lord:

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people; now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; but of you I will make a great nation.’” (vv. 7–10).

Throughout their history, the Israelites were tempted again and again to worship false gods. That was one of the reasons why God wanted to keep them isolated from other peoples, so that they would not imitate their idolatrous practices, which are an abomination in God’s eyes. Sacred Scripture makes it clear that these “false gods” seek to usurp God’s place, and St. Paul teaches that demons hide behind idols to deceive people (cf. 1 Cor 10:19–20). To this day, they continue to work in various ways to turn people away from the knowledge of Christ.

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Since today’s Gospel recounts the cleansing of the Temple once again, and we already explored this theme on the seventh day of our Lenten journey (https://en.elijamission.net/day-7-resist-evil-in-the-holy-spirit/),

I have decided to dedicate today’s meditation to two saints whose feast day is celebrated on March 16: Saint Abraham of Edessa (Mesopotamia) and his niece Mary.

From a very young age, Abraham longed for a life of solitude with God, so he asked his parents for permission to become a hermit. However, his parents had already chosen a young woman whom they considered worthy to be his wife. With great regret, Abraham obeyed them. Legend has it that after the wedding, he told his wife of his decision to live in permanent abstinence. Later, he left secretly and shut himself away in a solitary cell located about an hour from the city of Edessa.

God’s call to solitude was so strong that all his family’s attempts to bring him back to his wife were in vain. He walled up his cell, leaving only a small window through which he received the necessities of life.

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