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The ornaments to print out for the Jesse Tree
Understanding the Jesse Tree

Sunday of the Third Week of Advent
Elijah the Prophet
1 Kings 18:17-39 (NRSV)

Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!” Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”  Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.  Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”; with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” Then he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time”; and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water. At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.” 

It is so easy to fall into the trap of putting our faith in false gods and assume that they can provide all that God can provide.  Time and time again, God shows us that there is only one God.  Elijah shows the people that not only are false gods powerless, but God is above, for all the laws of nature He created.  Catholics believe that human beings were made for God and if we do not fill this need with the One God, we will then try to fill it with false and empty gods of this world that will never satisfy.  Only the One God of the universe is God alone.  Elijah the prophet was sent to call the people who have strayed from God back to him.  Jesus came at Christmas to do the same thing once and for all.  Instead of calling forth another human being as prophet, God became human and called humanity back to Himself.  Jesus is not one prophet among many but the One and Only God who enter into his creation to call the people He created and loves into right relationship with Him.  Still, it is easy to turn away from that invitation and follow our own pursuits making other things gods, trusting in other things instead of God.  May you hear Jesus calling you to turn away from false gods in your life and putting all your faith and trust in the God.

God’s people continued to forget about their covenant with Him. God sent another prophet, Elijah, who performed many miracles for the people. Elijah also reminded the people to turn away from sin and follow God. Like Elijah, Jesus preformed many miracles and reminded people to turn their lives back to God.

Discuss as a family the temptation to have other gods and name these gods that take the place of God.  Talk about what it looks like when one has a false god and the possible effects of having them in our lives.  Why is it so easy to fall into this trap that generations upon generations of people have done?  Catholics believe that all human beings are created as religious beings and in one sense can never truly have no God in their lives.  Explore together the implications of this belief:  At the very least, if human beings will not keep the One God as their God, they will then set themselves as a god in their lives, and they may say they believe in God but in practice, they live as if God is not their God.