FR. TED CENTALA, OCD
CARMELITE FORMATION
ELIJAH PROPHET OF CARMEL
TAPE 1
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ELIJAH PROPHET OF CARMEL
By: Fr. Ted Centala, O.C.D.
Tape 1
Fr. Centala: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Audience: Amen.
Fr. Centala: The Lady of Mount Carmel.
Audience: Pray for us.
Fr. Centala: Elijah the Prophet of Carmel.
Audience: Pray for us.
Fr. Centala: This morning we would like to look at why Elijah is so important. And why he is confronting paganism. Just what is his particular job. So I gave you this outline sheet, Elijah the Model for Stages of Growth. It's something like ah, we know that St. Teresa has Seven Mansions for Progress in the Christian Life. There is a similar outline like that for Progress in Salvation History. So I took and traced out from the last fifty thousand years, so that we can see that God has been intervening in our salvation history many times over the centuries.
And so we know why God is concerned that people take the next stage. So we look first at the First Stage there, the cosmic religions, that people at that time found the gods in the Cosmos. Sort of how great thou art when I see things like lightening, and thunder, and ah big storms, and ah things like that, it's very awesome and we say that God has to be in charge of that. No mere person has done that. So for about thirty thousand years that's the way the people went to God. And in many ways the Shinto religion is still that way with twenty-three hundred Gods. The Second Stage are the mythical religions. They now find God in things that are alive. Those are much greater symbols of God than stones, and ah clouds and lightening and ah things like that. So that was from about twenty thousand B.C. to about five thousand B.C. So those were called the mythical religions. And some of the Greek mythology is sort of about that.
Ah, the whole thing was to make life, and that ah, the time when the Old Testament started, Stage Three, uh that was one of the prominent religions. The mythical religions. Their fertility cults. The high places on the hill and the sacred groves where there were temple prostitutes and ah they would slaughter animals, and offer first fruits, and first cereals, and ah even got into human sacrifice, just to make sure there would be more life. So finding God in life was the main way in which the peoples found God. And today that still of course prevails in India to a great extent, where they still have the sacred monkeys, and the holy cows, and ah they still really ah, life, things in our live are a great symbol of God for the people.
The Third Stage. The ethical religions. There were about twenty of them in the world. They find God in order, and there is one God. So as you can see that from this hour glass drawing there's sort of a focusing of the personality. It comes down to one and they realize everything is done by one God, and one God created. And of course the Hebrew covenant was the one that was given that revelation, that there is only one God. And they were given the Ten Commandments. And they went through four stages. The first one they find God as Elohim and pray to God as Elohim and then the (? 082 Seconext sp) as in the promised land. Then in Egypt they called God (? 083 El Chidi? sp) And then they received the Ten Commandments and God is Yahweh and then they slide back. Revert back to the previous one and two stages, cosmic religions and mythical religions because there is a drought, because God isn't listening to their prayers. Therefore they will abandon God. Our God is dead and we'll go back and pray to these other Gods. And that is where Elijah is very instrumental in helping them and he says "I'm the only one left. So Lord what do you want? Do you want us to stay in like third gear here, or do we go back to one of these other two? Let's have a contest?" And so we know the outcome of that contest on Mount Carmel.
And then of course after the Babylonian captivity, the people are so humiliated they no longer say the name Yahweh. They just say the Lord (? Adoni 104 sp) and in that humble position the Messiah comes. So then it's like the end of a big era, in which ah human nature had gone to God as transcendent. Out there, in ah, in creation. God as transcendent. Greater than anything made. Awesome, spiritual one and we then go through that vortex and come out the other side, and now God is imminent. God is now within us. We now can know God from within. We are a temple of the Holy Spirit. The trinity dwells within us. This is a tremendous difference. And ah so when we're reading the Bible most of the things in the Old Testament are here's Stage Three. Here's the Hebrew covenant. We are far superior to the first two. They may have big armies and more geographical territory, but we worship in a way that is far superior to them.
So in the New Testament there is also a lot of contrasting and a lot of Christ's parables saying "Before it was such and such, now here is the new revelation I'm giving you. Here is the next stage, the next mansion of salvation history. This is the fullness of time. Of all those born of women, John the Baptist was the greatest of all but the least in the new kingdom is greater than he is. Because you're into the next stage". So there is a definite ranking of religion over the last fifty thousand years.
When this was taught in Jakarta, in the Jesuit University, there was a young man there attending religion classes. And in order to teach Christianity they had to teach Islam and Hindu also. Later on as an adult he was put in charge of the Hindu Temple for all of Indonesia, like seventy-five million people. And ah, he took this then and modified Hindu religion which had one thousand thirty-four Gods, and said twice in there is a mention of the one Supreme Deity, so he put it in a couple hundred times and took the other one thousand thirty four, and demoted them to like angels and saints. He made a (? 148 monotheism sp) out of it. We believe in one God too. Then he taught that all the youth, were the boys at that time who came in their late teen years, for two years, had to study from these new written (? 154 eponishogs sp). Then they had to have readings from the Koran, Allah, the one God, from the Hebrew Covenant, the Old Testament, the New Testament, St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, and (? Tom Smurtin sp). So someday if you hear that a hundred million Hindus in Indonesia, want to become Christians, it will be because of that one student in college.
I think there was some indication you know, of what an individual can do. And as Carmelites we are called upon, you know, to give witness to the living God. How can we do that? Elijah is called by God and Tishbe, so he is Elijah the Tish bite. And ah, he says "As the Lord, the God of Israel is before whom I stand". So, his first job was to witness to the fact that God was around. Where the people were saying "There's no rain and we're praying, God isn't listening therefore, we're going to abandon this God and go to somebody else". He is saying "No, I stand and pray to God everyday and I know God is around". See, so first, just witnessing to the presence of God. Knowing that God is alive.
One time Billy Graham was interviewed on this very point. And they asked him "Well, many are saying now God is dead". And he said "Well, I talked to Him this morning".
Audience: Laughter.
Fr. Centala: Very good. Very powerful witness, and as Carmelites we are to ah live in the presence of God and witness to the fact that God lives. And I (? stein ? 187 sp) in His presence, and I keep the presence of this God and that is why I am doing what I am doing, and that God's presence has changed my life. Of course, then he says "Because you people have fallen away, and don't trust God, there is going to be no rain or even dew until you repent". And it took three and a half years before they finally repented. So, and all this took place during the reign of King Ahab. And he lived from 874 to 853 or that's when he reigned. 874 to 853 B.C. And this is in Samaria, the capitol of the North. It's about fifty miles southeast of Mount Carmel. And he had a summer residence not far from Mount Carmel, maybe twenty miles and that's where the contest took place. So the people of the Northern kingdom had no place to pray so he set up a temple to the fertility Gods, (? 204 Bowse sp). The main one was called (? 206 Melcart sp), I believe. And Jezebel imported clergy from Tyre, which was the next country to the North. And the reason why so that he made friends with Tyre was because between the two of them who were smaller they could hold out against Damascus that was much stronger.
And, while on sabbatical when we went up into sort of the Northeast to go on hikes near Mount Herman, and got to the border there and we looked across the border there's a sign, Damascus thirty-eight miles. Let's see, they all had this very small and close together, so you know why they were concerned about their safety.
God sends Elijah calling him a servant, or the scripture at least calls him a servant of the Lord. But Christ said "I no longer call you servants, because I've made known to you um what my Father wants you to do. You are friends, you are on the inside group". So, we do not want to be a servant of God like Elijah was. We want to be a friend of God. So our prayer with God, as both transcendent and imminent, the imminent should bring us closer to God, and that would allow us to be called friend.
Elijah especially is known for fire. He had called down fire on Mount Carmel, and in a number of other cases it's fire that he uses. He is full of zeal, and that zeal he uses when there's need, like for punishment. Like when he's calling down and there's going to be a severe drought, because of your idolatry. Because you're reverting back and putting up idols, which are ah, and getting these fertility cults going again, which are the two previous stages. Therefore there is going to be severe punishment for that. He is considered to be the founder and the father of Carmel. Ah, mostly because of his finding of God in the breeze, in the gentle breeze. That even though he did call down fire and liked to use very powerful things to deal with the sinners he was dealing with. In his own personal life standing before God, he didn't find God in the earthquake and in the volcano, and in the lightening and all that, but in the gentle breeze, that's what led him to talk to God inside. So in that way, we say he is the beginning of sort of a public call to find God also interiorly dwelling within us. So in the fifteen hundreds the Carmelites really championed this very much and they said well, we are the first religious order. You others all started in the Christian (? era/year 253) we go even back to the Old Testament, and therefore you know we are way ahead of all of you.
Audience: Laughter.
Fr. Centala: Then they got to so much debating, and so much confrontation and fighting, that the Holy See put a halt to it. And wouldn't let there be any more discussion on the fact that the Carmelites were first. So for like a hundred years (? 260 inaudible) a single boo, then Carmelites got permission from one of the Popes to, in St. Peter, to put this big twenty-two foot high statue of Elijah standing there with a sword. And ah, so the enemy figured they lost.
Audience: Laughter.
Fr. Centala: So ah, they didn't say anything, but just putting the statue there was enough to show them that we had won. Of course.
Audience: Laughter.
Fr. Centala: See, so that was very important in those particular days. But we sort of do not look at such things as that, we look at more. The first and principle obligation of our order is to attend and stand with God in solitude, silence and continual prayer. Following the wish of our first father and founder, Elijah the Prophet, in imitation of Christ who went off in silence and solitude to pray. See, that is the first thing. In that regard Elijah is sort of a model for all Christians, and ah for all of those who are now finding God within. So our basic um...vocation is to dispose ourselves by prayer and the way we live, our activity, so that we can experience contemplative prayer, mystical prayer, indwelling prayer. And St. Teresa said that some struggle their whole life and they're two feet from the well of living water and they finally give up, and they're right there.
So we have to, like Elijah, fight against the distractions. Against those that would say that's not important. And you should be doing this, and you should be doing that, and don't worry about that, if God wants to zap you He will. You don't have to prepare. Those are all rationalizations trying to get out of what our vocation is.So this living in the presence of God. Placing ones selves before the face of God is a characteristic which is inherent to Carmelites. And it comes from Elijah. God lives and I am standing before His face. We also will draw on the strength that we need from being that close to God, and constantly being in His presence. Elijah drew his wonderful strength, and fervent zeal, from the constant remembrance that he is in the Lord's place and the Lord has called him and therefore will supply the strength that is needed.
This required a living faith on Elijah's part, which we know means that its not something you make a profession of faith and you put it in the filing cabinet and then you go on with your regular life. It's something that you've got to be using from moment to moment, during the day, as you're living out your faith. That is a living faith. So he believed intensely in God. Surrendered to God. Trusted God. And so then he was able to carry out his particular duties. He realized also that this was a gift from God. That God had called him, that he had not dared to take upon this particular task, and that he was not sort of a solitary in this. He was in sort of this ah chain of command, and this series of historical events that were happening over the centuries. Just as God had dealt with Abraham and Moses before, and now He wants Elijah to come in there and to continue what has been done. He isn't asked to start anything brand new. Continue the work. Correct the abuses. Get the people back on track because God loves the people. So of course in John 15, it was not you who chose me, it was I who chose you. So we should be very aware in our encounter with God, that God has called us to be Christians and to be Carmelites, and therefore to be very prophetic people.
Are we asked to be exactly like Elijah? No, because he was in the Hebrew Covenant. We're now in the Christian Covenant. Christ has come. The Spirit dwells within us, so we do act differently. And in many ways as we are becoming more Christian we are progressively letting go of that whole first top half, and that outline of those first three big mansions of salvation history. We are progressively putting on Christ. In many of the CCD manuals they call that (archeticuminate 335? sp) stage. So from that we can see that all of those are good.
All were good stages that God used in history, to bring the human nature along. And because all of us in our life somewhat as infants start out at fifty thousand years ago, we all slowly come through the various stages. And just how soon do we hit each one? Its different for different people, and sometimes we get the insight and say "Yes, this is it. But oh, all of me is still back there". Well, then you gotta struggle to bring yourself up to where you've said 'yes' too. So that particular journey, that particular way of interpreting our salvation history is (? 346 phsycongeny recapitulates salageny/sp?). The maturing of the psyche follows the same pattern as the maturing of the phylum or the human race. That we're all members of the human race and we come through the various stages much like historically people went through. That's why some parents really are justified when they say "I've got some little pagans at home". You see, ah they know, yup.
Audience: Laughter.
Fr. Centala: As Elijah was trusting in God, there were no guarantees. No sign, no guaranty how things would turn out. So he's told you know you go and confront Jezebel. She's got armies but you just go and do what I tell you. And long as they trust God and do God's will, God takes care of ah sort of these side effects in what has to be done. Much like I mentioned last night, St. Teresa said "Well, you want this to be done? Alright, you've got to take care of my health. I'll do your job then if you'll do mine. And the young Lord accepted that. So that sort of blind trust, knowing that God sees the big picture and that we cannot. Ah, that really takes a lot of faith. But we know that was precisely what Christ had mentioned many times, this leper he couldn't cure him until he believed, then Christ said "Well, it was your faith that saved you". The lady that was suffering from the hemorrhage, she said "If I can just touch His cloak". And then Christ said "It's your faith that has cured you". The blind man "Your faith has healed you". The Roman centurion. "I tell you I've never found as much faith among the Israelites". So as long as that Roman was willing to trust, Christ did it. The daughter of the Canaanite woman. "You have great faith, your wish will come to pass". Where there was no faith, Jesus does not work. He could work no miracles there in Nazareth. So much did their lack of faith distress Him. So we have to believe first. And so Elijah was a great model for that and of course Christ mentions that.
Little Terese said "For what God asks of us to surrender of the little child who sleeps without fear in his father's arms. That total type of surrender". God then is not only our sort of energy to do good and to carry out God's will but it's also our protection against evil. That when there are problems we know it's the strength of God that helps us to prevail against them. And in the first primitive Carmelite Rule written in 1210 more or less and given to the Carmelite Hermits, In all things take up the shield of faith by which you can extinguish every flaming dart from the evil one. Of course that's St. Paul. But that is quoted in our rule, so we need God's strength to do good and to avoid evil.
We need the strength to do good because in some way God doesn't tell us how much good He wants us to do. And He calls us and then "Will you do this, will you do that?" and ah one time I was talking to a Secular Order group and ah well, there's these promises and then there is a Divine Office, and you've got to keep God's presence all the time, and there's retreats and you've gotta buy these books. And he said "Now just, you know, what is the basic minimum that I have to do to be a member?" So I said "The first thing you could do would be to use the door".
Audience: Laughter.
Fr. Centala: In other words someone who is called to Carmel, is called to give themselves totally to God, and not to do just the basic minimum to squeek by. We want to do the maximum. And after we do the maximum, we're pining in our heart that we really cannot do all that God is calling us to do. That is the attitude that we should have. That is what the zeal for the Lord, like Elijah, was totally dedicated. Christ totally dedicated to carrying out the mission of His Father. That's the disposition that we want. Not seeking for the minimum. So anyone who wears one of those T-shirts saying "I'm zealous for the Lord, God of Hosts," and then you know, is trying to do the minimum. I don't know.
Audience: Laughter.
Fr. Centala: Elijah knew at times that he was even risking his own life. But he realized that Yahweh is the only God, and there's no greater person to call upon, and therefore no problem. He couldn't have a better sort of partner in what he was trying to do. The Rule of St. Albert, given in about 1210, does not mention in name, Elijah. But the Hermit for living at the foot of Mount Carmel, near the spring of Elijah the Prophet, so it was just understood that they're totally dedicated to Elijah.
As Carmelites we're not only called to be like Elijah, but also like Christ, who went into the desert to pray alone. Christ contemplating on the mountain. Christ listening to His Father in the night, away from all the others, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. So we're called to a contemplative lifestyle. The Secular Order of Carmel may be the most contemplative of all the secular orders. I haven't done all the research on that, but ah, so it does have great demands for this great courage, and faith, and trust.
When Little St. Terese was being, they were working on her cause. In 1910 her sister Celine said "She showed exceptional courage in the way she bore a lifetime of aridity. Internal trials without any dimunition of fervor. And in this connection one remembers especially the extreme, distressing temptations against the faith, which troubled her especially towards the end of her life." And little Terese said "I believe I made more acts of faith in this past year then my whole life before that." So, but still she was considered to be a prophetic person, bearing witness to God's merciful love. So sometime we might think you know, 'Wow, prophet, if you're keeping God's presence all the time, well your just a little bit on cloud nine all the time.' Ah, no. It could be nine but it could be underground not above.
We are asked to live out our faith like Elijah, like Christ, by our service. First of all witnessing. And in Rome they told us this last October, that the Secular Order can do any kind of ministry so long as it is not diametrically opposed to their life. But especially they should get into things that deal with prayer ministry. If they are prayer groups. Groups searching for God, and dabbling around with strange forms of religion, any of that. A Carmelite is an ideal person that can perhaps help these sort of people that are searching and not realizing that there's any kind of a ranking and that others have searched before and we know where it's at now.
Some for instance, kids could get a hold of that nice, glossy, one inch thick book from Reader's Digest on religions of the world. In there they're all presented as sort of all of equal value. Shinto's with twenty-two hundred Gods, and the monotheists with one God, and well they're all the same. Great peoples all are praying in all of them. Well, I guess this is about the only thing they could sort of say as Reader's Digest, but we can talk a little bit differently. In this particular context we have a decree of Vatican II that gives us guidelines. It's on the freedom of conscience, and it says that we have to respect the way in which the Holy Spirit is working in each particular conscience. We cannot sort of like say "Well, the way that you're believing is no good." and pull out that rug and then they got nothing. And the way you do is present something else, and they say "Wow, that's good." And a sort of a side effect is they drop where they are now. That is the way it is done, instead of being too negative.
We also ask to give witness to how our lifestyle now in this country is not really ah, that Christian, and it doesn't help us that much to keep God's presence. Sort of a consumerism that's very materialistic and pleasure oriented, and it's not that God-fearing and all of that. And it's full of self-indulgence and greed, and injustice and all those other problems. So, we can ah give witness there. Now, the witness could lead to losing our life, like for Edith Stein, Blessed Teresa Benedict, of course who ah when the Bishops in Holland openly protested against what the Nazis were doing to the Jews, they then arrested all of the Jewish converts to Christianity and executed a few hundred of them. So she was martyred as a result of this kind of witnessing, ah to what God's will is now. And, martyrdom of course may not be for anyone in this country, but um, I've told some that "Well, you know you don't have much on your resume so far..."
Audience: Laughter.
Fr. Centala: "For St. Peter to read, so you know if you could, you know put down something substantial it would be in your favor."
Audience: More laughter.
Fr. Centala: Let us stand and pray before our living God. Lord our God, may the Spirit of Elijah, the Prophet of Carmel, continue to burn brightly in the hearts of all Christians, especially Carmelites. Whether we serve as Little Terese, the hidden life of the cloister, or in the market place, in our homes, we need that living faith, that indomitable courage of our Father, Elijah the Prophet. We pray that we may always stand in your presence, and serve you with courage. We make our prayer through Christ Our Lord.
Audience: Amen.
Fr. Centala: Father and Son of the Holy Spirit.
Audience: Amen.
Fr. Centala: Any profound questions?
Audience: Laughter.