PRAYER MOMENT Wednesday 18 June 2014 CHARIOT OF FIRE
“Now as Elijah and Elisha walked on, talking as they went, a
chariot of fire appeared and horses of fire, coming between the two of them;
and Elijah went up to heaven in the whirlwind.” (2 Kings 2:1, 6-14)
What are we to make of this dramatic scene of the ‘hand over
/ take over’ between Elijah and Elisha? Elijah is coupled with Moses in the New
Testament as the two great figures of the old; one defining the identity of
Israel in the desert and the other forcefully calling Israel to be faithful to
that identity. The scene vividly manifests the connection between heaven and
earth, between God and his people, and has echoes of the coming of the Son of
Man at the end of time. But it also prompts us to reflect that today we are in
contact with God all the time if we choose and we need no chariots of fire. We
like a bit of drama but we don’t need it; the reality is there before us.
Lord, you made our ancestors in the faith aware of your
presence in their lives and dramatically revealed it at times. Help us to know
that you are Emmanuel, always with us, and we can live in union with you at all
times. Amen.
David Harold-Barry SJ
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