1 Kings 19:4-8 (NRSV)
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. Here on the cusp of this Lenten season, I thought it appropriate to reflect on this passage as we prepare our hearts for this journey of lent. Carlo Carretto reflects on what happens here: "'Leave me, Lord.' But, instead, the Lord says: 'Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you.' This food given to Elijah on the edge of the desert may be seen as the symbol of a food which is to nourish man: The Blessed Sacrament. And it will nourish him with eternal life and take him beyond the frontiers of this world. The frontier is represented by the desert: 'he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.' In biblical language forty signifies many, many.... Patience is necessary to cross the desert; commitment is necessary for the purification the desert brings. Above all, the desert means 'to renounce'. Yes, renounce these stupidities upon which we have wanted to build our poor existence; renounce those ideas we have been clinging to; above all, renounce that attitude we have had towards heaven and towards earth: 'I was right; you'll see I was right!'"
As we ready to enter into this season may we find our nourishment in the food provided through Christ our Lord.
