Jubilarians, back row: Fr. Joe Uecker, Fr. Tim Coday, Fr. Ron Will, Fr. Joe Bathke, front row: Fr. Al Ebach, Fr. Mike Goode, Fr. Bill Hubman, Fr.
Mike Volkmer, Dennis Schaab
Take Us to the Edge
Homily from Jubilarian Mass by Fr. Joe Uecker, c.pp.s., Odessa, Texas
Where Is Elijah when you really need him? Here
we have a prophet of God, so courageous, so full of
the Spirit, that he took on the 450 prophets of Baal. He
wasn’t in the mood for any “fake news” about some
trick, so he put so much water on the sacrifice that he
filled the trenches.
Ok, so this is an exaggerated story. So, it didn’t hap-
pen quite this way. So, what is this all about? Why do I
think we need Elijah today?
We all know the commandments: “I am the Lord
your God. You shall not have any strange gods before
me.” Some people, including Jesus, think that’s about
all you need. Get that first one right and everything
else falls into
place. Jesus put it
a little differently:
“You shall love the
Lord your God
with your whole
heart, with your
whole soul, with
your whole mind
and with all your
10 • The New Wine Press • July 2018
strength.” And if that’s not quite enough, Jesus adds
the second: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
But it’s really the same as the first commandment.
Time and again, the Israelites violated this com-
mandment. Time and time again God forgave and
took this people back. Little by little, the Israelites they
came to see their relationship with God like a mar-
riage. And when you look at things like that, you don’t
ask any more: “What do I have to do? Is it a sin if I…?”
You ask rather: “What can I do to show my love?” And
if you use the marriage comparison, unfaithfulness
becomes adultery.
That’s what today’s story is all about: calling God’s
people from their adultery back to a loving and forgiv-
ing God. Elijah says: “So this people may know that
you have turned back their hearts to you.” So much for
the fire-and-brimstone God. Not this God; this God
“does not desire the death of sinners, but rather that
they be converted and live.”
Where is Elijah today when we need him? Who is
our God? This is an important question now that we
are in the process of forming a new creation. As crazy