Our Holy Father Elijah succinctly says what is most important in the first words of his that the Scriptures give us.
He says to King Ahab who worshiped idols (1 Kgs 17:1), “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
To stand before the face of the living God that is our vocation. The holy prophet set us an example.
He stood before God’s face because this was the eternal treasure for whose sake he gave up all earthly goods.
He had no house; he lived wherever the Lord directed him from moment to moment: in loneliness beside the brook of Carith, in the little house of the poor widow of Zarephath of Sidon, or in the caves of Mount Carmel.
His clothing was an animal hide like that of that other great penitent and prophet, the Baptist. The hide of a dead animal reminds us that the human body is also subject to death.
Elijah is not concerned about his daily bread. He lives trusting in the solicitude of the heavenly Father and is marvelously sustained. A raven brings him his daily food while he is in solitude. The miraculously increased provisions of the pious widow nourish him in Zarephath.
Prior to the long trek to the holy mountain where the Lord was to appear to him, an angel with heavenly bread strengthens him. So he is for us an example of the gospel poverty that we have vowed, an authentic prototype of the Savior.
Elijah stands before God’s face because all of his love belongs to the Lord. He lives outside of all natural human relationships. We hear nothing of his father and mother, nothing of a wife or child. His “relatives” are those who do the will of the Father as he does: Elisha, whom God has designated as his successor, and the “sons of the prophets”, who follow him as their leader.
Glorifying God is his joy. His zeal to serve him tears him apart: “I am filled with jealous zeal for the Lord, the God of hosts” (1 Kgs 19:10, 14; these words were used as a motto on the shield of the Order).
By living penitentially, he atones for the sins of his time. The offense that the misguided people give to the Lord by their manner of worship hurts him so much that he wants to die.
And the Lord consoles him only as he consoles his especially chosen ones: He appears to him himself on a lonely mountain, reveals himself in soft rustling after a thunderstorm, and announces his will to him in clear words.
St Teresia Benedicta of the Cross (1891-1942): Before the Face of God
