In a popular reading, we hear of Ahab and Jezebel filling the land of Israel with a false god, and they kill the prophets of Jehovah. What did God do? He sent the prophet Elijah to give Ahab a message. Hence the competition to prove which God is true, with Elijah on one end and the 450 prophets of the Baal on the other.

Three lessons from this showdown in Mount Carmel:

1. Worship alone belongs to God. This is the first commandment, “I am the Lord your God and you shall have no other gods besides me.”  We claim we are Catholic, yet have all these superstitions. We are Catholic, yet we practice Feng Shui saying that “It can’t hurt.” We are Catholic, yet we go to diviners and do occult practices. We are Catholic but our trust is in the material things. We should only trust one God and Him alone.
2. The Punishment of God. During the time of Ahab and Elijah, they killed the prophets of Jehovah. What does God do? The land of Israel experiences drought for three years. Instead of repenting, Ahab even blames the Elijah for the misfortune. 
3. God will surely reveal himself.  Where was God when his prophets were being persecuted and killed? Some may have had doubts, but in his own way, in his own time, in his own wisdom, God revealed himself.

This past weekend, we celebrated the feast of St. Anthony. A true prophet, as one who saw the many miracles of God. In fact, he is the patron saint of missing objects. He was also a very good preacher and had a love for the poor. Thirty years after his death, when they opened his casket, his body turned to dust except for the tongue.

We ask the intercession to pray for the poor and defenseless, as they are usually the first victims in today’s society.