The First Carmelite

Following in the footsteps of Elijah the prophet

07/16/2020

1 Kings 18:13-24 Now summon all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, as well as the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and had the prophets gather on Mount Carmel. Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you straddle the issue? If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him. So Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the LORD, and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. Give us two young bulls. Let them choose one, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood, but start no fire. I shall prepare the other and place it on the wood, but shall start no fire. You shall call upon the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. The God who answers with fire is God.” All the people answered, “We agree!”

Since today is the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and I am fond of giving tests, let me ask you a question about the Carmelites. Who was the very first Carmelite? Is it St. Teresa of Avila, or St. John of the Cross, or St. Theresa of Lisieux? Those are all good guesses, but they are all wrong. Sorry. The very first Carmelite cannot even be found on the pages of the New Testament, but you have to go all the way back to the ancient annals of the Old Testament, to 1 Kings 18. There we find the first Carmelite, Elijah, engaging in an epic battle with 450 prophets of the pagan deity named Baal on Mt. Carmel. This battle royale consists of the prophets building two altars, placing a holocaust on each, and praying for their respective deity to respond with fire and consume the sacrifice. The story ends with Elijah’s overwhelming victory, which he celebrates by slashing the throats of all 450 prophets of Baal. Yeah.

But why were the people attracted to Baal instead of Yahweh in the first place? Well, because like all false gods, Baal promised the three things all people (falsely) think will make them happy: money, sex and power. Yahweh, on the other hand, offered the people true and lasting happiness by teaching them to sacrifice these lesser goods for an infinitely greater good, namely, God himself. Elijah’s crushing victory on Mt. Carmel, therefore, was not only spectacular theater, but it was also a spiritual teaching: the path to true happiness lies in single-hearted devotion to the true God.

I was very blessed to spend three months with the Carmelites in Dallas several years ago. One day I mentioned to a Carmelite friar that I would love to visit Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land, and stand on the site of the battle royale between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. From atop Mt. Carmel, you get a breath-taking view of the Mediterranean Sea. He replied with piercing eyes and a knowing smile: “You don’t have to go to the Holy Land to see Mt. Carmel. That sacred mountain stands inside your own heart.”

He later explained that the heart is where modern-day Carmelites (like Elijah) battle against Baal, who promises us passing pleasures of money, sex and power. Carmelites (and other religious) take the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience precisely to counteract the impulses of these three perennial temptations. And God’s holy fire comes down from heaven and consumes a modern Carmelite’s acceptable sacrifices, just like it did 2,850 years ago on Mt. Carmel.

But I believe that lay persons are likewise called to be spiritual Carmelites, and walk a mile or two in the sandals of Elijah. Not only in every Christian heart, therefore, but also in every Christian home stands that spiritual Mt. Carmel, and the battle with Baal. What do I mean? Well, do parents not choose to impoverish themselves so that their children might become rich? That is the laity’s version of the vow of poverty. Do parents not teach their children the virtue of chastity, even if they at times fall short of it themselves? That’s the lay version of the vow of chastity.

Do parents not demand obedience from their children because they know it brings harmony and happiness into the home? That is the laity’s sense of obedience. In other words, we see reenacted that spectacular show-down between the true God and the false gods in every Christian heart and home that tries to live by the gospel, and embrace the “evangelical counsels.” And what happens? God sends his holy fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifices on the Mt. Carmels standing in every Christian home.

May our sacrifices of money, sex and power be acceptable in the sight of Almighty God, and be consumed by the fire of his love. Let us ask for the intercession of that first Carmelite, Elijah, to teach us to take up our sword and do battle with Baal, and his false prophets. Of course, the first false prophet we must battle and defeat is ourselves.

Praised be Jesus Christ!