聖經所記載的每一個人物，他們如何回應天主的召叫，都是值得我們參考的。今天，我想透過澄清以下三個有關厄里亞的疑問，對厄里亞如何回應天主，加深了解，並引申出一些結論，作為執事的生活的借鏡。
可是，雅各伯書是這樣說的：「義人懇切的祈禱，大有功效。厄里亞與我們是有同樣性情的人，他懇切祈求不要下雨，雨就三年零六個月沒有下在地上；他又祈求，天便降下雨來，地上也生出了果實。」（雅5:16b-18）即是說，在第一世紀的猶太人信徒，普遍把那三年的旱災，看成是厄里亞懇切祈禱的結果。而且，因為厄里亞並沒有死去，而是被接升天去了，在耶穌顯聖容時，與梅瑟一起出現在耶穌的兩旁，與耶穌基督對話。所以在猶太人，甚至是基督徒的心目中，厄里亞是有點兒「超性」的。因此，雅各伯要加一句「厄里亞與我們是有同樣性情的人。」，把厄里亞與我們的距離拉近。他所做的事，我們也可以做。最後，雅各伯認為厄里亞這樣做是正義的。
並且，如果先知是傳話者，【列王紀上】會寫「（因為）有上主的話傳給…」，共出現過十次之多。所以厄里亞並不是在傳上主的話，而是指著天主起誓，以自己的祈禱，阻止自然的降雨，懲罰以色列。這種祈禱其實是詛咒，不是嗎？
作為執事，唸早晚課是我們份內的事。而且，在牧民工作上，我們會遇上很多有困難的人，例如病人自己或他們的家人，會請求我們為病人的健康好轉而祈禱；待判刑的還押人仕，會請我們在上庭或判刑當日，為她們的案件祈禱。在愛德上，這是義不容辭的；但在信德上，這真是很大的挑戰。我們的祈禱，真能扭轉他們的命運嗎？我們對天主和對我們所接觸到的人，有沒有厄里亞那份「憂心如焚」的感受呢？抑或我們已先入為主，判斷了當事人，認為祈禱也是無濟於事呢？請各位幫助晚生解決這個疑惑！
當然，聖經沒有記載的事，並不是沒有發生的。而且，這比賽是一個很有效的方法，令全體民眾認清誰是真正的主宰。正如厄里亞所宣言：「你們搖擺不定，模稜兩可，要到幾時呢？如果上主是天主，你們就應該隨從上主；如果巴耳是天主，就該隨從巴耳。」（18:21）所以，比賽肯定是符合天主的旨意。
但斬殺450個巴耳的先知就比較棘手了。固然，【申命紀】有以下的規定：「若一位先知擅敢因我的名說我沒有吩咐他說的話，或因其他神的名說話，這位先知應該處死。」（申18:20）這批巴耳先知，即使部份是濫竽充數，他們都是死有餘辜的。但天主不是也赦免了懺悔的阿哈布的罪嗎？那些巴耳先知，不可以見到天主的神蹟而皈依嗎？難道天主也想斷送他們回頭悔改的機會嗎？所以，我總覺得厄里亞這個決定，是出於「義忿」，為了替依則貝耳所殺的上主的先知報仇雪恨，多於真心執行天主的旨意。倘若是出於天主的吩咐，天主必定會保護他，不受依則貝耳的加害。倒是他自作主張，過了火，招致殺身之禍，纔會逃往猶大國避難。當然，要求厄里亞做殉道者，也未必符合天主的旨意。
求雨比賽勝利，可以說是厄里亞事業的高峰。且看他按天主的說話，到漆東的匝爾法特，接受一個寡婦的供養時，厄里亞對待寡婦的對話，簡直好像一個主人對婢女的口吻！復活了寡婦的兒子後，寡婦所說的讚美的說話，有誰不飄飄然。難怪他如此意氣風發，比賽求雨，並斬殺巴耳先知。
作為執事，我們亦有很多機會得意忙形，忘記了尋求天主的旨意。我們祈禱靈修，應該祗有一個目的，就是尋求天主的旨意，並求天主的恩寵，幫助我們完成天主的計劃。另一方面，天主的旨意通常沒有告訴我們運作的細節。正如天主祗說了「我要在這地上降雨。」而沒有填上細節一樣。這是可理解的，天主尊重我們的自由，祗要不是犯罪的事，天主是容許我們自由發揮的。做執事的過程中，我們學習到為了人靈的需要，辦事要靈活，不拘小節。但事情順利的時候，我們很容易意氣風發，好心做壞事，跳過了應有的程序，帶給自己和執事團不必要的麻煩！
作為執事，無論在堂區服務，或者在教區的委員會工作，切忌「捨我其誰」的虛榮感。我們上任的第一天，便應該抱著一個培養接班人的心態。一個人無論做得怎樣好，始終也有退下火線的一天，有調職的一天。所以，與其一個人享受音樂，總不及眾人一齊享受，所謂「獨樂樂不如眾樂樂。」同樣，「獨善其身」，總不及「兼善天下」。所以執事的服務，經常包括策動並製造機會給堂區的教友，投入社區內的愛德服務，例如「以物換物墟市」、「Pizza Party」、「安樂茶飯」等，這種態度，纔是正確的，符合天主的旨意。
晚生功力有限，今天祗能蜻蜓點水一樣，與各位分享厄里亞的生平對執事團的一些啟發。相對於各位，執事們回應天主的聖召比較晚，不像各位「在你還沒有出離母胎以前，我已祝聖了你，選定了你作萬民的先知。」 （耶1:5）。你們在修院的多年培養下，比我們這些半途出家的人更優勝。我們好像厄里亞和約納一樣，背負著前半生的包袱，回應上主的聖召，要費頗大的精力纔把它們卸下。在一起牧養天主子民的事工上，請大家多多包涵。
從內容本身看，有誰可以發號司令，呼風喚雨呢？例如，依撒意亞先知的「葡萄園之歌」就有這一句：「我要命令雲彩不再在它上降下時雨。」（依5:6）可見，明明是天主的說話，但厄里亞為甚麼這樣斗膽，把自己當做天主呢！
是厄里亞傳上主的話，抑或是厄里亞自己說的呢？
大家會否覺得，厄里亞是太「為上主萬軍的天主憂心如焚」、太衝動，以致他沒有考慮過後果，落下詛咒，連自己也身受其害呢？以後，厄里亞不再這麼衝動了，當「有上主的話」傳給他時，他纔有所行動。不過，江山易改，品性難移。厄里亞仍有例外的衝動！
回顧整件事的過程，厄里亞做了兩件天主沒有吩咐的事，可能過火了。
按【列王紀上】的記載，厄里亞是神出鬼沒，來去無蹤的。例如，阿哈布的家宰敖巴狄雅曾說：「…上主的神把你帶到我所不知道的地方去…」（列上18:7-15）而且，求雨成功後，「上主的手臨於厄里亞身上，他就束上腰，跑在阿哈布前頭…」（18:45-46）即是說，厄里亞的速度和耐力，比馬車還要快。說起敖巴狄雅，他包庇100個上主的先知，好像眾所周知，是個公開的秘密。他對厄里亞說：「難道我主沒有聽說過…」（18:13）看來這個家宰是有足夠勢力，不怕王后依則貝耳陷害的。或者依則貝耳的勢力根本不是如此神通廣大。
既然厄里亞跑得好像神行太保一樣快，又神出鬼沒；而且依則貝耳的勢力亦不是想像中那麼大，那麼，厄里亞害怕依則貝耳的追殺令，並且在沒有天主傳話之下，落荒而逃，真是有點莫名其妙了！（19:2-3）
天主祗傳話給厄里亞說：「你去見阿哈布，我要在這地上降雨。」（18:1）即是說，第一，如果厄里亞每日祈禱阻止降雨，天主吩咐他不必繼續；第二，天主並沒有要求他與假先知比賽，証明誰是真主。第三，天主沒有吩咐他斬殺450名巴耳的先知。
事實証明，厄里亞在天主前太自大，太目中無人了。明明最少有100個敖巴狄雅保護了的先知存活著，還說所有上主的先知死了，祗剩下了他一個！當天主吩咐他為厄里叟敷油，接替他的先知職位，並且告訴他「天主為自己留下七千人，他們全部是從未向巴耳屈過膝，未與巴耳親過嘴的人。」（19:18）從那時起，厄里亞纔認識到「捨我其誰」的觀念是多麼的錯。當他看見天主寬恕阿哈布殺人奪產的罪時，厄里亞再沒有義忿填膺，投訴抗議求死。他變得成熟了，行為也收斂了。可能是他開始察覺到在他身旁的天使吧。例如，後來當阿哈齊雅王，他是繼承阿哈布為以色列王的，三次派五十夫長帶五十人拒捕厄里亞時。雖然厄里亞仍然「老馬有火」，兩次詛咒，從天降火燒死他們。第三次他聽從天使的勸阻，沒有降火殺人了。
為甚麼厄里亞在曷勒布山上，仍兩次向天主訴苦說：「我為上主萬軍的天主憂心如焚，因為以色列子民背棄了祢的盟約，毀壞了祢的祭壇，刀斬了祢的先知，祗剩下了我一個…」？（19:10, 14）
天主保祐！
To Reflect on the Ministry of Permanent Deacons through Clarifying some issues about Elijah the Prophet
How Biblical characters responded to God's call is worth studying. Today, I would like to clarify three issues about Elijah, about how he responded to God's call in order to draw some conclusions beneficial to our diaconate ministry.
Moreover, if the prophet was a spokesman of God, 1Kings would say, "the word of the Lord came to ..." which appears for more than 10 times in total. Thus, Elijah did not hand down God's word but swore before God that he would stop heavens from raining in order to punish Israel. This was a curse, wasn't it?
Do you think Elijah has been "too jealous for the Lord", too impulsive so much so that without thinking about the consequences, he cast a curse on which he himself also fell victim? Later, Elijah would be less impulsive. He would act when "the word of the Lord" came to him. But old habits die hard. Elijah would be impulsive on occasions!
As deacons, praying the Lauds and Vespers is our obligation. But in our pastoral work, we will meet many different people, such as patients in the hospitals or their family members, who ask us to pray for the recovery of their health; or remands in prisons who are going to courts or waiting for sentences and ask us to pray for better outcomes of their cases. In charity, it is right to pray for them. But in faith, it is a very big challenge. Will our prayers turn the course of their destiny? Are we as "jealous" as Elijah for God and the people we meet? Or we have prejudged our clients, thinking that prayers are ineffective in their situations? Please help this Unworthy Servant solve this puzzle!
Of course, what is absent in the Bible is not evidence of absence. Moreover, this competition was a truly effective means to make the people recognize who the true Lord is. Just as Elijah declared, "How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; if Baal, follow him." (18:21) Thus, this competition surely agreed with God's will.
But killing 450 Baal prophets was more problematic. Surely, there is such a Mosaic law, "But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die." (Deuteronomy 18:20) This batch of Baal prophets, among whom some might just come to fill up the numbers, surely deserved to die. But had God not forgiven Ahab's sin because he repented? Could some of those Baal's prophets be converted after seeing the miracle? Would God want to deprive them of the opportunity to repent? Thus, I always feel that Elijah's decision came more from his "righteous wrath" to revenge for those prophets of the Lord whom Jezebel had murdered than from God's command. Had it been God's command, God would have protected him from Jezebel's slaughter. Rather, it was his overzealous decision that courted death and had to flee to Judah. Of course, requesting Elijah to die martyrdom might not be God's will.
This Carmel victory could be deemed the zenith of Elijah's career. Take a look at the dialogue between him and the Zarephath widow whom God had commanded to feed him. It was like a master talking to a maid! After raising the son of the widow, how could any man resist ego-expansion at the words of praises from her! No wonder Elijah was so elated as to demand a competition with and execution of Baal's prophets.
As deacons, there are many opportunities to become overzealous and forget God's will. Our prayer life and spirituality have only one purpose: to seek God's will and grace to accomplish His plans. On the other hand, God's will usually does not contain operational details. He simply said, "I shall send rain upon the earth" without further details. This is understandable because God respects our freedom. He gives us a free hand as long as we do not commit sins. In carrying out our ministry, we learn to be flexible in meeting the spiritual needs of people. But when things go well, we easily become overzealous and skip the proper procedures, thus bringing ourselves and fellow deacons unnecessary troubles. The path to hell is truly littered with good intentions.
As deacons, whether we serve in the parishes or diocesan commissions, it is important to avoid the vanity of "I Alone". The first day we enter our office, we should start grooming our successors. No matter how well we have done, one day we shall leave the firing line or be transferred elsewhere. Thus, instead of enjoying classical music alone, we should share with others. "Enjoying music alone is not on a par with enjoying with the mass". Similarly, to be good alone is not as good as goodness for all. Thus, diaconate ministry should include motivating parishioners and providing them opportunities to get involved in charity such as "Barter Markets", "Pizza Parties" and "Leisure Dinners" etc. This attitude is right and God approves.
This Unworthy Servant knows his limitations. Today I can only sketch the surface of the Elijah Cycle to unearth some enlightenment for the diaconate. Compared with you, my honoured audience, our vocation comes at a later stage if our lives, unlike your vocation, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you' I appointed you a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5) Your formation in the seminaries was more superior to ours who answered God midway in our lives. We are like Elijah and Jonah, who carried the burdens of our former stage of our life. We have to spend much energy to unload this burden. When we work together to serve the People of God, tolerate us.
Who can command clouds and rain? For example, we find "I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." (Isaiah 5:6) It is obviously God's word. How dared Elijah to usurp God's words as his!
However, we read, "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit." (James 5:16b-18) That is to say, the Jewish Christians in the first century generally believed that the three-year drought was caused by Elijah's fervent prayers. Moreover, since Elijah did not die but was taken up to heaven, he appeared with Moses during Jesus' Transfiguration and spoke with Jesus Christ. Thus, among Jews and in particular Christians, Elijah was somebody "supernatural". Thus James adds, "Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves" to draw Elijah closer to us. What he did, we can also do. Lastly, James opines that what Elijah did was righteous.
Looking back at the whole incident, probably Elijah had overdone two things which God did not tell him to do.
According to 1Kings, Elijah was difficult to track down. He simply appeared and vanished the next moment. For example, Obadiah, the Steward of Ahab's household says, "... the Spirit of the Lord will carry you whither I know not ..." (1Kings 18:7-15). Furthermore, after successfully calling down rain, "And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel" (18:45-46). That is to say, Elijah had the speed and stamina to run faster than chariots. Moreover, it was well-known that Obadiah had shielded 100 prophets of the Lord. It seemed to be an open secret. He even said to Elijah, "Has it not been told my lord what I did ..." (18:13) It is clear that this Steward of Ahab's House had enough power not to fear the murderous threats of Queen Jezebel. Or in reality, the power of Jezebel has been exaggerated.
If Elijah ran as fast as Superman and was untraceable and that Jezebel was not as deadly as we imagine, why then was Elijah afraid of the fatwa of Jezebel. It is mind-boggling why, without God's word, Elijah should run away for his life. (19:2-3)
God only told Elijah, "Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth." (18:1) That is to say, firstly that if Elijah had prayed every day to stop raining, then there was no need for him to continue. Secondly, God did not ask Elijah to compete with Baal's prophets to prove who the true God was. Thirdly, God did not tell him to kill the 450 Baal's prophets.
The truth is Elijah had been too arrogant before God. There were at least 100 prophets Obadiah had given protection and alive and Elijah still insisted that only he alone left! When the Lord commanded him to anoint Elisha to be prophet in his place and told him "Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him" (19:18), from then on, Elijah realized how wrong his "I Alone" concept was. When he saw God forgive Ahab's sins of murder and theft, Elijah was no longer filled with "righteous wrath", complained, protested and asked for death. He had matured. His actions had turned milder. Probably he began to be aware of an angel standing next to him. For example, when Ahaziah succeeded Ahab, thrice he sent a captain of fifty men with his fifty to arrest Elijah. Elijah was still "filled with fire". Twice he sent fire down from heaven to consume them all. On the third time, he listened to the advice of the angel of the Lord and did not summon fire from heaven to kill.
Why on Mount Horeb did Elijah speak twice, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left ..." (19:10, 14)
God bless!
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