1st Reading, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

From: 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a

Elijah’s encounter with God

[9a] And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him. [11] And he said, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; [12] and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. [13] And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
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Commentary:

19:9-13. “Taking the desert road that leads to the place where the living and true God reveals himself to this people, Elijah, like Moses before him, hides ‘in a cleft of the rock’ until the mysterious presence of God has passed by (cf. 1 Kings 19:1- 14; cf. Ex 33:19-23). But only on the mountain of the Transfiguration will Moses and Elijah behold the unveiled face of him whom they sought; ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God [shines] in the face of Christ’, crucified and risen (cf. 2 Cor 4:6)” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2583). There is a sharp contrast between the spectacular forces of nature, in which God is not present, and the small still voice of a gentle breeze in which Elijah recognizes God to be present (vv. 11-13). “In this way,” writes St Irenaeus, “the prophet, who was greatly downcast by the transgression of the people and the murder of the prophets, learned to work with greater calm, and thus also the coming of the Lord in human form is signified. In the light of the Law given to Moses, his coming will be seen as an untroubled time when the bent reed will not be crushed nor the flickering flame quenched. The sweet rest and peace of his reign is foreshadowed here as well. After the wind that moves mountains, after earthquake and fire, the calm and peaceful age of his reign will come, in which the Spirit of God will revitalize and gently encourage the growth of man” (Adversus haereses, 4, 20, 10).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.