Elijah Taken Up in a Chariot of Fire, by Giuseppe Angeli, c. 1740
As the prophet Elijah is taken up
to heaven in a fiery chariot,
he bestows his cloak on the prophet Elisha,
his young disciple.
Elisha in his boldness has asked
for a “double portion”
of Elijah’s spirit. (2 Kings 2:9-11)
In our times, every disciple of Jesus
is called to bear prophetic witness
against the culture of death,
be it a small piece of the cloak or a large one.
—Michael D. O’Brien
I was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in my spiritual director’s private chapel when words, seemingly outside of myself, rose up in my heart:
I am giving you the ministry of John the Baptist.