How long will you straddle the issue?

Today's first reading (1 Kings 18:20-39) opens with a dramatic challenge and ends with a dramatic result.

Elijah appealed to all the people and said,
"How long will you straddle the issue?
If the LORD is God, follow him;
if Baal, follow him."

The people, however, did not answer him.

* * * * *

The LORD’s fire came down
and consumed the burnt offering,
wood, stones, and dust,
and it lapped up the water in the trench.

Seeing this,
all the people fell prostrate and said,
"The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"

Sometimes I would like to shout that same challenge at a number of people in our world and in our Church today - people who straddle the fence between the truth of universal faith and the demands of a particular culture.

But Christ did not hand the keys of the kingdom of heaven to me.

Moreover, if I consider things honestly, I am a straddler myself.

May God have mercy on me - a sinner.

May the fire of God's love and truth come down from heaven and fill my heart and mind.

May I become a truly worthy offering to my Lord and God.

May anything within me that is not of God be burnt and purged away.

May I be filled and may I overflow to others with the life-giving water of Christ.

The Lord is God.

The Lord is God.