I have always been partial to our First Reading from the First Book of Kings because it always made me reflect on the question, How does God make his presence known to me? My experience has been that it is always in that gentle breeze, "At the mountain of God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter. Then the Lord said to him, 'Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will be passing by.' A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave." I love the contrasts because so often we dwell in the fact that God is all powerful, and yet for me I have experienced the presence of God in such a gentle way on so many occasions.

     Last week a very dear friend of mine, Maria Roybal, died, and my sister Betty and I went to the rosary and the Mass of the Resurrection. As we visited with friends after those services, someone said, "Maria and John were really Mr. and Mrs. Queen of Heaven." This brought back so many memories of my coming to Queen of Heaven back on April 1, 1965. Maria and John were among the first people that I met and interacted with at that time. They came forward and said, "Father, welcome to the parish, and if there is anything we can do to help in the parish, just let us know." And for the 14 years that I served at Queen of Heaven, they were there, immersed in every ministry. I often wondered how they found the time to embrace and serve in so many ministries. They never made much to-do about their involvement, but they were always there, like that gentle breeze. It is so many people like John and Maria that have made me aware of God's loving presence in all my endeavors. That has been my experience in recognizing all that God does in our lives through other caring people.

     The wind, the earthquake, and the fire in the story of Elijah has been evident in many great conversions and manifestations of God's presence. There is the conversion of St. Paul: On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He said, "Who are you, sir?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." In my meditations I so often dwell on this passage and think about how the manifestation of God's presence changed Paul's life forever. As a result of this, Paul had to suffer many hardships and trials; and at the end, martyrdom. Through his tireless efforts, Christianity grew among Jews and gentiles and to this day, we are moved by his writings and his story in the Acts of the Apostles.

     So often we think of the martyrs that stood up to be counted in the midst of the bloody persecutions in the early days of the church. However, during the 80's when so many tyrants and dictators were propped up even by our own government in Latin America, it is estimated that in those few years, there were more martyrs than in the first 300 years of Christianity. Standing tall among all these saintly people we find the Jesuits, the housekeeper, the religious women and Archbishop Romero.

     It has been said that the real conversion of Archbishop Romero happened when he was in charge of the archdiocese of San Salvador. He had been chosen for his conservative views and it was only when he went to the funeral of Father Grande, who had been assassinated by the oligarchy, that he realized that as a true shepherd, he could not put all his efforts in maintaining the status quo, but now he had to speak out in behalf of his people. He started speaking out against the oppressive cruelty of the army and the government and was so targeted as one to be eliminated. He himself, just a week before his assassination, foretold that his days were numbered. He refused to be silenced but his enemies did it for him as he celebrated Mass.

     His conversion, to my way of thinking, is manifested in the wind, fire and earthquake in the story of Elijah. He challenged all of us who consider ourselves Christians as to what it means to be a Christian. "Those who put their faith in the Risen One and work for a world more just, who protest against the injustices of the present system against the abuses of unjust authority, against the wrongfulness of humans exploiting humans; all those who begin their struggle with the resurrection of the great liberator, they alone are authentic Christians."