Father Elijah
By Michael D O’Brien
1996
I loved this book and would love to remember it. The book is
an apocalypse in much the same way the Left Behind series is an
apocalypse. Both stories, tell about normal people living in at abnormal times.
What makes this both stories so powerful is the obviously outstanding pictures used
by John the apostle to communicate the revelation given him.
Father Elijah is a catholic priest who lives as a monk in
the monastery of Mt. Carmel. The Catholic Church calls him to a secret mission.
An extremely popular man has risen through the ranks of power, is uniting the
world, and is very much against the believing church. They want Father Elijah
to offer this man the gospel. Father Elijah, a Jew by birth, escaped the
atrocities of World War Two, he fought for the survival of Israel as part of the Jewish Haganah, and as a
lawyer was rising to fame as a prosecutor of Nazi war criminals. Yet, he
aborted his own rise. He walked away from fame, fortune, and power to become a
very quiet monk. Father Elijah accepts the challenge and with an unlikely cadre
of friends engages his journey.
His friends and allies begin one dimensionally, but most of them take on history and complexity as the story goes on. There is a satifying element of pluck, mystery, and interior consideration in each one. The author allows the character of each one to be in-flux and to be, at times, unwilling participants in Father Elijah's story. At the heart of each character, even the bit-players, lies a decision to or not to trust in God. Humanity of the men and women who pass through Father Elijah's story, add immensely to its depth and definite power to its climax.
Father Elijah is a man of many gifts and talents. He loves
archeology and theology. He gained a few skills and street smarts in his time
with the Haganah. His skills as a lawyer remain undimmed. Yet, his call to
offer another the gospel plays not to his strengths but to his weaknesses. So
much is unknown to him and to the Church that calls him. He fights with the
weapons available to him, yet he continues to suffer losses and setbacks along
with his victories. His enemy mystifies him. His God mystifies him. Even as they
face life and death, Father Elijah and his team often find themselves facing
fear and doubt. So his response of faith is especially heartening. Father
Elijah is often reminded to and often reminds others to go and pray. There in
prayer, he and others find peace and meet with a God who directs, inspires,
strengthens, and stretches his servants. Prayer is Father Elijah’s main
redeeming quality.
God is painted as a present, powerful, and unknowable character
in this story. He does not answer every prayer immediately. He does not help or
deliver from death everyone who believes in him. He calls his people precisely
into the things that they would want to avoid. He uses his people for his own
ends with no warning or preamble. The characters simply act as the characters
they are, full of intellect and instinct. Through and with them, God
accomplishes his work. This portrayal of God, if sometimes dark and distant, is
utterly believable.
The book is long and exciting. It is well paced, full of humorous one-liners, in short a gem in the genre of Christian fiction. Though I cannot agree on the degree of veneration given to the Virgin Mary and other theological points and habits intrinsic to the Roman Catholic faith, I can agree with a dependence on a God who is not at all tame, but very, patient, and very, very good.
