Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Strange Miracles of Elisha — The miracles performed by Elisha seem so strange and they inspire the question, “What does this mean?” Digging ditches in the middle of the desert where there is no water, so that water might spring up, should remind us of Baptism and how in the desert of this world the Lord gives life through water. The widow’s oil should remind us of how oil is a sign of the Holy Spirit who anoints us with faith and the gladness of salvation. The resurrection of the Shunammite’s son naturally flows out of the lessons of this week’s first two miracles. The promise of Holy Baptism is the anointing of the Spirit and the promise of the resurrection. The miracle of feeding during the famine should point us to the Lord’s Supper and how the Lord feeds us in the wilderness of this world with His body and blood. The floating axe head, the strangest of all, should remind us of John the Baptist’s ministry of repentance. The axe was laid at the root of the trees that God might bring life out of death through repentance and faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. CP241110v2