15 June 2024 – Saturday of Week 10

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15 June 2024 – Saturday of Week 10

1st Reading: 1 Kings 19:19-22

Elijah chooses Elisha as his attendant and successor

Elijah set out and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was ploughing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” Then Elijah said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Responsorial: Psalm 16

R./: You are my inheritance, O Lord

Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the Lord, My Lord are you.
O Lord, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot. (R./)

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
even at night my heart exhorts me.
I set the Lord ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed. (R./)

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption. (R./)

Gospel: Matthew 5:33-37

‘Again, you have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you: do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne; or by the earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great king.

Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

The challenge of fidelity

Some sense of belonging to “a new creation” shows up in both readings. Elijah threw his cloak over the young man Elisha, showing that the older generation was passing from the scene and a new generation was taking its place. By sacrificing his oxen and burning his equipment, Elisha undertakes to continue the work of Elijah, and be a constant reminder to his people of their duties towards God. A radical challenge is also set by Jesus in today’s gospel: “Do not swear at all. Take no oaths, but say Yes when you mean Yes and No when you mean No.”

The kingdom of God is a wonderful idea and glorious dream, but is the Sermon on the Mount literally possible in this world? Some Christians try to follow his words literally, keeping their speech simple and exact, never exaggerating or “embroidering.” Most people, however, and certainly Irish people, feel the need to say more than a crisp “Yes” or an absolute “No.” We consider it fair that others need to check out our ID card and our driver’s license, and we are willing in court to swear on the Bible that our words are true. We and our world are not yet fully there, in kingdom mode!

Jesus opposes the kind of oath taking that seeks to control God for one’s own purposes, swearing by heaven, God’s throne, or by earth, God’s footstool, or by Jerusalem, the city of God. The temptation to control God for one’s own purpose has been deeply rooted in the human spirit. Ancient magic was an attempt to control the spirit world for one’s own purpose, and, indeed, the same could be said of certain forms of contemporary magic. Instead, the Lord’s Prayer urges us to begin by surrendering ourselves to God’s purpose, ‘your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be done.’

Pope Francis seems to blend genuine idealism and a gritty awareness of our flawed, human condition. Despite our personal imperfections, he says, we should reach out in hope, full of the joy of the Gospel. We trust in divine grace to help us live a life that is both responsible and free. This will mean freely giving ourselves over to God’s will for us as individuals, and for his creation. In this we follow Jesus, who prayed, ‘Father… not my will but yours be done’ and the example of Mary, who said, ‘Let it be to me according to your word.’

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