Let Your “Yes” Mean “Yes”
Elijah set out, and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat, as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen; he was following the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him. Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, "Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and I will follow you." Elijah answered, "Go back! Have I done anything to you?" 1 Kings 19:19-20
But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the Evil One." Matthew 5:34-37
Piety
"They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks" (Is. 2:4)
Study
As expounded by the notes in the NABRE, “Oath-taking presupposes a sinful weakness of the human race, namely, the tendency to lie. Jesus demands of his disciples a truthfulness that makes oaths unnecessary.” [1] Therefore, another practice which was allowed in the Hebrew Bible are no longer permitted by Jesus.
What, then, does the First Reading mean and how does it further explain the changing practices that Jesus requires of his disciples?
Elijah’s act of throwing his mantle over the shoulders of Elisha associates him with Elijah as a servant. Elisha will later succeed to Elijah’s position and prophetic power (2 Kgs 2:1–15). Elisha’s prompt response, destroying his plow and oxen, signifies a radical change from his former manner of living.
Action
Many of us have no problem accepting gradual, evolutionary changes. However, making radical changes in how we behave is quite a different story.
We live in a culture that has – for some – a distinct tension between the demands of our faith. The euphemism “cafeteria” Catholic describes those who accept what is comfortable and ignore what is hard.
When Pope Paul VI spoke to the United Nations in October 1965, he pushed the leaders of all nations to adopt a stance to reject all future temptations for war.
Here our message reaches its culmination, and we will speak first of all negatively. These are the words you are looking for us to say and the words we cannot utter without feeling aware of their seriousness and solemnity: never again one against the other, never, never again!
Was not this the very end for which the United Nations came into existence: to be against war and for peace? Listen to the clear words of a great man who is no longer with us, John Kennedy, who proclaimed four years ago: "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind." [2]
Just like Elisha destroyed his former tools to free him up for the task ahead as servant and successor to Elijah, what are you called to destroy?
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