14 June 2014 - don't dis-mantle this yes

14 June 2014 - don't dis-mantle this yes

Elijah is the greatest of the prophets.  When Jesus is transfigured Moses appears to represent the law and Elijah to represent the prophets.  It is for this reason that Elijah is the one who comes to prepare the way for the messiah, a promise fulfilled in John the Baptist.

Elisha responds to Elijah with radical commitment.  He destroys the equipment used for his livelihood showing that he will not turn back from this new path.  Yet he does go to kiss his mother and father goodbye.  Elijah in turn lets him go.  As great as Elijah is, he cannot claim the right to the obedience on which Jesus insists.

And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” (cf. Luk. 9:62).

Only the one who himself is "my allotted portion and my cup", who himself is "my inheritance", has the right to insist that he be the non-negotiable first priority of every heart.  He demands our all because he alone can fulfill it.

Let's not try to leave ourselves any wiggle room when we make our choice to follow him.  Let's let our yes be yes.  Let's not set any conditions that limit that choice.  Let's never leave room to choose the world the flesh, and the devil over him.  Let our no to those things be no.  We must not be like those who swear by something less than God so that they are less obligated.  Our yes to Jesus must be without reserve.

There is a mantle, like Elijah's mantle, that can help us.  We need Mary's mantle covering us, marking us as her own, entitled to her protection and love.  After all, more than any one else, her yes with yes.  Her yes is given physical form in Jesus.  Jesus is also God's yes to all of his promises (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20) and Mary speaks that yes together with the Father.  She helps us to speak that yes if we are under the protection of her mantle.

We should therefore have the confidence of the psalmist:

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.