The Mantle of
Love
(reflection on Mass readings
for 12th Sunday Ordinary "C")
by: Deacon Paul Rooney
The Church did well to link together today's
First Reading (1 Kings 19:16b,19-21) and Gospel (Luke 9:51-62),
because they both point to the same theme.
God calls Elisha, through the prophet
Elijah, to become his special servant.
In the story, the "call" is symbolized with the passing of the
mantle from the prophet to the candidate. It is a call to carry the word of God to
others. So that he would not change his
mind through human weakness, Elisha "burns his bridges" behind
him. He slaughters his oxen; uses the
wooden plows as fuel for cooking the oxen; and then gave the food away. He was now fully prepared to follow his call,
to honor his commitment to become a servant of God by being a servant of God's
prophet Elijah.
When we follow this
"commitment-bridge" to the gospel today, we see Jesus advising those
who want to follow him to check their priorities and the reality of their
commitment. There is no turning back,
once you accept Jesus as your Master and choose to answer his call to become
his servant. He uses a farming image to
convey the consequences of laxity in this matter. If a farmer is plowing a field and is
constantly "looking back" to see what he has been doing, his rows
will become crooked. Just so the
Christian's call. He must totally focus
on the goal, the path to be strictly followed, and commit his efforts totally
to the task at hand.
Jesus illustrated the importance of commitment,
by "setting his face" to go to Jerusalem. He chose to say "yes" to his
Father's will, even when he knew it would lead to his passion and death. He had put his hand to the plow without
looking back.
So it is with us. It is not just a matter of believing in
Jesus, being baptized and confirmed, and that's the end of it, claiming
self-righteously: "I've been saved!"
No, now the task is just beginning!
As St. Paul teaches, we still have to work out our salvation every
single day. In particular, we are all
called, without exception, to
continue the mission of Jesus, to plow our own fields, to proclaim the Good
News of God's love and mercy. How we do
that depends on our state of life, and the gifts that God has freely given to
us. But God can take the little that we
have to offer, and turn it into a great abundance for the growth of God's
people. If we do not put our hand to the
plow and work diligently for the kingdom of God by the way we live and serve,
then our faith will grow lax and we will not become a light that the world
desperately needs to see through our Christian witness.
The "mantle" of Elijah and Elisha
continues symbolically to this day.
Specifically it appears in the form of the cape worn by monks and
bishops, and the cope worn by the presider at Benediction. It shows their commitment to serve, the
commitment of love by these ordained men to the mission of Jesus.
There is one other "mantle" we can
count on, the "mantle of Mary."
Our
Blessed Mother taught us what true commitment means, when she said
"yes" to God at the time of the annunciation by the Angel
Gabriel. Her mantle of love will protect
us! A good prayer for us is this: Dear
Mother Mary, please place your mantle of motherly love around me and my family,
and protect us with your intercessory prayers of love. Please ask your Most Beloved Spouse, the Holy
Spirit, to transform us all into the image of your Son, Jesus!
Omaha
Note from Admin:
This post is featured on Catholic Bloggers Network Linkup Blitz
Maybe one of the most profound graces of the situation of Catholics in this day( the hostilities we face in our secularized culture) is that the work ahead of us -- and what is at stake if we do not daily choose to put our hand to the plow -- is becoming clearer. Your prayer to Our Lady is beautiful. Thank you for a wonderful reflection!
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