Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here;
the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.”
“As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live,
I will not leave you,” Elisha replied.
And so the two went on together.
Elisha's reply, "I will not leave you!" reminds me of the conversation of Naomi and Ruth, from the Book of Ruth:
See now,” (Naomi) said, “your sister-in-law (Oprah) has gone back to her people and her god. Go back after your sister-in-law!”
But Ruth said, “Do not press me to go back and abandon you! Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die I will die, and there be buried. May the LORD do thus to me, and more, if even death separates me from you!” Naomi then ceased to urge her, for she saw she was determined to go with her.
Ruth, King Davids' grandmother, was not a Jew; she didn't acquire her intense loyalty to her mother-in-law by her practice of Jewish religion. It was rather that Spirit of Affection that God bestows on all people wherever they might live, whatever religion they practice. God's Spirit in us imitates the Christ who loves the Father as the Father loves the Son. Recognizing the image of an adorable God in other people, we are drawn to admire, love and bind ourselves to our fellow human beings.
Returning to our first reading, we see the Holy Spirit of Prophecy binding the prophets Elijah and Elisha in such a manner that, when the elder disappears the younger takes up his mantle and continues the mission. Elisha is as zealous as Elijah and invested with all of his authority; the band of lesser prophets who have watched them from a distance know that instantly.
In the Spirit of Elijah/Elisha, the Church enters this third millennium since the life and death of Jesus. We have a lot of history behind us; we renounce none of it for we see the Holy Spirit has remained with us in every age and place. Even now we see the prophetic spirit of Elijah and Elisha; the guiding spirit of Moses; the comforting spirit of Naomi and Ruth; the healing spirit of Tobiah and Raphael; and the reforming spirit of Josiah and Ezra. No sooner has Jesus lavished his spirit upon us at Pentecost than martyrs like Stephen and the Apostle James are martyred for our faith. Martyrs of every assure us that God is with us for only God could inspire unarmed men and women to defy the powerful with nothing more than the Word of Truth.
Elijah's mantle barely touched the ground before Elisha snatched it up and wrapped it around his own shoulders. That prophetic authority remains within the Church today, especially as we remain devoted to one another like Ruth to Naomi and Elisha to Elijah.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.