Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Elijah finds Elisha plowing with twelve yoke of oxen; threw cloak over him; Elisha ran after: let me kiss parents goodbye; Elijah: go back have I done anything to you? Elisha slaughtered oxen used equipment for fuel boiled flesh gave to people; then left and followed Elijah as attendant. Lord is my allotted portion and cup; I bless Lord who counsels me; I set Lord ever before me; at right hand I shall not be disturbed; heart glad soul rejoices; body abides in confidence; you will not abandon soul to Sheol nor let faithful one see corruption. You have heard: do not swear falsely but make good oaths to Lord; but I say: do not swear at all; not by heaven or earth or Jerusalem or your head; let your yes mean yes and no mean no; anything more from evil one.

Elijah finds Elisha plowing and throws his cloak over him; Elisha asks to say goodbye to his parents before following; Elijah tells him to go back - have I done anything to him? Elisha slaughters his oxen, burns the plowing equipment for fuel, feeds his people from the boiled meat, then follows Elijah as his attendant. The psalm: the Lord is my allotted portion; I set him always before me; at his right hand I am not disturbed; my body abides in confidence; you will not abandon me to Sheol nor let your faithful one see corruption. In the Gospel, Jesus intensifies the teaching on oaths: do not swear at all - not by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or your own head; let your yes mean yes and your no mean no; anything more comes from the evil one.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, through Elisha you show us what the yes that burns the equipment looks like - the irreversible commitment that leaves nothing for the return journey. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Christ Jesus, you call us to a character so consistent that our word holds without oath - let your yes mean yes and no mean no. PEOPLE: Christ, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, you promise that the one who sets you always before them will not be disturbed and will not be abandoned - the confident body, the glad heart, the soul that rejoices. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

PRIEST: Let your yes mean yes. Let us bring our prayers before the God whose word always holds.

DEACON/LECTOR:

1. That the bishops and shepherds of the Church would burn the equipment as Elisha did - making commitments irreversible, following as attendant in a way that forecloses the return to the previous life, we pray to the Lord.
2. Where someone is still deciding whether to slaughter the oxen, that the full choice would be made with clear eyes and the cost counted honestly before it is paid, we pray to the Lord.
3. Where yes has not always meant yes - where simple words have needed elaborate reinforcement - that the character formation would produce the reliable word that stands without the oath, we pray to the Lord.
4. For those who set the Lord before them in every decision, that the undisturbed interior would produce the consistent exterior word day after day, we pray to the Lord.
5. In this Sacred Heart month as it comes toward its close, for a renewal of the Sacred Heart consecration and the trust that seals it, we pray to the Lord.
6. They will not see corruption - those who have died in the Lord; we give thanks that his promise held for them, and ask that it hold for us too, we pray to the Lord.

PRIEST: Lord, let the yes of this parish mean yes - the irreversible commitment, the burned equipment, the word that holds without reinforcement. Set yourself before us so we will not be disturbed. Sacred Heart of Jesus, we trust in you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.