Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and I will follow you. “Whoever puts his hands on the plough and looks back is not fit for the kingdom” (cf. Luke 9:61-62). Such would have been Jesus’ reaction to Elisha’s response when Elijah indicated that he wanted Elisha to follow him. The requirement to detach oneself from anything that might come between the individual and his/her running an errand for God (including family and familiar surroundings) goes back to the Old Testament times. Abraham was himself called by God to leave his people and travel to an unknown country (cf. Genesis 12:1ff). Prophets were sometimes called by God and sent to far-off countries to preach God’s message (cf. Amos 7:12-15). Elisha whose formal call to assume a prophetic responsibility we hear in today’s First Reading was no exception. Elisha appears to have belonged to the prophetic brotherhood (a group of young men who were disciples of a prophet [cf. II Kings 2:3, 5, 7; 9:1ff]) and as such would have prepared himself for such a day when he would have to take leave of his family. And so when Elijah subtly revealed to Elisha that it was time, Elisha did not hesitate. He only had one request: so bid his parents bye. Elijah did not object or reprimand him. The prophet understood that Elisha intended to do, for it too was command by God (honor your mother and father).
In many cultures all over the world, the duty to one’s parents is both a religious and civil requirement ( Pietas). An individual is expected to look after his/her parents in their old age. Elisha understood this, and although he knew his particular call was not going to allow him to fulfill his obligation as a son, he nonetheless knew he owed it to his parents to let them know what was going to become of him. He knew that once he left home, he might never return, and as such did not want to just disappear without letting his parents know. Such was not an act of a dutiful son, for it would have sent his parents to the grave in grief. And this is a sin before God.