A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 22, n.32)
Week 14 in Ordinary Time: July 7-13, 2024
(The pastoral tool BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY & WEEKDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy from various perspectives. For the Lectio Divina on the liturgy of the past week: June 30 – July 6, 2024 please go to ARCHIVES Series 21 and click on “Ordinary Week 12”.
Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: July 7-13, 2024.)
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July 7, 2024: FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Suffers the Perils of a Prophet”
BIBLICAL READINGS
Ez 2:2-5 // 2 Cor 12:7-10 // Mk 6:1-6
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 6:1-6): “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place.”
The following story narrated by Anthony de Mello in his book, The Song of the Bird, illustrates poignantly the irony contained in the Gospel passage (Mk 6:1-6).
Nasruddin earned his living selling eggs. Someone came to his shop one day and said, “Guess what I have in my hand.” “Give me a clue,” said Nasruddin. “I shall give you several: It has the shape of an egg, the size of an egg. It looks like an egg, tastes like an egg, and smells like an egg. Inside it is yellow and white. It is liquid before it is cooked, becomes thick when heated. It was, moreover, laid by a hen.” “Aha! I know!” said Nasruddin. “It is some sort of cake!”
It is ironic. The expert misses the obvious. And it is also with irony that the neighbors of Jesus of Nazareth miss the obvious. They think they know every detail about him. In purporting to have complete knowledge of his personal data, they end up showing their ignorance. Their knowledge of “the carpenter, the son of Mary” is superficial. Their prejudice prevents them from believing and responding to the Christ, the Son of God.
In today’s Gospel episode (Mk 6:1-6a), we come face to face with the mystery of a resisting and unbelieving heart. Mark’s narrative illustrates the possibility and reality of closing one’s heart and mind to the Prophet of truth and Savior of the world. It is ironic that the saving Lord, who would be the object of Peter’s faith declaration: “You are the Christ.” (Mk 8:30) and the centurion’s climactic confession at the foot of the cross: “Truly this man was the Son of God.” (Mk 15:39), is not welcomed by his townsfolk. According to Mark, “they took offense at him”. They were prejudiced by the utter ordinariness of Jesus’ background.
The account of the people’s rejection of Jesus serves as a transition point. It bridges the greatest of Jesus’ miracles in his Galilean ministry, the raising of the daughter of Jairus to life (Mk 5:35-43), with the sharing of his healing power with the disciples (Mk 6:7-13). This episode underlines the tragic end of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and foreshadows the greater rejection of Israel that he would undergo. It also signals the new phase of the ministry of the Twelve whose increasingly active role anticipates the all-inclusive mission of the apostolic Church. Indeed, this transitional passage dramatizes that Jesus’ preaching would also meet failure. Disappointment and rejection are part and parcel of the mission of Jesus, as well as of his disciples and the Church.
Jesus is amazed by the lack of faith that he finds at Nazareth. The popular proverb he cites, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house” (Mk 6:5), situates him in line with all the prophets who are subjected to rejection by their co-citizens as illustrated by the fate of the prophets Elijah and Elisha (cf. Lk 4:25-27). Jesus is affected by the power of their unbelief and is “not able” to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. Jesus respects human freedom. The decision of an unbelieving and resisting heart, which negates the gratuitous offer of his love, is respected.
B. First Reading (Ez 2:2-5): “They are a rebellious house but shall know that a prophet has been among them.”
My liturgy class at Maryhill School of Theology in Metro Manila Philippines in 2001 included the topic “Liturgy and Creation”. I invited a team from Barrio Ugong to give my students a background on the ecological endeavors in the country. The team was composed of enterprising housewives. Though none of them had a college or even a high school degree, they were a leaven of transformation for the local community. Barrio Ugong was judged one of the best barrios in the entire Philippines, definitely through the help of such “noble” women. Speaking in Tagalog, for none of them was proficient in English, the medium of instruction in higher Filipino schools, they conducted the seminar on waste management, recycling, composting, organic gardening, etc. in very simple terms, but with expertise. They also shared the rejection they experienced in pursuing their community development project. Especially resistant were the macho men who spent much time drinking, gambling and in sheer indolence. The women steeled themselves from their unjust attacks and continued their endeavor with single-hearted devotion and courage. Their patience, persistence and prophetic stance paid off.
The poignant experience of Jesus in his hometown, where the people’s familiarity with his humble beginning made them contemptuous of his fame and suspicious of his newly revealed wisdom and mighty deeds, is already prefigured in the pathos and sufferings of the prophet Ezekiel. Indeed, a prophet must speak, whether or not people listen. A prophet must act, whether or not people accept him. A prophet must prophesy whether or not people welcome him. The agony and ecstasy of a prophet sent by God result from the Lord’s uncompromising solicitude for his people and stem from the divine saving plan. God places harsh words in his prophet’s mouth to lead obdurate sinners to conversion. Through his prophet God reveals not only his judgment, but his compassion and mercy.
Today’s Old Testament reading (Ez 2:2-5) tells us that in his perilous mission, the prophet is not alone for he is strengthened by God’s spirit. While commissioning Ezekiel to speak his words to the people of Israel exiled in Babylon, the Lord fills the prophet with his spirit to strengthen him and set him on his feet. The spirit of the Lord enables Ezekiel to be attentive to the Lord’s presence and the meaning of his words. The biblical scholar, Eugene Maly comments: “It is said that spirit entered into Ezekiel. This means a special power coming from God enabling him both to hear the word of God and to communicate it to others. This is an indication of the extreme difficulty of the prophet’s task. The word was one of doom; he would need spirit. He would need spirit, above all, because of the people to whom he would preach. They are hardhearted and rebellious … Nevertheless, the power of God would be manifested, not necessarily in the conversion of the people, since that requires their free response … They will know that a prophet has been among them. On the basis of that knowledge, let them choose.”
C. Second Reading (2 Cor 12:7-10): “I will boast in m my weaknesses in order that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent remarked: “A life marked by persecution, coercion and suffering of every kind is not regarded by the Christian as a reason for discouragement or despair; rather, it is a life that draws strength from the indwelling Lord. Weakness and suffering enable the Christians to clear a space within himself where the power of God can dwell.”
This is likewise the experience of the New Testament prophet Paul, who was afflicted with a “thorn in the flesh”, according to the reading (2 Cor 12:7-10). Like Ezekiel and his beloved Lord Jesus Christ, the great apostle Paul was rejected, challenged, contested and criticized by the people he was meant to serve. Some vicious critics in the Corinthian community doubted his credentials and rated him as not on par with the “super apostles” who had received visions and revelations. Compelled to deal with his critics on their own terms, the indignant Paul confessed that he too was a recipient of a special vision. This unique “revelation” transported him to paradise. His ecstatic, mystical experience definitely surpassed those being vaunted for the “super apostles”. Paul spoke of this “revelation” in the third person to emphasize that it was an undeserved gift received from God. Indeed, until driven to this extreme by his Corinthian critics who looked down on him, he had refrained from speaking about this and kept it a secret. However, in order that he may not become conceited on account of this extraordinary revelation, the mystic Saint Paul was also gifted with a “thorn in the flesh”, most likely an embarrassing, chronic physical malady. The purpose of this affliction was clearly to help Paul assume a humble stance and allow the grace of God to work more freely and efficaciously in him.
The experience of Saint Paul, as well as that of the prophet Ezekiel and the ultimate prophet Jesus Christ, testifies to the presence of divine grace in all our afflictions. Though his “thorn in the flesh” continued to afflict him, the certainty of God’s favor and assistance was enough for Paul. The Christians of today are called to the same trust, surrender and faith that in weakness, there is strength, if only we are united with Christ. The following story of the cancer victim, Kevin Barry, a former chief of legislation for the U.S. Coast Guard and a director of the National Institute of Military Justice, is a modern day testimony of how a physical affliction – a “thorn in the flesh” can be a “gift” to manifest the love and power of God (cf. “Pain and the Power of Prayer” in Saint Anthony Messenger, February 2009, p. 35-37).
It is said that cancer changes everything. That goes also for prayer. I was diagnosed with colon cancer on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1997. When the diagnosis first came in, prayer suddenly took on a much more prominent role in my wife’s life, as well as my own. Each time the cancer returned, and with each new crisis, prayer again rose up to be a more constant companion. But it is not just the proximity or amount of time we came to spend in prayer. What is more important is that, since cancer, our prayer habits have changed. Our prayers have become more present, more intense, more frequent, more together. (…)
My cancer has also resulted, at various times in the past years, in me experiencing pain. At such times I tend to pray with more intensity than is my norm when I am not in any pain and life is proceeding smoothly. That intensity can vary from a little more prayer than normal to an almost constant plea for strength to endure when the pain is particularly severe … Obviously, the pain is part of the whole deal. It is a result of cancer. Thus, it has to be part of what Roslyn and I have come to accept as “the gift of cancer”. (…)
To a certain degree, my experience of pain changed in 2007, after I had to stop chemotherapy in February because it wasn’t working well – its toxicity became too great. My white blood cell and platelet counts were being suppressed and were taking longer and longer to bounce back. Soon thereafter, I began to experience cancer pain that was chronic and quite severe, and I learned just how much a part of my life pain and pain medications could become. I spent more time praying, not just for the grace to endure the pain, but especially for the grace to accept better both my cancer and its pain as part of the gift (some would call it a cross), which was fashioned just for me by my loving God. I was extraordinarily blessed when the next round of chemotherapy miraculously terminated the pain just two days after the first treatment. I believe this sudden relief from all pain was a reminder of God’s mercy. (…)
The serious pain I have experienced has led me to consider pain and suffering on another level. Paul the Apostle has two extraordinary sentences in his letters. One is: I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20). The other is: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ (Colossians 1:24). What could possibly be lacking in the sufferings of Christ? His passion and death were part of his perfect sacrifice. The only thing I know that is lacking is for his suffering to be made present today – in this place and in this time. But if Christ lives in me, then my suffering becomes Christ’s suffering. Suddenly, it is much easier to endure pain knowing that, by doing so with the right intention, I bring the mystery of Christ’s own suffering into my life, for my benefit and for the benefit of all who are “one with me” in my struggle. It is like a variation on the Mass, through which Christ’s sacrifice is made present today in our world. In my suffering here and now, if I can truly live Paul’s words, Christ lives and suffers in me. And I live and suffer in him. What an awesome mystery. What a profound faith to share.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we believe in Jesus as the true prophet? How deep is our faith in Jesus? Is it deep enough to allow him to be effective in our life?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
your neighbors were scandalized by your humble “roots”.
They were prejudiced because you were “only” a carpenter,
and they knew you “so well” as the son of Mary.
They took offense at your ordinariness.
Through their lack of faith,
they have closed their hearts to the mighty deeds
you would have performed in Nazareth.
Jesus, have mercy on us!
Forgive us for the many times we have rejected you.
We are sorry for the pain you have suffered on our account.
Grant us the grace of true faith in you.
You are the true prophet.
You speak the words of life.
We welcome you into our heart.
Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening.
We bless you and adore you,
now and forever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“And they took offense at him.” (Mk 6:3)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for those who share the Word, especially those experiencing rejection and difficulties, that they may be strengthened in their prophetic ministry. In reparation for the rejection suffered by Jesus from his neighbors, do not react negatively to someone who treats you with hostility, but rather, respond to him/her with an act of kindness.
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July 8, 2024: MONDAY – WEEKDAY (14)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Lord of Life … The Church Is His Bride”
BIBLE READINGS
Hos 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22 // Mt 9:18-26
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mt 9:18-26): “My daughter has just died, but come and she will live.”
Today’s Gospel (Mt 9:18-26) is a glorious celebration of life. It tells of the restoration of the fullness of life to a hemorrhaging woman and to a young dying girl. To both, Jesus brings life and brings it gladly. The woman healed of her bleeding and the little girl whom Jesus raised from the dead will die again. But because of Jesus’ benevolent actions on their behalf, their chances for eternal and unending life are enhanced. Their contact with Jesus is transforming and radically life-giving. In the same way, we are being challenged today to improve and enhance the quality of our own life and that of others. The Lord Jesus wants to give life and build a new world through us.
The following story testifies to the endeavors of Christian disciples of today to bring life to a death-dealing situation (cf. Deacon Darrell Smerz in “Missioner Tales” in Maryknoll, May-June 2012, p. 10).
A few years back, St. Mary’s Parish in Tomahawk, Wis., passed a resolution to adopt a sister parish. I contacted Father Leo Shea of Maryknoll and we were assigned a parish in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. A year later, our pastor and I visited that city, where Maryknoll Father David La Buda hosted us around many of the barrios. What a revelation! Of the many experiences, one stands out the most.
A 15-year old girl lay on a worn mattress on a dirt floor with one leg swollen three times the size of the other. The following day in the rain we placed her on a flat board in the uncovered back of a pickup truck to take her to the hospital 13 miles away. I held an umbrella over her head as we made the journey with her father. She was diagnosed with cancer and our parish paid for the amputation.
Months later the girl died, but she had remarked that the months after the amputation had given her great relief from pain. I’ll never forget that journey in the rain in the back of the open truck with the open umbrella over our heads.
B. First Reading (Hos 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22): “I will espouse you to me forever.”
This happened in Manila years ago. Our neighbor came for a chat. She informed us about an uncle who was a contract worker in Saudi Arabia earning a living for his family. After several years of hard work in that distant land, he discovered when he returned to the Philippines that the fruit of his sacrifice was squandered by his wretched wife who was running around with four different men. Enraged and hurt, he almost killed his wife who had prostituted herself with numerous partners. Deeply humiliated and despondent, he tried to alleviate his misery by getting drunk.
The plight of this aggrieved spouse is similar to the experience of the Old Testament prophet Hosea. The Jerusalem Bible gives a commentary on this pathetic prophet and his work: “Hosea, a native of the Northern Kingdom, was a contemporary of Amos, since his ministry began under Jeroboam II, though it continued through the reign of his successors; Hosea may even have lived to see the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C. It was a somber period for Israel with the victorious advance of Assyria (734-732 B.C.), internal rebellions (four kings assassinated in fifteen years), religious and moral corruption. Of Hosea’s life during those turbulent times we know nothing beyond his own domestic troubles, but these were to condition his ministry as a prophet … Hosea has married a wife whom he loves but who deserts him; his love remains however, and, having put her to the test, he takes her back. The prophet’s sad experience becomes a symbol of Yahweh’s dealings with his people … Israel, the bride of God, has become a faithless harlot and has aroused the anger and jealousy of her divine husband. God’s love remains; he will punish her, but only to bring her back and restore her to the joys of their first love.”
Today’s Old Testament reading (Hos 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22) is one of the most beautiful passages ever proclaimed in the liturgical assembly. It is a tender appeal for a renewed love relationship. The Lord Yahweh seeks to renew the nuptial bond adulterated by Israel’s apostasies. As the loving, faithful spouse of Israel, God seeks to revive the spark that once characterized their covenant relationship. He desires to restore their bond as spouse-Lord and bride-people.
The magnanimous character of Yahweh can be easily gleaned in the following declarations he made to his chosen people: “I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and mercy. I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord” (Hos 2:21-22). The covenant bond is to be lived in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and mercy. God’s relationship with his people is marked with integrity and faithfulness, with tenderness and abounding compassion. The response expected of Israel is to live in justice, mercy and fidelity. Then the bride-people Israel would have the pleasure of coming to “know the Lord” in an all-embracing way that entails obedience to the divine saving will.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we trust in Jesus, the Lord of life? What do we do to promote life in death-dealing situations?
2. How do the pathos and deep agony of the abandoned spouse, Hosea, impact us? What feelings are evoked in us by Israel’s betrayal of her spouse, the Lord God? In what ways are we the unfaithful spouse of Yahweh? How do we respond to God’s forgiving love and his gracious invitation to renew our nuptial covenant?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Dear Jesus,
you are the Lord of Life and the Bridegroom of the Church.
Animated by the Holy Spirit,
we choose to tread the path of love
and to affirm the power of life.
Help us to promote life in death-dealing situations
and to respond fully to your unending love.
With you we celebrate the triumph of life and love.
You live and reign,
forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“The woman was cured … the little girl arose.” (Mt 9:22, 25) // “I will espouse you to me forever.” (Hos 2:21).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your charitable actions and care for the sick and suffering, let the healing power of Jesus prevail over death-dealing situations. // Pray especially for those who are experiencing the anguish of a betrayed nuptial relationship – for those whose marriage bond has been adulterated and shattered. Promote the beauty and integrity of the sacrament of matrimony.
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July 9, 2024: TUESDAY – WEEKDAY (14)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to Work in God’s Harvest … He Leads Us to Conversion”
BIBLE READINGS
Hos 8:4-7, 11-13 // Mt 9:32-38
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mt 9:32-38): “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.”
Today’s Gospel episode (Mt 9:32-38) presents Jesus as having power to exorcise demons and to heal speechlessness. The people respond to his miraculous intervention with amazement, but the unbelieving Pharisees claim that Jesus works by demonic power. It is unfortunate that the Pharisees, who have witnessed the miracles, have closed their hearts to Jesus as the one sent by God. In spite of their resistance and defiance, Jesus continues to fulfill his saving mission in word and deed. He teaches in the synagogue, preaches the Good News about the Kingdom, and heals people of every kind of disease and sickness.
Jesus’ compassion is full of concern for the negligence and harassment to which the people are subject. The lowly ones are troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. They are an “abundant harvest” that needs to be gathered and brought into the Father’s kingdom. They need the care of good shepherds and the service of harvest workers. God is the ultimate Shepherd and Harvest Master, but he needs the collaboration of those who accept Jesus’ invitation to discipleship. Like Jesus, his followers need to shepherd the sheep and to help gather the Father’s “harvest”. Indeed, Christian discipleship entails pastoral activity and service.
The following vocation story of Sr. Mary Tiziana Dal Masetto, PDDM, gives insight into a disciple’s response to God’s call to work in his harvest and to care for his sheep.
My vocation came at an early time in my life. It dawned on me at my First Communion at age seven. I also asked myself, "What can I do to help Jesus?"
The question "What can I do for Jesus?" kept blossoming as my teenage life developed. Everything took place gradually and gently. I experienced wanting to spend time with Jesus. I was blessed with a grandmother who attended Mass every day; I would join her walking to the church. During winter, it was dark, and at times it was snowing. During summer, the light of the sun gave us a delightful and enjoyable time.
My desire to stay with Jesus grew further when my grandmother joined a prayer group whose members took turns praying the Rosary. The members of the group also had turns at night, so when my grandmother got sick, she asked me to take her turn. By this time, I already had my Confirmation at age eight. I continued to participate in the daily Holy Mass, going by bicycle and then keeping my turn to pray at night. I was so faithful to kneel on the bed and gaze at the picture of Jesus on the wall above my bed.
One day, when I was age twelve, our pastor read the Gospel of Matthew and explained how this tax collector was very prompt and generous in leaving behind all his business to follow Jesus. This story kept my mind and my heart occupied in imagining how this could have happened.
My turn for the night vigil came again. There I was at 1:00am when, while saying the Rosary, I stopped, and the whole scene of Matthew and Jesus came before me. I could hear the sweet voice of Jesus enlightening Matthew about what is important in life and how urgent it was for him to leave everything behind and to follow Him in love.
I remember feeling my heart throbbing. From kneeling on my bed, I found myself standing on it, as if Jesus were there in front of me, beckoning. I wanted to follow Him so much. Entranced, I walked towards the door of my room until I realized I was really in my room and had to go to bed. This experience was so sweet and attractive, and since I was already thinking about my life and my future, I felt that this was the answer to who I would be in life: a close follower of Jesus. This experience never left me even up until now.
Later, when I was fourteen years old, as my mother groomed me into becoming a young lady, I was already praying in the secret of my heart for a concrete way to enable me to follow Jesus more closely, more devoutly, and more exclusively.
My grandmother had many books on the saints. I became a voracious reader and was figuring out the lives of the saints – what part of each life was feasible for me to imitate. I also had the invitation to participate in the social life, like the celebration of marriages with all its day-long banquets, dancing, and music.
I remember being familiar with father's polkas, tangos, mazurkas, and waltzes, and how enjoyable the time was. This social life was part of my life, and often this kind of celebration was done in our home, where relatives, neighbors, and friends gathered for singing, playing, dancing, talking, and eating. I also experienced the gaze of a nice young man admiring me, and I felt very proud and happy about it. But the gaze of Jesus upon Matthew on that night when I was twelve kept coming back and attracting me, showing me how I could be united with Him in doing good around the world.
In the 50s, Italy experienced a strong wave of emigration to different parts of the world, and I was envisioning myself with Jesus and doing good everywhere. There were talks about Australia, Argentina, USA, Germany, France, and many other places. These were familiar in my town; even my father considered leaving Italy.
I just wanted to go with Jesus everywhere in the world to do good. So I had this great desire, this opening to follow Jesus as a missionary. That night, when the story of Matthew came alive for me for the first time, was the foundational experience of the Call of God for me.
At fourteen, I left home with the intention of studying and preparing myself to become totally consecrated to God. In my youthful ardor, I did not hesitate to express to Mother Mary Lucia my missionary dream, and with pleasure she said, "I will keep this in mind." In fact, throughout my formative years, she provided me opportunities for studies, travels, and the most varied experiences. My heart and mind were shaped into that missionary spirit of St. Paul. And at the age of twenty-seven, Mother Lucia sent me first to Brazil for the work of formation of young women aspiring for Religious Life. Then I was sent to the Philippines and to many other countries until I reached the USA, where I find myself still with that passion burning within me to help "Jesus Master" in drawing to Him new Pious Disciples who will adore, celebrate, and serve Him in the Eucharistic, Priestly, and Liturgical Ministries in the contemplative style of Divine Beauty.
And what I now enjoy in my heart is this prayer: "One thing I ask of the Lord, all the days of my life: that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate His temple." – Psalm 27:4
B. First Reading (Hos 8:4-7, 11-13): “When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind.”
Today’s Old Testament reading (Hos 8:4-7, 11-13) asserts that Israel’s sinful actions are self-destructive. The people choose kings on their own and appoint leaders without divine approval. Moreover, they fashion idols from their silver and gold which they adore. Like the farmers who reap what they sow, in sowing the evil wind they reap the violence of the whirlwind. They reject the Lord’s teachings and prefer to appease him with idolatrous sacrifice. They are precipitating to destruction. Their punishment will come through the hands of the Assyrian oppressors. Indeed, their affliction is the natural consequence of sin and not God’s arbitrary judgment.
Anne Nolan writes on the tragic death of Peaches Geldof (3 March 1989 – 7 April 2014), an English journalist, television presenter and model who died of substance abuse. Her reflection gives insight into the tragedy of today’s society that “sows the wind and reaps the whirlwind” (cf. Anne Nolan, “So Many Others Are Like Peaches” in Alive! June 2014, p. 6).
Peaches Geldof had such an anguished, tragic life. May God grant her eternal rest. She wanted to get her life in order, and tried hard to do so, especially for the sake of her children. She told Elle magazine about her first child: “His birth was like a rebirth for me. I honestly never thought anything in my life would ever be good. I’m obsessed with getting it right.” She added, “Even if it’s an archaic idea, I want Astala to have a mummy and daddy together forever. It’s a commitment. I want to be a good wife, a good mother, a good person.”
Sadly the task was too much for her. Deprived of a religious formation, she also felt she was “lacking something” and she sensed the need for “a spiritual path”. But without wise guidance she ended up in the Scientology cult.
Peaches was, to a large extent, the victim of her upbringing and of the circles in which she moved. “The very worst thing that happened to me started with my parents’ divorce; it really affected the rest of my life”, she said.
But who cared? Divorce is now “my right” and despite all the evidence we convince ourselves the kids will be ok. And it’s just tough if they are not! Peaches was high profile, but millions of other children are suffering because of their upbringing in a crazy society that can no longer tell right from wrong. But of this we can be sure: without God and the Church in our lives none of us can get it right.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we try to live out the compassion of Jesus who was moved with pity because the crowds pursuing him were like sheep without a shepherd? Do we pray that the master of the harvest may send out laborers for his harvest?
2. Did we ever try to sow the evil “wind”? What did we reap from sowing the evil “wind”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Jesus,
you pity the hapless crowds
who are troubled and abandoned.
They are like sheep without a shepherd.
Give us the gift of compassion
that we may respond in service
to the needs of the poor and vulnerable.
Together with you,
we pray that the Lord of the harvest
may send out laborers for his harvest.
We love you, dear Jesus.
Please never allow us to sow the evil wind
and thus reap the violence of the whirlwind.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“His heart was moved with pity for them.” (Mt 9:36) // “When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind.” (Hos 8:7)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your words and actions, bring the compassion of Jesus to the people around you. Pray the following invocation: “O Jesus, eternal Shepherd of our souls; send good laborers into your harvest.” // By the grace of God, avoid self-destructive actions.
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July 10, 2024: WEDNESDAY – WEEKDAY (14)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Summons and Sends His Disciples … He Invites Us to Seek the Lord”
BIBLE READINGS
Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 // Mt 10:1-7
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mt 10:1-7): “Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
(Gospel Reflection by Sr. Mary Anthony E. Basa, PDDM)
Jesus called the twelve disciples and sent them on a mission to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. The foundation of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master in Iligan City in Mindanao was on June 26, 2011. I remember very well the time when the three of us (with Sr. John Paul and Sr. Elizabeth) were called to be the first Sisters in the new foundation. Iligan is a place that I do not know much about and, though I can understand a little, I do not speak the language. It is also a place where the peace situation is not very stable. How can one assigned in the liturgical and biblical ministry cope with the limitations of language? When one animates a liturgical celebration and shares the Bible, it should be in the vernacular.
As we begin our mission, I have experienced how the grace of God works. I have realized that serving others is not just about knowing the language or being familiar with the place. The message of God’s reign is preached in loving deeds and compassion. More than anyone else, I am the one who is formed and moved to conversion as I tend to the people of Iligan. When the city was hit by typhoon “Sendong”, thousands of people lost their homes, loved ones and properties. The call to reach out to the lost sheep became a real mission and a pastoral challenge for us as Sister Disciples. When God calls us for a mission, we need not fear because He will bless us with all the graces we need most in order to fulfil that mission.
B. First Reading (Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12): “It is time to seek the Lord.”
Today’s Old Testament reading (Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12) continues to underline the guilt that leads to Israel’s destruction. The nation has prospered materially like a fruitful vine, but the economic well-being has merely corrupted the people and led them away from God. The more prosperous they are, the more idolatrous they have become. Their hearts are deceitful and, as divine discipline, they are to suffer for their sin. A new and more serious invasion from the Assyrians will obliterate their land, their leaders and their sacrilegious altars. The destruction will be so cruel that no one will want to survive. They will cry to the mountains and hills “Cover us … Fall upon us” to express their longing for death to end it all and to be buried in the land.
But the final words of God to the erring people, communicated to them by the prophet Hosea, are a plea for conversion: “It is time to seek the Lord!” Instead of seeking the fruits of false prosperity, leadership and worship, they must seek the Lord God. They must plow the field of their obdurate hearts, sow the seeds of justice, and cultivate true piety and righteousness. Then the forgiveness of God will be showered upon them and they will reap the rich harvest of divine benevolence.
The following story illustrates that conversion is a true blessing (cf. Virginia Heim, “I Want to Come Back” in 101 Inspirational Stories of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, ed. Sr. Patricia Proctor, Spokane: Franciscan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2006, p. 64-65).
I truly believe that God, in His wisdom, at some time and in some miraculous way, uses each of us as His instruments.
After my younger sister left home and married, she had a very difficult life. She had one son, the light of her life, but lost another son shortly after his birth. She was always strong, keeping her trials inside, but always there for me and our brood of six children.
As the years passed and our children grew up, we both decided to move upstate for our retirement years. I had been blessed over the years to continue practicing my faith and attending Mass in a regular basis. My sister, unfortunately, had been away from the sacraments for many years, but she always graciously drove my husband and me to our small parish. She would attend Mass with us, but did not partake of Holy Communion. I could see how sad she was and how much it troubled her, but I did not know what to do about it except pray.
A few years ago, on the Monday after Easter Sunday, my sister suggested we drive up to Stockbridge, Massachusetts to the Divine Mercy Shrine. First, we visited the church and then we walked about the grounds. As we strolled along, enjoying the day and each other’s company, suddenly we came upon a giant trailer with big black letters on the side that spelled out one single word: “Confessions”!
My sister stared for a moment and then said, “I’d love to go to confession, but I wouldn’t know what to say.” God must have leaned close to my ear because I heard myself saying, “Just say, ‘I’ve been away so long. I’m sorry. I want to come back.’” It must have been just what she needed to hear. She nodded, took a deep breath, and went inside the trailer.
From that moment forward, my sister’s faith blossomed until it became even stronger than mine. Two years ago, my sister died and though I miss her very much, I am consoled with the knowledge that she has returned to the fold of the Good Shepherd.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we thank Jesus for calling his disciples in order to send them out and become his loving compassion for others?
2. Do we believe that at this very moment Jesus is telling us: “It is time to seek the Lord!”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Jesus,
you exhort us: “It is time to seek the Lord!”
We thank you for calling us to conversion.
You send us to the “lost sheep”
that we may proclaim the transforming good news:
“The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Grant that we may be faithful to the grace of conversion.
Help us to correspond to the beauty of our vocation-mission
as Christian disciples in today’s world.
You live and reign,
forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Jesus summoned his twelve disciples … Jesus sent out these twelve disciples.” (Mt 10:1,5) // “It is time to seek the Lord.” (Hos 10:12)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Let us thank the Lord for our vocation and mission as Christian disciples in today’s world. Let us discover meaningful ways to live out fully this gift of discipleship. // Let us be intent in inviting those who have gone astray, “It is time to seek the Lord!”
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July 11, 2024: THURSDAY – SAINT BENEDICT, Abbot
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Sends Them to Proclaim the Kingdom … He Assures Us of God’s Unfailing Love”
BIBLE READINGS
Hos 11:1-4, 8e-9 // Mt 10:7-15
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mt 10:7-15): “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
The Burnham couple, Martin and Gracia, who were serving in the Philippines as missionaries, was captured by the dreaded Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group in Southern Philippines, whose primary activities were kidnapping and extortion. Gracia survived 14 months of terror in the jungle. On June 7, 2002, Martin died and Gracia was wounded in the shootout that resulted from the rescue attempt made by the Philippine Army. Gracia’s testimony revealed that Martin had been a missionary through and through. Thousands of people – including senators and ambassadors - attended Martin’s funeral at Wichita, Kansas. Gracia remarked: “They admired him most, perhaps, for what he stood for, what we all try to stand for. Nothing complicated. Just a simple, whole-hearted goodness. His death had not been in vain. He showed me what strength was. Faith. Faith in yourself, in those you love, and in God to be present in every moment of your life.” The missionary Martin Burnham is a modern-day example of a disciple sent by Jesus, one who had kept faith in him and had shown the world that faith is the inner strength to conquer evil.
Today’s Gospel reading (Mt 10:7-15) is about the Lord who sends and the mission of the disciples he sent. The origin of the missionary vocation is Jesus who prepared the apostles for this important moment. It was Jesus who called them personally; it was he who selected the Twelve to be his companions and to be sent out to preach with the power to cast out devils. Taught by Jesus and present with him as he healed many from sickness and evil, the Twelve were sent out with tremendous healing power bestowed upon them. The task of those sent by Jesus is to bring the healing balm of peace and forgiveness to those wounded by sin and to drive out the power of evil.
The missionaries of Jesus are to keep a simple lifestyle, bereft of material comforts and financial security. The Divine Master counsels the virtue of detachment, for without detachment the missionary’s attention cannot be centered on the Good News. Indeed, the life of missionaries is absolutely oriented to the task of preaching God’s kingdom. The missionaries must also contend with the possibility of not being welcomed and of not being listened to. In this case, they are simply replicating in their lives the destiny of the sending Lord who was rejected even by his neighbors in Nazareth. Indeed, the missionaries of all ages will be subjected to all kinds of trials. Their option is not violent reprisal, but humility and kindness. They accept the indignities of rejection and the painful process of “birthing” in order that the saving word of the Gospel may reach the ends of the earth.
B. First Reading (Hos 11:1-4, 8e-9): “My heart is overwhelmed.”
Today’s Second Reading (Hos 11:1-4, 8c-9) is a masterpiece of beauty and grace. Hosea’s description of God as a doting parent is one of the highpoints of revelation of divine love in the Hebrew Scriptures. Israel can self-destruct by her evil choices, but God is a loving parent. He does not give up on a wayward child. God has cared for his people since he called them out of Egypt and continues to teach them to walk in his ways. God cares for Israel like a mother who tenderly draws her child with love and affection. Israel however is an ungrateful child who needs to be disciplined and brought to his senses. The disobedient people may be subjected to a rigorous divine pedagogy, but God’s basic and ultimate stance is loving mercy: “My heart is overwhelmed … my pity is stirred … I will not give vent to my blazing anger … I will not destroy Israel again … for I am God and not man.”
The following story illustrates a remarkable response to God’s forgiving and unmitigated love (cf. Anne Nolan, “Just When We Think All Is Lost” in Alive! June 2014, p. 6).
On 1st October 1957 Jacques Fesch, the son of a wealthy banker, was guillotined for killing a policeman in Pairs. The police officer, aged 35, was a widower with a 4-year-old daughter. But in a strange twist, it’s the murderer who could end up being declared a saint.
Born in April 1930, the son of an atheist father and Catholic mother, Fesch idled his way through school, spent a short time in the army, then in a bank, before adopting a playboy lifestyle, living off his parents’ wealth.
At the age of 21, in a civil ceremony, he married a neighbor’s daughter who was expecting his daughter. Yet he continued to see other women. With one of these he had a son, whom he abandoned to state care. Soon after, he and his wife separated, but remained friends.
At this point he decided to buy a boat, sail off to the South Pacific and begin a new life in the sun. Tired of his antics, however, his parents refused to fund his venture. Fesch then came up with the idea of robbing a currency dealer, Alexander Silberstein. On 25 February he and a friend arrived at the dealer’s office. He pointed a gun at the dealer and demanded the cash from the till. His companion, meanwhile, has fled.
Silberstein tried to reason with him, but Fesch hit him twice across the head with the revolver butt, grabbed a small amount of cash and ran. Outside he tried to calmly mingle with the passers-by, but Silberstein arrived, shouting that he has been robbed.
Chased by the crowd Fesch was cornered. A policeman, Jean Vergne, drew his revolver and ordered him to raise his hands. Instead Fesch pulled out his own gun and shot the officer through the heart and wounded one of his pursuers in the neck. But the crowd overcame him. He knew he would face the guillotine.
Having abandoned his faith when he was 17, he mocked the many efforts to bring God back to his life. “No need to trouble yourself about me”, he told the prison chaplain. But one year after the murder, on the night of the 28 February 1955, Fesch experienced a dramatic change of heart.
“I was in bed, eyes open, really suffering for the first time in my life”, he wrote shortly before his death. “Then a cry burst forth from my breast, an appeal for help, ‘My God’, and instantly, like a violent wind which passes over with nobody knowing where it comes from, the spirit of the Lord seized me by the throat. It was a feeling of infinite power and kindness and, from that moment, I believed with an unshakable conviction that never left me.”
The experience changed the remaining two and a half years of his life. He apologized for all the suffering he had caused and led a holy, prayerful life. To a young Benedictine he wrote: “In prison there are two possible ways: You can rebel against your situation, or you can regard yourself as a monk.”
In the journal which he now kept he wrote: “The last day of struggle, at this time tomorrow I shall be in heaven! May I die as the Lord wishes me to die … In five hours I shall see Jesus.”
When his journal and letters were published after his death they created widespread interest in France, touching young people especially. Not everyone, however, wants him to be canonized: “a patron saint for gunmen”, said one newspaper.
But in 1987, Cardinal Lustiger of Paris explained: “Nobody is ever lost in God’s eyes, even when society has condemned him.” He believed that Fesch as a saint would “give great hope to those who see themselves irredeemably lost.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
2. Do we trust in our parent God who gives his wayward child a second chance to be loved?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Lord,
you have called us
and entrusted to us the Gospel
with its power to overcome evil.
You commission us to overcome
the death-dealing situations of today’s world
by the strength of your Holy Spirit.
You send us to touch the wounded
with the healing power of your love.
Help us to share with them the image
of a compassionate and merciful God.
You live and reign,
forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Go and make this proclamation.” (Mt 10:7) // “I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks.” (Hos 11: 4)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for all missionaries that they may carry out their mandate with absolute trust in God and apostolic zeal. Be a missionary to a person close to you and in need of the healing power of the Gospel. // Let the people around you experience the forgiving love of our parent God.
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July 12, 2024: FRIDAY – WEEKDAY (14)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Strengthens Us in Persecution … He Summons Us to Go Back to God”
BIBLE READINGS
Hos 14:2-10 // Mt 10:16-23
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mt 10:16-23): “For it will not be you who speak, but the Spirit of the Father speaking through you.”
(Gospel Reflection by Sr. Mary Mercedes Pineda, PDDM)
Many say that it is not easy to follow Christ or to be a good Christian. Our Lord himself did not promise wealth, comfort, prestige, or power to those who have followed him. Rather, in today’s Gospel, Jesus made his chosen disciples aware of what awaits them once they accept Him as their Lord and Master; for example, rejection, opposition, persecution and discrimination.
As we journey through life and grow in our faith, we encounter these sad realities in various ways and degrees. We might experience them from people we love, from friends and associates, from strangers, from the community to which we belong, or in our workplace.
Rejection, opposition, persecution and discrimination are experienced due to differences in religious, political, cultural background and beliefs, perceptions and even sexual orientation. The Gospel values that as Christians we try to live in fidelity to God, are opposed to the values of the world and this could give rise to the harsh realities in families, communities and in society.
How do we react to persecution, opposition, discrimination and rejection? Is our response “flight or fight?” How do we bear with them?
I remember when I joined a pilgrimage to the Holy Land coming from Rome. In Tel-Aviv airport, I was segregated from the rest of our group, invited to go to the immigration office to be interrogated, simply because I was carrying a Philippine passport. Our group included priests, religious men and women, and families. I was the only one from Asia. The rest were Europeans and Americans, who passed immigration without any difficulty. It was indeed a humiliating and painful experience of rejection and discrimination. However, I remained calm and composed, talking to the Lord in silent prayer: “Lord Jesus, this is an unpleasant joke! See, I’m not welcome in your country. But thank you for this unexpected experience, because this is a chance to practice patience and humility. Amen.”
Jesus promised to give us the inner strength to endure such occurrences and to persevere in following him whatever the cost. We have only to trust and believe that He is always with us and in us.
In this Gospel text (Mt 10:16-23), we are invited and challenged to learn to accept these negative realities as occasions for growth in faith, in our maturity to follow Christ and lastly, an opportunity to renew our commitment to Jesus our Lord.
B. First Reading (Hos 14:2-10): “We shall say no more ‘Our god’ to the work of our hands.”
In today’s Old Testament reading (Hos 14:2-10) we hear a beautiful text that concludes the Book of the Prophet Hosea. The mood is upbeat and the message is replete with hope, based on God’s merciful love for his people. Today’s Hosea text is composed of three parts. The first part contains the prophet’s plea to Israel to return to the Lord. The erring people must confess their infidelity. They must renounce idolatry, false security based on military-political alliances, and empty worship. The second part delineates God’s promise of new life to a repentant people. God will heal their iniquities and the contrite people will once more experience the life-giving character of God’s love. Israel will flourish in beauty and plenty. The Lord God will renew the people and make them fruitful. The conclusion exhorts the wise to take to heart what the prophet Hosea has written. It is a final reminder that the righteous people walk in the paths of the Lord, but the sinners who ignore the Lord’s ways stumble and fall.
The following excerpt from a story of a stage actor-turned-priest gives insight into the dynamics of conversion (cf. Father Benjamin Francis, “All the World’s a Stage” in Amazing Grace for Survivors, ed. Jeff Cavins, et. al., West Chester: Ascension Press, 2008, p. 56-58).
Over the next two years, my life went through an amazing transformation. I quit all acting and started living in a little rooming house next to the Church of Saint Francis. I determined that I was not ever going to leave God again. I helped out at the church in any way I could and attended daily Mass. During this time, I thought back to my childhood dream of being a priest. No, I thought, remembering my sinful past. There’s no way I could be a priest after all the things that I have done.
After two years without slipping back into sin, I was still uncertain about what I should do. I stopped off at the bank one day, to see how I was doing financially. With the amount of money I had, I would be set for a least another two years of indecision. On the way back from the bank on the outskirts of Chinatown, I stopped by a church called St. Mary’s. On the lectern there was Bible sitting open. My eyes fell on the verse in Luke that says, “So therefore, no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his possessions … Sell your possessions and give to charity, make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven.”
Since I had just come from the bank, I knew to the cent how much money was in my account. I thought about my unsure future and looked to Jesus in the tabernacle. “Okay”, I prayed, “if I do this, you are going to take care of me from now on.” I took out my checkbook. “You get me to Rome, Jesus.” Slowly, I wrote a check to the parish for every cent I had, and I put it into the locked collection box. I was in God’s hands now.
I walked back to the house I was rooming in by the parish with a total dependence and trust in God. “I’m in your hands now”, I said again and again. I arrived back at St. Francis Church, and the little Filipino priest, Father Paul, came up to me enthusiastically. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you all day!”
At the same time I was praying at Saint Mary’s, a woman had visited Father Paul and had given him an envelope. “This is for the young man who is going to Rome to study to be a priest.” “I don’t know any young man going to Rome”, Father Paul had responded, confused. “Yes, you do”, the woman said. “He’s the one who reads the bingo numbers.”
Inside the envelope was exactly enough money to pay for a plane ticket to Rome. It wasn’t long after this, just after Christmas of 1975, that I found myself as a seminarian studying to be a priest in Rome. Every day in that seminary was an overwhelming gift for which I thanked God. It was hard to believe that I, Mr. Showbiz, was going to soon be a priest of God. To many, it may have seemed that I once lived an exciting life, but I knew that nothing was more blessed than the opportunity to serve God as a priest.
When I was ordained to the diaconate, my mother came to Rome. I asked her to consecrate me, her son, to the Blessed Mother. She smiled and said, “I already did that, long ago.” Then, for the first time, she told me that when I was very young, I had come down with a high fever. When the doctor told her that I might not live, she had relinquished all of her motherly rights to the Blessed Mother. I had been dedicated to my mother in heaven, and it had been she who had directed my road to Rome to be one of her Son’s priests. (…)
The Blessed Mother had kept calling me, and despite my failings, she had cleared the path to her Son and then worked tirelessly to put me on it. (…)
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. What is our response to persecution? Do we trust in divine assistance when faced with rejection and persecution?
2. Do we respond to Jesus who calls us to walk on the road of conversion? Are we a means of salvation for others?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O Jesus, font of strength,
you send us like sheep in the midst of wolves.
You counsel us
to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves
in the midst of a troubled world.
We trust in your saving help.
We trust that the Holy Spirit
will put his words into our mouth
and will defend us from all evil.
You have summoned us
to tread the path that leads to life.
Let us be faithful to the ways you have shown us.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Whoever endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt 10:22) // “Return to the Lord.” (Hos 14:2)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
When experiencing rejection, trust in Jesus and pray for help and protection. When persecuted on account of your fidelity to Church teaching, ask the Lord for strength and endurance and the grace to refrain from a violent response. // Be deeply aware that conversion is an ongoing process and that you need to respond to the grace of God day by day.
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July 13, 2024: SATURDAY – WEEKDAY (14); SAINT HENRY; BVM ON SATURDAY
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Exhorts Us Not to Fear … He Helps Us Experience the Holy”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 6:1-8 // Mt 10:24-33
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mt 10:24-33): “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body.”
(Gospel Reflection by Dr. Rachel Quinto, Holy Family Institute, Fresno, CA-USA)
Many years ago and for a very long time, I had a recurrent nightmare that would wake me up in the middle of the night in cold sweat. I dreamed that someone or something was chasing me in the dark shadows. I was alone and feared for my life. No matter how fast I ran or imagined hiding places where I would not be seen, I sensed that I could never escape this thing’s sinister grip. Strangely enough, even when I was paralyzed with fear and could not move, I was not overcome by my pursuer. When I finally managed to wake up, I would find myself exhausted, as if from an actual ordeal.
Back then, I understood healing to be physical or psychological and via human intervention. Using my background in psychology and medicine, I tried to analyze the origin of this unsettling subconscious experience in order to hopefully resolve it. But my intellectual efforts met with failure. The nightmares managed to come back over and over again to haunt me.
My breakthrough came in a most unusual manner. As I grew in faith, I began to know the healing power of the Word of God. After reflecting on this very same passage (Mt 10:24-33), I decided to take Jesus at his word. With all the conviction I could gather consciously, I resolved that when the chase happens again in my sleep, I will not run away. In fact, I am determined to turn around and face my pursuer unafraid. I am totally convinced that the Lord will protect me from all danger. In fact, with the Lord beside me, not a single hair on my head will be touched by this evil that has been after me for a long time. After all, am I not worth more than many sparrows?
Miraculously, just like that, the nightmares ended.
B. First Reading (Is 6:1-8): “I am a man of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
I made my annual retreat in January 2005 at our convent in Monrovia, in the foothills of the scenic San Gabriel Mountains. The theme of my annual retreat was the Eucharist. During the Sunday Mass with the parish community I received a special gift – a beautiful experience of the nearness of God and of the community of the angels and saints in heaven. While the choir and the assembly were singing the Sanctus, I was overwhelmed by the presence of the heavenly court, the saints and the faithful departed. The liturgy of the Eucharist celebrated right there and then at the Parish of Immaculate Conception gave me a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy. Indeed, it was a grace to have a glimpse of God’s “holy” presence. Likewise, that religious experience renewed my personal commitment to my Eucharistic mission as a PDDM sister.
Today’s Old Testament reading (Is 6:1-8) is about Isaiah’s spiritual experience and his vocation as a prophet. Isaiah experiences the awesome “holiness” of God. This indicates God’s transcendence, his complete apartness from anything sinful, and his infinite power and grandeur. The triple-holy God initiates a love-service relationship with Isaiah by giving him an intimate experience of the divine life. Isaiah’s experience of God’s grandeur is a personal invitation to mission: Who shall I send? Who will go for us? It involves total surrender to God. Indeed, like the prophet, we too are given glimpses of the sacred. These spiritual experiences call us to immerse ourselves into the mystery of the divine. God helps us by purging our unworthiness and fickleness and thus we become a “living” part of the saving mystery. Indeed, by his grace we become instruments of his loving plan to restore all creation through Jesus Christ.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we believe that God cares for us and that we are worth more than many sparrows? Do we try to overcome useless anxieties by putting our trust in the God who loves us?
2. Are we sensitive to various religious experiences that the loving God is giving us as a gift? What have I learned from the religious experience of the prophet Isaiah? Like Isaiah, are we willing to have our “unclean lips” purged and thus experience a deep spiritual cleansing that would prepare us to be mission partners in God’s plan of salvation? How do we respond to the triple holiness of God?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Lord,
you care for us
and assure us that we are worth more than many sparrows.
Deliver us from evil and useless anxieties.
Help us to trust in you.
Grant us the grace to respond to the holy presence of God
and his call to share in his plan of salvation.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Mt 10:31) // “And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’” (Is 6:8)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
When anxieties come, remember the words of Jesus: do not to be afraid for we are worth more than many sparrows. Spend some quiet time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, drawing strength from the Eucharistic Master. // Pray that the people of today may be deeply grateful for the experience of the sacred and be utterly sensitive to the call to mission.
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Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US