A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 22, n. 49)
Week 31 in Ordinary Time: November 3-9, 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: October 27 – November 2, 2024 please go to ARCHIVES Series 21 and click on “Ordinary Week 30”.
Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: November 3-9, 2024.)
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November 3, 2024: THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to Love God and Neighbor”
BIBLICAL READINGS
Dt 6:2-6 // Heb 7:23-28 // Mk 12:28b-34
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A, Gospel Reading (Mk 12:28b-34): “Love the Lord your God. Love your neighbor.”
The newspaper report about the alleged dumping of five discharged hospital patients in Skid Row is a cause for concern. According to the October 24, 2006 issue of the Fresno Bee, p. B5:
The Los Angeles Police Department has opened its first criminal investigation into the dumping of homeless people after documenting five cases Sunday in which ambulances dropped patients recently discharged from a hospital onto Skid Row. All of the patients told police they did not want to be taken downtown … Sunday’s investigation began around noon, when an LAPD sergeant noticed a patient being left in front of the Volunteers of America homeless services center. He immediately called an LAPD videographer who recorded four more ambulances arriving at the facility and leaving patients discharged from Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center. Police also recorded interviews with the patient as well as with James Frailey, a 30-year old attendant with ProCare, a private ambulance company. Frailey told police the hospital hires his company “on a regular basis” to move discharged patients from the medical center to Skid Row and that other private ambulance companies also transport patients to the area. He said the hospital appeared to have made “no prior arrangements” for the patient he transported Sunday. One patient the LAPD interviewed on the videotape, Marcus Joe Lincoln, 62, told officers he “never wanted to go” to Skid Row and asked that he be dropped off at his son’s house … John Fenton, president and CEO of Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center, denied that his hospital dumped patients.
The dumping of the homeless patients in Skid Row is a symptom of a fragmented society that has failed in its task of loving and caring for one another. Today’s situation of social ills that need healing should be confronted by the Gospel message of this Sunday: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart … Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus cites the injunction from the Book of Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” (cf. Dt 6:5). To this he adds another from the Book of Leveticus: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”(cf. Lev 19:18). Jesus radically underlines the intimate bond between love of neighbor and love of God. In the Christian concept of love, people and God are inseparably one. This vision that Jesus introduces is refreshing. Another aspect of newness that Jesus brings is the comprehensive vision of neighbor. In the time of Leviticus it means Hebrews only. By the time of Jesus, it includes resident aliens as well. But for Jesus, the word has the widest meaning possible. It includes every member of the human race. His sacrificial death is meant for all. This perspective has a much greater depth and breadth than ever before imagined.
Jesus’ questioner, like many of his fellow scribes, is a good man whom Jesus declares to be not far from the kingdom of God. One unequivocal sign characterizes those who are not far from the kingdom: their service of love to its two inseparable objects, God and neighbor.
The following modern day examples give insight into what it means to love our neighbor (“It Wasn’t All Bad” in The Week, May 22, 2015, p. 2)
When Ben Moser was in fourth grade, he promised his friend Mary Lapkowicz, that he’d take her to the prom. Moser had always watched over Lapkowicz, who had Down syndrome, including her in every game. “If it was looking she wasn’t having fun, he would go over and talk to her”, said their former teacher, Tracry Spogli. Mary ended up transferring schools, and the two fell out of touch.
But Moser remembered his promise. Last week, the 17-year-old high school quarterback presented Mary with balloons, and the childhood friends attended his prom together. “You should do what’s right”, he said. “Simple.”
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For 17 years, Pasto Tony Stallworth had hosted a raucous karaoke night for the homeless people of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. Every week, some 200 people fill the Cetnral City Community Church of Nazarene to take turn belting out their favorite songs. The choices span gospel and R&B to country and rock, and members of the audience cheer as they waltz, break-dance, and form conga lines.
“It’s a little bit of a return to normalcy in an area that’s just absolute chaos”, said Andy Bates, who heads a local charity. “People lose themselves in that moment.”
B. First Reading (Dt 6:2-6): “Hear, O Israel! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.”
Jesus Christ’s assertion of the primordial importance of the twofold love-command can be understood better in light of the Deuteronomy injunction: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Dt 6:5). This text underlines the obligation of the people of Israel to love God with an integral, wholehearted, and undivided love. The love envisioned here is the kind of deep loyalty and affection that the Israelites owe to God who ended their cruel bondage in Egypt. This love of God is virtually synonymous with obedience.
The true meaning of love of God and neighbor has been crystallized in the very life and person of Jesus, especially in his self-gift and sacrificial love on the cross. Because God, in his Son Jesus, has loved us so much, we too are enabled to love. The commandment to love God and neighbor flows from the energizing, empowering love that the Lord has for us. In accepting God’ love for us, our commitment to love God and neighbor is made possible in a wholehearted way. At times we are afraid of wholehearted loving, fearing that if we offer all, we will lose all.
Rabindranath Tagore, the great Bengali poet, in his Gitanjali tells the story of a beggar going from door to door asking for alms. He suddenly sees his celestial king approaching in a chariot, and he dreams of the king showering upon him bountiful gifts. But to his surprise, the king asks him what he has to give. After staring, confused and undecided, he finally peers into his sack of meager possessions, takes out a tiny grain of corn, and gives it to the king. Later he says, “But how great my surprise when at the day’s end I emptied my bag on the floor to find a little grain of gold among the poor heap! I bitterly wept and wished that I had had the heart to give my all.”
C. Second Reading (Heb 7:23-28): “Because he remains forever, he has a priesthood that does not pass away.”
In the reading (Heb 7:23-28), we focus our contemplative gaze upon Jesus, the eternal High Priest, whose once-for-all sacrifice upon the cross is infinitely efficacious. The saving sacrifice that he offered is his own self. Jesus is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him. Jesus lives forever to plead with God for us all. Jesus, the holy Priest who offers the perfect sacrifice, is the “mediator” of the New Covenant. His perfect sacrifice on the cross has been the means of union between God and man. It has taken away sin – the barrier to that union – and has made possible our new and everlasting covenant with the compassionate and merciful God.
The sacrificial dimension of the Christian priesthood is illustrated anew in the life of Blessed Timothy Giaccardo, who offered his life for the Pauline Family and in a very special way, for the ecclesial approval of the religious congregation Pious Disciples of the Divine Master. Here is an excerpt from a brief biography prepared by the Society of St. Paul.
Fr. Giaccardo, the first priest of the Society of St. Paul, made Perpetual Vows on June 30, 1920, and took the name “Timothy” in religion in honor of St. Paul’s beloved disciple. Aware of his special devotion to the Pope, Fr. Alberione sent Fr. Timothy to Rome in January of 1926. There he founded the first St. Paul House outside Alba, in the area known as “St. Paul’s Vineyard” near the Basilica of St. Paul-outside-the-Walls.
He came back to Alba ten years later, in 1936, to be superior of the House there. He remained until 1946, during which time he was responsible for the many additions to the interior of the church Fr. Alberione had built. He was also actively engaged in the regular apostolate and priestly ministry in the Diocese.
He was appointed Vicar General of the Society of St. Paul in 1946 and went to reside in Rome. There, in a demonstration of remarkable fidelity to Fr. Alberione, he gave his considerable talents to the work of developing all the Pauline Congregations. He guided and sustained them as, one by one, they came into being, ensuring that each had a profound spirituality and an understanding of the special type of apostolate to which each one was called.
Meanwhile he personally practiced what he preached: a constant unrelenting effort to correct his defects and reach spiritual maturity. So successful was this effort that he attained the practice of perfect charity to the point of offering his life so that the Pauline Congregation Pious Disciples of the Divine Master (PDDM) would be recognized by the Church. The Lord accepted his offering and granted his request. He was stricken with leukemia and died in a short time, on Saturday, January 24, 1948. By no coincidence, this was the feast of St. Timothy and the Vigil of the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.
His funeral took place in the Basilica of St. Paul-outside-the-Walls on January 26 in the presence of a large number of clergy, civil authorities and people. His remains now lie in a place of honor in the Shrine of Mary, Queen of Apostles in Rome, not too far from the first House he founded there. (…) On May 13, 1989, the Pope, John Paul II, signed the Decree approving the miracle that decided that the Beatification of Fr. Giaccardo would take place on October 22, 1989, Mission Sunday.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
What is our response to Jesus’ great command: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart … You shall love your neighbor as yourself”? How do we try to put this twofold command into practice? Are we capable of wholehearted love and service? If not, what do we do to improve our capacity for loving and giving? Do we look to Jesus’ total self-giving upon the cross? Is our life shaped and energized by the Divine Master’s example of total self-giving and sacrificial love? Do we contemplate the Eucharist as the sacrament of love – of the One who has loved us to the end?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
We adore you, O wonderful Sacrament of the presence
of the One who loved his own “to the end”.
We thank you, O Lord,
who edifies, gathers together and gives life to the Church.
O Divine Eucharist,
flame of Christ’s love that burns on the altar of the world,
make the Church, comforted by you,
even more caring in wiping away the tears of suffering
and in sustaining the efforts of all who yearn for justice and peace.
May your love triumph,
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.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength … You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mk 12:30-31)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray that Jesus’ twofold love-command may truly impact and shape our daily lives. Let the words of Jesus and his Eucharistic sacrifice challenge you to love and embrace the poor and vulnerable in today’s fragmented and wounded world.
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November 4, 2024: MONDAY – SAINT CHARLES BORROMEO, Bishop
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us to Be Hospitable to All … He Teaches Us to Care for Others”
BIBLE READINGS
Phil 2:1-4 // Lk 14:12-14
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 14:12-14): “Do not invite your friends, but those who are poor and crippled.”
I grew up in a Filipino culture of reciprocity. One day when I was a teenager, I baked a delicious “Devil’s Food” cake and shared it with the family next door. Sure enough, they reciprocated. When their daughter baked a fantastic orange chiffon cake, they shared it with us. Indeed, when someone does something good, we have a feeling of indebtedness. The Filipinos call that sense of obligation “utang na loob” (debt of gratitude). With my cultural background of “utang na loob”, it is easy for me to understand the reciprocal relationship in the Jewish world.
To seek or give recompense is an honorable way of behaving, especially if it is meant to strengthen friendships, deepen family bonds, increase our potential, etc. But Jesus goes beyond mere human reciprocity. In today’s Gospel (Lk 14:12-14), he advises his host Pharisee that when he holds a banquet he should not invite his friends, brothers, relatives or wealthy neighbors lest he will be invited back and be repaid. He urges him instead to invite the poor, the crippled and the blind – those unable to reciprocate. Jesus’ perplexing advice should not be taken literally. The “radical” advice is a hyperbole – a Semitic exaggeration to teach a new way of behaving. He invites us to welcome and be hospitable to the unfortunate – not just to those who can reciprocate our good graces. He wants us to be good in a totally disinterested fashion – to be generous without expecting a reward. We must show concern for the poor and needy. In sharing God’s blessings with them, we mirror his compassion. Jesus teaches us that the kingdom of God is for all. Hence, our hospitality must likewise be all-inclusive – embracing all – especially the poor and vulnerable who are neglected by those who act merely reciprocally and with selfish motives.
Our friend Rosel is a member of the Holy Family Institute, founded by Blessed James Alberione. I am deeply touched by her compassion for the poor. When she celebrates her birthday, or that of her daughter, she does it in a very “Christian” way. Instead of hosting a party at their home in San Jose (CA-USA) she will send her hard earned dollars to her hometown in Cebu, Philippines to feed the poor. Hundreds and hundreds of poor, hungry children are able to enjoy a delicious meal on account of her generosity. Rosel follows literally the words of Jesus: “When you hold a banquet, invite the poor …”
B. First Reading (Phil 2:1-4): “Complete my joy by being of the same kind.”
In today’s First Reading (Phil 2:1-4), Saint Paul exhorts the Philippians to community harmony and humility. The apostolic exhortation begins with four premises: “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy …” These conditions are real: they have been strengthened by Christ, comforted by his love, shared in the fellowship of the Spirit, and are the objects of God’s kindness and compassion. Since the Philippians are the beneficiaries of this grace-filled reality, they ought to live in harmony and humility. In this way, they will complete Paul’s joy – for they will be of one mind with Paul and one another and possess the same love. Consequently, they will look out for one another’s interests, not just for their own. They will not treat each other selfishly nor boastfully, but with care and great regard for one another.
The following report on an Ebola survivor, circulated on the Internet, illustrates what it means to regard the other as more important and to care for one another’s needs
Dr. Kent Brantly, one of the two US doctors who contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia, has spoken out for the first time. He released a statement from his isolation room at Emory University in Atlanta where he’s being treated after he was flown out of Liberia last week.
He is the first Ebola patient to receive the experimental serum, ZMapp. Below is the statement Brantly released:
“I am writing this update from my isolation room at Emory University Hospital, where the doctors and nurses are providing the very best care possible. I am growing stronger every day, and I thank God for His mercy as I have wrestled with this terrible disease. I also want to extend my deep and sincere thanks to all of you who have been praying for my recovery as well as for Nancy and for the people of Liberia and West Africa.
My wife Amber and I, along with our two children, did not move to Liberia for the specific purpose of fighting Ebola. We went to Liberia because we believe God called us to serve Him at ELWA Hospital.
One thing I have learned is that following God often leads to unexpected places. When Ebola spread into Liberia, my usual hospital work turned more and more toward treating the increasing number of Ebola patients. I held the hands of countless individuals as this terrible disease took their lives away from them. I witnessed the horror first-hand, and I can still remember every face and name.
When I started feeling ill on that Wednesday morning, I immediately isolated myself until the test confirmed my diagnosis three days later. When the result was positive, I remember a deep sense of peace that was beyond all understanding. God was reminding me of what He had taught me years ago, that he will give me everything I need to be faithful to Him.
Now it is two weeks later, and I am in a totally different setting. My focus, however, remains the same – to follow God. As you continue to pray for Nancy and me, yes, please pray for our recovery. More importantly, pray that we would be faithful to God’s call on our lives in these new circumstances.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Does your behavior go beyond the bounds of human reciprocity? Do you imitate the generous stance of Jesus, who empties himself for others without counting the cost? Do you endeavor to live a life of harmony and humility within the community?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Master,
you teach us the way of hospitality and generosity.
You call us to be united with you,
and thus live in harmony and with humility.
Help us to open ourselves
to the needs of the poor and the unfortunate.
Teach us to care for the needs of others.
Fill our table with your blessings
that we may share them with our brothers and sisters
who do not have.
Lead us all to the heavenly feasting
where we will rejoice with you, 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.
“Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind …” (Lk 14:13) // “Look out for one another’s interests, not just your own.” (Phil 2:4)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Eliminate “unnecessary” spending and look into the possibility of donating your resources to help feed the world’s poor and alleviate the sufferings of the needy. Continue to pray for the sick and the afflicted and those who take care of them directly.
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November 5, 2024: TUESDAY – WEEKDAY (31)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Invites Us to the Feast of the Kingdom … We Must Imitate His Attitude”
BIBLE READINGS
Phil 2:5-11 // Lk 14:15-24
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 14:15-24): “Go out quickly into highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled.”
The biblical scholar Eugene Maly remarks: “One of the most pleasant of human activities is the family or community meal. In its ideal form, it is a time when those who love one another not only share the food they eat, but also share with one another their hopes and fears, their experiences, and future plans. The love that already binds them is made stronger. The Scripture attests to the fact that a meal is expressive of a wide range of human attitudes and emotions … All mankind seems to be aware of the fact that a shared meal creates or strengthens a community of life among the participants. That is why this most human of activities would also be used to symbolize a community of life between human and divine participants.”
All are invited to the feast of the Kingdom. The end-time feast is for all peoples, with God himself as the gracious host. He is the Lord of the banquet who satisfies our deepest longings. Today’s Gospel parable (Lk 14:15-24) underlines the need of a positive response to his invitation. The Church, which has a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, must go to the crossroads in order to invite everyone to the wedding feast. The banquet of salvation, offered to all peoples in the highways and byways, is abundant and gratuitous. But it demands a full response and commitment.
The following personal reflection of a Filipino Religious Brother (he prefers to remain anonymous) gives us an idea of the positive response as well as the negative one that can be given to the Lord’s invitation to the feast of the kingdom.
Preparation for a wedding banquet is too tedious. It puts the host into great anxiety. The host will always look forward to the success of the occasion. The celebration is disappointing if the invited guests will not come despite all the preparation and invitations. Moreover, the story of the gospel is impossible today. We seldom see a rich man inviting people of a lower class to his banquet. This is impossible. If this will happen, the occasion is frowned upon by the wealthy and influential.
In reading the Gospel, the story reminds me of the experience of our parish priest in the province. He was organizing the Basic Ecclesial Community. He was scouting possible community-leaders to facilitate the barrio people in forming little communities and, at the same time, to train Special Eucharistic Ministers to serve in the parish. The parish priest invited first the town people, “taga-poblacion”. Some attended, but slowly they decreased in number until no one remained. The priest was disappointed.
The Basic Ecclesial Community is the trust and mission of the Diocese in response to the promulgation of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines. The Council would like to emphasize the importance of the community-based church wherein lay people can participate with their time, treasure and talents. Because of the priest’s disappointment, he, in turn, called the people from the barrio to attend seminars. The poor from the countryside gladly responded to the call. They started a series of seminars and special education about the basic tenets of faith, the Bible and the Doctrines. The presence of the “taga-barrio” and the “hijos/hijas de entresuelo” (sons and daughters of the nobility by mistresses in the countryside) annoyed the people in the “centro”.
The “taga-barrio” started to occupy a space in the parish. They became regular visitors of the parish priest and that made the town people indifferent to them. One morning, during the Novena Mass in preparation for the town fiesta, carts and muddy vehicles started to arrive. They were decorated with artificial flowers, twigs and leaves, giving a festive atmosphere that made the people wonder. This event astonished the people. Envy haunted the townsfolk when some of those from the barrio went in the procession with the priest at the beginning of the Mass. They were commissioned as Lay Leaders and Special Eucharistic Ministers to help the priest in distributing communion.
Even now, there are few Special Eucharistic Ministers from the “centro”. Indeed, the wealthy and influential are occupied more by their affairs and they have missed the call to associate with the poor and the little ones. This is still an issue in the parish among the nobles.
B. First Reading (Phil 2:5-11): “He emptied himself and because of this, God exalted him.”
The Second Reading (Phil 2:1-11) presents the “kenosis” or self-emptying of Jesus as the ultimate paradigm of a perfect filial response to God. Jesus Christ is the supreme model of total surrender to the Father’s saving will. Harold Buetow explicates: “Jesus’ characteristic quality was self-renunciation. He did not want to dominate people, but to serve them; not in his own way, but in the Father’s, and not to exalt himself but to humble himself. His obedience went beyond that expected of an ordinary human being to that which was expected of a good slave: that is, obediently accepting even death – heroically, the degradation of even death on a cross! From that lowest point, Jesus’ upward movement began: God exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. Jesus’ new name is Lord … It means that Jesus is the master of life, a cosmic influence over all creation … We give Jesus obedience, a love, and a loyalty we can give no one else. At his name, every knee must bend – not in broken submission to might and power, but to the influence of love. And all is, as was Jesus’ life, to the glory of God the Father.”
If we live in deep communion with Christ and assume his humble stance of servitude and self-emptying, harmony and unity would flourish in his body the Church. Indeed, our actions as Christian disciples need to be inspired by Saint Paul’s exhortation: “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus”. The following personal testimony gives insight into what it means to have the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ (cf. Daniel Schantz in Daily Guideposts 2014, p. 322)
As a teacher in a Christian college, my life has been lived in a somewhat protected culture, but my son-in-law, who is also named Dan, lets his light shine in the often brutal world of business.
Dan is a gifted manager of some six hundred large vehicles for a utility company. He works with vendors, goes to meetings, inspects vehicles … and he is guided by his faith in all he does. For example, he maintains his vehicles scrupulously because he knows that the safety of his workers depends on attention to such details as worn tires and brakes or burned-out headlights.
He treats his staff with respect. If he has to correct a worker, he goes in person, face-to-face, the way the Bible says to do. “I was told that you are using a company vehicle for personal trips. Is this true or just a rumor?”
When he fills out performance reviews, he tells the truth, neither all nice nor all-negative. “I really appreciate your hard work, but your mileage records need a bit of work.”
It’s a large company, but when there is death in a worker’s family, Dan goes to the funeral to show support. “I’m sorry about your great loss. I will be praying for you.”
Little wonder that Dan is highly respected and appreciated.
I have learned that everything that I do has a spiritual dimension and not just Bible reading or Church attendance. Whether I am shopping for clothes, fixing a flat tire, or just driving down the freeway, my spiritual light is on and the meter is running.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
What is our response to the Lord’s invitation, “Come to the feast”? How do we react to the negative response of those who have been invited to the heavenly feast? Do I strive to put on the same attitude that Jesus Christ had, especially with regards to self-emptying and service of the divine saving will?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving God,
you are the Lord of the banquet.
We thank you
for the “feast of rich food and choice wines”
you have prepared for us on your holy mountain.
In our daily celebration of the Eucharist,
we have a foretaste of the eternal joy
and the bounty of that heavenly feast.
Grant us the grace to respond positively
to the eternal “banquet of salvation”.
Let us put on the attitude of humble service of Jesus Christ
that we may totally rejoice in you.
We serve you and glorify 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.
“Come, everything now is ready.” (Lk 14:17) // “The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had.” (Phil 2:5)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray that the invitation to the wedding feast of God’s kingdom may find a welcoming response in the hearts of our people. Endeavor to bring the bounty of God’s wedding feast to the poor and hungry of today’s distressed and suffering world. In your daily relationship with others, manifest Jesus’ attitude of humility and loving service.
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November 6, 2024: WEDNESDAY – WEEKDAY (31)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Invites Us to Embrace the Cost of Discipleship … His Power Is at Work in Us”
BIBLE READINGS
Phil 2:12-18 // Lk 14:25-33
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 14:25-33): “Everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
In 2004 I watched the video, “Maximilian, Saint of Auschwitz” that had been stashed on a shelf in our community room. Produced as a joint venture by Saint Luke Productions and the Ignatius Press, the film depicts the radical discipleship of Maximilian Kolbe, who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941 for his tireless work against the Nazi forces. The founder of the Militia of Mary Immaculate was sent to the infamous death camp of Auschwitz where he served in slave labor. He was frequently beaten and subjected to humiliations. On August 14, 1941, he was granted the crown of martyrdom when he offered his own life in place of another prisoner. Various scenes in the film powerfully delineate his spirit of renunciation and total dedication to the Lord. Two poignant episodes illustrate the saint’s uncompromising discipleship: when he was offering his ration of bread to a younger famished prisoner and when he was lying in the death bunker, naked and deprived of everything, waiting for the completion of his paschal sacrifice. Indeed, St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe exemplifies a disciple’s heroic response to the challenge posed by Christ: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple … Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple … Anyone who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple”.
Today’s Gospel reading (Lk 14:25-33) situates Jesus’ challenge in the context of his paschal journey to Jerusalem with great crowds accompanying him. Jesus addresses the crowds to enlighten them about the cost of discipleship. He confronts them with the real demands of being with him on his journey. They must renounce everything (be it family, or their own lives, or possessions) in order to be his disciples. Discipleship, which is a deliberate and total commitment to his person, entails renunciation, or a spirit of detachment. Jesus reinforces his message by narrating two parables concerning the need for reflection before taking decisive action. No one builds without planning carefully, and no king would wage a war without thoughtfully weighing the costs. Discipleship is an all-consuming vocation that must be accepted with mature deliberation. A Christian disciple cannot act on impulse, but only on a carefully considered program of involvement.
According to Robert Karris: “Those who want to follow Jesus on the way must weigh the costs … Jesus’ followers must not recoil before any sacrifice required of them to see their following of him through to the end, even if this means the sacrifice of all their possessions … Disciples must beware of letting their allegiance to Jesus deteriorate and become inactive.” A ruined builder and a conquered king are unpleasant images of a failed and compromised discipleship.
B. First Reading (Phil 2:12-18): “Work out your salvation for God is the one who works in you both to desire and to work.”
In today’s First Reading (Phil 2:12-18), Saint Paul continues his admonition to Christian conduct. The apostle acknowledges that his beloved Philippians have ever been obedient both when he was with them and now that he is imprisoned and away from them. Heartened by their obedient stance to the practical exigencies of faith, Saint Paul urges the Philippians “to work out their salvation with fear and trembling”. They are called to make the gift of salvation efficacious in their life and this is to be done “with fear and trembling”, that is, with a humble reverence and dependence born of faith in God. Indeed, salvation is a gift from God that needs to be responded to. It ought to be actually carried out, not by their own strength, but because God makes it possible for them to do so. God energizes the Christian’s desire and effort toward salvation.
Strengthened by God’s power in their lives, Saint Paul exhorts the Philippians to do everything without grumbling or questioning, a reference to the murmuring of the people of Israel in the desert when they contested God and his providence. Rather than a contentious or a negative presence, the believers are called to be blameless and innocent in the midst of a society that does not know God. Their Christian mission is “to shine like lights in the world” as they remain faithful to the Gospel, the “word of life”. If they do so, Paul will rejoice on the day of Christ’s final coming for indeed he has not run or toil in vain.
Saint Paul’s total commitment to the Gospel as a disciple of Christ is evident in his willingness to offer his life for the Philippians and the faith they offer to God. The possibility of martyrdom will not deter Paul, who will embrace his sacrificial destiny with joy – a joy to be shared with others.
The following current-day account “On Ebola’s Front Lines” (cf. The Week, October 31, 2014) gives insight into the meaning of Saint Paul’s words: “to be poured as a libation”.
The first time Dr. Steven Hatch suited up in protective gear at an Ebola treatment center in Suakoko, Liberia, he was confronted with the weight of his decision to volunteer here. A patient, sweating and heavily soiled, had collapsed in a corridor. “Literally every surface of his body was covered in billions of particles of Ebola”, he recalled. (…)
In his first two weeks in Liberia at a new clinic run by the charity International Medical Corps, Hatch has learned the ways of the Ebola ward. Much of West Africa is following a no hands rule to avoid contagion from the deadly virus, but doctors and nurses here, protected by layers of plastic and rubber armor, routinely touch the sick. Without a drug that can cure the disease, they offer patients fluids and medications to treat symptoms, but also the simplest of comforts, like feeding them and cleaning them up. (…)
Hatch’s journey to this remote center in a tropical forest began last month at a training course run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at a former Army base in Anniston, Alabama. An infectious-disease specialist in Worcester, Massachusetts, Hatch, 45, joined about two dozen other medical workers heading to West Africa. (…)
Hatch, married with 13-year-old twins, says he is at peace with his decision to treat Ebola patients. “I just don’t worry about my life”, he said. “When you’re scared, you get jumpy. When you get jumpy, you make bad decisions.”
Last Friday, he carried a malnourished 9-year-old girl, Blessing Gea, into the unit for those confirmed to have the disease. The next night, nurse Mulrroney, clad in full protective gear, tended to the lonely little girl. She let her lean against her as she squeezed a packet of peanut butter-based supplement into the child’s mouth. She changed her clothing, put new sheets on her bed, and wrapped her in a fuzzy blanket for the chilly night, stroking her head. Three days later, a blood test showed the girl had recovered from Ebola.
Hatch visited a new patient, a pastor who was gravely ill by the time he was admitted last week yet insisted on praying for the American doctor. “To see a guy lying in bed that’s got a 50/50 chance of living or dying pray for you?” Hatch said shaking his head. The next day, just before the pastor died, he prayed for Hatch again.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Am I ready to renounce anyone and/or anything that stands in the way of a total commitment to Jesus: even closest relations, precious possessions, and my very life? Do I wisely and realistically consider the cost of Christian discipleship? Like Saint Paul, am I ready to offer my life as a sacrificial offering for the love of others? Do I trust in God’s strength and not in my own power?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
your Son Jesus invites us
to consider the cost of discipleship.
Help us to love your Son unconditionally.
Give us the strength to be totally self-giving,
even to the point of sacrificing our own life
for the love of Jesus.
Grant that we may be totally open
to the riches of the kingdom.
Be with us as “we work out our salvation with fear and trembling”.
We give you praise, 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.
“Everyone who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14:32) // “I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith.” (Phil 2:17).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray to God for the grace and strength of total dedication. Exercise daily self-renunciation to prepare yourself for the greater challenges that lie ahead. As you daily carry out the work of salvation, be deeply aware of the power of God that is given you.
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November 7, 2024: THURSDAY – WEEKDAY (31)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Rejoices at Finding the Lost … He Is Our True Value”
BIBLE READINGS
Phil 3:3-8a // Lk 15:1-10
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 15:1-10): “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.”
This happened many years ago. My dad was sick with cancer and emotionally sensitive. My brother, Diko Pito, who was undergoing the development throes of teenage life, was also sensitive. My sick father and Diko Pito had an argument. The disagreement escalated to the point that my brother packed some belongings. He ran away from home weeping. My mom was not around when this happened. When she realized that my brother ran away, she immediately went to look for him. All of us were distressed. We could only hope and pray that he may be found. Finally, my mom came back with my “lost” brother. My mom found Diko Pito in the home of his best friend Augusto. My brother was intending to take the evening train to our province in Bicol to take refuge in the home of my Dad’s sister. We greatly rejoiced that Diko Pito was found … that he came back home, safe and sound.
In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 15:1-10), Jesus underlines the heavenly rejoicing when the “lost” is “found”. A sheep has gone astray. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine secure in the fold and searches diligently for the lost sheep. Because of the value of every single sheep, his is not merely a token search. When he finds the sheep, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy. Upon his arrival, he calls together his friends and neighbors to celebrate. In the same way, there is great rejoicing in heaven over a repentant sinner. Jesus reiterates his message by narrating a domestic parable. A woman loses one of her ten precious coins. A drachma coin is worth a day’s wage for a laborer, and is extremely valuable to the woman. She lights a lamp and sweeps the windowless room, searching diligently until she finds it. She rejoices when the lost coin is found. In just the same way there is great rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.
Today’s parables contain a distilled essence of the Gospel: about a loving God who treasures us infinitely. Because of our extreme value, he patiently seeks us out when we are lost. He wants to bring us back close to his heart. God cares for sinners and rejoices at their conversion. In contrast, the Old Testament reluctant prophet Jonah was upset when the people of Nineveh heeded the warning of doom that God commissioned him to preach. He sulked when the people of Nineveh turned their hearts to God in repentance and averted self-destruction. Instead of rejoicing that the sinners were saved - that the “lost” were “found” – the punitive Jonah was angry at God for his mercy. But God is not Jonah and does not act like Jonah. Our loving and forgiving God rejoices when a sinner repents. When the “lost” is “found”, it is an experience of resurrection … it is new life!
B. First Reading (Phil 3:3-8a): “But whatever gains I had, I even consider as a loss because of Christ.”
In today’s First Reading (Phil 3:3-8a), Saint Paul asserts that Christ is the true value. Contesting the false teachers who wish to impose physical circumcision upon the Philippians, the apostle remarks that the Christian believers have received the “true circumcision” for they worship God by means of his Spirit and rejoice in their life of union with Christ Jesus. Indeed, the Christians are “the seed of Abraham” – the “sons of Abraham – because of their faith in Christ Jesus. They do not put their confidence in physical circumcision, which is not a guarantee for salvation. If there is any reason for confidence in Jewish “merits”, such as the physical sign of circumcision, Paul, as a Christian of Jewish background, can claim them as well as the Jews. He lists his Jewish pedigree and elite background as a member of the tribe of Benjamin. Moreover, he was a Pharisee so zealous that he persecuted the Church and kept the law blamelessly. But in comparison to having gained Christ, all these can be counted as “loss”. Paul’s encounter with Christ has completely changed his scale of values. All that seemed to be his advantage before now means nothing to him. The knowledge of Christ, with the life and love it entails, makes everything else relative and of less importance.
The following modern day testimony gives insight into Paul’s experience of Christ as the central value that “relativizes” all things (cf. Anne Nolan, “From Catwalk to Confession” in Alive! September 2014, p. 6).
After all the summer’s footballers, fashion models seem to be in the news this month. Like Amada Rosa Perez. Having grown up in a small village, Amada Rosa was “discovered” when she walked into a gym in Bogota, aged 18, and she went on to become one of Colombia’s top models and film star.
A charismatic queen of the catwalk in Europe and the US, she was a regular on magazine covers. Then she disappeared from the public eye. Five years later she reappeared, a very different person. Call it a religious conversion or simply a decision on her part to seek happiness in a very different direction.
Because behind all the glamour, her life was a serious mess. Desperately she turned to Yoga, Reiki, Feng-Shui, Tarot, without suspecting the hidden price she was paying: “The Devil always wants something in return”, she says. Deeply wounded by her experiences, she felt unsatisfied, directionless, submerged in fleeting pleasures, and at one point was so depressed she considered suicide.
Then, just like she had walked into a gym, one day she walked into a church. There she read, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I shall give you rest.” With that a light went on in her head. She went to confession and found the peace she had been longing for. Then a little bit of Ireland touched her life; she discovered the Legion of Mary and became a member.
Now, besides going to Mass daily, she prays the rosary, says the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3pm and goes to confession frequently. But she also wants to share the peace and joy of her faith with others. For her, that’s part of being a Catholic. “Being a model means being a benchmark”, she says, “being someone whose beliefs are worthy of being imitated.”
“I grew tired of being a model of superficiality. I grew tired of a world of lies, appearances, falsity, hypocrisy and deception; a society full of anti-values that exalts violence, adultery, drugs; a world that exalts riches, pleasure, sexual immorality and fraud.”
“I want to be a model that promotes the true dignity of women, and not their being used for commercial purposes”, she says.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
What does it mean to be lost and found? Are you willing to experience the joy of a loving God who rejoices when one sinner repents? With Saint Paul, will you be able to declare: “But whatever gains I had these I have come to consider loss because of Christ?” Do you consider Christ as the true value?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
you are gracious and forgiving.
Your Son Jesus is the Good Shepherd
who seeks the lost sheep.
His diligence is akin to a woman
who carefully sweeps her house
to find a lost precious coin.
There is great rejoicing in heaven
over one sinner who repents.
This is awesome!
We are grateful that you care for us
and love us, O Father.
And because Christ is our ultimate value,
we consider whatever gains we had as “loss”
and of secondary value.
We praise and thank 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.
“There will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Lk 15:10) // “But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.” (Phil 3:7)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for the conversion of those who have gone astray, and by your kind words and deeds, be an instrument to bring them back home to God. Do what you can to help those who are searching for “lost” family members or friends. Every day be thankful to the Father for Jesus Savior, our true value.
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November 8, 2024: FRIDAY – (WEEKDAY 31)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us to Be Enterprising … He Is the Principle of Our Transformation”
BIBLE READINGS
Phil 3:17-4:1 // Lk 16:1-8
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Lk 16:1-8): “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”
This experience was narrated by a teenager writing in a Filipino national magazine. A Chinese family moved into their neighborhood. For the local Filipino families there, the new neighbors were simply “aliens”. They did not have much sympathy for them. The Chinese immigrants are generally very good businessmen and often acquire more material resources than the local folks. The business acumen of the Chinese and their financial success sometimes generate a feeling of resentment among the natives. One day, the poor neighbors heard much bustling and activity from the Chinese home. They heard pigs being butchered and saw domestic helpers moving about laden with groceries. Enormous vessels of food were cooked outdoors. The aroma of delightful dishes stimulated not only the neighbors’ appetite, but also their curiosity. In the evening, the domestic helpers of the Chinese newcomers scurried through the neighborhood, lugging a most welcome gift for each poor family: a big wicker basket filled with delectable dishes to satisfy their hungry stomachs: “adobo” – a spicy pork dish, “pancit” – made of egg noodles and stir fry vegetables, and “leche flan” – a special creamy custard. There were also some nicely cooked white rice and delicious, ripe fruits to complete the treat. Instead of hosting a party for their relatives and friends, the well-to-do Chinese family celebrated the daughter’s birthday by preparing food baskets for their poor neighbors. The enterprising character of their charity slowly demolished the resistance of the local folks who eventually became their friends.
In today’s Gospel reading (Lk 16:1-8) Jesus narrates the parable of the crafty steward. According to the biblical scholar, Eugene Maly: “In the parable the manager, about to be dismissed, calls in the master’s debtors and reduces their bills (probably by renouncing part or all of his own commission) in order to gain their good will for the future. The lesson intended by Jesus is simply that we should be as enterprising about our future in the Kingdom as was the manager about his future. No judgment, good or bad, is made on the possession of goods.”
Indeed, in the parable of the wily manager is Jesus’ invitation to his disciples to be enterprising in the pursuit of the kingdom of God. At the conclusion of the parable, Jesus said to his disciples: “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light”. In it is a powerful appeal to Christian followers, not only to be creative in the ways of kingdom stewardship, but also to be radically decisive when confronted with a crisis situation concerning God’s reign. Robert Karris remarks: “The steward was decisive when faced with a crisis, so too should Jesus’ listeners who are wavering in their decision to follow him and his kingdom message.”
B. First Reading (Phil 3:17-4:1): “We await a savior who will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.”
Today’s First Reading (Phil 3:17-4:1) helps us to delve into our own vocation of transformation. The Christian journey of transformation is radically initiated at baptism, but needs to be perfected day by day, until the end time when “Christ will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body”. Saint Paul, responding so fully to the gift of baptismal transformation that he could truthfully confess: “It is no longer I who live; Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20), presents himself as an “imitator of Christ” – a model to be emulated by the pledging Philippians. Paul’s journey of configuration to Christ was not without difficulties and sacrifice. But remaining steadfast in his faith, he exhorted the Philippians to stand firm in the Lord.
The biblical scholar Adrian Nocent comments: “Saint Paul develops the thought that all who are baptized will share in the glory of the transfigured Christ. He urges the Philippians to follow his own example and not let their hearts become attached to earthly things. They are already citizens of heaven. How, then, could they glory in what is really a cause for shame or make anything earthly the goal of their life? The Christian is constantly confronted with choices he cannot evade. He must choose, and he must keep on choosing, since, though already a citizen of heaven, he still lives in that form of a servant which Christ himself assumed and in which he was humbled even to the point of dying (Phil 2:6-11). But the day of the Lord’s return will be the day when his fidelity will be rewarded: he will be transformed and become like the glorious Christ … We must change our ways, we must choose and follow the Apostle, that is, in the last analysis we must follow Christ on his paschal journey so that with him we may finally be transformed and glorified.”
We present below the inspiring profile of Jean Vanier, a modern-day example of a full response to the divine “gift of transformation” (cf. “Jean Vanier’s Gift for Living” by Carolyn Whitney-Brown in America, December 22-29, 2008, p. 22).
In August 1964, Jean Vanier was a 36-year-old former naval officer seeking to follow Jesus and the Gospels in a new way. He invited two men who had been living in an institution for people with intellectual disabilities to share a house with him in a French village. Since then, more than 132 similar communities, called L’Arche (the Ark), have developed in over 34 countries, welcoming people of all faiths and traditions. Its related network, called Faith and Light, included more than 1,500 communities. Jean Vanier has become internationally recognized for his profound reflections on social inclusion, peace, forgiveness and what it means to be human.
A celibate spiritual leader who is not a priest, a philosopher with a doctoral degree who is not a professor, Vanier is not easily categorized. When he turned 80 in the fall, the Canadian Globe and Mail newspaper commended his peacemaking, ecumenism and humanitarianism. The editorial endorsed Vanier as a worthy candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, created to honor those who have “greatly contributed to fraternity among human beings across the world”. Jean Vanier was born into a distinguished Canadian family. His family was the last of Canada’s diplomats to flee Nazi-occupied France when he was 11. At age 13, Vanier decided to join the British Navy and again crossed the dangerous North Atlantic. In his early 20s, after reading Thomas Merton, getting to know Daniel Berrigan, S.J., visiting Friendship House and the Catholic Worker in New York City, and completing a 30-day Ignatian retreat, Vanier resigned from the Navy. For the next 14 years, he studied and prayed, became leader of an innovative community of international students near Paris, wrote a well-received doctoral thesis on Aristotle’s understanding of happiness, and was invited to teach at the University of Toronto.
In 1964 his long search to follow Jesus came into focus in a new way, when with Philippe Seux and Raphael Simi, he moved into a small house in Trosly, France. Within a year the community had grown, because Vanier was asked to take on the directorship of a local institution. A trip to India in 1969 deepened Vanier’s understanding of the spirituality and vision of Gandhi and expanded his critical understanding of poverty and community. Around that time L’Arche communities began to grow rapidly around the world, including 16 in the United States. If Vanier had any tendency to romanticize handicaps or spiritualize weakness, that changed when he himself became weak and dependent from a prolonged tropical infection in 1976 and endured a long recovery. He wrote to friends, “After twelve years at L’Arche as an assistant, I am now experiencing what it is like to be on the other side.”
His self-understanding deepened in 1980, when he spent a year living with people with more severe handicaps, whose pain touched his own anguish and even hatred. In learning to recognize his own hidden places of pain, Varnier learned to befriend weakness not just in others but in himself. “Let’s stop running away from ourselves and from the deepest part of our beings,” he encouraged people on retreat. “Let us simply stop and start listening to our own hearts. There we will touch a lot of pain. We will possibly touch a lot of anger. We will possibly touch a lot of loneliness and anguish. Then we will hear something deeper. We will hear the voice of Jesus; we will hear the voice of God: I love you. You are precious to my eyes and I love you “
For Vanier, movements inward and outward follow naturally like tides. He learned not to be an enemy of his inner contradictions and pain and began to speak more about “the teaching of Jesus that, if it had been followed, would have changed the history of the world – Love your enemies.” Love is about coming out from behind barriers, he observed. “Do we want to win, or do we want to be in solidarity with others?” he asked a Harvard audience in 1988.
After September 11, 2001, Vanier participated in gatherings where people reaffirmed their vision of mutual acceptance, but he found that those evenings of prayer left him uneasy. “I felt as though people were not praying for a new just order between people and nations, but, motivated by fear, were praying to keep the status quo – no change, no insecurity …” In words that sound especially resonant now, as the economy dominates headlines, Vanier wrote that perhaps “certitudes will crumble, and stock exchanges will wobble again before more of us truly begin to search for new ways of living.” Vanier’s life offers one example of a new way of living. For him, life’s work is not simply internal growth or accepting one’s humanness. We each have something to offer. “The fundamental principle of peace is a belief that each person is important,” writes Vanier. “Even if you cannot speak, even if you cannot walk, even if you’ve been abandoned, you have a gift to give.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do I belong to “the children of light”? If so, do I respond positively to Jesus’ challenge to be creative and enterprising in promoting God’s kingdom?
2. How do we respond to the gift of baptismal transformation? Does our life witnessing catalyze the Christian transformation of others?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
grant us the grace to be enterprising
in the pursuit of your kingdom.
Help us to use creatively
the spiritual and material goods you have given us
by sharing them with the poor and needy.
Let the grace of transformation we have received
be turned into a “gift for living” for others.
May our transformation be complete.
Let it be a sign that our commonwealth is in heaven.
We praise and thanks 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 week. Please memorize it.
“The children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.” (Lk 16:8) // “He will change our lowly body to conform to his glorified Body.” (Phil 3:21)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
With the aid of material and spiritual possessions given you by the Lord, minister to the needs of the poor. Find a creative and enterprising way of relieving the plight of the poor. Through your work of active charity for the weak, the handicapped and the vulnerable, allow the grace of transformation to become a “gift of living” for others. Be attentive to the various signs of the Lord’s transfiguration in your life and all around you.
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November 9, 2024: SATURDAY – THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Healing Stream
from the Temple”
BIBLE READINGS
Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 // 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17 // Jn 2:13-22
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today we celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the “cathedral” of the diocese of Rome. It is the official seat of the bishop of Rome, who happens to be the Pope. The original basilica was built in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine gave Pope Sylvester I the property, originally owned by the Laterani family, upon which it was constructed. The Lateran Basilica was built shortly after Emperor Constantine had legalized Christianity, which was a persecuted religion. From then on, many Christian places were built and the Church put down roots and spread throughout the world. The Lateran Basilica was dedicated on November 9, 324. The anniversary of its dedication expresses the communion of each Christian community with the universal Church, founded by the apostles Peter and Paul, with the Pope as the head of the college of bishops, which presides over the charity of all the churches throughout the world.
This Sunday’s Old Testament reading (Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12) is one of the most picturesque and consoling passages in the Bible. It depicts Ezekiel’s vision of the healing and life-giving stream flowing out from the renewed temple in Jerusalem. The prophet saw water flowing with increasing quantity, depth and efficacy. All who were touched by it were regenerated, becoming abundantly fruitful. Ezekiel’s vision of regeneration through the life-giving water flowing out from the temple symbolizes the healing and salvation that would result from the new covenant promised by Yahweh in the messianic future.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 7, comment: “When the sanctuary of the Lord was profaned by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar who besieged the city in 597 B.C., he was deeply distressed. Carried off into exile in Babylon, it was on the banks of Kibar canal that he received his mission as a prophet … In 587 B.C. Ezekiel learned that the second taking of Jerusalem ended with the total destruction of the venerated Temple. With this catastrophe, all seemed lost. But God announced to his priest and prophet that there would soon be a miraculous restoration of his people. He will bring them back to their country and will live again in their midst, in a reconstructed Temple … Ezekiel was taken in a vision to the top of a mountain from which he contemplated Jerusalem being rebuilt (Ez 40:1-2). A mysterious surveyor appears to the prophet. He shows him around the Temple, giving measurements in detail, and dictating to him precise rituals that are to be followed (Ez 40:5-46:24). At the end of the guided tour, the prophet is led back to the entrance of the Temple, and there he has an extraordinary vision: waters flowing out from beneath the threshold of the Temple toward the east. This stream that keeps increasing in volume makes salt waters fresh, allows animals to live and multiply, and makes the earth so fertile that wonderful fruit trees grow on its banks. Each month they bear different fruit, and their leaves have healing properties. The stream becomes a mighty river and flows down into the Dead Sea – well-named, since its extremely salty waters allow no animal or vegetable life – and it sweetens its waters too (…) His eyes were finally opened to a radiant future brought about by the purification of suffering.”
Ezekiel’s vision of “living water” gushing forth from the temple of Jerusalem would be radically fulfilled by Jesus Christ in the messianic age. In today’s Gospel passage (Jn 2:13-22) we hear that the “temple” - to be destroyed and raised on the third day - is Jesus himself. Indeed, through the paschal mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, his disciples came to experience that he is the true Temple. Jesus Christ, whose side was pierced by a lance and from which poured forth blood and water, is the font of salvation. The “healing stream” of the world’s salvation flows from the ultimate Temple - Jesus Christ glorified, who renews us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Through the aftermath of the Easter event in which the Risen Lord poured forth upon the community of Christian believers his gift of the renewing Spirit, the Church also became God’s temple. According to St. Paul (cf. 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17), we are the temple of God, the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Jesus Christ is the foundation stone of this new temple, the community of faith.
The biblical scholar Eugene Maly concludes: “The Risen Jesus is the focus of the gathering of all peoples … The glorified Body of Christ is the focal point of all worship of the Father. It is through him, with him, and in him that all honor and glory are given to the Father. He is the new temple and all who accept him as Lord form a new temple since they are in him. The material church building, then, takes on a new significance in the Christian dispensation. It is the place where the Eucharistic Body is most often made present and offered to the Father. It is the gathering of the new temple that is the Church, the temple of God. It is a sign, therefore, of a deeper spiritual reality, of another temple not made by hands. It is for this reason that we celebrate the dedication of the material church building.”
The Church, the spiritual temple comprised by Christian believers, is a source of “healing waters” today. I have experienced this and here is my personal account.
On September 18, 2008, my younger brother Gisbert, who was residing in Toronto, Canada, underwent an “open and close” surgery. The medical team discovered that the cancer in the stomach had spread to the liver and they could not do anything more. It was devastating! Mercifully, however, in the midst of this “purification of suffering” there were waters of consolation. The charity and prayers of the family and friends, both in Canada and abroad, became a source of “spiritual healing”. The PDDM sisters and his own “Born Again” group enfolded him with the comfort of their prayers.
On October 15 I went to Canada to visit him. I was very much touched by the sensitive kindness of the parish community of St. Anthony of Padua where I went for Mass. When a parishioner learned about my brother’s sickness, she spontaneously offered prayers for him at the Prayer of the Faithful. Ezekiel’s vision of a healing stream that enables fruit-laden trees with medicinal leaves to grow is accomplished anew in today’s new “temple” - the community of Christian believers. When we sustain each other in faith and when we comfort each other in the midst of affliction with the consolation we have received from the Risen Lord, “spiritual healing” takes place.
My brother succumbed to cancer and died on May 20, 2009. But our pain and suffering, united with Jesus, the font of salvation, were mitigated and became redemptive. When, through death, my brother finally completed his paschal journey, we believed that he is now experiencing the “fullness” of life and the “glorification” of his “body” in the bosom of God.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. How does Ezekiel’s vision of regeneration, healing and salvation impact you? How does the image of healing waters, fruitful trees and renewed creation affect you personally? Are you grateful for the promise of plenitude and fruitfulness given by the Lord God to Ezekiel with the coming of the new covenant?
2. Why is Jesus Christ the new and ultimate Temple from whom the waters of salvation flow out to the peoples of the earth and to the entire creation? Are you grateful for the gift of the holy Temple Jesus Christ and for having outpoured upon us the gift of the Holy Spirit, his Easter gift?
3. Are we deeply aware that we are the new temple of God? Do we endeavor to live fully the dignity of our being “temple of God” – the “dwelling of God in the Spirit”? What do we do to make the celebration of the feast of the Lateran Basilica more meaningful?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
We bless you, loving Father,
for the vision of hope you gave to Ezekiel.
By the rivers of Babylon where your people were exiled,
he sat and wept
for the devastation wrought by foreign invaders on Jerusalem.
There he grieved for the destruction of its temple.
You consoled your priest-prophet Ezekiel
with the promise of a new covenant.
You gave him a glimpse of the life-giving Temple in the messianic age,
with healing waters flowing from it.
Oh, merciful God,
we thank you for having accomplished your promise
in your Son Jesus Christ.
In him you ratified the new covenant.
Jesus is the ultimate Temple
from which flowed out blood and water
for the world’s healing and salvation.
We give you praise for the Church,
your spiritual temple in the here and now.
By the Easter event of Christ’s death and rising,
we have been transformed into your holy temple,
the place where you dwell in the Spirit.
Help us to bring the healing waters of your grace
to our anguished world.
Enable us to share the medicinal leaves of the cross,
the tree of life,
with those who are spiritually, morally and physically sick.
May all those who participate in your Son’s sufferings
for the world’s salvation
bear abundant fruits of love, joy and peace.
Loving God, we thank you for gathering us
to celebrate the anniversary of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica,
the Pope’s cathedral church.
We thank you for the life-giving Holy Spirit
you have poured upon the universal Church.
We are called to be channels of “healing waters” in the world today.
Gracious Father,
may you be praised in the true Temple, Jesus Christ,
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
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.
“They shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.” (Ez 47:12b)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your kind words and charitable deeds on behalf of the poor, the sick and suffering, enable the “healing waters” from the true Temple, Jesus Christ, to bring them peace, consolation and salvation. Endeavor to make the church building in your parish community a more conducive place for Christian worship. To help us live our dignity us “temples of the Holy Spirit”, make an effort to spend some time in quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
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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