A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 7, n. 6)
Epiphany, Year B – January 4, 2009
“God Manifest”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 60:1-6 // Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6 // Mt 2:1-12
(N.B. Series 7 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year B from the perspective of the Second Reading. For other reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year B, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US and open Series 1 & 4.)
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
Jesus Christ, the Son of God born of the Virgin Mary, is the “epiphany” or manifestation of God’s saving love. The awesome events of Christmas and Easter are moments of “epiphany” – stupendous acts of revelation – by which we experience the tremendous and all-encompassing love of God for all peoples and for all creation. The feast of Epiphany is a celebration of “God manifest in Jesus Christ”. On Epiphany, we stand in wonder at the “revealed” mystery of the Word made flesh – Jesus Christ – the font and instrument of salvation.
In this Year of Saint Paul (June 28, 2008 – June 29, 2009), let us pay special attention on Paul’s unique experience of “epiphany” and the role that he played in making this “epiphany” radiate through the nations. Paul was a special recipient of divine “epiphany”. To him was revealed in a special way God’s saving plan to integrate humanity and creation. To him was manifested the reality that Jews and Gentiles alike are co-heirs, co-partners and co-sharers in the salvation willed by God in Jesus Christ. That the Gentiles or non-Jews are included in the divine plan of salvation was one of the earliest struggles faced by the Church. It took some years before the universality of Christ’s redeeming work was fully understood. Paul’s assertion that the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the body of Christ, and sharers of the same promise of salvation was startling and instigated contentions among the early Christian community that were mostly composed of Jews, the people of the covenant – the chosen people of God.
The second reading (Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6) of today’s liturgical feast of Epiphany narrates Paul’s experience of the divine “epiphany”, the basis of his apostolic ministry. We report below the GOOD NEWS BIBLE translation of the Ephesians text to help us understand better the Pauline experience of the “mystery revealed”:
Surely you have heard that God in his grace has given me this work to do for your good. God revealed his secret plan and made it known to me. In past times mankind was not told this secret, but God has revealed it now by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. The secret is that by means of the gospel the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God’s blessings; they are members of the same body and share in the promise that God made through Christ Jesus.
Having experienced the graciousness of God and his revelation of an all-encompassing plan to save all nations of the earth, Paul responded with love. He was moved to “conversion”. From a staunch Pharisee with a parochial outlook, he was incredibly transformed into an apostle of the Gospel in a universal, catholic sense. Paul’s mission of proclaiming and witnessing the Gospel to peoples of all nations was, in a sense, an “epiphany”. His apostolic ministry involved the “manifestation” of the love of God to all peoples of the earth, so much so that groups with irreconcilable differences would embrace a common belief, reach for a common goal and share a wondrous destiny in Jesus Savior. Saint Paul’s announcement of the Gospel was truly an “epiphany” of the divine “mystery” to unite all and to restore all things in Christ.
Like the magi who responded to the “epiphany” of the star and hastened to follow it and like Paul who responded to the divine “epiphany” of universal love, we too are called to respond to the daily “epiphany” of God in our personal lives. Our experience of the “epiphany” of divine grace should lead us to conversion. The Christian “epiphany” challenges us to be an “epiphany” of God’s love to the people around us and to all. The magi’s arduous journey towards the Christ Child was marked with perils and difficulties. Paul’s work of “epiphany” involved sacrifice and sufferings. In the same way, while our experience of divine “epiphany” and our mission to be an “epiphany” of God’s love in the world today is filled with grace, it is, at the same time, wrought with challenges and difficulties. In all these, the miracle of “epiphany” – of “God manifest” – dwells in us.
The following “epiphany” story by Mike McGarvin, founder of the Poverello House in Fresno, California narrates a contemporary visit by “Three Wise Men” (cf. POVERELLO NEWS, December 2008, p.2-3). It also invites us to open our eyes to the transforming work of God in our lives and to be grateful for the yuletide miracles that manifest God’s unmitigated love for us.
Last year, I was having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. My diabetes was getting worse, my old body ached in the cold more than usual, and I was very grouchy and feeling sorry for myself. The Amici Del Poverello Guild had their annual parties for poor children and for men in the Poverello drug rehabilitation program, and I grudgingly went to both because I was supposed to take pictures. At the Resident Program party, something happened that helped change my perspective, and maybe even shooed the Grinch away from me.
As I was mingling with people and taking photos, I came upon three young men sitting at a table. It took a moment for me to recognize them. They were former Poverello program residents, clean and sober, coming back to celebrate Christmas with Poverello, where they got started on a new life. Their stories were very different.
One of them came to us from Southern California. He had grown up in a well-to-do family, but drugs had destroyed the family’s trust. After he enrolled in the program, he walked away. A couple of months later, he came back, but this time we kicked him out for violating the rules. He could have done what most do in that situation: he could have gone back to using drugs. Instead, he started going to A.A. and N.A. meetings, got a job with a relative, and has managed to abstain from drugs for several years now.
The second man started using drugs early in life, probably in response to the pain of growing up in a dysfunctional family. He became a drug dealer at a young age. He was very bright, fondly remembered by his teachers in school. Brought to Poverello via the legal system, he was smart enough to see that drugs were going to get him nowhere, and struggled valiantly so stay away from the street scene. He graduated from the program, and stayed clean for a long time after. However, he eventually succumbed to the lure of meth, but loved his life of sobriety too much to continue with the drug. He came back to N.A. and started all over again. His sincerity and hard work paid off.
The third man was very troublesome for much of his time in the program. Another referral from jail, he had shattered his marriage with drugs and unfaithfulness. The first couple of months he was here, he was spacey and full of self-pity. He was an educated professional man who had fallen as far as one can fall. Now, he was stripped of his career, his wife, and his family by his addiction and consequent bad choices. On more than one occasion, he came close to getting kicked out of our program for stupid infractions of the rules. Then, almost overnight, something clicked. He began taking responsibility for his problems, taking the program more seriously, and started helping others. The transformation was remarkable.
So here they sat, three different men with diverse backgrounds, united in two things. First, they had hit bottom and ended up at Poverello, the home of desperate cases and last chances. Second, all three of them, in their own unique ways, found answers to their addictions.
As I was talking to them, a Christmas image came into my mind: I was being visited by the Three Wise Men. Wise, because so many of their brothers in the program had chosen to return to the madness of addiction, while they instead chose the simpler, but much more difficult path of responsibility. Wise, because in the midst of agony and failure, they had cried out in despair, and accepted help when it was offered. And finally, wise, because, like the other Wise Men who found what they sought in a lowly place, these men discovered what they were looking for in a humble place called Poverello House. It reminded me that Christmas is full of good surprises.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
What images of “epiphany” do you see in the three liturgical readings of the feast of the Lord’s Epiphany?
What is Saint Paul’s experience of “epiphany” and why is it unique?
What are our personal experiences of the Lord’s “epiphany” and how is our life an “epiphany” of God and his unmitigated saving love for all peoples and for all creation?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for the various “epiphanies”
of your unmitigated love in salvation history
and in our personal lives.
We bless you for your radiant glory
that dispelled the gloom of the people of Jerusalem.
We thank you for the inspiring example of the magi
who journeyed with the guiding star
to give homage to the newborn king.
We bless you for the transforming “epiphany” experience of Saint Paul
and the revelation of your all-encompassing love
for all peoples of the earth.
Give us the grace to be a living “epiphany”
of your unmitigated saving love
for all nations and all creation.
We love you, we adore you and serve you,
now and forever.
Assembly: Amen
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“God revealed his secret plan and made it known to me … The secret is that by means of the gospel the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God’s blessings.” (Eph 3:3-6a)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray that Christian disciples may be a living “epiphany” of God’s love for all peoples of the earth. By your life of charity and humble service to the poor and needy, let the love of God, incarnated in Jesus Christ, be experienced by all.
ACTION PLAN: To help us become a living “epiphany” of God’s love, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR: A Weekly Pastoral Tool (Year B, vol. 5, # 6).
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
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Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US