A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 15, n. 7)
Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord and Week 1 in Ordinary Time:
January 8-14, 2017
(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 of Year C from various perspectives. For the Lectio Divina on the liturgy of the past week: January 1-7, 2017, please go to ARCHIVES Series 15 and click on “Christmas Weekday”.
Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: January 8-14, 2017.)
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January 8, 2017: SUNDAY – THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Epiphany of God’s Glory and Peace”
BIBLICAL READINGS
Is 60:1-6 // Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6 // Mt 2:1-12
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mt 2:1-12): “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
Today’s feast of Epiphany reminds me of O. Henry’s classic story, “The Gift of the Magi” about a poverty stricken, but self-sacrificing married couple, Dell and Jim. Out of deep love, they sold their most precious possessions in order to present to each other the best Christmas gift one could ever give. Dell sold the beautiful hair that rippled down to her knees like brown cascades to buy Jim a grand platinum chain for his gold watch heirloom. Jim sold his gold watch to get money for a set of beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims, to adorn the gorgeous tresses of Dell. Jim ended up with a precious chain for a watch that had been sold for her sake. Dell received the coveted adornments for her beautiful tresses that had been unselfishly sacrificed for him. O. Henry concluded the beautiful story of self-giving in the following words:
The magi, as you know, were wise men – wonderfully wise men – who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones … And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in the last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts such as they are the wisest. Everywhere they are the wisest. They are the magi.
Today’s Gospel reading (Mt 2:1-12) depicts the journey of magi from the east in search of the King of the Jews. They had seen his star at its rising and wanted to do him homage. The insidious King Herod met them privately and told them hypocritically to look for the child that he too might adore him. The star guided the magi and preceded them until it stopped over the place where the child was. The evangelist Matthew narrates: “On entering the home they saw the child and Mary his mother. Then, they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Mt 2:11). The magi were a caste of wise men variously associated with interpretation of dreams, Zoroastrianism, and astrology. In Church tradition, their number settled at three, deduced from the three gifts that they brought to the Child or from the belief that they represented the three races of those who came to Christ and welcomed his Gospel: the Semites, the Black and the Indo-Germanic.
In Matthew’s Gospel, the magi from the East who came to do homage to the King of the Jews represented the fulfillment of the messianic prophecy: “The wealth of the nations shall be brought to you … All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord” (Is 60:5-6) // “The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring him tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him” (Ps 72:1-11). Eventually, the Christian tradition gleaned a deeper meaning from the threefold gift of the magi to the Child in Bethlehem. St. Irenaeus (c. 135-202) remarks: “Myrrh signified that he, for our mortal human race, would die and be buried; gold, that he was the King whose reign would be without end; incense, that he was God who came to make himself known in Judea, and to show himself to those who never sought him.”
In the context of the Christmas-Epiphany liturgy which celebrates the stupendous manifestation of the Father’s love in his beloved Son Jesus, born of the ever-virgin Mother Mary, the enchanting figures of the magi from the East offer us a lesson in gift–giving. In her article, “Journeying with the Magi” (cf. The WORD Among Us, Advent 2003, p. 50), Louise Perrotta exhorts us: “The magi presented Jesus with a sampling of the ancient world’s costliest gifts. They gave the best. Finding much to ponder in these offerings, the Church Fathers often interpreted them as symbols of what every Christian is called to present to God: the gold of charity and good works, the incense of prayer and faith, the myrrh of purifying suffering and belief in the resurrection. During this season, we might consider how to make such an offering in our own lives. While it is always right to turn to God for what we need, this season encourages us to find ways of giving him what we value most, beginning with our very selves. As we give ourselves to Jesus, we will find ourselves side by side with the magi.”
The beautiful homage of the gift-giving Magi as they encountered the Christ-Child in Bethlehem, together with Mary his Mother, gently leads us to the divine gift-giver: the loving God the Father who loved the world so much that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life (cf. Jn 3:16). The Son of God, Jesus, the Word made flesh, is the paramount GIFT – the Father’s gift to us – the sign of his great love for us. Indeed, the Son of God made flesh, born as a child, is the most powerful sign of the Father’s will to bring us salvation. As the Christmas liturgy proclaims: “UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN! UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN!” He is the sign of the Father’s marvelous love and the means of salvation. The Child who is the Father’s gift to us is JESUS, humankind’s model of ultimate self-giving.
B. First Reading (Is 60:1-6): “The glory of the Lord shines upon you.”
It was the day after Christmas in 2007 at the Cathedral of the Our Lady of Angels. The peaceful garden and the enormous sanctuary were blazing with beauty coming from myriads and myriads of potted red poinsettias. The intense red splendor of the poinsettias was utterly fitting for the feast of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, which we were celebrating that December 26. There were merely a handful of worshippers for the 7:00 daily morning Mass in comparison with the thousands and thousands that came for the Christmas midnight Mass and the liturgical celebrations on December 25. The visiting priest who presided at Mass led us incisively into the spirit of the Christmas season and helped us contemplate the mature commitment needed by those who follow the Christ Child, as exemplified by St. Stephen.
The presiding priest also informed us of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and requested prayers for the people of Pakistan. The bad news about the trouble in the nuclear-armed Pakistan cast a shadow of sadness on my holiday spirit. I was despondent as images of the suffering Pakistani nation came into my mind. I tried to ward off specters of rampage, carnage and vengeance in that deeply convulsed nation. I prayed for the deceased Benazir Bhutto and all the other victims of violence, hatred and war. I prayed deeply for the safety of the civilians, especially my former student, Sr. Catherine Sardar, a Pakistani. However, as I studied later that day the bible readings of the feast of Epiphany, Isaiah’s prophecy and the Gospel event of the Lord’s “manifestation” mercifully dispelled my gloom. The comforting words of the Scriptures replaced the fearful images with a vision of hope. Indeed, darkness and sadness do not have the ultimate word. The celebration of the Christmas-Epiphany mystery warmly assures us that the birthday of the Lord is the birthday of peace.
The Old Testament reading (Is 60:1-6) proclaimed on this feast of Epiphany presents a prophetic vision of Jerusalem’s future glory even as “darkness covers the earth and thick clouds cover the peoples” (v. 2). This passage needs to be seen against the following historical context: the fall of the kingdom of Judah and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem (587 B.C.), the period of the Babylonian exile and captivity (587 B.C. – 538 B.C.), and the promise and beginning of the exiles’ return (538 B.C. – 520 B.C.). In its original context, the passage delineates the future grandeur of Jerusalem, restored and rebuilt. It portrays not only the glorious restoration of the defeated and disgraced Jewish nation, but also the universal vocation and assembly of all nations called to give praise to Yahweh.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 1, comment: “The prophet’s gaze focuses on Jerusalem, toward which he sees a long and joyous procession of her children who “were from afar”, i.e. from the Exile from which God has delivered them. On the summit of Zion, the newly reconstructed Temple blazes with the light of candelabra. What a marvelous and glorious spectacle! … Then, in his ecstatic view, all is changed. The city appears to him brightly illuminated, ablaze with the glory of the Lord upon it, while the rest of the world remains in darkness. Toward the glittering light, it is no longer the throng of exiles or the procession of the feast of Tabernacles that is marching up, but the countless multitudes of nations and kings from every land. They bear their offerings – gold, incense, riches – while singing the praises of the Lord. The prophet sees this transfigured Jerusalem, and he lets us see what looms beyond the horizon of history, the point toward which all eyes look, the assembly place for all the nations marching toward the full manifestation – Epiphany – of the Lord.”
The “epiphany” of Yahweh’s glory in Jerusalem and the gathering of nations envisioned in the Book of Isaiah find absolute fulfillment in the marvelous “epiphany” of the Word of God made flesh - Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the Christ Child, born of Mary in Bethlehem, is God’s ultimate “epiphany” or manifestation of love. In the incarnation of the Divine Word is the full revelation of the Father’s saving plan to bring peace and unity to all nations, and to bring redemption to all. Isaiah’s vision of the future glory of Jerusalem gives us a glimpse of the final “Epiphany” – the ultimate manifestation of love in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The “Christian Epiphany” is the grandiose expression of the splendor of God and his abounding love for us.
C. Second Reading (Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6): “Now it has been revealed that the Gentiles are co-heirs of the promise.”
Today’s Second Reading (Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6) delineates the special “epiphany” experienced by Saint Paul, the “prisoner of Christ Jesus” for the sake of the Gentiles. By divine grace, he was set apart to proclaim the Good News to non-Jews. A privileged recipient of divine “epiphany”, Saint Paul became a herald of God’s “secret plan”, that is, by means of the gospel the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in divine blessings. All are called to be members of the same body and share in the promise that God made through Jesus Christ. Paul’s experience of “epiphany” made him in turn an instrument of God’s continuing revelation of life and love to the nations.
Indeed, the Second Reading gets to the heart of the Epiphany celebration. The biblical scholar Eugene Maly remarks: “The reading speaks of God’s secret plan now revealed, a plan, we learn elsewhere, that God had intended from the beginning. It was a plan that the prophets of the Old Testament had hinted at, but whose full meaning even they did not know. Only with Jesus Christ was it fully revealed. Epiphany, God manifest in Jesus Christ, is the whole message of the Scriptures … The Christian Epiphany took place not as an act of divine self-satisfaction, but for us. God hoped that we would be amazed at it all, that we would react like the magi and give him ourselves as gifts, that we would be awestruck by this supreme act of love and begin to love him in return. Will he be disappointed?”
On this feast of Epiphany, we thank God for Love’s pure love revealed. We are also grateful to him for the ongoing “epiphany” of his saving love in today’s world. The history of the world and that of the Church is that of a developing “epiphany”. It is a mystery of love that is revealed each day. Like Saint Paul, we have a part in the unfolding of that revelation. As Christian disciples in the “here and now”, we are called to manifest God’s love to all by proclaiming and witnessing to the Good News of salvation.
The feast of Epiphany is marked by “gift-giving”. The following Christmas story gives us a glimpse into the ongoing “epiphany” of God’s all-embracing love that is unfolding in today’s world and it also teaches us what “gift-giving” means (cf. Claudia Girsham, “A West Texas Christmas” in Country, December/January 2010, p. 26-27). May the spirit of Christmas and the Lord’s Epiphany fill our hearts and guide us through the days of the New Year and the forthcoming years.
The winter whistled across the west Texas plains. Tumbleweeds drifted into our barbed-wire fence, and laundry froze stiff on the line. Christmas 1944 was just days away, and I hoped a deep snow would come with it. One morning, my brother, Bobby, and I stepped outside and watched a battered truck pull up beside the rundown house at the end of the road. Kids piled out and scattered across the yard, moving too fast to count.
After lunch, I heard someone in the backyard. It was one of the new kids, and he was on my red scooter. I tried to be nice, because I knew Mother was watching me, but I didn’t want him on that scooter. The boy’s name was Herbert, and he wanted to know if we had anything else to play with. Bobby picked up a baseball and asked if he wanted to play catch. Herbert threw down my scooter, and I quickly escaped down the road with it, where I had a not-so-nice discussion about the new kids with our neighbors Patsy and Jane Palmer.
On top of that, we still didn’t have a Christmas tree and Mother had just told us we weren’t going to my grandparents this year. My father had only one day off, and we didn’t have enough time or money for the trip. No family at Christmas! No grandmother to hug me and fix my favorite food. No granddaddy to dance his jig and make us laugh. No aunts, uncles or cousins. It would be the first Christmas I could remember without family. I didn’t say much, but I wanted to cry. The howling wind just made it worse.
The next day, Herbert and two of his brothers were in our yard again. Mother made sugar cookies and handed them out the kitchen door to us. Those boys gobbled them down as if they’d never eaten cookies before. While we sat on the doorstep, I mentioned that Santa Claus was coming on Saturday. Herbert munched his cookie and matter-of-factly told us Santa had never been to his house. I felt so terrible I didn’t know what to say. At supper, I told Mother what Herbert had said. She looked at my dad, and I saw the sadness in her eyes. My father told us that Santa might have trouble finding Herbert’s family because they probably moved a lot.
The next morning, Mother rushed off to see Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Palmer. They were planning something. When Daddy got home, Mother told us we were going to do something to help Herbert’s family. It had to be a secret; we couldn’t talk about it at all, not even with our friends. We had no money to buy gifts, so Mother asked us to make or find something to give the children. The Phillips and Palmer families would do the same. We didn’t have many store-bought toys. Bobby had a slingshot, but the rubber band was broken. I had an old rubber Betsy Wetsy. I hated that doll, and I didn’t think the neighbors would like her any better than I did. I wanted to give something special that they’d really love.
That night, my mind churned as I tried to think of the perfect gift. When I came up with an idea, I really wished I hadn’t. I liked the scooter better than anything I had. It wasn’t new when I got it, but I thought it was the best scooter in the world because Aunt Winnie had given it to me. I tossed and turned, trying to make up my mind. The next morning, I told my parents I wanted to give Herbert my scooter. They looked surprised. “Are you sure?” my father asked. I was. Daddy suggested I paint it a different color so Herbert wouldn’t recognize it. That night, Daddy brought home a paper sack with a small can of pretty blue paint and a little bell for the handlebars. Mother put newspapers on the kitchen floor, and Bobby and I painted the scooter.
Then Bobby got his baseball from his bedroom and wrote “Babe Ruth” on it in black crayon so Herbert wouldn’t know it had been his. It must have been hard for him to give up that beat-up ball as it was for me to give away my scooter. He and J.C. Phillips played a lot of catch. The lump in my throat was so big I could hardly swallow. I wanted to hug Bobby, which is what Mother did, but I figured he’d kick me in the shin.
On Christmas Eve, Daddy brought home our tree, a blue spruce from the nursery where he worked. After supper, we walked down to the Palmers’ with our gifts for Herbert’s family. The Phillips family was already there. It was like a grand, happy party. Mrs. Palmer made punch, and Mother and Mrs. Phillips brought fudge and cookies.
As we walked home, a million stars twinkled in the clear black sky. The Christmas star seemed to shine right down on us. It didn’t look like we’d be getting any snow tonight. We walked quietly, holding hands. I felt like my heart would explode with love and happiness. I started singing O Holy Night, and the family joined in. We sang the rest of the way home.
Daddy was reading the Christmas story from the Bible when we heard a car pull up. Who could be visiting us this late on Christmas Eve? We couldn’t believe our eyes: Aunt Frances, Uncle Raney and their children, Judy and little Raney, had driven from California to surprise us. Mother fried the hen she’d planned for Christmas dinner. We decorated the tree, sang carols and hung up our socks. Overnight, we got about a foot of snow. Big flakes were still fluttering down when I went out to help Daddy feed the dogs. I could hear kids talking.
Daddy and I sneaked over to where we could see Herbert’s porch without him seeing us. Herbert was yelling, “He came! He came!” I blinked back tears. Daddy took my hand, and we walked back to our very full little house.
I’ve often wondered if Herbert and his family weren’t really angels sent down to help us understand the joy of giving and the spirit of Christmas. Our gifts were small, but the Lord poured out his blessings in a way I will never forget.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Why is the Divine Word made flesh the greatest and ultimate “Epiphany” of our loving God? What is our response to the Father’s gift of Christian Epiphany? What are the lessons we can glean from the magi and their search for the newborn King? Are we ready to welcome the various “epiphanies” of God’s love in our lives and in the world today? Are we willing to be “epiphanies” and manifestations of God’s saving love for the people of today and their quest for meaning in life?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we thank you for the great “Epiphany” of love
that you have given us in the incarnate Word,
Jesus Christ – your only begotten Son.
In Jesus,
the radiance of your love shines upon us with healing rays,
transforming us into people of joy and lovers of light.
Help us to respond fully
to the radiant beauty streaming from the Holy Child.
Transformed by the great “Epiphany” of the Christ Child,
may we in turn be “epiphanies” of your compassionate love
for a troubled world
and for the people of today,
who are in quest for meaning and for the gift of peace.
We glorify 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 week. Please memorize it.
“They offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Mt 2:11)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your acts of charity to the poor and the needy, endeavor to be living “epiphanies” of the Father’s saving love in today’s world. Pray for peace and be a channel of God’s peace, especially for the victims of violence and strife. To help experience more deeply the mystery of the Lord’s Epiphany, make an effort to spend some quiet moments before the Blessed Sacrament.
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January 9, 2017: MONDAY – THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
“JESUS SAVIOR: His Baptism is an Epiphany and a Messianic Investiture”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 42:1-4, 6-7 or Acts 10:34-38 // Mt 3:13-17
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mt 3:13-17): “After Jesus was baptized, he saw the Spirit coming upon him.”
Sr. Maria Goretti, the superior of the PDDM community in Pondicherry, died in the tsunami that swept through the Indian coast on December 26, 2004. On the day after Christmas, the entire community left Pondicherry for a pilgrimage to a famous Marian shrine, Our Lady of Velankani. The five Sisters were making a stopover at the coastal town of Nagapattanam for breakfast when they heard terrified shouts: “The water is rising. Run for your life!” Everybody frantically fled the killer waves. Sr. Maria Goretti, however, perished. At 12:30 P.M., the rescuers brought her lifeless body covered with mud into the town’s Catholic Church building. Sr. Maria Goretti’s immersion into the paschal destiny of Christ, prefigured in the sacrament of baptism, is complete. She has crossed the raging waters to eternal life. Indeed, Sr. Maria Goretti, who died to this earth, now lives on in heaven. She is now united in eternal life with Jesus Christ, who was baptized like us.
This Sunday’s celebration of the baptism of the Lord fittingly concludes the Christmas-Epiphany season. Ordinary Time begins tomorrow and the liturgy of the season through the year emphasizes the daily ministry of Jesus to the people of his day and the flock that he continues to shepherd in the here and now. The feast of the Lord’s baptism contains tremendous significance and profound riches for the community of believers today. At the River Jordan, where Jesus has submitted himself to a baptism by John, there is an epiphany, a messianic investiture and anointing by the Holy Spirit, and above all, a pre-figuration of Christ’s Paschal Mystery.
The climax of Matthew’s baptismal account is the identification of Jesus as the Son of God. A voice comes from the heavens saying: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. The voice is addressed publicly to those present and has a revelatory character. For the evangelist Matthew, the baptismal event is an epiphany – a manifestation of Jesus to the world as the Son of God, totally committed to serve the Father’s messianic saving plan. The biblical scholar, Daniel Harrington, comments: “Matthew’s primary concern is to show that at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry he is publicly acknowledged as the Son of God. This in turn makes clear the significance of everything that Jesus will do in the course of that ministry. His is the ministry of God’s own Son. A new age under the power of God has begun, and in it all the plans of God will be fulfilled.”
The evangelist Matthew depicts the baptismal event at the Jordan as a messianic investiture through the anointing of the Spirit: “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him”. The specific character of Jesus’ ministry as Messiah is to be understood against the backdrop of the Suffering Servant: “I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness” (Is 42:6-7). Jesus is the beloved Servant who does the Father’s will. At his baptism in Jordan River, he is revealed as the promised Messiah who responds to Israel’s longing for the “heavens to open and to rain down the just one” (Is 45:8). As the true Messiah, Jesus brings the favor and grace of God. As the fulfillment of our Advent yearnings, he is the ultimate Christmas gift of the loving Father to us.
Through his baptism, Jesus is anointed by the Spirit of God and filled with his power. The biblical theologian, Francis Durrwell, remarks: “The theophany of the Jordan marks the beginning of Christ’s public life. God guarantees Jesus of Nazareth: the voice from heaven shows that he is the Son; the presence of the Holy Spirit shows that he is the Messiah, the Anointed One of Yahweh, upon whom the power of God rests. Like the heroes of old, Christ enters upon his career by the impetus of the Holy Spirit.” With the anointing by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is empowered as a prophet to bring the glad tidings of salvation to all and liberate those in the cruel grip of sin and evil.
B. First Reading (Is 42:1-4, 6-7): “Behold my servant with whom I am well pleased.”
The meaning of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus finds deeper meaning against the backdrop of this Sunday’s reading about the Servant of Yahweh (Is 42:1-4, 6-7). This Old Testament reading comes from the first of the four songs of the “Suffering Servant” found in the book of Isaiah (42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-11 and 52:13-53:12). In its original context of the Babylonian captivity, the “Suffering Servant” was the people of Israel, conceived in terms of its ideal destiny. Jesus Christ, however, personified the mysterious figure and radically fulfilled the ideal of the “Suffering Servant”.
The figure of the “Suffering Servant” in the book of Isaiah represented the finest qualities of Israel and her leaders; he was the “chosen one” – the messianic king, prophet, teacher and victim destined to bring forth justice to the nations in a nonviolent, non-aggressive way. He was meant to lead and console the people of God, restoring goodness and wholeness among them. Gently and quietly, the Servant of Yahweh was to carry out his saving mission, transforming the people from within and not by military prowess or by whipping them into conformity. By way of sacrificial love, the Servant of Yahweh was to accomplish the saving plan of the loving, compassionate God to reunite the people of God and achieve the true covenant. Yahweh’s beloved Servant was destined to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement and to release from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
The use of the Isaiah 42 text in this Sunday’s liturgy of the Lord’s Baptism underscores that Jesus is Yahweh’s beloved Servant consecrated and empowered by the Holy Spirit for his messianic vocation as healer, liberator and restorer of all nations. At his baptism in the Jordan was the Father’s avowal: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” and the Spirit’s empowerment of him for his messianic ministry in the world. Indeed, today’s feast celebrates Yahweh’s act of epiphany or manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah-Son of God. It also celebrates his public consecration and anointing by the Spirit of Yahweh for his mission as Suffering Servant-Messiah.
Immersed into the sacramental waters and the paschal destiny of the Suffering Servant-Son of God, the baptized Christians replicate in their lives the saving event of Christ’s “manifestation” and “mission”. The following is a testimony of the imprisoned brothers at the penitentiary in Tehuacan, Puebla in Mexico (cf. “In Prison We Encountered Christ” in Inquietud Nueva: Revista Catolica de Evangelizacion, Noviembre-Diciembre 2006, p. 75-77). Having experienced the epiphany or “manifestation” of God’s all-inclusive, unconditional love in their lives and having been liberated by Christ’s saving mission, they in turn became “manifestation” of God’s abiding love and “missionaries” of his living Word.
We are a group of prisoners who, despite the circumstances in which we are found, we have had the joy of listening to the word of God, which has been transforming our lives little by little. We wish to share our experiences to give testimony that God, infinitely merciful, is able to transform the heart of any man who lets himself get molded by him. I still remember those moments of anguish and desperation when I first entered the CERESCO (common name for this prison). Before knowing God it felt like time did not go by, rather the hours extended eternally. There were moments in which solitude would get hold of me and the Evil one would attack, tempting me to escape, commit suicide, or to look for revenge, for there are many here paying for crimes they never committed, while the true criminals are “free” committing more crimes. When one is deprived of his freedom, it’s possible to get easily depressed, and that sometimes leads us to seek shelter using drugs.
Today, thanks to God, we have understood that nothing can bring us greater happiness than knowing Christ, our God and Savior. We do not need anything more, because he who has God has it all. When one enters prison, many of us think that we are going to encounter bad people who will make our lives impossible. But God, who knows every man’s fears, did not allow this to happen. On the contrary, he puts people around us who give us courage. During our free time, many imprisoned brothers use this time to work and earn at least something to live off. In addition, work helps us to feel that here time does not pass by slowly.
Something that has changed our lives are the moments in which we have contact with the word of God, which is alive and effective, for its message is always destined to touch today’s humanity. Most of us have had the opportunity to rediscover God once again, especially when attending the penitentiary’s chapel. Some of us have even received some sacraments, such as First Communion. In a recent visit by the Bishop, we meditated on how God loves us so much that, even if we are imprisoned, he wanted to be with us to fill us with his blessings … We do not know if our mishandled cases will be solved or our sentences reduced, but our hope is in God, to whom we shall give an account of our lives one day. Many times they have told us, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom 8:28), words that pronounce a great truth, yet very difficult to accept when it is our time to suffer!
Thanks to the evangelization we have received from the Missionaries Servants of the Word, we now come to the conclusion that perhaps, if we were not imprisoned, we would have never been interested in knowing Christ. Nevertheless, God took advantage of our failures to transform us into new men, thus confirming what Romans 8:28 says.
Today, we know that we too are called to be holy, and in spite of our errors, we can still reach it. The day that God allows us to obtain our freedom, the first thing that we will do is to thank him and remain in his love, not looking for revenge, but living a straight life. Through this testimony, which has not been easy to explain, we want to invite everyone, especially young people who enjoy their physical freedom, to value the dignity of being children of God, and avoiding committing actions that go against this dignity enslaving you. We do not pay for our faults in one day, they mark us for life: even those we love end up paying for them.
C. Alternative First Reading (Acts 10:34-38): “God anointed him with the Holy Spirit.”
The Second Reading of today’s liturgy (Acts 10:34-38) gives wonderful insight into the meaning of the Lord’s baptism as an “anointing” of the Spirit that empowers him to do good and bring about God’s saving plan. Filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus of Nazareth went everywhere, doing good and healing all who were under the grip of evil. Indeed, God was with Jesus, his beloved “Son-Servant”.
The biblical scholar Adrian Nocent comments: “Jesus is anointed with the Spirit and his power. This description from Acts (10:34) reminds us of Isaiah’s words in chapter 61:6, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted. God has chosen Jesus as recipient not only of the Spirit but of power as well. This power should be understood not as something distinct from the anointing of the Spirit but rather as part of the gift of the Spirit. Saint Luke (in Peter’s discourse) further specifies the effects of this anointing: He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:34).
Our baptismal dignity prompts us to do good in the here and now and our commitment as “anointed” by Christ’s Spirit obliges us to works of compassion in today’s world. The following article published in San Jose Mercury News on January 17, 2010 presents an inspiring idea that would help us in our Christian vocation to do good every day of the year.
As much as we like to imagine that with a new year comes a new start, we all know that flipping the page on a calendar doesn’t create change. Only through action, as individuals and as community, can change occur. The great Martin Luther King, whom we honor today, taught us that hope, love, and forgiveness have the power to move mountains … the power to move humanity forward.
It’s with progress in mind that we call for 365 Days of Compassion. One year, starting today, during which each of us commits an act of kindness on a daily basis. Any act of kindness. Buy somebody a cup of coffee. Spend five minutes on the phone with someone who could benefit from your voice (more that your email or text). Give away an old sweater you haven’t worn in a year. Volunteer an hour, or a day, to an organization that has its heart in the right place. Write a check of any size. (Haiti would be a perfect place to start, as small contributions from sources far and wide will have an enormous effect.)
365 Days of Compassion. You can call it a challenge, a plea, a choice, an idea, or a small but growing movement. Whatever the case, it’s a way of making this year better than the last.
This isn’t about changing the world overnight. But it is about taking individual responsibility for changes that can improve our lives and make the world a better place. It’s not a responsibility that can be institutionalized. Big organizations, even when well intentioned, bring about change slowly, and often with great compromise.
So let’s start small. Let’s plant seeds. Let’s see if we can make compassion a habit. Let’s do a little bit every day, and see if somewhere down the road those revolutionary shifts – equality for all, an end to human suffering, world peace – don’t seem a little less daunting.
We have no political agenda. We’re not leftist, rightist or centrist. We’re just a group of people united by design, words, and ideas, banded together in a drafty old San Francisco firehouse. People who believe in attempting the improbable, the implausible, and maybe someday, with your help, resolving the unsolvable.
365 days. It’s a start.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
What does it mean personally to us that the Lord’s baptism is an “epiphany”? Do we perceive this character of “epiphany” in the baptismal event of Jesus as a loving act of God? How does the vocation and mission of the Servant-Son challenge us? Do we fully surrender to the paschal implication of our Christian baptism? In our daily lives, are we ready to die and rise with Jesus Christ, whose baptism in the waters of the Jordan signifies his blood-bath on Mount Calvary and his resurrection to Easter glory?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father and our almighty God,
you celebrated your new gift of baptism
by signs and wonders at the Jordan.
Your voice was heard from heaven
to awaken faith in the presence among us
of the Word made man.
Your Spirit was seen as a dove,
revealing Jesus as your servant
and anointing him with joy as the Christ,
sent to bring to the poor the good news of salvation.
We give you thanks and praise
for having immersed us into the life-giving paschal destiny of Christ
through the sacrament of baptism.
Reborn in water and the Spirit,
help us to be faithful
to our baptismal consecration and Christian vocation.
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.
“A voice came from the heavens, saying: ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” (Mt 3:17)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Continue to remember and alleviate the sufferings of the victims of man-made and natural calamities.
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January 10, 2017: TUESDAY – WEEKDAY (WEEK 1 IN ORDINARY TIME)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches with Authority … He Is Made Perfect Through Suffering”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 2:5-12 // Mk 1:21-28
or Heb 1:1-6 // Mk 1:14-20
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 1:21-28): “He taught them as one having authority.”
Today’s Gospel (Mk 1:21-28) continues to depict the early phase of the public ministry of Jesus - God’s “Good News” in person. The passage portrays him in the synagogue at Capernaum on a Sabbath, speaking the saving word of God and teaching with authority. The evangelist Mark describes the impact of Jesus’ teaching-prophetic ministry on the worshipping assembly: “The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes”. Indeed, Jesus speaks with authority as he truthfully and faithfully reveals God’s message to the people. Moreover, he reinforces the power of God’s saving word by performing a healing sign – by curing a man possessed by an unclean spirit. The Benedictine liturgist, Adrian Nocent, comments: “Both word and action highlight the authority – that is the point St. Mark wants to make. Jesus is manifesting himself as Messiah, and his teaching differs from that of others not only by its content but by the fact that it is linked to an effective power from on high. His teaching thus manifests his person and the fact that he has been sent from God.”
Bong Tiotuico, a member of the Association of Pauline Cooperators: Friends of the Divine Master, sends us, from the Philippines, his insightful reflection on today’s Gospel.
The crowd is amazed at the ability of Jesus to command an unclean spirit to depart from one person’s body. Jesus performs the ritual of exorcism a few times in the gospel of Mark. The Church has received this power and office from him. Exorcisms may not be commonplace in the 21st century, but as we ponder through our everyday lives, we carry with us certain mindsets and behaviors we call our “personal demons”. While they may not fall under the category of psychological illness, we need to “exorcise” them too because they bring long term harm to our health, to our relationships with others, to our careers/vocations and even draw us farther away from God’s kingdom. These are big words we often hear at Sunday homilies, but never had a chance to reflect on, like: covetousness, envy, vice, selfishness, despair, anger, hatred, impulsiveness, depression, cynicism, loneliness, blind ambition, instant gratification, indifference, conflict, violence, bigotry and others. They represent a cabal of “demons and unclean spirits” that we live with, while surviving in a very competitive and materialistic world.
We must pray to our Lord through the intercession of our Blessed Mother to help us cast out these “evil spirits” from our lives. We can start by being attentive to the reading of the word of God during the Mass and supplement it by private study. This will make the gospels more instructive in our lives. It will not be easy, as these “unclean” spirits will be convulsing and screaming as we attempt to get rid of them. Also with the help of people around us: our loved ones, close friends who care, co-workers, members of our congregation, and if necessary, professional help – we can certainly succeed. Then we create room for the Holy Spirit to occupy our lives and produce within us, as St. Paul tells us in Gal. 5:22, his gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control: big words we also hear during Sundays, but sadly more and more alien to us these days. Amen.
B. First Reading (Heb 2:5-12): “He made the one who leads them to their salvation perfect through suffering.”
In today’s First Reading (Heb 2:5-12), the author of the letter to the Hebrews expresses the ideal relationship between God and his people in terms of a filial, intimate relationship. Jesus, who consecrates and redeems, and those he consecrates and redeems all have one origin. Thus, they are all brothers and sisters in the Lord. Christ’s incarnation and his redemptive suffering brought about the reconciliation and the intimate union between God and his prodigal children. The paschal mystery of the Servant-Son of God led to his glorification and the perfection of our filial relationship with God the Father. Indeed, because of Jesus’ deep solidarity with us, we are able to attain a profound, fruitful, and life-giving relationship with our Creator God and Father.
The sacrificial dimension of Christ’s redeeming work continues to be verified in the lives of his disciples today. The faith-motivated stance shown by Eric LeGrand, paralyzed from the neck down in a football accident, incarnates in the here and now the words: “He made the one who leads them to their salvation perfect through suffering” (cf. Adam Hunter, “To Walk Again” in Guideposts, January 2013, p. 72-75).
The collision had fractured Eric’s C3 and C4 vertebrae, paralyzing him from the neck down. Doctors estimated that Eric had less than a five-percent chance of regaining any motor function – much less be able to walk again. (…)
“I believe that everything happens for a reason”, Eric said. “That God is working a miracle through me. Because of all those times I was praying when I was on my deathbed. And the answers God gave me.”
In his first months at the hospital, a ventilator and a feeding tube kept him alive. Doctors said he’d never breathe again on his own. The noise of the machines kept Eric up, and he lay there at night wondering if he’d survive. “Those months, I just prayed Psalm 23 with my aunt all the time”, Eric said. He found comfort in the messages he got from teammates, friends, fans, even perfect strangers. “I became determined to get off the ventilator”, he said. Finally, Eric convinced his doctors to let him try to breathe without it. “They told me I wouldn’t last more than a few minutes”, Eric said. “First time I came off I lasted an hour and a half. I knew right then there’s a plan for this whole thing.
The miracles Eric experienced next were like that – not parting-of-the-Red-Sea-huge, but no less significant. At first, doctors found no muscle response in Eric’s body. But in rehab, a needle-prick test caused Eric’s muscles to contract, showing the paralysis was not total. He once couldn’t sit without toppling over, but he slowly built upper body strength and can now sit up for as long as 15 minutes. He can shrug his shoulders, twitch his biceps and triceps, and even move one of his fingers the tiniest bit. In May, an electromyogram test showed, for the first time, that some nerves in his spine were sending signals below the level of his injury. “I can see the progress”, Eric told me. “So how can I not believe miracles can happen?”
Delivering that message is what Eric believes God wants him to do. He wasn’t sure he could. But a visit to a middle school in Jersey City changed his mind. “You know how middle school kids are; all laughing and jumping around”, Eric said. “But you could hear a pin drop when I spoke. I could tell I was making an impact.”
Afterward, a boy walked up to Eric. “I’m blind”, the boy said. “What advice do you have for somebody with a disability like me?” A tough question. Recovery from paralysis is rare, but recovering sight, even rarer. How could Eric tell him to just “believe”? Eric answered from the heart. “You still need to strive”, he said. “You still have a voice, you can still hear, you can still feel. You may not be able to see the world, but you can still affect it in many different ways.” That’s what Eric has done. (…)
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we surrender ourselves to the power and authority of Jesus as he teaches us with his life-giving word and releases us from the shackles of our “personal demons”?
2. What does it mean for you that Christ was made perfect through suffering?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving Jesus, Divine Master,
you are the holy and mighty One of God!
We recognize your great power and you teach with authority.
The power of your word
drives away the “personal demons” within us.
Cleansed from sin and evil,
we turn to you in humility
to receive the gifts of your Holy Spirit.
Teach and reign in our life, now and forever.
Amen.
***
Loving Father,
by his obedience Christ learned suffering
and was perfected in suffering.
The humiliation of his earthly life,
his suffering and death,
were means to glory.
Help us to accept trials and sufferings
that are woven into the fibers of our daily life.
Teach us to believe
that they are paths to eternal life
through Christ our Savior.
He lives and reigns, 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.
“A new teaching with authority!” (Mk 1:27) // “For it was fitting that he … should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.” (Heb 2:10)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your gracious words and acts of charity, be united with Jesus in his ministry of deliverance from evil. // Unite the difficulty and suffering you are experiencing today with that of Jesus for the salvation of souls.
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January 11, 2017: WEDNESDAY – WEEKDAY (11)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Healer … He Is Like Us”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 2:14-18 // Mk 1:29-39
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 1:29-39): “Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases.”
In today’s Gospel reading (Mk 1:29-39), the paschal victory of Jesus Healer is prefigured in the healing he carries out on behalf of Simon’s sick mother-in-law and many others with various diseases and those possessed by demons. The healing ministry of Jesus is a sign that the kingdom of wholeness has come. By his mission of healing, he shows that sickness, suffering and death do not have the ultimate word. The evangelist Mark narrates: “Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed”. The “dawn” of Jesus is poised in earnest towards greater intimacy with the loving Father and the proclamation of the Gospel. The saving ministry of the healing Lord is sustained by his life of prayer and personal dialogue with the Father. Hence, the restoring touch of Jesus reaches out more extensively and the Good News extends, propelled by a life of recollection and prayer.
Also from the Philippines, the psychiatrist Dr. Eleanor Ronquillo, also a member of the Association of Pauline Cooperators: Friends of the Divine Master, sends her inspiring reflection on today’s Gospel.
These days, many people are getting sick from grave illnesses like strokes, heart attacks, cancer, AIDS, rare pneumonias. People seek many types of cures, search for doctors far and near, the latest medicines, the most advanced medical technology, herbal medicine, etc. They seek the CURE, not the HEALING. Amidst the sick person’s suffering is a big plea to God to take away this illness and this suffering. In the Gospel, as Jesus HEALS many, one is led to believe in such a “miraculous” CURE. And it is not surprising for some to turn away from God for not providing such a cure. “Why me God … why do you let me be sick like this? … I’m not a bad person … There are so many out there criminals/murderers, why don’t they get this illness? … I can’t take this anymore … You must have forgotten me Lord … I do not wish to live like this.”
It is beyond physical CURE of an illness that is the essence of the Lord’s HEALING. The Gospel says, “People brought to Jesus all the sick … Jesus healed many who had various diseases.” I recall the story of a man who was disabled and paralyzed. He continually sought cures to be able to walk again. He struggled with his condition and felt his life was full of difficulties and hopelessness because of his disability. He prayed that God might take away his illness. One time (I think it was his visit to Lourdes in the Grotto in France) after a deep prayer, he felt an aura of peace within. He began to cry, to accept what he had, to see life as God willed it to be, to find hope and meaning in his “suffering”, to embrace the Lord and find peace. Finally, when he left, he had been healed.
We must seek the Lord in our suffering, that he may heal us. For a lot of people in crisis, that is the time when opportunity knocks. The opportunity to seek and be closer to the Lord knocks on our doors in the face of crisis. And healing will come, as Jesus heals us, if we seek him and let him heal us. This healing is a process that only the suffering person can undergo. No doctor can effect a healing for the patient, a treatment perhaps, yes; but the healing, no. The person himself has to undergo the internal process of accepting his condition and surrendering to the Lord one’s suffering … and find peace and solace in his loving arms.
“And he also drove away demons.” The words tell us that the devil was at work in people. The devil works in people’s hearts and minds. The “illness” is not exactly a phenomenon of possession. It can be masked as a wonderful extramarital affair though immoral, a wealth ill gotten, a successful oppression, an ongoing sexual abuse of a child. The list is long. The many facets of evil are within and among us. But do we recognize them? Do we recognize that we spite our neighbor, endlessly criticize people, persist in being unforgiving and harboring anger, scheme and carry out revenge, plan the next move to take what is not ours? The driving out of demons is our turning away from evil and seeking Jesus to rule our hearts. That is also our process of healing.
B. First Reading (Heb 2:14-18): “He had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be merciful.”
In today’s First Reading (Heb 2:14-18), the author of the letter to the Hebrews underlines the true humanity of Jesus – his total and profound solidarity with human beings. To liberate us all from the power of death, the Son of God chose to share our human nature fully. Jesus is our brother because of our common origin in the Father, his sharing in our “flesh and blood” and, above all, in his embracing our own death and mortality. Because of his death and resurrection, the nature of death has changed – it has become a door to eternal life. Jesus is destined by God to be the High Priest. In order to be the High Priest who offers himself for the sins of his fellow human beings, he had to become like us in every way – even to experience the human situation of sin and of the hard challenge of temptations. Jesus Christ, however, is victorious over sin and death. He overcame all temptations that assailed his fidelity to the messianic mission. We who are tempted become victorious in him. He is the Eternal High Priest who is both in intimate union with God and in full solidarity with his brothers and sisters.
The following story entitled “Snowy Christmas Eve”, circulated on the Internet, gives insight into why Jesus Christ “had to become like us in every way”.
There was once a man who didn’t believe in God and he didn’t hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays like Christmas. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.
One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused. “That story is nonsense!” he said. “Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That’s ridiculous!” So she and the children left and he stayed home. A little while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump. He looked out but couldn’t see more than a few feet.
When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near the house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and could not go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed. The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It is warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and did not seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them.
The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. He went into the house and came back out with some bread, broke it up, and made a breadcrumbs trail leading to the barn. They still didn’t catch on. Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.
“Why don’t they follow me?” he exclaimed. “Can’t they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?” He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn’t follow a human. “If only I were a goose, then I could save them”, he said out loud. Then he had an idea. He went into the barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn – and one by one, the other geese followed it to safety.
He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind. “If only I were a goose, then I could save them!” Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier: “Why would God want to be like us? That’s ridiculous!” Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do you turn to Jesus, the wounded Healer, for healing? // What does it mean for us personally that the divine Son Jesus had to become like us in every way?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
God our Father,
great is your love for us!
You sent your beloved Son to save us
and to heal us of all our infirmities.
He was tested through what he suffered
and, in solidarity with us,
he remained faithful.
We thank you for Jesus,
our merciful High Priest and ultimate Healer.
He embraced our human lot
and became victorious over sin and death
and the challenge of temptations.
We praise and bless 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.
“He cured many who were sick with various diseases and he drove out many demons.” (Mk 1:34a) // “He had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way.” (Heb 2:17)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Be an instrument of God’s healing love by alleviating the problems and sufferings of the people around you. // When burdened with the daily duties of serving and caring, trust in Jesus who, in his great love, has embraced our sufferings, pain, struggles, etc.
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January 12, 2017: THURSDAY – WEEKDAY (1)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is Full of Compassion … He Teaches Us to Embrace the Today of Salvation”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 3:7-14 // Mk 1:40-45
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 1:40-45): “The leprosy left him and he was made clean.”
In today’s Gospel reading (Mk 1:40-45), the evangelist Mark depicts one of the most beautiful pictures of Christian compassion. Breaking down the barriers of hygiene and ritual purity, Jesus does the unimaginable. Responding with compassion to the leper’s faith invocation, “If you wish, you can make me clean”, Jesus stretches out his hand and touches him saying, “I do will it. Be made clean.” He touches the “untouchable” with his healing hand. He comforts the outcast with an authoritative cleansing word that brings wholeness. Indeed, in the Gospel accounts, the cleansing of lepers is a messianic sign that the Kingdom of God has come.
One of the exigencies of Christian life is to bring the healing ministry of Jesus to the many “lepers” of today, especially the millions of victims of Hansen’s disease all over the world who, more than all others, fit the description “the poorest of the poor”. Mother Teresa of Calcutta dedicated her ministry of charity in a special way to these lepers, impelled by the slogan that was a rewording of the ancient taboo. “Touch a leper with your compassion.” Mother Teresa, moreover, spoke of the “leprosy of the Western world”, which is, the leprosy of loneliness. In her ministry to the lonely, the unwanted, the marginalized, the rejected, the AIDS victim, etc. she had given witness that with the love of Christ, there is healing for the leprosy of our modern times. Indeed, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, together with St. Francis of Assisi, Blessed Damien of Molokai, and many other Christian disciples, had shown that it is possible to respond to the Christian missionary imperative: “Cure the sick … cleanse the lepers!” and that it is necessary to replicate the healing gesture of Christ: “Touch a leper with your compassion.”
B. First Reading (Heb 3:7-14): “Encourage yourselves daily while it is still ‘today’.”
In today’s reading (Heb 3:7-14), the author of the letter to the Hebrews issues a warning against infidelity using Israel’s Exodus experience. Shortly after the Israelites left Egypt, where they were enslaved, and when they arrived near the Promised Land, God invited them to take possession of it. The scouts witnessed that the land was very rich and fertile (cf. Numbers 14). When they came to Eschol Valley, they cut off a branch which had one bunch of grapes on it so heavy that it took two men to carry it on a pole between them. They also brought back some pomegranates and figs. But the cities were well-fortified and the people powerful. Intimidated and fearful at the prospect of engaging the Canaanites in battle, some of the scouts spread false reports that the land was not productive and that the inhabitants were giants. The people wailed and, greatly discouraged, refused to take possession of the Promised Land as God has commanded. As a consequence of their disobedience and lack of faith, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years.
Christians are cautioned against unfaithfulness. Like the Israelites of old they are on an Exodus. They are journeying to the heavenly sanctuary where Jesus has gone before. They must persevere in Christ lest they, like the Israelites who rebelled against God, fail to reach their goal. They must not have an evil and unfaithful heart so as to forsake the living God, who reveals himself in Jesus Christ. Instead, they must help and encourage each other “today”, with its gracious offer of salvation. They must not grow hardened by the deceit of sin for they are “partners of Christ”. They, too, are called to share with Jesus the joy of the heavenly sanctuary.
The following story gives us an idea how to support each other on our journey to conversion and how to respond to the grace that the “today” offers (cf. Christine Trollinger, “Healing Grace” in Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart, ed. Jeff Cavins, Matthew Pinto & Patti Armstrong, West Chester: Ascension Press, 2004, p.64-68).
Mother and I had never been close. She was very temperamental and domineering. Her quick temper had inflicted great emotional wounds on our family as we were growing up. My father, on the other hand, was a gentle soul. I adored him and was always Daddy’s little girl. As an adult I tried to leave the past in the past, but my mother’s behavior while my beloved father was dying brought fresh strain to our relationship. Mother was neither patient nor kind during Dad’s suffering. The disruption in her life angered her, and probably scared her. Yet, I could not accept her bad temperament during this time.
After my father’s death in 1985, however, I knew I had a responsibility to both God and Dad to forgive. It helped to remember how patient my father had always been. He loved my mother, faults and all. I recalled many times as a child that whenever Mom had been especially cruel, my father would come into my room, out of my mother’s earshot. He would hug me and say, “Please don’t hate her; she needs more love and forgiveness than most people do. She is God’s treasure just as you are.”
After Dad’s death, I wanted to honor my Dad. I knew his hopes and prayers were that I could love and forgive my mom. This was beyond my human frailties so I prayed to God for the grace to do so. As the years passed my feelings of distrust and resentment ebbed. I managed to lay the past to rest as Christ would have me do. Mother and I built a decent, if not perfect, relationship as mother and daughter. The past was just that – the past. The future I would leave to God.
Then during the first week of September 1992, I awoke from a dream sensing a very firm command: “Go home and see your mother.” I had ceased to question God’s inspiration when I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit. As soon as daylight broke, I packed my suitcase. My husband suggested we call to make sure she was all right. Everything was fine and Mother sounded very happy that I would be visiting her over Labor Day.
I arrived by mid-afternoon and Mom and I had an enjoyable time going out to dinner and visiting friends. Mother cut the evening short explaining there was a program on television she wanted to watch. When we got home I got ready for bed and sat in the living room reading my nightly scripture as Mom watched TV. The television volume gradually increased. Every few moments Mom asked, “Does that bother you?” “No, it’s fine”, I repeatedly told her. Finally she had turned the volume all the way up. “Does that bother you?” She asked in a loud but shaky voice. I put down the Bible and looked at her. “Well, it is loud. Are you trying to tell me something? Are you having hearing problems?” I asked. Mother looked at me with searching eyes. Still, I did not understand. Returning the sound back to normal, she explained, “No, what I mean is, does this program bother you?” For the first time, I looked over to see what she was watching. It was a program on child abuse. “I was not talking about the sound”, she said. “I meant, what do you think of parents who abuse their children?”
I was caught off guard. I stared into her eyes. For the first time I recognized pain and remorse. Huge tears trickled down her cheeks. My response was instinctive. “Mom, I love you”, I cried, truly meaning it. “And if you are asking for my forgiveness, you have had it for years. Don’t cry”, I said, coming over to kiss her cheek. “It is all in the past. It doesn’t matter anymore.” I then hugged her and wiped her tears away. No more words were needed. It truly was now in the past. For my proud mother to humble herself to ask forgiveness was a grace I never imagined.
The next Saturday, we began with a visit to church to pray the Rosary. Tears of joy, and also of sorrow for all the wasted years, streamed down my face. But I praised God for this new beginning. The rest of the day we filled with shopping and sharing as a mother and daughter who fully loved and respected one another. We went to an estate sale and found ourselves giggling and laughing like young schoolgirls. Mom bought me a statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart, which had seen better days. The face was chipped and it had no nose. But it was a precious treasure, representing our newfound love for one another. I basked in the grace of healing. (…)
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. A touch can be a beautiful gesture of encouragement, reconciliation and love. A touch can heal the suffering spirit of a person. When was the last time you showed your love and concern with a gentle, healing touch?
2. Do we strive to be faithful to the living God and, as Christians, to encourage each other daily while the gift of “today” still holds?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving God,
great and compassionate are you!
Fill us with tender feelings for your injured children,
for a society that needs healing,
and for “the holy mystery of creation”
besieged by threats of cosmic destruction.
Let everything we do and say in love and healing for today’s lepers
become a sign of Christ’s paschal victory over sin and death
and of the beauty of the resurrected world.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
***
O compassionate Father,
may our hearts be receptive to your voice.
Do not allow us to be hardened by the deceit of sin.
Give us the grace to be faithful to the grace of “today”.
Together with Christ,
let us reach the heavenly rest.
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.
“Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper …” (Mk 1:41) // “Encourage yourselves daily while it is still ‘today’.” (Heb 3:13)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your kind words and charitable deeds, encourage those whose faith is getting weak and those who are losing hope on account of various trials. // Offer a corporal work of mercy for any of today’s lepers: the homeless, the AIDS victims, the destitute, etc. and especially, the victims of Hansen’s disease.
*** *** ***
January 13, 2017: FRIDAY – WEEKDAY (1); SAINT HILARY, Bishop, Doctor of the Church
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Source of Total Healing … He Leads Us into God’s Rest”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 4:1-5, 11 // Mk 2:1-12
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 2:1-12): “The Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth.”
The following story gives insight into the message of today’s Gospel (Mk 2:1-12) about a person’s need for total healing (cf. Hal Manwaring, "Fourteen Steps" in A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, Inc., 1996, p. 264-267).
I became afflicted with a slowly progressive disease of the motor nerves, affecting first my right arm and leg, and then my other side … In spite of my disease I still drove to and from work each day, with the aid of special equipment installed in my car … As I became older, I became more disillusioned and frustrated. I’m sure that my wife and friends had some unhappy times when I chose to expound to them my philosophy of life. I believed that in this whole world I alone had been chosen to suffer …
On a dark night in August 1971, gusty winds and slashing rain beat down on the car as I drove slowly down one of the less-traveled roads. Suddenly the steering wheel jerked in my hands and the car swerved violently to the right. In the same instant I heard the dreaded bang of a blowout … It was impossible for me to change that tire! Utterly impossible! … Then I remembered that a short distance up a little side road was a house. I started the engine and thumped slowly along … Lighted windows welcomed me to the house and I pulled into the driveway and honked the horn … The door opened and a little girl stood there, peering at me. I rolled down the window and called out that I had a flat and needed someone to change it for me because I had a crutch and couldn’t do it myself. She went into the house and a moment later came out bundled in a raincoat and hat, followed by a man who called a cheerful greeting. I sat there comfortable and dry, and felt a bit sorry for the man and the little girl working so hard in the storm. Well, I would pay them for it … It seemed to me that they were awfully slow and I was beginning to become impatient … Then they were standing at my car window. He was an old man, stooped and frail-looking under his slicker. The little girl was about eight or 10 I judged, with a merry face and a wide smile as she looked up at me. He said, “This is a bad night for car trouble, but you’re all set now.” “Thanks,” I said, “thanks. How much do I owe you?” He shook his head. “Nothing, Cynthia told me you were a cripple – on crutches. Glad to be of help. I know you’d do the same for me. There’s no charge, friend.” I held out a five-dollar bill. “No! I like to pay my way.” He made no effort to take it and the little girl stepped closer to the window and said quietly, “Grandpa can’t see it.”
In the next few frozen seconds the shame and horror of that moment penetrated, and I was sick with an intensity I had never felt before. A blind man and a child! … They changed a tire for me – changed it in the rain and wind, with me sitting in snug comfort in the car with my crutch. My handicap. I don’t remember how long I sat there after they said good night and left me, but it was long enough for me to search deep within myself and find some disturbing traits. I realized that I was filled to overflowing with self-pity, selfishness, indifference to the needs of others and thoughtlessness. I sat there and said a prayer. In humility I prayed for strength, for a greater understanding, for keener awareness of my shortcomings and for faith to continue asking in daily prayer for spiritual help to overcome them.
Here we have the personal account of a crippled man who discovers that his need for inner healing is greater than that of physical healing. Indeed, there is more to it than physical malady. There is more to it than a physical cure. Jesus Christ, who embodies the Reign of God, shows us that the Kingdom of wholeness involves more than just physical healing. The messianic ministry of Jesus, the Healer, includes the liberation of human beings from the bondage of sin. The Kingdom of wholeness includes the forgiveness of sins.
B. First Reading (Heb 4:1-5, 11): “Let us strive to enter into that rest.”
In today’s First Reading (Heb 4:1-5, 11), the author of the letter to the Hebrews continues to speak of the fidelity required of Christians. At the time of the Exodus, the good news was: “The Lord your God has given the land to you; go up, take possession.” The feckless Israelites, however, did not believe the good news. They were too intimidated to engage the powerful Canaanites in battle. As a result they were not able to enter the Promised Land and remained wandering in the desert. The Good News for Christians is Christ’s paschal victory. If we put our faith in this Good News, we will be able to experience God’s rest. The goal of entering God’s rest implies a persevering journey toward the heavenly homeland. Those who are faithful will enter God’s sanctuary and will be given a share in the rest upon which God entered after the work of creation had been completed.
The following story depicts the faith stance of the Olympic sprinter Eric Liddell and his effort to honor the Lord’s Day and enter God’s rest (cf. Craig Groeschel, “The Lord’s Day” in Guideposts, December 2012, p. 40-41).
On a ship headed to Paris for the 1924 Olympic games, Eric learns the heat for the race, the 100 meters – a race he’s favored to win – falls on a Sunday. “Does it matter?” his teammate asks. “Yes”, Eric replies. He refuses to run on the Sabbath. Finally, a teammate offered to switch races and let Eric run the 400 meters. No one believes a sprinter has a chance to win the 400. The starting gun fires. Eric leads from the outset … He pumps his legs, never tiring till he reaches the finish line – first. Just before he crosses, he recalls what he told his sister earlier. “God made me fast.” (…)
Eric Liddell ran for God, but his most important act wasn’t winning a race. It was the race he didn’t run. He honored a commandment – to keep the Sabbath as a day of rest.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we realize that a situation of sin is an illness that weakens, paralyzes and imprisons us in pain? Do we realize that being reconciled with God entails true healing?
2. Do we truly strive to enter into God’s rest? How do we honor the Lord’s Day?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Lord,
our sinful hearts are broken and we are in pain.
But we believe, O Christ, that you are the “healing Physician”.
Heal our hearts and make us turn back to you.
Take away the “paralysis” that results from our sins.
Strengthen our will
and fill us with the strength of new life.
May your healing hand and word of forgiveness
be the source of joy for God’s injured children.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
***
Loving Father,
we accept the Good News of Christ’s resurrection
and the power derived from it
to continue our spiritual journey to heaven.
Bless us and strengthen us
as we strive to enter into your perfect and eternal “rest”.
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.
“He said to the paralytic, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven’.” (Mk 2:5b) // “Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest.” (Heb 4:11)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for the grace of inner healing. Extend God’s gift of healing forgiveness to a person who has offended you. // Honor the day of the Lord with quality time of prayer, Church worship, and acts of charity.
*** *** ***
January 14, 2017: SATURDAY – WEEKDAY (1); BLESSED VIRGIN MARY ON SATURDAY
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Healing Physician … His Word Pierces More than a Two-Edged Sword”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 4:12-16 // Mk 2:13-17
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 2:13-17): “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Today’s Gospel (Mk 2:13-17) tells us that healing love springs forth from Christ. Jesus is the physician par excellence and he does not have to justify his presence among the sick. His presence amidst tax collectors and sinners is a mandate and a mission of mercy. He is sent by the Father to assuage suffering of every kind. The vocation to experience God’s mercy and compassion is offered to the entire Church and the challenge to incarnate the divine mercy in today’s world is directed to each of us.
The Fresno-based Poverello House is a nonprofit, nondenominational organization whose mission is to enrich the lives and spirits of all who pass their way, to feed the hungry, offer focused rehabilitation programs, temporary shelter, medical, dental and other basic services to the poor, the homeless, the disadvantaged, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex or disability through Providential and community support. Its founder is Mike McGarvin, a man who had experienced God’s mercy and transforming compassion through a saintly Franciscan priest, Fr. Simon Scanlon. They met at the “Poverello Coffee House” which Fr. Simon opened in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, notorious for its poverty, prostitution and violence. Mike narrates: “Gradually my life of self-indulgent destruction was being replaced by a life of service … I began seeing people through Father Simon’s eyes. He, in turn, saw people through Christ’s eyes, and he deeply believed that Jesus walked among the poor and the outcast. It was a revelation to me. The more I got to know the people who came to Poverello, the more compassion I felt for them.” Indeed, through the mercy and compassion of Fr. Simon, the “wayward” Mike finally experienced the healing and transforming love of Christ.
B. First Reading (Heb 4:12-16): “Let us confidently approach the throne of grace.”
Jesus Christ is the incarnate wisdom. He is the divine word personified – the word of God made flesh - to enlighten our core decisions in life. Today’s First Reading (Heb 4:12-16) gives wonderful insight into the word of God and underlines its efficacy and capacity of discernment. God’s living and effective word penetrates to the innermost part of a person and forces him/her to come to grips with what really matters. It scours our entire being, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and reveals the deep truth about God’s love and our gracious destiny. Likewise, the life-giving word of God – the font of salvation Jesus - is as incisive as a two-edged sword in its power of judgment.
The 12th century Christian writer Baudouin de Ford remarks: “Yes, this Word is living, living in the heart of the Father, in the mouths of those who proclaim it, in the hearts of those who believe and love … When God’s words are heard, they pierce the believers’ hearts as the sharp arrows of the warrior (cf. Ps 120:4). They penetrate and remain in the heart’s innermost depths. This Word is sharper than a two-edged sword, more cutting than any force or power, more subtle than all the finesse of human genius, more pointed than every learned thrust of human discourse.”
The following interesting story entitled “Throwing Darts”, and circulated on the Internet, gives an insight into the power of Christ as the living Word.
A young lady named Sally relates an experience she had in a Seminary Class, given by her teacher, Dr. Smith. She says Dr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons.
One particular day, Sally walked into the seminary and knew they were in for a fun day. On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made them angry, and he would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture. Sally's girlfriend drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. Sally was pleased at the overall effect she had achieved. The class lined up and began throwing darts, with much laughter and hilarity. Some of the students threw their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with disappointment when Dr. Smith, because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats. As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn't have a chance to throw any darts at her target.
Dr. Smith began removing the target from the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus..... A complete hush fell over the class as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced. Dr. Smith said only these words: "In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me" (Mt 25:40).
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Are we willing to welcome fully into our hearts Jesus and the gift of divine mercy that he brings into our fragile, often times broken and self-destructive lives? Are we ready to incarnate God’s compassionate heart in today’s distressed world so needful of healing and mercy?
2. Do I truly welcome the word of God that is living and effective, able to discern and reveal reflections and thoughts of the heart? Do I allow myself to be challenged and appraised by the word that penetrates, judges, and heals?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
you are the most beautiful expression of God’s mercy.
You come to us with your healing touch.
You are the divine physician
who assists us in all our distress.
Heal us in our mind, body and soul
that fully restored we may give you praise, now and forever.
Amen.
***
Loving Father,
we thank you for your living and efficacious word.
It helps us to come to grips with ourselves
and inspires us to make core decisions in view of eternal life.
We thank you for the challenge of Jesus Christ,
the wisdom from on high personified and the divine word made flesh.
Help us to respond with wisdom to Christ’s call
to embrace radically the Kingdom value.
Make us totally receptive
to the power of your living word at work in our hearts,
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.
“I did not come to call the righteous but sinners…” (Mk 2:17) // “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Heb 4:12)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
In your compassionate stance for the poor and needy, and especially for the “outcasts”, let the loving mercy of God be revealed in today’s world. // Pray that the living word of God may continue to be proclaimed and incarnated in today’s world, especially by the disciples’ commitment to the truth.
***
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