A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 13, n. 11)
5th Sunday & Week 5 in Ordinary Time: Feb.8-14, 2015 ***
(N.B. The pastoral tool 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 three perspectives. For reflections on the Sunday liturgy based on the Gospel reading, please scroll up to the “ARCHIVES” above and open Series 1. For reflections based on the Old Testament reading, open Series 4. For reflections based on the Second Reading, open Series 7. Please go to Series 10 - Series 13 for the back issues of the Weekday Lectio. For the Lectio Divina on the liturgy of the past week: February 1-7, 2015, please go to ARCHIVES Series 13 and click on 4thSunday in Ordinary Time – Week 4”.
(Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: February 8-14, 2015.)
***
February 8, 2015: FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
WORLD MARRIAGE DAY
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is Our Healing Lord”
BIBLE READINGS
Year B: Jb 7:1-4, 6-7 // I Cor 9:16-19, 22-23 // Mk 1:29-39
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
In today’s Gospel reading (Mk 1:29-39), the paschal victory of Jesus is prefigured in the healing he carries out on behalf of Simon’s mother-in-law who lay ill with fever, and the many others who are sick with various diseases, as well as those who are 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 to the suffering of all times that sickness, suffering and death do not have the ultimate word. Jesus is the ultimate healer. The healings Jesus carried out in his public ministry symbolize the tremendous benevolence of God and the ultimate healing that Jesus would accomplish by his passion and sacrificial death on the cross. By his ministry to the sick, Jesus proclaims the Good News of salvation and the loving God’s victory over death and evil.
The “dawn” of Jesus is poised in earnest towards greater intimacy with the loving Father and the proclamation of the Gospel. The evangelist Mark narrates: “Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed” (Mk 1:35). The saving ministry of the healing Lord is sustained by his life of prayer and personal dialogue with the Father. Indeed, the ability to be enlightened in his core decisions for God’s kingdom is made possible by his profound communion with the Father in a continual relationship of prayer. The final sentence in today’s Gospel reading: “So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee” (Mk 1:39) is a summation of Christ’s healing mission and expresses the irresistible force of his messianic vocation.
The mystery of suffering continues to touch us daily to our very core. This is illustrated in the following testimony, “My Journey of Healing”, written by Elizabeth Tarlit Meneses in 2008. She died in 2012, but her personal experience of “healing” is inspiring.
As a child, I was taught to pray before I go to bed. I would pray that my family and I would be blessed with good health and long life. My mother would tell me that the more I prayed, GOD would listen. He would remember me among many.
After my diagnosis in 2005, I asked, “Why has GOD abandoned me?” Has he not been listening to my prayers? “Why”, I would ask myself over and over, the tears streaming down my face. I felt alone and scared, not just for myself but also for my children. How can he not consider my children?
The symptoms began after having my second child. My stomach would hurt. I thought it might be ulcers. At that time, I was dealing with many stresses in my life. My doctor thought that it could be Acid Reflux due to the stress. Because I was young, she ruled out the possibility of it being anything else. She prescribed antacids and the pain would subside. As time passed, the pain would return with intensity. It would wake me from sleep and I would spend nights pacing until the pain subsided. My doctor still said it was due to Acid Reflux. In the latter months of 2005, the pain became unbearable. It became more consistent and frequent. I experienced not just ordinary pain, but such an unbearable pain that I would perspire and shake, sometimes feeling light-headed. I tried seeing another doctor and he confirmed the diagnosis of my original doctor, Acid Reflux Disease. So, I continued taking the medication. It would relieve the pain, but it would always come back. It came to the point where the medication ceased to work. I sought for a third opinion. Finally, I found a doctor, who was aggressive enough to run the appropriate test to see what was causing my pain.
He requested that an ultrasound should be done on my abdomen. The results changed my life. It was a “doozie”. I thought I heard wrong. They had found a tumor in my pancreas. He scheduled me for more tests. I had a laparoscopy done that confirmed there was a tumor in my pancreas that measured about 10 cm and that there were lesions on my liver and colon as well. My surgeon also confirmed that I was bleeding inside due to the tumor burrowing itself into my stomach. I needed surgery. They removed three-quarters of my stomach but could not remove the tumor. They said that not only was the tumor malignant but, unfortunately, the tumor was also too close to the aorta and covered with blood arteries. It would be too risky to remove. I was appointed an oncologist.
I had my first consultation with my oncologist. It wasn’t what I expected. He said that I had a rare form of cancer. The good news was that it was slow-growing. The doctor informed me that there was a possibility that they could shrink the tumor with chemotherapy. I thought to myself, okay, if I need chemotherapy, I’ll do it. Bad news is that he had never treated this type of cancer before, therefore, was unsure. So, he referred me to a specialist at UCSF.
The doctors at UCSF told me that there was no type of chemotherapy that can battle my type of cancer. I would have to try to see if I was eligible for clinical studies. Their prognosis was slim. No guarantees. They stated statistics, saying that the life span of a patient with this type of cancer can be years, months or days. They said that at this time, the best thing to do was to wait and observe the tumor. It hit me. The hopelessness and the anger possessed me like nothing else has ever done. Not only did I not have the option of removing the tumor, but I did not have the option of treatment as well. Have you ever felt like running, running so fast and so far that you think you can avoid dealing with the realities of life? I felt so lost.
Have I done something wrong that I deserve this? Is GOD punishing me? I remember dropping to my knees and begging for forgiveness. “Anything but this … please!” I would cry and ask, what will happen to my children? They are still so young. “Please, don’t let them grow up without their mother”, I would beg.
At that time, my parents were helping me get through this. I didn’t realize until then how blessed I am to have wonderful and supportive parents. My mother would try to keep me active so that I would not dwell on the negative possibilities. She would take me to church and ask me to pray … pray as I have never prayed before. She said to pray with my heart and my tears, and ask God for help. So, every night I would pray with her. She would tell me to pray, ask and let go. I would pray for strength and courage, for guidance and for faith, faith that He would take care of me and I will be okay. “Whatever is in your plans for me Lord, I will accept, but please give me the strength and the courage. I place my fears in your hands. Guide me so that I would know what to do. Please, help me.”
I believe that this is where GOD held his hands out to me and led me through my journey of healing. Shortly thereafter, I found myself in the lobby of Valley Cancer Institute in Los Angeles, California. They are my vessel of hope. When no one else said they could help me, they dedicated themselves to my care and healing. It was long and tedious. It involved day to day treatments of hyperthermia, radiation and 9 months of chemotherapy. I had to be separated from my home and my family. It was very hard to endure but, at least, my parents were there to bring me comfort. Slowly, the pain began to subside and I was gaining my strength back after two months of treatment. This was good.
This experience has been like a roller coaster ride. I had good days and bad. I was given good news and bad news. There were days when the fear and the doubt that the treatment would not work consumed me. Praying for strength, the fear that took hold was replaced with anger and the courage to be strong. “I was not going to let this rule me.” That was my mantra. It’s funny how anger gives you the strength to fight, and I had to fight for the sake of my children. But I could not have done it without receiving courage from GOD’s graces.
After two years of undergoing treatment, I can finally say that I am as healthy as I can be. There is a continuous battle within me, between allowing the fear of dying to consume me or to live my life to the fullest, accepting the fact that my life is in GOD’s hands. My only refuge is prayer. The power of prayer has enlightened me.
I remember my mom saying to me one day that the things you experience in life are a trial, a trial of your faith in him. Be strong and believe. In the beginning, I thought that he had left me to suffer alone, but I now realize that he has always been with me. He took me through a “detour” in life to realize the path that would lead me closer to him.
Each day is a blessing. Each waking moment is a gift. Every cross you carry makes you stronger. Every prayer is answered; you just have to listen. These are the lessons that I have learned in my journey to healing. Knowing that the prognosis for pancreatic cancer is very slim, for me to be able to write about the experiences in my journey is a miracle … a gift from GOD.
With the selfless acts of love and support from my friends, family, the community and their endless prayers, I could not have endured the difficulties of this experience. Without GOD’s graces of strength and courage, I would have succumbed to hopelessness and fear. I am truly grateful and humbled by everyone’s unending prayers and well wishes, their gesture of encouragement and their concern for my well-being.
***
My mother’s friend was married to a military officer. They were such a loving couple that they became a model of what marital bliss meant. But when she was unable to give him a child, the husband left her and lived with another woman. My mother’s friend was devastated. She turned against God and cursed him. “If there is a caring God, why did this happen to me?” she wept angrily. Beset with many problems, a benefactor dryly bid us goodbye and said that she had transferred to another church. She had ceased to be a Catholic. She taunted us that our prayers on her behalf did not work. One good friend suffered one disaster after another: loss of wealth, cancer, suicide in the family, etc. I am united with her in her sufferings and pray that the grace of God may be with her to strengthen her, but at times I have a gnawing fear that she may not be able to persevere.
These cases illustrate the reality of human suffering, which is the topic of today’s Old Testament passage. The First Reading (Jb 7:1-4, 6-7) presents the futility of life and depicts the anguish of a person burdened with pain and affliction. Job - a blameless, upright, God-fearing person who avoids evil - is subjected to trials and unmerited suffering. Against the intense backdrop of human misery personified in Job, the picture of Jesus Christ – the Good News in person - comes to the fore.
The experience of Job transcends time and space and his struggle against despair is exceedingly real. In moments of affliction, it is easy to conclude that God is distant and uninvolved. It is tempting to succumb to misery. The experience of pain and suffering confronts us as it did Job and the people of Jesus’ times. However, in his very person, Jesus has assumed and experienced to the utmost degree the pain, desolation, and abandonment of every Job in human history. Jesus, the Son of God, comes for our healing. In his healing ministry is the “Good News” that God is there for us in our suffering, pain and sorrow. In the paschal event of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, the painful experience of every Job is brought to a wholesome conclusion and glorious resolution. Indeed, Jesus, the ultimate figure of the deeply afflicted Job, has sanctified our sufferings and made them redemptive.
***
Today’s Second Reading (I Cor 9:16-19, 22-23) underlines the theme of the exigency of Gospel proclamation. An apostolic fire burns in the heart of Paul: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” Unfaithfulness to this apostolic imperative would prevent the broken “Jobs” of every time from experiencing the healing touch of God’s kingdom, which has been entrusted to every Christian to live out and to witness.
Saint Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, is a recipient of the healing power of Jesus, who cures him of his spiritual blindness. On the road to Damascus, the Risen Lord transforms Paul from a bold persecutor of the Church to a zealous preacher of the Gospel. Paul’s passionate love for the Good News stems from his faith in the sheer goodness of God and his experience of the divine healing grace. Totally “christified”, Paul feels obliged to preach the Gospel even without recompense and in poverty, humility and weakness.
The following modern-day report illustrates how Christian disciples continue to proclaim the Gospel in every situation (cf. Daniel Imwalle, “Church in the News” in St. Anthony Messenger, January 2015, p. 10).
US Ebola Victim, Catholic Doctor, Dies: Dr. Martin Salia, a Catholic doctor originally from Sierra Leone, succumbed to the Ebola virus on November 17 at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, CNS reported. Salia was a permanent resident of the United States who had lived in Maryland before returning to his home country this year to offer his skills as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Speaking in a recent interview with United Methodist Communications, Salia discussed his decision to return to Sierra Leone. “I see it as God’s own desired framework for me. I took this job not because I want to, but I firmly believe that it was a calling and that God wanted me to”, Salia said.
It is unclear where or how Salia contracted the virus, since he also worked at three other medical facilities besides Kissy Hospital. He initially tested negative for the virus in early November, but a second test on November 10 concluded that Salia did, indeed, have Ebola. Following the diagnosis, Salia was flown to Omaha on November 15, where he died two days later, due to the advanced stage of the illness.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we believe that Jesus will assist us in our pain and grant us the gift of ultimate healing? Do we believe that our pain and suffering, when united with Christ’s sufferings, are redemptive?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Almighty God,
the Helper of all who put their trust in you,
look mercifully upon the sick
and all those in need of healing.
Be gracious to them according to their need.
Preserve their life,
relieve them of pain,
and restore them to health and strength,
in accordance with your saving will.
Grant them courage and patience,
a hopeful spirit,
and a deep trust in your fatherly care.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
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.” (Mk 1:34)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray that the sick and suffering may find healing. By your ministry of charity to the sick and suffering, enable the Good News of healing and salvation to be received by them.
***
February 9, 2015: MONDAY – WEEKDAY (5)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is God’s Healing and Creative Word”
BIBLE READINGS
Gn 1:1-19 // Mk 6:53-56
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
(Gospel Reflection by Fr. Steve Coffey, OSB, San Luis Obispo, CA-USA)
Today’s Gospel story (Mk 6:53-56) follows upon the weekday lectionary’s omission of St. Mark’s narratives of Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand and walking on the water. The story of the feeding is most probably omitted because on Saturday we will hear the similar story of the feeding of the four thousand. However, there is a big difference in these two feeding stories. The feeding of the five thousand takes place on the Western shore of the Sea of Galilee, that is, in Jewish territory, while the second feeding takes place on the opposite side in Gentile territory. This section of Mark’s Gospel beginning with the Jewish feeding and culminating in the Gentile feeding forms a typical Markan “sandwich,” and is often referred to as the “Bread Section.” So this week we feed on the bread of God’s Word while contemplating the words and actions of Jesus, the Bread of Life.
Today’s story of the healings at Gennesaret, on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, is intimately connected to the story of the feeding of the five thousand. The bounty first exhibited in the feeding is now exhibited in the lavish gift of healing that takes place not only at Gennesaret, but in whatever “villages or towns or countryside he entered.” Gennesaret, and its environs, is totally unlike Nazareth, where lack of faith caused major interference in the healing process. Nazareth’s stance is even unlike the faith of the hemorrhaging woman who reaches for the tassel of Jesus’ cloak. Here in Gennesaret “as many as touched it were healed.” In the story of the healings at Gennesaret, the Lord of the new covenant enters into the place of his activity, the activity of unbounded mercy which affords rest to the multitude.
***
The Old Testament Reading (Gn 1:1-19) presents the visible world as originating from the all-powerful creative word of God. The Genesis account enthralls us with the miracle of creation totally under God’s guiding hand. It affirms the divine sovereignty and the goodness of the created world. God’s personal will, expressed in his word, produces light which overcomes the dark chaos and the watery abyss. Light is an element of the created world. God names the light “day” and the darkness “night” because God has authority over them. God creates the sky which separates the waters above the heavens from the waters below in a continuing creative act that prepares a hospitable and habitable place for human beings, the masterpiece of creation. God puts limits on the expanse of water so that earth can appear and produce vegetation that is capable of growth. The fruitfulness of the earth comes from God and is an expression of his creative power. God likewise creates the sun, the moon and the stars to separate day from night, to give light to the earth and to indicate when the day, the month and the year begin.
The sense of sublime wisdom and harmony that permeates creation is awesome. Indeed, we can perceive the power of God in creation and his presence in the daily events of life. The following story, circulated on the Internet, suggests this.
You Can See God: I sat at my desk staring at the letter for a long time. It was written by a friend of mine who was going through some difficult times. It listed problem after problem and seemed full of despair. It ended with these words: "I would like to have faith, but I have always had a problem in believing in what I can’t see. You can’t see God, you know!”
After awhile I still hadn't thought of how to answer my friend's letter and help him. Hoping a walk would help, I put a leash on one of my dogs and headed out the back door. The warm, golden sunshine of spring warmed my face as soon as I stepped off the porch. A fresh breeze carried the scent of a thousand budding trees on it. A butterfly danced above a patch of dandelions floating from flower to flower. Robins were flying back and forth to the maple tree in my backyard carrying fresh grass and twigs to reline their nests. Across the road my new neighbor's children were playing in her backyard with a big ball. It was such a delight seeing her toddler chasing after it with such joy. I felt a nuzzle against my leg and looked down to see my dog cuddling in for a hug. I smiled and scratched his head while the laughter of the children and the sound of crickets in the woods blended together to create a unique and beautiful music. I started to walk back inside and saw my own son grinning at me from the window. Most of the world could only see his mental handicaps, but when I looked at him then his eyes sparkled with a divine light. I waved to him and laughed when his older sister snuck up behind him and wrapped him in a loving hug.
When I got back inside, I knew what to write. I went to my friend's letter and wrote of everything I had just seen, smelled, heard, and felt in those brief moments outside. Then I finished by writing this: “I think we all can see God. We just need to know where to look.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we have faith in the healing power of Jesus? Do we reach out to him to touch him and be healed?
2. Are we sensitive to the manifestation of God’s power and wisdom in creation and to his abiding presence in our life?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
we thank you for your unbounded mercy
and the healing power you bring to us.
We lay before you the sickness of our heart,
the misery of our people
and the fragmentation of today’s society.
We beg you to allow us to touch you
– even just the tassel of your cloak –
knowing that we will be healed.
You bring us wholeness, joy and comfort.
Let us enter into the place of rest and quiet
where your loving comfort reigns forever and ever.
Amen.
***
O God,
you are our almighty Father
and maker of all things visible and invisible.
How marvelous is your creation!
How powerful the Word you spoke
to bring it about!
Teach us to perceive your presence in creation
and to respond to your compassionate presence
in our daily life.
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.
“As many as touched it were healed.” (Mk 6:56) // “God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gn 1:1)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray that the sick may find strength and healing in the Lord. Like the caring people of Gennesaret, and by your ministry on their behalf, bring the sick closer to Jesus, the ultimate healing. // Contribute to the integration of creation by following the ecological principles: reduce, reuse and recycle.
***
February 10, 2015: TUESDAY – SAINT SCHOLASTICA, Virgin
FOUNDATION DAY OF THE PDDM CONGREGATION
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Means to Communion … All Things Were Created Through Him”
BIBLE READINGS
Gn 1:20-2:4a // Mk 7:1-13
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
(Gospel Reflection by Fr. Steve Coffey, OSB, San Luis Obispo, CA-USA)
The connection between today’s Gospel story (Mk 7:1-13) and yesterday’s (Mk 6:53-56) may not be immediately apparent until we view it in the context of Mark’s whole “Bread” section on which we are feasting this week. The geographic movement from one shore to another represents more than a sail across the lake. It represents Gentile inclusion in the Eucharistic feast. Today’s Gospel addresses what, in Jewish tradition, represents an obstacle to this communion at the table.
Thus today we see Jesus embarking on a mission that has this unity in Eucharistic communion in mind. The Pharisees and scribes in this story represent those who would be opposed to eating with Gentiles based on what Jesus clearly categorizes as “human tradition.” The scribes and the Pharisees here “nullify the word of God in favor of tradition.” They do this specifically here in their neglect of parents by declaring something has been set aside for God. What has ultimately been set aside, however, is the very word of God which calls Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians into communion at the table of the Lord. So the prophet Isaiah’s maxim is invoked against them: “In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.”
***
In today’s Old Testament reading (Gn 1:20-2:4a) we continue to contemplate the divine work of creation. The order and harmony in the created universe reveal the wisdom of God and are in accord with his majestic will. God’s creative plan unfolds awesomely and with a special focus toward the creation of humanity (adam). Created in the image and likeness of God, the human being is the high point of creation. As God is ruler of the entire creation, so the human being, as God’s representative, is given care and dominion over the earth. This is indeed a very exalted view of humanity. Moreover, God created human beings as male and female. The distinction of the sexes is of divine origin and therefore good. The full meaning of mankind (adam) is realized only when there is a man and a woman. As male and female, they are blessed by God with procreative power and are enjoined to multiply and be fruitful.
When the visible world is completed and crowned with the human masterpiece, God beholds it and appraises it as very good. On the seventh day (sabbath), with number “7” signifying wholeness and completion, God is described by the author of the Book of Genesis as taking a “rest”. With this anthropomorphism, the author asserts that nothing is lacking in divine creation. It is complete and adequate for the creatures in it, especially humankind. God, who sustains the whole universe, blesses and consecrates the Sabbath, a sacred time to deepen personally and as a community our special relationship with our Creator God.
Humanity consists of the male and the female, and in their sexuality they marvelously participate in the creative power of God. The birth of a child is a miracle of creation and an experience of the power and love of God. The beautiful story that follows gives an insight into this (cf. Tony Collins, “The Face of God” in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Stories of Faith, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Cos Cob: CSS, 2008, p. 200-201).
In my years, I have seen the vastness of the Grand Canyon, the splendor of the Alps, the purple mountains’ majesty of the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and the seeming endlessness of the Pacific Ocean. Yet, nothing I have seen, or ever expect to see, compares with what I once witnessed in a dark-paneled, antiseptic birthing room. Then and there, the power and the love of God enveloped me.
I was on the last night of my clinical rotation as a nursing student on the labor and delivery floor, and I had yet to see a birth. When my children were born, fathers were relegated to the labor waiting room. Now, at 7:00 P.M. on my last student shift, my nursing instructor suggested I check into labor room four to see if I could watch the birth. With some trepidation, I knocked on the door, stuck in my head, and asked the young couple if I could possibly observe the birth of their baby. They gave me permission. I thanked them and found myself a spot in the room that kept me out of the way but still give me a good view of the birth. Then I stood with my hands behind my back, studiously looking around the room at the preparations being made by the nurses.
The young mother, covered with blue sterile drapes, lay in the most uncomfortable and exposed position imaginable and was sweating profusely. Every minute or so, she would grimace, groan and push with all her might. Her husband stood beside her, coaching her breathing and lovingly holding her hand. One nurse dabbed her forehead with a cool washcloth, while another encouraged her to rest when she could. The doctor worked on a low stool to ease the birth as best he could. I stood apart, proud of my unemotional, clinical detachment.
The nurse assisting the doctor said, “Here she comes!” I looked and was amazed at what I saw: the top of a head covered with black hair began to appear. I instantly lost the ability to call this wondrous occurrence something as medical as “crowning”. Then the doctor began gently but firmly to turn the shoulders of the new life and pull. Transfixed to my spot, I am sure my mouth was agape. The doctor continued to turn and pull; the mother pushed; the husband encouraged; and an event that took nine long months of preparation was over in just a few seconds. At the sight of the infant’s beautiful face, I felt such wonder that I truly believe angels sing at such times.
My professionalism and clinical detachment had deserted me, replaced with a warmth that surrounded me. At a loss for words – congratulations seemed such an empty and trite thing to say to these two blessed people at that moment – I nonetheless offered my congratulations anyway. After leaving the room I walked around the corner into a deserted hallway and allowed my tears to flow.
That night some of my fellow students, all of whom were women and many of them mothers, asked me about the birth. Each time, I welled up again with tears and choked out that it was the most beautiful experience I ever had. They would hug me or pat my shoulder, and with a gleam in their eyes say, “I know”. Days passed before I could speak of the birth in any medical light. Even now, as I review that night, I continue to be in awe.
I have seen many sights in my life. Before my life is over, I will see many more. But none can ever compare to the night I saw the love, hope and beauty of God in the face of a newborn child.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Are we guilty of disregarding God’s commandments but clinging to human tradition?
2. Do we thank God for the marvels of creation? Do we appreciate the sacredness and the power of human sexuality to promote the creative plan of God?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O Jesus, Divine Master,
you are the way, the truth and the life.
Forgive us for the times we have disregarded God’s commands
in order to cling to mere human traditions.
You are the teacher of communion and true tradition.
You revealed to us the Father’s saving plan
that includes all peoples and cultures,
all nations and creation.
Help us to overcome our prejudices and misconceptions
that we may share fully in the infinite expanse
of your Father’s all-inclusive love.
We love you, adore you and serve you,
now and forever. Amen.
***
Loving Father,
we thank you for the marvels of creation.
We bless you for creating the human being
in your image and likeness
and as male and female.
Teach us to behold
the beauty and sacredness of human sexuality
and the creative power you share with us
to bring forth “new life”.
Let us be careful and responsible stewards
of your creation.
Help us to value the “Sabbath”
as a means to deepen our relationship with you.
We love and adore you,
now and forever. Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” (Mk 7:8) // “God created man in his image: in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gn 1:27)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray that we may overcome our unhealthy parochialism and vicious legalism. By your acts of justice and charity, promote unity in diversity and the Church’s true tradition of universal love. // In any way you can, promote the right and the dignity of the human person to life, especially the defenseless and the unborn.
***
February 11, 2015: WEDNESDAY - WEEKDAY (5); OUR LADY OF LOURDES
WORLD DAY OF THE SICK
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches with Wisdom … He Teaches Obedience to God’s Decrees”
BIBLE READINGS
Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17 // Mk 7:14-23
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
(Gospel Reflection byFr. Steve Coffey, OSB, San Luis Obispo, CA-USA)
Today’s Gospel passage concludes yesterday’s discussion between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees concerning “the tradition of the elders” and concludes with his characteristically Markan private conversation with his disciples. Whereas Jesus half expects the scribes and Pharisees not to “get it,” he hopes his disciples will. But such is not the case as he exasperatingly remarks: “Are even you likewise without understanding?” And the attentive reader at once realizes that s/he is being personally addressed. We are all responsible for promoting communion and “not getting it” is no excuse, especially for a disciple of any century.
And what is it that scribe, Pharisee, and even disciple fail to comprehend? It’s not about the ritual purity of eating and digestion. As a matter of fact, it’s not about ritual purity at all. The major obstacle to communion is nothing external, but it’s a matter of the heart. “From their hearts come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.” These are obstacles to Eucharistic communion that cut both ways. It’s not simply Jewish purity vs. Gentile impurity; it’s about the interior impurity of both that makes such communion impossible.
***
Today’s First Reading (Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17) depicts the creation of humanity (adam in Hebrew) and humanity’s relationship with the earth/ground (adamah in Hebrew). The earth is barren for there is no water and no man to till it. The “chaos” of barrenness is overcome by God’s creative act. The Lord God, who made the universe, takes some soil from the ground and forms man out of it – breathing life-giving breath into his nostrils to make him live. Indeed, God is the source of life. The Lord God then creates the well-watered garden in Eden (Hebrew word for “pleasure”) in which mankind will dwell.
The Garden of Eden is a symbol of God’s blessings. The garden has many trees, but two are mentioned: the “tree of life” and the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The “tree of life” is a symbol of immortality. As long as man has access to the “tree of life” his life is not threatened. Once expelled from the Garden of Eden, he can no longer access the tree, and humanity is subjected to death. God’s command not to eat from the “tree of the knowledge of the good and evil” underlines that man’s happiness is consequent upon his remaining subject to God. Obedience to divine decrees means LIFE and disobedience to God means ALIENATION from the source of life. Indeed, man’s enjoyment of the Garden is a gift of God and that delight depends on his intimate relationship with God.
The following is a modern day example of how to live obediently according to God’s life-giving decrees (cf. Ashley Wiersma in Daily Guideposts 2014, p. 303).
My husband and I had been counting the days until the debut of a new TV drama that promised great things. The producer was world renowned. The lead female was immensely likable. The premise intrigued us both. And so, with sky-high expectations, we set our DVR to record the program and were childishly giddy the night we actually got to pile into bed, a giant bowl of popcorn between us, and hit Play.
The first half hour had us hooked. But then came episode two. Within fifteen minutes, I knew my husband and I weren’t longing for this particular path. As the characters’ stories unfolded, so did vast amounts of selfishness, scheming and smut. “No”, I screamed at the TV, “The teasers looked so good!”
My husband laughed as he flipped channels to find something else, and a verse I’d known since I was a kid eased its way through: “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy, think about such things.”
Avoiding a not-so-pure TV show is admittedly a very small step in what is the vast universe of God-honoring activity in this life. But it was a small step toward the God I adore.
***
As we commemorate today Our Lady of Lourdes and as we celebrate the World Day of the Sick, it is of spiritual benefit to read an account of a miraculous healing at that Marian shrine. The following story is circulated on the Internet.
THE STORY OF JOHN TRAYNOR: John Traynor was a native of Liverpool, England. His Irish mother died when he was quite young, but the faith which she instilled in her son remained with him the rest of his life. His injuries dated from World War I, when he was a soldier in the Naval Brigade of the Royal British Marines. He took part in the unsuccessful Antwerp expedition of October, 1914, and was hit in the head by shrapnel. He remained unconscious for five weeks. Later, in Egypt, he received a bullet wound in the leg. In the Dardanelles, he distinguished himself in battle but was finally brought down when he was sprayed with machine gun bullets while taking part in a bayonet charge. He was wounded in the head and chest, and one bullet went through his upper right arm and lodged under his collarbone.
As a result of these wounds, Traynor's right arm was paralyzed and the muscles atrophied. His legs were partially paralyzed, and he was epileptic. Sometimes he had as many as three fits a day. By 1916, Traynor had undergone four operations in an attempt to connect the severed muscles of his right arm. All four operations ended in failure. By this time he had been discharged from the service. He was given a one hundred percent pension because he was completely and permanently disabled. He spent much time in various hospitals as an epileptic patient. In April, 1920, his skull was operated on in an attempt to remove some of the shrapnel. This operation did not help his epilepsy, and it left a hole about an inch wide in his skull. The pulsating of his brain could be seen through this hole. A silver plate was inserted in order to shield the brain.
He lived on Grafton Street in Liverpool with his wife and children. He was utterly helpless. He had to be lifted from his bed to his wheelchair in the morning and back into bed at night. Arrangements had been made to have him admitted to the Mosley Hill Hospital for Incurables.
In July, 1923, Traynor heard that the Liverpool diocese was organizing a pilgrimage to Lourdes. He had always had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin and determined to join the pilgrimage. He took a gold sovereign which he had been saving for an emergency and used it as the first payment on a ticket. At first his wife was very much disturbed by the idea of her husband making such a difficult trip. His friends tried to talk him out of it. His doctor told him the trip would be suicide. The government ministry of pensions protested against the idea. One of the priests in charge of the pilgrimage begged him to cancel his booking. All of this was to no avail. Traynor had made up his mind, and there was no changing it. When his wife saw how much he wanted to make the trip, she decided to help him. In order to raise the money for the pilgrimage, the Traynors sold some of their furniture; Mrs. Traynor pawned some of her jewelry.
There was much excitement at the railroad station the day the pilgrimage was to leave. In addition to the noise and confusion that accompanies the departure of every large pilgrimage, there was the additional hubbub caused by the curious who had come to see Traynor. His trip had aroused much interest, and at the station a great number of people crowded about his wheelchair. Newspaper reporters and photographers were on hand to cover the event. As a result of all this, Traynor reached the station platform too late to get on the first train. The second train was crowded, and once more an attempt was made to talk him out of taking the trip. Traynor, however, said that he was determined to go if he had to ride in the coal tender.
The trip was extremely trying, and Traynor was very sick. Three times, during the journey across France, the directors of the pilgrimage wished to take him off the train and put him in a hospital. Each time there was no hospital where they stopped, and so they had to keep him on board. He was more dead than alive when he reached Lourdes on July 22 and was taken to the Asile. Two Protestant girls from Liverpool, who were serving as volunteer nurses in the Asile, recognized Traynor and offered to take care of him. He gladly accepted the offer. He had several hemorrhages during his six days there and a number of epileptic fits. So bad was his condition that one woman took it upon herself to write to his wife and tell her that there was no hope for him and that he would be buried in Lourdes.
Traynor managed to bathe in the water from the grotto nine times and he attended all the ceremonies to which the sick are taken. It was only by sheer force of will that he was able to do this. Not only were his own infirmities a serious obstacle but the brancardiers and others in attendance were reluctant to take him out for fear he would die on the way. Once he had an epileptic fit as he was going to the piscines. When he recovered, the brancardiers turned his chair to take him back to the Asile. He protested, but they insisted. They were forced to give in when he seized the wheel with his good hand and would not let the chair budge until it went in the direction of the baths.
On the afternoon of July 25 when he was in the bath, his paralyzed legs became suddenly agitated. He tried to get to his feet, but the brancardiers prevented him. They dressed him, put him back in his wheelchair, and hurried him to Rosary Square for the Blessing of the Sick. Most of the other sick were already lined up. He was the third last on the outside as one faces the church.
Let us hear in Traynor's own words what happened after that. This is the story as he told it to Father Patrick O'Connor.
“The procession came winding its way back, as usual, to the church and at the end walked the Archbishop of Rheims, carrying the Blessed Sacrament. He blessed the two ahead of me, came to me, made the Sign of the Cross with the monstrance and moved on to the next. He had just passed by, when I realized that a great change had taken place in me. My right arm, which had been dead since 1915, was violently agitated. I burst its bandages and blessed myself – for the first time in years. I had no sudden pain that I can recall and certainly had no vision. I simply realized that something momentous had happened. I attempted to rise from my stretcher, but the brancardiers were watching me. I suppose I had a bad name for my obstinacy. They held me down, and a doctor or a nurse gave me a hypo. Apparently they thought that I was hysterical and about to create a scene. Immediately after the final Benediction, they rushed me back to the Asile. I told them that I could walk and proved it by taking seven steps. I was very tired and in pain. They put me back in bed and gave me another hypo after a while.
They had me in a small ward on the ground floor. As I was such a troublesome case, they stationed brancardiers in relays to watch me and keep me from doing anything foolish. Late that night, they placed a brancardier on guard outside the door of the ward. There were two other sick men in the room, including one who was blind. The effect of the hypos began to wear off during the night, but I had no full realization that I was cured. I was awake for most of the night. No lights were on.
The chimes of the big Basilica rang the hours and half hours as usual through the night, playing the air of the Lourdes Ave Maria. Early in the morning, I heard them ringing, and it seemed to me that I fell asleep at the beginning of the Ave. It could have been a matter of only a few seconds, but at the last stroke I opened my eyes and jumped out of bed. First, I knelt on the floor to finish the rosary I had been saying. Then I dashed for the door, pushed aside the two brancardiers and ran out into the passage and the open air. Previously, I had been watching the brancardiers and planning to evade them. I may say here that I had not walked since 1915, and my weight was down to 112 pounds.
Dr. Marley was outside the door. When he saw the man over whom he had been watching during the pilgrimage, and whose death he had expected, push two brancardiers aside and run out of the ward, he fell back in amazement. Out in the open now, I ran toward the Grotto, which is about two or three hundred yards from the Asile. This stretch of ground was graveled then, not paved, and I was barefoot. I ran the whole way to the grotto without getting the least mark or cut on my bare feet. The brancardiers were running after me, but they could not catch up with me. When they reached the grotto, there I was on my knees, still in my night clothes, praying to our Lady and thanking her. All I knew was that I should thank her and the grotto was the place to do it. The brancardiers stood back, afraid to touch me."
A strange feature of Traynor's case was that he did not completely realize what had happened to him. He knew that a great favor had been bestowed upon him and that he should be thankful, but he had no idea of the magnitude of the favor. He was completely dazed. It did not seem strange to him that he was walking, and he could not figure out why everyone was staring at him. He did not remember how gravely ill he had been for many years.
A crowd of people gathered about Traynor while he was praying at the grotto. After about twenty minutes, he arose from his knees, surprised and rather annoyed by the audience he had attracted. The people fell back to allow him to pass. At the crowned statute of our Lady, he stopped and knelt again. His mother had taught him that he should always make some sacrifice when he wished to venerate the Virgin. He had no money to give. The few shillings he had left after buying a railroad ticket, he had spent to buy rosaries and medals for his wife and children. He therefore made the only sacrifice he could think of: he promised our Lady that he would give up cigarettes.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we endeavor to achieve integrity and purity of heart? Do we yearn for true holiness that leads to communion with our brothers and sisters?
2. Do we believe that obedience to divine decrees means “life” and do we endeavor to be obedient to God’s ways?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
teach us integrity of heart and interior purity.
Cleanse us from evil thoughts and wicked desires.
The awful things that ferment within us
make us “unclean” and incite us to do evil.
Loving Lord,
teach us true wisdom that we may reject the wickedness
that draws us away from you and to disobey our gracious God.
We trust in your forgiveness and bounteous mercy.
You are our kind Savior, now and forever.
Amen.
***
Loving Father,
you have wonderfully made us.
You have blessed us with abundant blessings.
Your life-giving decrees
manifest your care and compassion for us.
Let us be nourished by the “tree of life”
and delight in the beauty of the Garden of Eden.
Do not let us be enticed by the “tree of good and evil”.
Teach us the way of obedience
and humble submission to your life-giving will.
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.
“What comes out of the man that is what defiles him.” (Mk 7:20) // “The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground …” (Gn 2:7)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Make the examination of the heart a regular practice to enable you to detest what is contrary to the will of God and pursue his saving will.
***
February 12, 2015: THURSDAY – WEEKDAY (5)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Bread of Life for All … He Teaches the Sanctity of Marriage”
BIBLE READINGS
Gn 2:18-25 // Mk 7:24-30
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
(Gospel Reflection by Fr. Steve Coffey, OSB, San Luis Obispo, CA-USA)
In today’s Gospel story, Jesus, Wisdom incarnate, recognizes the wisdom of a Gentile woman. This latter woman is not the Queen of Tyre, but a simple mother with a very sick daughter who recognizes something different about this Jewish man who has crossed boundaries and set foot in her Syrophoenician city on the Mediterranean coast. So different that she falls at his feet in an act of worship. She clearly understands worship in a way the scribes and Pharisees of yesterday could not.
His more-than-meets-the-eye rebuff to her request is not couched in delicate language. He refers to the Jewish community as children who have first access to the food. And that food is not to be thrown to Gentile pups. But what a comeback! She addresses him with the full-force of the Jewish divine title LORD. And then she drops the bomb: “Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” How wise a saying! How unlike the scribes and Pharisees, who set up roadblocks to sharing the bread of life at one table. She found her daughter “lying in bed and the demon gone.” Really both demons were gone: the demon of sickness and the demon of division and separation. The same bread feeds both children and pups. And it is Jesus himself.
Jesus’ crossing of boundaries led him to a mission of inclusion that brought those who were excluded to the table. The desire of the woman resulted not only in the answer to her own prayer but contributed to the clearer revelation of the mystery of union in Christ.
***
In September 2006 Tomas and Lourdes Banaga celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in our convent. This remarkable couple regularly comes to our Fresno chapel for the weekday Mass. Tomas, with his splendid voice, has greatly helped us in our music ministry. Lourdes, a staunch “prayer warrior” and a devoted adorer of the Blessed Sacrament, has collaborated wonderfully in our Eucharistic apostolate. Tomas became seriously ill in December 2005 and fell into coma. Lourdes ardently prayed for his healing through the intercession of Blesses James Alberione. Lourdes made a vow that if Tomas recovered, they would enter the Holy Family Institute, founded by Blessed Alberione. On the third day of his coma, Tomas woke up and was restored to health. Tomas and Lourdes made good their promise. On the golden anniversary of their marriage, they were admitted to the Novitiate in the Holy Family Institute, which seeks to promote the holiness of married life.
The Old Testament reading (Tobit 8:4b-8) used at the Eucharistic Celebration of the renewal of their marriage vows was intensely appropriate. Tomas and Lourdes felt that the following prayer made by Tobit and Sarah on their wedding night was their very own:
Blessed are you, O God of our fathers; praised be your name forever and ever. Let the heavens and all your creation praise you forever. You made Adam and you gave him his wife Eve to be his help and support; and from these two the human race descended. You said, “it is not good for the man to be alone; let us make him a partner like himself.” Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age.
Today’s First Reading (Gen 2:18-24) contains the Yahwist account of the creation of man and woman in the Book of Genesis and offers a foundation for the theology of marriage as a sacrament of unity. This narrative underlines the vocation to human intimacy and communion of man and woman and reinforces the equality and dignity of both of them as perfectly matched partners. The biblical scholar Lawrence Boadt comments: “Being alone is not good for humans. God creates animals and allows man to name them and thereby enter into a living relationship with them, which includes stewardship over them. But none is fit for him. He needs a true partner, and to get one God initiates yet another act of creation. By putting the man into a deep sleep God assures the same autonomy to woman as to man – she depends directly on God for her being. The actual story may derive from an old folk tale that plays on the rib and the nearness to the heart. The heart is the source of both intellect and will in ancient thought and so God makes Eve as fully human as Adam. The description also plays on the attraction of love, which draws men and women to each other from the heart. The fitting identity of the two human creatures is made complete by the little poem in v. 23 – they are the same because he is ’ish and she is ’ishah, a pun in Hebrew that is like saying man and wo-man in English.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we make an effort to share the healing power of Jesus, the bread of life for all?
2. How does the Yahwist account of the creation of man and woman in the Book of Genesis help us appreciate the dignity and equality of the man-woman relationship and the nobility of human sexuality? What are some of our concrete experiences of the beauty and holiness of Christian marriage?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Lord,
you are the bread of life
to be shared with all peoples of the earth.
You are the divine power that drives away the demon of sickness
and the demon of division and separation.
Help us to overcome the ugly forces of alienation.
Let us be united with you as you cross boundaries of division
in your mission to include all peoples at the table of life.
Your power is awesome
and we love and adore you, now and forever.
Amen.
***
(Adapted from the Nuptial Blessing)
Father,
by your power you have made everything out of nothing.
In the beginning you created the universe
and made man in your own likeness.
You gave man the constant help of woman
so that man and woman should no longer be two, but one flesh,
and you teach us that what you have united may never be divided. (…)
Father,
keep them always true to your commandments.
Keep them faithful in marriage
and let them be examples of Christian life. (…)
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
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.
“The dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” (Mk 7:28) // “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.” (Gen 2:24)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for the unity of Christians and all the peoples of the earth. Let your acts of justice and peace surmount artificial barriers and be totally inclusive.
***
February 13, 2015: FRIDAY – WEEKDAY (5)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Heals the Deaf-Mute … He Teaches the Way of Obedience”
BIBLE READINGS
Gn 3:1-8 // Mk 7:31-37
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
(Gospel Reflection by Fr. Steve Coffey, OSB, San Luis Obispo, CA-USA)
In this week’s Gospel stories, Jesus, the boundary crosser, is on the road. Yesterday he was in Gentile Tyre on the Mediterranean. Today he is on the Eastern Gentile shore of the Sea of Galilee in the Decapolis, the heart of Gentile territory. He encounters a Gentile deaf-mute who begs him “to lay his hand on him,” the same hand that was laid on so many of the sick in Jewish Gennesaret. Pope Benedict XVI, in a homily on Christian Unity, took advantage of the fuller sense of this passage. He said: “Is not being deaf and mute, that is, being unable either to listen or speak, a sign of a lack of communion and a symptom of division?”
Just as Jesus removed obstacles to unity on the Jewish side of the lake, today’s Gospel has him removing more obstacles on the Gentile side. He “put his finger into the man’s ears, and, spitting, touched his tongue.” As God created the first human so tactilely in the second chapter of Genesis, so Jesus is recreating this Gentile, endowing him once again with the organs of speech and hearing, the organs of communion that overcome division and disunity. The action culminates in typical Markan fashion: “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” And not just in Gentile Galilee.
***
Today’s Old Testament reading (Gn 3:1-8) depicts the fall of humanity. The Tempter is the “serpent”, the most cunning creature. In Hebrew, “cunning” (arum) forms a wordplay with “naked” (arummim). The wordplay underlines that the primeval man and woman become aware of their “nakedness” because of the cunning of the serpent. The Genesis account of the Fall tells us that the presence of evil in the world is due to humanity’s decision to oppose God’s command. By following the wiles of the Tempter, humanity indeed does “become like God” in the sense that it now makes decisions as to what is best for itself. But its decisions lack the breadth and width of God’s wisdom. The core of “sin” is the attempt to replace God as the determiner of what is best for humanity. By their rebellion, humanity oversteps the limits imposed by God and appropriates “the knowledge of good and evil”. But created man’s decisions are bereft of the wisdom and vision of the Creator. The immediate consequence of “sin” is the consciousness of “nakedness” – the sad and humiliating realization of one’s broken relationship with God. Sin thus leads to alienation!
Just like the primeval man and woman, modern humanity is tempted to eat the fruit of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil”. The following article is insightful (cf. “What’s after Brittany?” by Editorial in Our Sunday Visitor, November 16, 2014, p. 23).
Britanny Maynard, the beautiful 29-year-old woman diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, took her own life Nov. 1 to avoid the suffering that likely would come with the debilitating progression of her disease. She leaves behind parents, a husband of two years and dreams of a life that didn’t go as planned. Her story indeed is tragic, and most of us will never be able to fully comprehend the emotional and physical pain that she endured.
We do know, however, that Maynard spent the last month of her life as an advocate for the “death with dignity” movement and as a spokeswoman for the right-to-die organization Compassion and Choices. Her advocacy launched a national debate on physician-assisted suicide, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since Jack Kevorkian in the 1990s. She became the new face of personal freedom – hailed for making a difficult decision that worked for her.
The truth, though, is that there is a better way: the way of the Church and the way of the cross. For a different perspective, we need look no further than Philip Johnson, a seminarian with the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, who also is terminally ill. Johnson, who candidly admits his own struggles, wrote to Maynard: “Suffering is not worthless, and our lives are not our own to take. As humans we are relational – we relate to one another and the action of one person affects others. Sadly, the concept of redemptive suffering – that human suffering united to the suffering of Jesus on the Cross for our salvation can benefit others – has often been ignored or lost in modern times. (…)
Euthanasia is well on its way to becoming another feather in the cap of the secular humanist who believes human reason, not God, is the basis of morality and decision-making.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Are we spiritually deaf by refusing to listen to the Word of God? Are we spiritually mute by refraining from proclaiming the Word of God?
2. Are there instances when we yearn to eat of the fruit of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” and appropriate the role of God as determiner of morality?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving God,
open the ears of our hearts to listen to the Word of God.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
***
Loving God,
you have created us for yourself
and have destined us to be united with you in Paradise.
But our hearts are rebellious.
We have made decisions that are death-dealing
and contrary to your compassionate plan.
Forgive our disobedience.
Lead us by your grace to the beauty of the heavenly Eden.
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.
“He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mk 7:31-37) // “You will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” (Gn 3:5)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray that people may understand the importance and necessity of Lectio Divina. Introduce your friends and loved ones to this beautiful life-giving practice of the Church. // Be aware of the modern man’s claim to “personal freedom” that negates the wisdom of God and his commands. Pray that God’s reign may prevail.
***
February 14, 2015: SATURDAY – SAINTS CYRIL, Monk, AND METHODIUS, Bishop
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Fed Them and They Were Satisfied … He Bore the Burden of Humanity’s Sin”
BIBLE READINGS
Gn 3:9-24 // Mk 8:1-10
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
(Gospel Reflection by Fr. Steve Coffey, OSB, San Luis Obispo, CA-USA)
There in the very same Gentile district where Jesus healed the deaf-mute, in today’s Gospel we have a quasi-replay of the feeding story on the Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee. There is a striking similarity of details: “a great crowd without anything to eat”; the compassionate heart of Jesus “moved with pity”; the lack of compassion and even understanding on the part of the disciples who witnessed and participated in the previous feeding. Of capital importance is the repetition of the fourfold Eucharistic action: “Taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute.”
However, there are subtle differences in the two stories. In the first they picked up “twelve wicker baskets full of fragments,” while in the second “they picked up the fragments left over – seven baskets.” Why twelve baskets in the first story? It is precisely to evoke the Jewish image of the twelve tribes of Israel. And similarly the seven baskets on the Gentile side evoke the universal number of the Gentile nations. And notice Gentiles did not insist on wicker baskets as did the Jewish community. However, despite these differences in both stories, “they ate and were satisfied.”
How favored we are in being recipients of the Eucharistic gift, the real gift that keeps on giving. In a sense, all of this week’s reflections were Eucharistic. Eucharist is the gathering of the Body of Christ in rich diversity. At Eucharist with ears wide open, we listen and feast at the table of the Word. In the Liturgy of the Eucharist we take, bless, break and distribute bread that has been transformed by the Spirit into the Body of Christ. And like the crowd in today’s Gospel, we are dismissed to go and announce the reconciling Gospel of the Lord.
***
Today’s Old Testament reading (Gn 3:9-24) deals with the negative consequence of humanity’s disobedience. The personal intimacy that Adam and Eve enjoy with God Creator has been disrupted. They cannot face God because of shame. When God confronts them, they excuse themselves and the blame goes around. The punishments that follow are expressed in poetic form: serpent crawling on the ground … pain in childbirth … burdensome tilling of the land … expulsion from the Garden of Eden … loss of access to the “tree of life”. The punishment is for the snake as well as for the woman and the man. It is complete and inclusive. Sin has introduced death, and humanity must live with both the power of sin over them and the specter of death. The Genesis story does not end on a negative note. Adam named his wife “Eve” because she will become the mother of all the living. In spite of sin and its dire effects, life will go on. The Lord God makes garments from animal skins for Adam and Eve and he clothes them. God’s care for humanity does not cease because of sin. The love of God is unfailing in spite of mankind’s sin and it is through God’s initiative that the personal relationship disrupted by sin is to be restored.
The following article gives an idea of the death-dealing effects brought by human sin of appropriating the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (cf. “Dutch Experts Were Terribly Wrong about Patient-Killing” in Alive! October 2014, p. 16).
A Dutch ethics professor who once supported euthanasia had had a dramatic change of heart and now warns that if patient-killing by doctors is legalized in any country it cannot be controlled. What led him to change his view on the issue, however, was not moral principle or respect for the sacredness of life, but legal, medical and social developments in Holland. “I used to be a supporter of legalization. But now with 12 years experience, I take a different view”, said Professor Theo Boer in an interview. (…)
In 2001 the Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize both euthanasia (patient-killing) and doctor-assisted suicide. (…) Beginning in 2008, the number of these deaths began to increase by 15% annually, year after year, and by 2012 it stood at 4,188 for the year. He expects it to reach close to 6,000 for 2014.
“Euthanasia is on the way to becoming a ‘default’ mode of dying for cancer patients”, he said. But other developments were also disturbing. The Dutch Right to Die Society founded a network of traveling killer doctors who have already put down hundreds of people. And the Society is still not happy. “They will not rest until a lethal pill is made available to anyone over 70 years who wishes to die”, said Boer.
Again, there has been a shift in the kind of person who is being terminated. Few people with psychiatric illnesses or dementia appeared in the early reports. But these numbers are now rising sharply. Increasingly death is being seen as a cure for loneliness or sadness. “Cases have been reported in which a large part of the ‘suffering’ of those given euthanasia or assisted suicide consisted in being aged, lonely or bereaved”, said the professor. (…) “Once the genie is out of the bottle, it is not likely to ever go back in again.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Are we truly grateful for the gift of the Eucharist? Do we share it with a hungry world that yearns for the bread of the Word … the life-giving bread?
2. What does it mean to sin against God and to be alienated from him? Do we believe that God’s love for us continues in spite of our disobedience and sin?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
you are the “Eucharist” – the bread of the Word
… the life-giving bread … the real gift that keeps on giving.
We thank you for the multiplication of the loaves
and for being bread broken and shared for the life of the world.
You are the Eucharistic gift that builds the Church,
so radiant in beauty and rich in diversity.
Help us to celebrate your paschal sacrifice
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
At the Eucharistic feasting,
we partake of the bread of compassion
and the wine of messianic joy,
which make us fully satisfied and deeply grateful.
Lead us into the eternal banquet of your kingdom
where you live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
***
Loving God, our Creator,
humanity has turned away from you
and appropriated the forbidden fruits
of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”.
Please forgive us for our presumption
and for disobeying your life-giving commands.
Clothe us with your mercy and kindness.
We promise to obey you
and honor the glory of your name.
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.
“They ate and were satisfied.” (Mk 8:8) // “For the man and his wife the Lord God made leather-garments, with which he clothed them.” (Gn 3:21)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for the peoples of the world that their various hungers may be satisfied. By your acts of compassion to the hungry poor, let the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves come alive again. // Be aware of the Catholic social teaching in the public square and do what is possible to share it with the people around you.
***
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