A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 13, n. 21)
3rd Sunday of Easter & Easter Weekday 3: April 19-25, 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: April 12-18, 2015, please go to ARCHIVES Series 13 and click on “Easter Week 2”.
(Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: April 19-25, 2015.)
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April 19, 2015: THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Suffered and Rose from the Dead”
BIBLICAL READINGS
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 // I Jn 2:1-5a // Lk 24:35-48
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The great promoter of positive thinking, Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, believes that one of the most wonderful principles known to man is called the “miracle principle”. Six words describe the principle: Expect a miracle – make miracles happen. According to him, if you keep your eyes open expectantly every day for great and wonderful things to happen, it is astonishing that great and wonderful things will tend to happen to you. Expect great things from God and you will receive great things from God. How then, can one go about expecting miracles and causing miracles to happen? According to Rev. Peale, the number one thing is to have a tremendous faith, a deep faith - a faith that is so positively strong that it rises above doubt. He asserts that if we train ourselves to have faith in depth, it will release an astonishing power in our life to produce miracles.
Indeed, there are some people who are figuratively swimming in a sea of troubles. They are so discouraged and dismayed by so many things that it is impossible for them to believe that a life-giving miracle could ever happen in their lives. The disciples of Jesus who are devastated by the event of his passion and death are similarly troubled with doubts, fears and despair. An Easter apparition is necessary to assure them of the reality of a stupendous miracle: the Lord’s resurrection. To the frightened and troubled disciples who are incredulous to the beautiful reality of the “miracle”, the Risen Christ reveals himself anew, opening their minds and hearts, instructing them about the paschal event of his death and resurrection, and its implications in their life as Easter witnesses.
The evangelist Luke’s account of this Easter apparition has a vibrant quality and a sunlit beauty to it. While the disciples are still talking about how the Risen Lord appeared to Simon and how the two disciples on the road to Emmaus recognized him in the breaking of the bread, the Risen Lord stands in their midst and says to them: “Peace be with you.” The blessings of wholeness and the fullness of life sung by the angels at the birth of Jesus (cf. Lk 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace to men who enjoy his favor.”), effected by him in his public ministry, and proclaimed by the crowd when he triumphantly entered Jerusalem (cf. Lk 19:38: “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens!”), are now the risen Jesus’ permanent gift to his disciples. The Risen Lord’s salutation, “Shalom!” is, therefore, not merely a wish, but the bestowal of the gift of peace, harmony and the fullness of grace to the redeemed.
The Easter apparition of the Lord Jesus is meant to assure the disciples that he is truly risen from the dead. Luke’s narrative underlines the reality of Jesus’ victory over death by stressing that his resurrected body, though no longer subject to physical limitations, is real. Indeed, in the Jewish mentality, for the resurrection to be real, the Risen Jesus must walk, talk and eat as he had done in his earthly life. The table fellowship of the Risen Lord with his disciples is a powerful symbol of the miracle of new life and the reality of his resurrection.
In his Easter apparition, the Risen Jesus opens the minds of his disciples to understand the Scriptures. Ever the Divine Master and Teacher, he leads them into a kind of catechesis concerning what is written about him in the Law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms. As the glorified Messiah, he is the fulfillment of the Scriptures. He opens their minds to a radical understanding of the fulfilled messianic prophecy: “that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day” (cf. Lk 24:47). Moreover, he gently leads them to perceive what their mission is as privileged witnesses of the resurrection: the repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, must be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem (cf. Lk 24:48).
In the marvelous account of the Easter apparition, the Risen Master is guiding his disciples to understand fully the meaning of the greatest miracle of all: his resurrection from the dead and his glorification. He is leading them on a spiritual journey from disbelief to belief, from doubt to worship, from despair to joy, from timidity to courage, from witnesses of the resurrection to powerful messengers of the good news of salvation. Indeed, in the miracle of Easter, the faith of the disciples is made complete. In opening themselves up to the Easter event, they make miracles of new life and sunlit beauty happen in time and space.
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The following missioner tale is very fitting for the Easter season (cf. Maryknoll Magazine, April 2006, p. 39). It underlines the vibrant missionary energy that should animate God’s redeemed “Alleluia” people.
While celebrating Mass with a group of children, Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg, South Africa, asked: “What is the most important thing in this church?” After some silence, a young girl raised her hand and said, “The exit sign.” Taken aback, he asked her to explain. She replied, “Well, aren’t we supposed to take what we learn in church out into the world?”
Today’s First Reading (Acts 3:13-15, 17-19) contains another Easter kerygma or proclamation by an apostle and illustrates the vibrant, missionary energy of the first Easter witnesses. What they have experienced from the Easter event they share with the people of all the nations. Today’s episode from the Acts of the Apostles reports Peter’s forceful address to the astonished crowd gathered at the Portico of Solomon in the Jerusalem Temple after a healing miracle. Peter and John are going up to the Temple when a man crippled from birth is brought to the entrance to beg alms from the people coming in. Peter and John make eye contact with the beggar. Peter says to the lame beggar: “I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!” (cf. Acts 3:6). The cripple jumps up, stands, and begins to walk. The cured lame man then goes with them into the Temple, walking and jumping and praising God. Everyone comes running towards them in great excitement. When Peter sees the excited, marveling crowd, he addresses the Good News to them: how God vindicated and raised to life Jesus his Servant, the Holy and Righteous One whom they have handed over to death.
The biblical scholar, Justin Taylor, comments on Peter’s Easter proclamation: “The first believers saw Jesus as fulfilling the mission and destiny of this mysterious figure in the Old Testament. Above all, by his death and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the prediction that the servant would suffer and die on account of the sins of others, but God would raise him up and exalt him. Jesus the servant is the Holy One because he is the prophet, the one consecrated from the womb and sent into the world with the saving words of God … So despite all that has happened, the servant of God is alive – his disciples are witnesses to that and Peter testifies to the resurrection of the Just One by restoring in his name the cripple of the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. Jesus is ready to fulfill the mission for which he was chosen and sanctified by God: to deliver all human beings from the powers of evil that dominate the world.”
Indeed, the healing of the lame man “in the name of Jesus” is a powerful sign of God’s vindication of his Servant Jesus. In the Easter miracle of healing at the Temple, God was affirming that he had raised Jesus from the dead and was honoring his name. Eugene Maly remarks: “God’s curing of the crippled man in Jesus’ name was one more act of saving grace that had begun with his call of the patriarchs. In a sense, every time there is an act of saving grace, as here, a new and climactic bursting forth of God’s love takes place. Faith in Jesus’ name brought him into the healing stream of God’s history.”
The discourse of Peter to the wondering crowd includes an appeal to conversion and faith: “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away” (Acts 3:19). Peter appeals to his listeners to repent and turn to God in order to obtain forgiveness of sins. True conversion is a turning to Jesus and a total surrender to him - the “author of life” - the one who leads to eternal life by sacrificing and imparting his own life. In response to the healing and renewing character of the Easter event, Christian disciples are to go out joyfully into the whole world to impart the joyful news that the Risen Lord is victorious over sin and death. As an Easter people they are to witness credibly that his healing power can make us whole again despite our human weakness, brokenness, pain and sadness. Indeed, the glorified Jesus is the “leader to life”. He continually strengthens his disciples, in every time and space, with the miracle of Easter. Together with him, we go into the whole world proclaiming the life-transforming Good News that God has glorified his servant Jesus.
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This Sunday’s Second Reading (IJn 2:1-5a) helps us to have a deeper understanding of the Easter mystery. Jesus Christ is the righteous one who intercedes for us as the “advocate” in the presence of the heavenly Father. Confronted with the harsh reality of sin, we relish the truth that Jesus Christ is there to help and strengthen us, and to save us from our sinfulness and from sinful, destructive situations. Indeed, Jesus offered his life in atonement for our sins and the whole world. We are thus called to open our hearts to his redeeming sacrifice, for through Christ our sins and those of everyone are forgiven. By obeying God’s commands, we participate in the universal and eternal efficacy of Christ’s atoning death. In submitting to God’s benevolent will, we manifest that we really know him and that we are united with him. For whoever obeys the divine word is the one whose love for God has really been made perfect.
As an Easter people, we feel the undercurrent of Christ’s definitive victory over evil and death. We believe that Jesus Christ, the righteous one, rose from the dead to give us the gift of peace and to make us participate in his eternal glory. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 3, comment: “The Lord’s resurrection remains a mystery. But the resurrected is present in the midst of the world and the Church. The apostles proclaim it, believers witness to it by their faith, conversion and obedience to the commandments. Each Sunday, the Christian community experiences the grace and joy of coming together to feed and fortify its life by communicating in the Body and Blood of Christ.”
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, who was falsely accused of a sexual crime in 1993, experienced deeply the Easter mystery of Christ’s passion and resurrection. Trusting in Jesus Christ, the righteous one and our advocate, Cardinal Bernardin spoke the word of truth that set him free. In his brutal ordeal, he experienced that God continues to defeat evil and is victorious over sin and falsehood. In his uplifting book, “The Gift of Peace” (New York: The Image Book, 1997), we read his poignant account (cf. p. 26-30).
The next morning, Friday, November 12, the allegations against me were the lead stories in the press of almost every large city in the world. As I prayed the rosary early in the morning, I meditated on the first of the sorrowful mysteries, the Agony in the Garden. I said to the Lord, “In all my sixty-five years, this is the first time that I have really understood the pain and agony you felt that night.” And I also asked, “Why did you let this happen?” I had never felt more alone.
I spent most of my morning meeting with my advisers, preparing for the press conference that was scheduled for 1:00 P.M. My morale was boosted by the letters and calls of support that had already begun to arrive, including a supportive statement from the Holy See.
My counselors discussed all aspects of the case as well as the strategies to use in handling them. We learned that CNN was airing promotional pieces every hour for a Sunday night special entitled “Fall from Grace” about priests who were found guilty of sex crimes. The promotional piece promised an interview with Steven Cook. He and the reporter were shown examining what they called “evidence” against me – a book and a picture. Because this interview had already been conducted and the show scheduled to air on the eve of the semiannual meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, it seemed that a good measure of planning had gone into developing the “case” against me.
At the conclusion of the meeting with my advisers, I decided to take an hour by myself to pray and reflect. I was being emptied of self in a way that I never could have anticipated, and I wanted to let go and place myself and my cares in the hands of the Lord. I was conscious of the blur of everyday life in the great city outside my windows and of the arrival once more of the caravan of media trucks in the street below. Ten minutes before the scheduled press conference I called an old friend and said, “I have been listening to good advice from good people all morning. I have made a decision to follow my own instincts. I am just going to tell the truth.”
Electricity filled the conference room of the Pastoral Center where almost seventy reporters were jammed together in a tangle of cameras, lights, and trailing wires. I understood that these journalists, many of whom I knew and liked, had to assume adversarial roles to carry out their work. But I was not there to battle with them. I just wanted to answer truthfully their questions.
But as I moved behind the brace of microphones, I felt that I was literally standing before the entire world, and I still felt very much alone. The most important thing I had going for me at the moment was my forty-two years of ordained ministry, my name, and my reputation. But there was also an inner strength, and I am convinced that the Lord was giving me that strength. For me, the moment of public accusation and inquiry was also a moment of grace. A moment of pain, but a moment of grace because I felt the great love and support that many people were giving me. Above all, it was a moment of spiritual growth. I felt that I was entering a new phase of my spiritual journey because of the events of those few days.
Midway into the session, the tension in the room lessened somewhat. While the atmosphere remained grave, it appeared that the truth, as the Lord promised, was freeing me and, in turn changing the attitudes of those asking me questions. They seemed less doubting, less hostile, more ready to believe than to disbelieve me. Still, their job was to probe and provoke.
The tension reappeared in the waning moments of the press conference when a young man in the front row asked me, “Are you sexually active?”
I paused only a moment, feeling briefly the enormous gulf between the reporter’s world and my own. “I have always led,” I said simply, “a chaste and celibate life.” The reinstated tightness in the atmosphere loosened, and I could read in the eyes of the assembled journalists that they believed me. Afterwards, one told me, “We know now that you’re telling the truth, Cardinal, but we have to ask these questions. Our job depends on it.” The next day’s headline in the Chicago Tribune read, “‘I’ve Led a Chaste Life,’ Bernardin Says.”
After the session ended, I returned to my office. If it was an ordeal, I thought to myself, it was only the first of many. Indeed, I was to hold fourteen press conferences over the next week, all of them governed by the same dynamics. The truth, as faith promises, did earn me a greater sense of freedom at each of these meetings.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
In the Easter apparition, the Christian disciples were led to a deeper understanding of Christ’s paschal mystery and transformed into joyful witnesses of the resurrection. Is our Easter experience equally transforming? Why or why not?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Almighty and merciful God,
your Son Jesus opened our minds and hearts
to the meaning of the Scriptures
concerning his death and rising.
May we always feel the saving power of the Risen Lord
in our daily life
so that, filled with the energy of the Easter event,
we may go out into the world
and restore joy to a broken world,
in the name of Jesus.
He lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen. Alleluia!
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.
“It is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead.” (Lk 24:46)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Proclaim the Easter event of Christ’s death and resurrection in the challenging world of your daily life by word, example and deed, especially on behalf of those who need hope and consolation.
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April 20, 2015: MONDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (3)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Gives Food for Eternal Life”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 6:8-15 // Jn 6:22-29
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
One of the great blessings that America has received is food in abundance. In my native country, the Philippines, the daily anxiety of millions of poor people is where to get food to assuage their hunger. Scavengers rummage through filthy garbage cans to look for something to eat. Hungry children would ply the streets begging for food. I was standing on a busy street corner in Manila, waiting for a ride, when two small boys approached me begging for alms. I asked them whether they would like something to eat. They nodded their heads vigorously. I retrieved from my bag two huge sandwiches, plump with chicken salad filling, that a friend gave me at a thesis defense that I had just attended. The kids ran away munching on the sandwiches. A few minutes later they came back with their half-eaten sandwiches, smiling and exclaiming, “Salamat, Sister! Masarap!” (“Thank you, Sister! Delicious!”). And off they went again. I felt good that the kids came back to thank for the gift of bread.
In the Gospel reading (Jn 6:22-29), the evangelist John tells us that the crowd Jesus fed on the other side of the lake got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. The beneficiaries of the loaves of bread and the fish were searching for him. They came back to Jesus, not to thank him, but for a mere material motive: as the source of an unlimited supply of bread and material goods. After experiencing the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, they wanted to make him their breadbasket king. Jesus, however, saw through it all and admonished them. Indeed, Jesus wanted to raise their minds from purely earthly concerns to that which leads to eternal life. That is why he exhorted his superficially intentioned beneficiaries: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”
The reading (Jn 6:22-29) has tremendous relevance for our world and society. According to statistics, half of the people of the world go to bed hungry every night and, by the end of today, 60,000 more people will die of hunger. Harold Buetow comments: “Bad as things are, the unrecognized hunger for God is even worse …And we still hunger for things beyond food: for forgiveness, for reconciliation, for kindness, for restoration in relationships, for justice, for joy in place of bitterness and cynicism, for peace, for unity – in short, for taking away the emptiness of our lives … Jesus is the way to eternal life. Unless we fill ourselves with him, we’re not just empty and hungry: we’re spiritually dead.”
***
I was preparing for the public defense of my doctoral thesis at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Saint Anselm University in Rome. I did what I could but I was a nervous wreck. On the eve of the thesis defense, I heard the words of Jesus at Mass assuring me: “Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say: for it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” As promised, God gave me the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. The thesis defense went well. I got a perfect score for it!
Today’s First Reading (Acts 6:8-15) narrates the power of the Spirit at work in Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit and anointed as a deacon by the apostles to serve the Greek-speaking Jewish Christians. Richly blessed by God, Stephen performs great miracles and wonders among the people. He comes in conflict with Greek-speaking Jews who do not believe in Christ. But they are no match for Stephen. The Spirit has given Stephen a wisdom that they could not refute. They retaliate by stirring up the people against him and, with false accusations, haul him before the Sanhedrin. Replicating in his life the passion of the Christ, Stephen will be condemned to death and die by stoning.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. What are the various hungers we are experiencing personally and as a community? What are the most vicious hungers of humanity today? How do we respond to Jesus’ declaration and invitation: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you”?
2. Do I believe that in my day to day Christian witnessing, the wisdom of the Spirit is given to me and that God gives me the power to overcome adversities?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
we come into your presence
with our deepest hungers for things beyond food:
for forgiveness and reconciliation,
for kindness and restoration in relationships,
for justice and freedom,
for joy in place of bitterness and cynicism,
for peace and unity,
for beauty and harmony,
and for spiritual and physical healing.
We long for you,
the food that endures to eternal life.
Fill us with the wisdom of the Spirit
And help us to work dutifully and lovingly for the Kingdom
that we may feast on this bread of life,
now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia!
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.
“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” (Jn 6:27)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
When you break bread at the family table, do it with a grateful heart and think with reverence of the millions of hungry people the world over. Pray that they too may have their share of daily bread and that all may be filled with the wisdom of the Spirit.
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April 21, 2015: TUESDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (3); SAINT ANSELM, Bishop, Doctor of the Church
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Bread from Heaven”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 7:51-8:1a // Jn 6:30-35
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
In the Gospel reading (Jn 6:30-35), to the perplexed crowd asking for a “sign” that they might believe in him Jesus responds by directing their attention to “the bread of heaven” that God sends for the life of the world. This ultimate gift exceeds the manna that God rained down from heaven on the Israelites journeying through the wilderness in the time of Moses. And to the people’s plea to give them this bread always, Jesus answers: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” Indeed, the manna received by the Israelites through Moses is a figure of the all-surpassing food given by God in the person of his beloved Son, Jesus.
Jesus Christ is the “bread of the Word” and life-giving “Eucharistic bread”. We need to go to him. He will satisfy the pangs of our inmost spiritual hunger and yearning for meaning and eternal destiny. In offering himself to us as the “living bread”, he appeals to our faith, to our personal response and free commitment to follow him. At the Eucharistic banquet, Jesus invites us to the table of plenty in which he offers the “bread of the word” and sets himself as the sacramental food.
Sr. Mary Rachel, who worked as a missionary in Canada, suffered a series of strokes after her return to the Philippines. The third stroke was bilateral. It left her entire body paralyzed from the neck down. She could not talk. All she could do was cry. She had to be fed through a nasal-gastric tube and assisted in everything. Terror and anguish etched her face in the beginning. After a period of anger and denial, her features started to relax. While attending to her one day, I noticed that she was unusually quiet. Gazing directly upon her pensive eyes, I spoke slowly: “Sister Rachel, do you want to receive Communion? If so, please turn your head to one side.” She responded with such vigor that her head almost snapped. We requested a priest to come and celebrate Mass in her room. Sr. Mary Rachel received Communion for the first time after the third stroke. And she would do so every day until she passed away four years later. In her sickness and suffering, Sr. Mary Rachel fully accepted the words of Jesus: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
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Today’s First Reading (Acts 7:51-8:1a) depicts the death of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Like Jesus, the deacon Stephen performed great miracles and wonders among the people. And for this he is arrested and falsely accused. His martyrdom replicates the passion and death of Jesus Christ. Like Jesus, the deacon Stephen is led out of the city to be killed. Dying in a posture of prayerful submission, Stephen commends himself to the Lord in imitation of Jesus. Stephen’s “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” echoes Jesus’ prayer of submission at the cross: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!” The forgiving attitude that makes Stephen cry out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” evokes the compassionate stance of Jesus on the cross: “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.” Like Jesus’ prayer of forgiveness that leads to the “second chance” offered to the Jerusalem Jews, Stephen’s prayer may be linked to the grace of conversion that the young Saul would later experience after persecuting the fledging Church. The presence of Saul at the martyrdom of Stephen and his subsequent conversion into the great “Apostle to the Gentiles” reminds us that the blood of martyrs is the seed of faith.
Many disciples of Jesus Christ become totally configured to him through martyrdom. The following account of the martyrdom of Mathias and Joachim is edifying (cf. Full Sail with the Wind of Grace: Peter Kibe and 187 Martyrs, ed. “Martyres” Editorial Committee, Tokyo: Don Bosco Sha, 2008, p. 94).
Before being martyred, Jintaro had written a letter to Mathias Shobara Ichizaemon to express gratitude and to encourage him. Mathias read the letter over and over again in prison. His body was all broken from harsh torture, but when he remembered how their hearts had burned when they discussed their love for God together, he felt something warm welling up inside and he forgot his weariness and pain.
Mathias was baptized by the Jesuit Fr. Antonio Ishida when he was working as a warden in a prison. Fr. Antonio was his prisoner. From then on, the prison became the Church in which he served.
Joachim Kuroemon had been a Minister of Mercy for a long time. Because of his role, the torture inflicted on him was very cruel. The soles of his feet were worn through the long years of work. They hurt and the skin was cracked and hard as a rock. He had walked here and there with Jintaro, helping the poor and visiting the sick. “The only things I can be proud of in my life are my bent, aching legs” he would say, rubbing them as he laughed like a small child.
Mathias was martyred 17 February, at 34 years of age, and Joachim was 65 when he was martyred on March 8. They were each tied to a cross and pierced to death with a lance. Even after the martyrdom of Mathias and Joachim, their fellow prisoners were feeling the peace that they had left. It was the peace of the Lord, left behind by those who live their love of God and humanity to the end.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. What is our personal response to Jesus’ revelation: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst”? Do we hunger for the Bread of the Word and the Eucharistic Bread?
2. Do we imitate the prayerful submission of the martyrs to their paschal destiny with Jesus Christ? Do we endeavor to the totally configured to Jesus in every aspect of our life?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we thank you for the total configuration unto Christ
of Stephen and other Christian disciples
through martyrdom.
Help us to imitate them.
Let us be fully united with your Son’s Eucharistic sacrifice.
He is the true Bread from heaven.
We adore and praise you,
now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia!
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 am the bread of life.” (Jn 6:35)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Unite your daily trials and sufferings with Jesus in his Eucharistic sacrifice. Pray for the grace to be able to say “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” at the hour of death.
***
April 22, 2015: WEDNESDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (3)
“JESUS SAVIOR: In Him We Have Eternal Life”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 8:1b-8 // Jn 6:35-40
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Jesus reveals himself as the “bread of life”. He has come down from heaven to do the Father’s will, which is, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life. The “bread of life”, Jesus Christ, who nourishes us with his Word and the Eucharistic bread, satisfies our most intense hunger for the fullness of life. We need to feed on him continually who is offered to us in multiple ways as spiritual nourishment. The Bread of Life gives strength and impels us to share the fullness of life even in the most difficult situations.
Archbishop Van Thuan, who was imprisoned by the Vietnamese government for thirteen years and then “released” to house arrest, testifies that Jesus is indeed the “bread of life” (cf. Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, Testimony of Hope, Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2000, p. 132-133).
Thus, in prison, I felt beating within my heart the same heart of Christ. I felt that my life was his life and his was mine. The Eucharist became for me and for the other Christians a hidden and encouraging presence in the midst of all our difficulties. Jesus was adored secretly by the Christians who lived with me, just as happened so often in other prison camps of the twentieth century.
In the re-education camp, we were divided into groups of fifty people; we slept on a common bed, and everyone had a right to 50 centimeters of space. We managed to make sure that there were five Catholics with me. At 9:30 P.M. we had to turn off the lights and everyone had to go to sleep. It was then that I would bow over the bed to celebrate the Mass by heart, and I distributed communion by passing my hand under the mosquito net. We even made little sacks from the paper of cigarette packs to preserve the Most Holy Sacrament and bring it to others. The Eucharistic Jesus was always with me in my shirt pocket.
Every week there was an indoctrination session in which the whole camp had to participate. My Catholic companions and I took advantage of the break in order to pass the small sack to everyone in the four other groups of prisoners. Everyone knew that Jesus was in their midst. At night, the prisoners would take turns for adoration. With his silent presence, the Eucharistic Jesus helped us in unimaginable ways. Many Christians returned to a fervent faith-life, and their witness of service and love had an ever greater impact on the other prisoners. Even Buddhists and other non-Christians came to the faith. The strength of Jesus’ love was irresistible.
In this way, the darkness of the prison became a paschal light, and the seed germinated in the ground during the storm. The prison was transformed into a school of catechesis. Catholics baptized fellow prisoners and became the godparents of their companions.
***
On the day of Stephen’s martyrdom, the Church of Jerusalem begins to suffer cruel persecution. It is a persecution that, like a violent wind, scatters the seed of the Word. The believers, except the apostles, are scattered throughout the provinces of Judea and Samaria. They go everywhere preaching the Risen Christ. Philip, one of the seven Greek-speaking Jews set apart for a special diakonia or service in the Church, preaches the Gospel to the people of Samaria. This is the first time in the Acts of the Apostles that the Gospel is preached to people who are non-Jews. The Jews regard the Samaritans as impure mongrels and “heretics”. Philip draws crowds by his message, which he authenticates by performing miracles, especially exorcisms and healings. A great joy fills Samaria, a joy that springs forth from an encounter with the Risen Christ. The young man Saul, an important protagonist in Stephen’s murder, also propels the work of evangelization. By cruelly persecuting the Church, he unwittingly helps to spread the Christian faith.
The following story gives us an idea how adversity and trial can lead to a greater good (cf. Mezhgan Hussainy, a Makeup Artist, in Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul, ed. Jack Canfield, et. al. Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, Inc. 2007, p. 146-150).
When the two men arrived at the door of our house in Afghanistan, even though I was only eight years old, I knew something had gone wrong. The anguish on my mother’s face told the story. That was the day my family – my parents, three brothers, and six other relatives – were to begin our escape from our country that we called home. It was early 1980s and the Soviet invasion had just begun. (…)
For the next ten days, my entire family walked in the darkness through the nearly impassable mountains covered in fog so thick that if you took one wrong step, you would fall into the deep canyons. We hid in little villages during the daylight hours, hardly moving or speaking. At first I thought it was some sort of fun game, especially since it was special to be spending this time with my cousins, but after the second day when the hard-boiled eggs were long gone, with no food or water, the horror really began.
It was freezing cold at night and sweltering hot during the day. Everyone had blisters on the bottoms of their feet. I had developed sores all over my body – the most painful were the ones in my mouth. My little brother, who was only five, suffered from such severe dehydration that we had to stop my mother from slitting her wrists because she wanted him to have something – anything – to drink. (…)
By some miracle, we made it over the border into Pakistan. We paid the smugglers – and others too who later helped us reach America – with money my mom had put in bags and sewn underneath her dress along with my father’s college diploma. My dad had gone to school years before in the United States. He had a degree in computer programming and spoke fluent English, so that helped our transition. Although the rest of us didn’t speak one word of English, we adjusted well in our new country, eventually settling in Los Angeles. (…)
After high school, I went to school to become a dental hygienist because I love beautiful smiles. One of my friends from dental school happened to be working part-time for a makeup line and thought it would be fun if we did makeup together. I told her I had no experience with it, but the next thing I knew, I was working for the cosmetic company Lancome. (…)
I’ll always be grateful to my parents for the courage they had to give their children a life of freedom in this country. The remarkable irony of my life story is that if my family had stayed in Afghanistan after the Russian invasion and the Taliban taking control, not only would I never have been able to wear makeup, but I would have been living my life under a burka, with my entire face covered. Women in my country can be killed if they walk out of their front door with their faces showing.
And here I am, making up the faces that are seen on television by more people that any other faces in the world. Perhaps my mother had an intuition about what my destiny would be – Mezhgan, the name I was given at birth, means eyelashes.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we truly believe that Jesus is the “bread of life” and that it is the will of the Father to grant us eternal life? What is our response to the divine gift of the “bread of life”?
2. Do we allow moments of adversity and trials to become a saving grace and occasion for the spread of the Gospel?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we thank you for the gift of Jesus, the “bread of life”.
In him is eternal life.
We put our faith in him who is our saving Lord.
In him we no longer hunger and thirst for more.
He alone suffices and he is “our all”.
Through him trials and persecution become “saving grace”.
He lives and reigns, forever and ever.
Amen. Alleluia!
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.
“That everyone who believes in the Son may have eternal life.” (Jn 6:40)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
When faced with adversity, trust in the Lord who is our faith nourishment. Let it be an occasion to deepen our faith in Jesus, the “bread of life”.
***
April 23, 2015: THURSDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (3); SAINT GEORGE, Martyr; SAINT ADALBERT, Bishop, Martyr
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches and Nourishes”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 8:26-40 // Jn 6:44-51
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
In the Gospel reading (Jn 6:44-51) we hear that the benefactor, Jesus Christ, who is both the giver and the gift, nourishes us through his teaching. As the Word-made-flesh and as the Wisdom of God, he lays out for us a rich banquet of spiritual nourishment. He offers himself to us as the bread of the Word, the saving revelation of God’s infinite love for us, and fulfills what is written in the prophets: “They shall all be taught by God”. In the last part of today’s Gospel reading, the topic shifts from Jesus as revealer of the Father to Jesus as the giver and gift of the Eucharist. The liturgical assembly is being led to contemplate, not just the “word” nourishment offered by Jesus, but the “sacramental” nourishment that he gives of his own flesh and blood. Jesus’ wondrous gift includes the “Eucharistic” nourishment provided by his Spirit-filled and glorified body. Indeed, Jesus is the living bread from heaven to teach and to nourish.
Here is an interesting story that illustrates the skepticism of an unbeliever with regards to the Eucharist and the tremendous wisdom that a believer draws from it.
A man came to a priest and wanted to make fun of his faith, so he asked, “How can bread and wine turn into the Body and Blood of Christ?” The priest answered, “No problem. You yourself change food into your body and blood, so why can’t Christ do the same?”
But the objector did not give up. He asked, “But how can the entire Christ be in such a small host?” “In the same way that the vast landscape before you can fit into your little eye.”
“But he still persisted, “How can the same Christ be present in all your churches at the same time?” The priest then took a mirror and let the man look into it. Then let the mirror fall to the ground and broke it and said to the skeptic, “There is only one of you and yet you can find your face reflected in each piece of that broken mirror at the same time.”
***
Today’s First Reading (Acts 8:26-40) continues to depict the spread of the Word beyond the Jewish world. The conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch from a distant land foreshadows the full-scale evangelization to the nations. His journey to Christian faith, accompanied by Philip, is God’s initiative. Indeed, it is God, not merely human enterprise, that guides the spread of the Easter faith. The God-fearing Ethiopian is considered an outcast. Not only is he a pagan, but he has been castrated. The Law excludes eunuchs from membership in the community of the Lord. The Book of Deuteronomy asserts: “No man who has been castrated or whose penis has been cut off may be included among the Lord’s people” (Dt 23:1) But Isaiah prophesies that this would change: “A man who has been castrated should never think that because he cannot have children, he can never be part of God’s people” (Is 56:3). The joyful integration of the eunuch into God’s “new people” happens at his baptism in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus walks with his two disciples on the road to Emmaus and opens to them the meaning of the Scriptures. In the same way Philip journeys with the eunuch as a spiritual guide. He enables him to understand the Christ-centered meaning of the Scripture passage he has been reading. Responding in faith, the eunuch manifests his desire for baptism: “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” Both Philip and the eunuch go into the water. Philip baptizes him and when they come out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatches Philip away. The newly baptized continues on his way rejoicing. The desert of his inner heart is now fecundated with the “living water” and abloom with joy.
The baptismal experience of the eunuch with its life-transforming effect is likewise experienced by Kateri Tekakwitha, herself no stranger to alienation and suffering (cf. “Our First Native American Saint” in St. Anthony Messenger, October 2012, p. 30).
When Kateri Tekakwitha is proclaimed St. Kateri Tekakwitha on October 21, she will be the first member of a North American tribe to be declared a saint. “The Lily of the Mohawks”, Kateri was born in 1656 in a village along the Mohawk River called Ossernenon, now known as Auriesville, New York. Her father was a Mohawk chief, her mother a Christian Algonquin raised among the French.
When Kateri was 4, a smallpox epidemic claimed her parents and baby brother. She survived, but her face was disfigured and her vision impaired. She was raised by her anti-Christian uncle, who began to plan her marriage. But after meeting with Catholic priests, Kateri decided to be baptized.
Following her Baptism by a Jesuit missionary in 1676 at age 20, Kateri’s family and village ostracized and ridiculed her. She fled the next year to Canada, taking refuge at St. Francis Xavier Mission in the Mohawk Nation at Caughnawaga on the St. Lawrence River, about 10 miles from Montreal, and made her First Communion on Christmas in 1677.
Kateri astounded the Jesuits with her deep spirituality and her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. She took a private vow of virginity and devoted herself to teaching prayers to the children and helping the sick and elderly at Caughnawaga.
She died in 1680 at age 24. According to eyewitnesses, the scars on her face suddenly disappeared after her death. Soon after, Catholics started to claim that favors and miracles had been obtained through her intercession. Native Americans have made appeals to the Catholic Church for her recognition since at least the late 1800s.
Documentation for Kateri’s sainthood cause was sent to the Vatican in 1932. She was declared venerable in 1942 and in 1980 was beatified by Pope John Paul II.
Records for the final miracle needed for her canonization were sent to the Vatican in July 2009. It involved the full recovery of a young boy in Seattle whose face had been disfigured by flesh-eating bacteria and who almost died from the disease. His family, who is part Native American, had prayed for Kateri’s intercession. On December 19, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree recognizing the miracle, clearing the way for Kateri’s canonization.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. When we partake of the Eucharistic bread and wine, do we believe that it is the font of wisdom and eternal life? How do we translate this belief in our daily life?
2. Like Philip, do we make an effort to enlighten the uninitiated with regards to the meaning of the Scriptures? Do we seek to spread the Easter faith to those who are seeking for the light of truth?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O Risen Christ,
you are the font of wisdom
and source of eternal life.
By our sharing in the sacred meal,
you enable us to share in your paschal destiny.
We believe that you are really and substantially present
in the most holy sacrament of your body and blood.
Make us your zealous Easter witnesses.
Help us to proclaim the joy of the Gospel
in today’s fragmented world.
We give you thanks and praise,
now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia!
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 am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (Jn 6:51)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your self-giving love and sacrifice, enable the people around you to experience the healing and transforming power of the Risen Christ, present in the Eucharist. Resolve to study the Scriptures more devoutly and faithfully. Seek to share the life-transforming power of the Word with the people close to you.
***
April 24, 2015: FRIDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (3); SAINT FIDELIS OF SIGMARINGEN
“JESUS SAVIOR: His Flesh Is True Food and His Blood Is True Drink”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 9:1-20 // Jn 6:52-59
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
With the eyes of faith, it is easy to perceive the answer to the “HOW” of salvation and the workings of the miracle of love, the Eucharist. From the point of view of the believer’s heart, everything is possible with God. The principal challenge in today’s Gospel reading (Jn 6:51-18) is faith in the power of God and his beloved Son, Jesus, to give life by the means they choose. Jesus does not answer the cynical “HOW” of the unbelievers, but gives powerful statements about himself and his new presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist. He also affirms the necessity of feeding upon his body and blood as the food for the new life that he comes to give in abundance. In the Eucharistic species, he is the true FLESH to eat and the true BLOOD to drink. Through a miracle of love and the power of faith, the Eucharistic bread becomes the reality of Jesus’ glorified body; the Eucharistic wine becomes the reality of Jesus’ sacred blood.
The following article in a brochure about “The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, Italy” gives insight into this.
In the city of Lanciano, around the year 700 of Our Lord, there was a monk who, although learned in the sciences of the world, was ignorant in those of God, and therefore not strong in his faith. He was plagued by a doubt as to whether the consecrated Host was truly the Body of Christ and the consecrated wine truly His Blood.
He was a person dedicated more to science than to wisdom, interested more in the world than in the Absolute, trusting more in reason than in contemplation. We can recognize in him a person of our own times: he resembles each of us to an extraordinary degree.
However, he constantly prayed that God would take this wound from his heart, and divine grace did not abandon him, because the almighty God, Father of mercy and consolation, was pleased to raise him up from the depths of his darkness and to grant him the same grace that he had shown to the Apostle Saint Thomas.
One morning, as he was celebrating Mass, after he had already said the most holy words of consecration (“This is My Body … This is My Blood …”), as Jesus had taught it to his Apostles, his doubts and errors weighed upon him more heavily than ever. By a most singular and marvelous favor then, he saw the Bread changed into Flesh and then wine into Blood.
Frightened and confused by so great and so stupendous a Miracle, he stood quite a while as if transported in a divine ecstasy; but eventually, his fear gave way to the spiritual happiness that filled his soul, and he turned his joyful yet tearful face to those around him, exclaiming, “… Behold the Flesh and the Blood of our Most Beloved Christ.”
At those word the bystanders ran with devout haste to the altar and, completely terrified, began, not without copious tears, to cry for mercy. The faithful, having become direct witnesses themselves, spread the news throughout the city.
Today, twelve centuries after the miraculous occurrence, the Holy Relics have remained practically intact. Upon superficial examination, the Host of Flesh, which is still in one piece and has retained the dimensions of the original “Large Host”, has a fibrous appearance and a brown color, which becomes light-reddish if one places a light in the back of the Ostensorium.
The Blood, contained in the chalice, has an earthy color, inclined towards the yellow of ocher, and consists of five coagulated globules. Each of the parts is uneven in shape and size, and when weighed together, the total weight is equal to that of each piece.
The actual spot of the Miracle is located beneath the present-day Church of Saint Francis. The Miracle itself is preserved in the second tabernacle, which is found in the middle of the high altar. The Host, now changed into Flesh, is contained in a silver Monstrance. The wine, now changed to Blood, is contained in a crystal chalice.
OFFICIAL POSITION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: Local Church and Vatican officials have authenticated the Holy Relics on many occasions since the Middle Ages. In 1672, Pope Clement X declared the altar of the Eucharistic Miracle a privileged altar on all Mondays of the year. In 1887, the Archbishop of Lanciano obtained from Pope Leo XIII a plenary indulgence in perpetuity to those who visit the Church of the Miracle during the eight days preceding the annual feast day, which falls on the last Sunday in October.
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES: A rigorous scientific analysis was performed in 1970-71 by Professor Dr. Odorardo Linoli, University Professor at large in anatomy and pathological histology and in chemistry and clinical microscopy. Head Physician of Arezzo, Prof. Linoli, was assisted by Professor Dr. Ruggero Bertelli, a Professor Emeritus of anatomy at the University of Siena.
The research done on the fragments of the Blood and Flesh yielded the following results:
- The blood of the Eucharistic Miracle is real Blood and the Flesh is real flesh.
- The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart.
- The Blood and the Flesh belong to the human species.
- The blood type is identical in the Blood and in the Flesh.
- The proteins in the Blood are in the same proportions as those in normal fresh blood.
- There is no trace whatsoever of any material agents used for preservation of flesh or blood.
Science, when called to testify, has confirmed what we have believed in Faith and what the Catholic Church has taught for the last 2,000 years; echoing the words of Christ, “My flesh is real food; my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells continually in me and I dwell in him.”
***
Today’s account from the Acts of the Apostles (9:1-20) is about the conversion of Saint Paul and his call to be “the instrument chosen to bring the Lord’s name to the Gentiles”. On the road to Damascus, Saul of Tarsus has a profound, dynamic spiritual experience. It is God’s initiative, grace and compassion that brought about Paul’s encounter with the Risen Lord. It is an experience of light – of revelation – of who Christ really is. Jesus of Nazareth reveals himself as the One being persecuted by Saul in his Body the Church. It is a knocked-down experience that leaves Paul vulnerable, defenseless and open to grace. He could not help but welcome the loving initiative of God. Saint Paul is a model for us of total receptivity and openness to grace. Paul’s spiritual journey is a spiritual experience that produces a transformation and impels him to assume a mission of evangelization. The converted Paul thus becomes an apostle of Christ to the nations. Immediately after his conversion, Paul begins to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
The conversion and mission of Saint Paul in spreading the Gospel to the nations deeply impressed Blessed James Alberione, the founder of the Pauline Family to which the PDDM religious congregation belongs. He explains the role of Saint Paul with regards to the Pauline Family, composed of five religious congregations and five secular and aggregated institutes (cf. Luigi Rolfo, SSP, James Alberione: Apostle for Our Times, New York: Alba House, 1987, p. 233).
Saint Paul the Apostle is our Father, Teacher, and Protector. He has done everything … The life of the Pauline Family comes from the Eucharist, but it is St. Paul who communicates it … He has made this Family with an intervention so physical and spiritual that not even now, reflecting back upon it, can it be understood very well, much less explained.
Everything is his. From him, who applied the Gospel to the nations and called the nations to Christ, have we received the most complete interpretation of the Divine Master … from him, whose presence in the theology, the moral teaching, the organization of the Church and in the adaptability of the apostolate to the times is very lively and substantial, and will remain so until the end of time. He moved everything, illuminated everything, nourished everything; he was the guide, the provider, the defense, the supporter, wherever the Pauline Family was established.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we allow our life to be troubled and shortchanged by the unbeliever’s “HOW”? With regards to the Eucharistic mystery, do we sometimes react with incredulity and ask: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat”? What is our response to Jesus’ radical Eucharistic affirmation: “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink”?
2. Each of us has a spiritual experience. How do we imitate Paul in being receptive and responsive to this experience? Do we imitate him in our work of conversion and “christification”? How do we carry out the mission of evangelization?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(From the Prayers of the Pauline Family)
Jesus, eternal Truth, I believe you are really present in the bread and wine. You are here with your body, blood, soul and divinity. I hear your invitation: “I am the living bread descended from heaven”, “take and eat; this is my body”. I believe, Lord and Master, but strengthen my weak faith.
Jesus Master, you assure me: “I am the Life”, “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life.” In baptism and in the sacrament of reconciliation you have communicated to me this life of yours. Now you nourish it by making yourself my food. Take my heart; detach it from the vain things of the world. With all my heart I love you above all things because you are infinite goodness and eternal happiness.
I bless you, Jesus, for the great mercy granted to Saint Paul in changing him from a bold persecutor to an ardent apostle of the Church. And you, great saint, obtain for me a heart docile to grace, conversion from my principal defect and total configuration with Jesus Christ.
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.
“My flesh is true food, and my blood true drink.” (Jn 6:59)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Before you receive communion at the celebration of the Eucharist, recall with conviction the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and make an act of faith. Spread the Gospel to the people around you by promoting the reading of the Gospel and the Pauline epistles.
***
April 25, 2015: SATURDAY – SAINT MARK, EVANGELIST
“JESUS SAVIOR: Saint Mark Proclaims Him to All Creation”
BIBLE READINGS
I Pt 5:5b-14 // Mk 16:15-20
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
In the Gospel reading (Mk 16:15-20) we hear that the Risen Lord is present in the lives of his apostles and strengthens them in the missionary mandate: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” The Church’s missionaries have nothing to fear because the glorified Christ is with them in their preaching. He confirms their message with special signs of his protection and power. Indeed, our celebration of the Easter mystery is a call to actively spread the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The “Gospel” to be proclaimed to every creature refers not to a doctrine, but to the very person of Jesus. With the Risen Lord Jesus as the content of the proclamation, the apostles of then and now are empowered by the Holy Spirit in their task of evangelization.
Saint Mark, the evangelist, is a sterling example of one who has used the oral tradition and written form to spread the Easter Good News. The following prize-winning story by an eighth-grader at St. John Vianney School in San Jose, California, illustrates how we can use the means of social communication and other means to make the Good News alive in our own time (cf. Clarissa Vokt, “Good News Alive Today” in Maryknoll, May/June 2011, p. 47-49).
The ways that I share the Good News are posting and reading articles on the social network websites about men and women doing good deeds in our community, to encourage others to do the same. I also send messages to others telling them to go to church on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist, and learn all about the Good News.
I spread the Good News almost all the time when I help out at places in my community. Sometimes I volunteer to help at the park, where I help clean up after the animals and wash their feeding bowls so they always have clean water, because they are also God’s creation and should be treated so.
If I am not doing community service, then usually I will go around the house and search for items that we no longer use, and donate them to organizations such as The Salvation Army to help those in poverty who do not have the luxuries we take for granted each day.
I experience the Good News being spread when I listen to the radio. There is a radio station called Catholic Radio that my mother and I listen to almost every day, and it is always talking about the Gospel, answering questions about our beliefs, and telling us about campaigns and upcoming Catholic events in our community.
One such campaign is called “40 Days for Life”. This campaign draws attention to the evils of abortion with a three-point program including prayer and fasting, constant vigil and community outreach. My family joined this campaign together and we have blue wristbands we wear to show our support and spread the Good News everywhere we go.
Catholic Radio has expanded my knowledge of the Gospel and inspired me to share this Good News with my friends and neighbors. This radio station has their own page on Facebook, so I decided to join it and share the Good News with my friends on the social network, who did the same.
The Good News is being spread everywhere, from the radio to popular websites, and through community service, and is spread by everyone, including teenagers and older men and women. The ways in which the Good News is being spread may have changed over the past 100 years, but the meaning still stays the same, and today it is as alive as ever.
***
The First Reading (I Pt 5:5-14) is from the concluding part of Saint Peter’s first letter to Christians scattered throughout the northern part of Asia Minor. The main purpose of the letter is to encourage those who are experiencing persecution and suffering for their faith. The persecution is referred to as an attack from the Devil who prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Saint Peter encourages them to resist by being solid in their faith. They are to put their total trust in God who cares for them. Indeed, the loving God is powerful and trustworthy. No adversary can withstand God – not sin, nor death, nor Satan. The suffering of the Christians is a sign of communion with the passion of Christ. It is a privileged manifestation of the “true grace” of God who will bring them to their eternal glory in Jesus Christ after this momentary affliction. The present suffering is likewise a communion in “the brotherhood of believers” undergoing the same experience.
In his final greeting, Saint Peter extends the greeting from “the church of Babylon” and Mark’s greeting. “Babylon” is a cryptic name for Rome, which has taken the classic characteristics of a world power hostile to God – just like the Babylonian empire, whose king destroyed Jerusalem and the Solomon Temple in 587 B.C. The persecuted Church in the West is united with the suffering Church in the East. The “Mark” mentioned in the letter, presumably John Mark, the evangelist, is in communion with them as they share in the passion of Christ and in Risen Lord’s gift of love and peace.
The following article, circulated on the Internet, gives us a glimpse of the spiritual and apostolic power that animated Saint Mark, whose feast we celebrate today.
Mark the Evangelist is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the seventy disciples and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the four main Episcopal sees of Christianity. (…) When Jesus explained that his flesh was “real food” and his blood was “real drink”, many disciples left him, presumably including Mark. He was later restored to faith by the apostle Peter. He then became Peter’s interpreter, wrote the Gospel of Mark, founded the church of Africa, and became the bishop of Alexandria.
According to Eusebius of Caesaria, Herod Agrippa I, in his first year of reign over the whole Judea (41 AD), killed James, son of Zebedee and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after the Passover. Peter was saved miraculously by angels, and escaped out of the realm of Herod. Peter went to Antioch, then through Asia Minor (visiting the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, as mentioned in I Pet 1:1), and arrived in Rome in the second year of Emperor Claudius. Somewhere on the way, Peter picked up Mark and took him as travel companion and interpreter. Mark the Evangelist wrote down the sermons of Peter, thus composing the Gospel according to Mark, before he left for Alexandria in the third year of Claudius.
In 49 AD, about 19 years after the Ascension of Jesus, Mark traveled to Alexandria and founded the Church of Alexandria, which today is part of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Aspects of the Coptic liturgy can be traced back to Mark himself. He became the first bishop of Alexandria and he is honored as the founder of Christianity in Africa. (…)
According to the Coptic Church, Saint Mark was born in Cyrene, a city in the Pentapolis (now Libya). This tradition adds that he returned to Pentapolis later in life, after being sent by Saint Paul to Colossae, and serving with him in Rome; from Pentapolis, he made his way to Alexandria. When Mark returned to Alexandria, the pagans of the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their traditional gods. In 68 AD they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.
His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we imitate the apostolic zeal of Saint Mark to proclaim the Gospel and his desire to share the saving Word to all generations?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(cf. Opening Prayer, Mass of St. Mark, evangelist)
Father,
you gave St. Mark
the privilege of proclaiming your gospel.
May we profit by his wisdom
and follow Christ more faithfully.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Go into the world and proclaim the good news to all creation.” (Mk 16:15)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
St. Mark is patron of Egypt, of Venice, and of notaries. Offer special prayers for these and for those engaged in the evangelization through the printed and digital media. By your kind words and charitable deeds, let the Gospel be proclaimed in a “living” way to 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