A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 13, n. 26)
Pentecost Sunday and Weekday 8: May 24-30, 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: May 17-23, 2015, please go to ARCHIVES Series 13 and click on “Easter Week 7”.
(Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: May 24-30, 2015.)
***
May 24, 2015: PENTECOST SUNDAY
“JESUS SAVIOR: The Spirit of Truth Is His Easter Gift”
BIBLICAL READINGS
Acts 1:1-11 // I Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Gal 5:16-25// Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The liturgical feast of Pentecost enables the Church of today to experience and to have a deeper awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit. It helps the celebrating Christian disciples enhance their understanding and appreciation of the Holy Spirit at work in their lives. In today’s Gospel (Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15), Jesus assures his disciples that the Advocate will come – the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. Indeed, assailed by the world’s hatred and in order not to give up the faith, the disciples would need the sustained help of the Holy Spirit, who gives witness to Jesus. They are called to bear witness just as Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, bears witness to God unto death. The testimony of the Christian disciples in an unbelieving world is powered by the witness of the Holy Spirit, sent by Jesus to be the “Helper” of the Church.
The Spirit of Jesus is his Easter gift to us. His Spirit is alive and at work today. The activity of the Easter gift cannot be limited to any particular moment in history. The Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of the Risen Lord, is a constant and dynamic reality. The third person of the Blessed Trinity is the spirit of evangelization. The Spirit of truth guides the disciples in their discernment and powers the mission of the Church today and forever.
The following article gives insight into how the Spirit of truth animates Christian disciples as they experience the conflicts and duress of today’s world (cf. Elizabeth Sherrill, “Juan, Cuban Pastor” in Daily Guideposts 2014, p. 157).
It was 1986 in Communist Cuba when I met Juan, a graying fifty-one-year-old with a merry smile that was hard to understand as he told his story.
After the revolution, his engineering firm demoted employees who wrote “Christian” on a new questionnaire. With his salary halved and their fourth baby on the way, he and his wife applied to leave the country. For that, he was sent to work in sugarcane fields. “To feed our children, my wife and I would go to bed hungry.”
It was two years before the exit visa came and they could make the daylong trip from Santiago to Havana. Their luggage was already aboard the plane to Miami when an official spotted the word engineer on Juan’s papers. “Engineers are not permitted to emigrate!”
“But I’m not allowed to work as an engineer.”
“The law is the law.”
They got back to Santiago to find strangers in their house. Juan’s family moved into a single room in a friend’s apartment where Juan began again filling out forms for emigration. It was in the fields one day that everything changed. “It was like a voice inside my head: It isn’t the law that keeps you here. I have work for you to do.”
Juan withdrew his application to emigrate. His citizen status was restored, and he was offered his old engineering post. He turned it down to lead a dozen small house-churches. As he took me to meet some of those he ministers to, I knew I’d never seen a man more fulfilled.
***
The First Reading (Acts 2:1-13) describes the Pentecost event of the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit, which inaugurates the era of the Church’s mission, the new epoch of salvation history. This dramatic event in the life of the Church needs to be seen against the backdrop of Moses ascending “to God” and returning with the gift of the Law, an expression of Yahweh’s covenant love for his people. Jesus’ ascension into heaven results in the outpouring of the Pentecostal gift of the Spirit, the animating “love” and life-giving “law” of the new covenant, made possible by the sacrificial blood of Christ. The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and Christian disciples is the realization of the great event of the messianic age prophesied by Joel: “In the days to come – it is the Lord who speaks – I will pour out my spirit on all mankind” (cf. Jl 3:1-15 and Acts 2:17). Above all, it is the fulfillment of the Risen Lord’s promise: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8).
The immediate effect of the Pentecostal event is a tremendous irruption and outburst of apostolic energy. Jesus’ witnesses begin to speak courageously according to the dictates of the Holy Spirit, on a universal scale. As the relentless energy that powers the worldwide expansion of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit instructs the early missioners and guides the Easter witnesses of all ages. He impels them to proclaim the Gospel message with forceful intensity even under persecution and duress. He enables them to evangelize all peoples and cultures with amazing resourcefulness and creativity.
Pope Paul VI underlines the vital role of the Holy Spirit, the life-giving power of Christian evangelization: “Only after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost did the apostles set out for the ends of the earth to begin the great task of evangelization entrusted to the Church … The Church grows by being filled with the consoling presence of the Holy Spirit who is the principle of its life. He it is who enables believers to understand the mystery of Christ and his teaching. As the Spirit was active in the initial stages of the Church’s existence, so now he is at work in each and every preacher of the Gospel who is open to his guidance. He suggests to the minds of evangelists such words as he alone can inspire, at the same time disposing the hearts of their hearers to accept the Gospel message and the proclamation of the kingdom … Yet if the influence of the Holy Spirit is so great in the life of the Church at large, it is of paramount importance in the work of evangelization. It was no mere chance that the first steps in the preaching of the Gospel were taken on the day of Pentecost at the inspiration of the Spirit of God.”
The following article by Elise Doroteo, written in 2006 when she was an incoming 4th year high school student, gives beautiful insight into the meaning of today’s celebration.
Ten days after Christ’s ascension, the apostles, then fearful of the persecution they might experience if they came out in public, gathered in the upper room, praying for their safety. Their prayers were answered when the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth that Jesus promised to his apostles before He ascended into heaven, descended upon them in the form of tongues of fire. The descent of the Spirit emboldened the apostles. It gave them the courage to go out of the upper room, daring to venture forth into the outside world, proclaiming the Gospel and the message of salvation.
The fire that descended upon the apostles was more than physical fire. It was a spiritual fire, one that engulfed them, overruled their fears, and submerged them in the mission of the Church.
Fire has always been considered a symbol of light, hope and transformation. It consumes, engulfs, and brings about change. A perfect representation of this would be a mythical creature, the phoenix. From a young bird, it ages beautifully, until it eventually starts to wither away. Ultimately, it bursts into flames; from the ashes rises a young bird that will mature magnificently once more, going through the cycle all over again.
Fire, in the case of the phoenix, comes at a time when the phoenix is at its weakest, when it needs hope and change the most. The fire comes along when the phoenix could really do away with its old life and start anew. The fire brings about new life, a new identity, while still allowing the phoenix to retain its nature.
In a way, the fire that descended upon the apostles during Pentecost is like the fire that renews the phoenix’s life. The fire rid the apostles of their life prior to the Pentecost, a time when they were merely followers of Christ. The fire came when they were hopeless, fearful of the future that lay ahead of them. It gave them courage, hope, the will to go on. The fire, consuming them entirely, heralded in a new chapter in their life as key players in the life of the Church. They were no longer mere followers. The fate of the Church rested in their hands. They were entrusted with the responsibility of proclaiming the Good News to the world and continuing Christ’s mission. They took on this duty with steadfast hearts, rooted in the courage that was given them when the Holy Spirit descended upon them.
Pentecost Sunday reminds us of the responsibility that the apostles accepted when the Holy Spirit descended upon them and, in turn, gave them the task of continuing to spread the Good News. We, as descendants of the apostles, are called to continue carrying out their task of living out the Gospel, which is quite difficult to do in this day and age.
As the phoenix rises again from its own ashes, we are also set on fire, a fire that will consume us entirely and give us the grace to continue to live out the message of the Gospel.
***
The Second Reading (Gal 5:16-25) tells us that the lifestyle of a Christian is characterized by vitality, that is, by a living relationship with Christ in the Spirit. Those who live by the Spirit bear the “fruit of the Spirit”, which is love, joy, peace, patience kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is to be contrasted with the deeds of the “flesh”, which can be clustered into four groups: sexual aberrations (immorality, impurity, licentiousness); heathen worship (idolatry, sorcery); social evils (hatred, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy) and intemperance (drinking bouts, orgies and the like). Although the tendencies of the flesh do not disappear in human beings, Saint Paul reminds us that those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. Moreover, if we live in the Spirit and follow the lead of the Spirit, we prevail over the power of the flesh.
The following personal account gives insight into the struggles of Christian discipleship and the grace given by God to follow the lead of the Spirit (cf. Debbi Macomber in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 135).
My husband and I both grew up in small towns. Colville, Washington, Wayne’s hometown, had the only stoplight in the entire county when we got married. Twenty-four years ago, when we moved to Port Orchard, there was only one stoplight in town. Even now neither of us is accustomed to dealing with a lot of traffic. We know we’re spoiled, and that’s the way we like it.
When Jazmine, our oldest granddaughter was around three years old, I picked her up in Seattle and drove her to Port Orchard. As luck would have it, I hit heavy traffic. For what seemed like hours we crawled at a snail’s pace toward the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. In order to keep Jazmine entertained, I sang songs and made up silly stories. She chatted away happily in her car seat. Not so with me. My nerves were fried.
Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer. “Jazmine, just look at all these cars”, I muttered as I pressed on the horn. What’s the matter with these people anyway? Obviously, they don’t realize I have places to go and people to see. Normally the drive took forty minutes, and I’d already been on the road an hour.
“Grandma”, Jazmine asked from the backseat, “are we in a hurry?”
Oh, Father, thank you for my sweet granddaughter and the reminder of what is really important: spending time with her.
Here is another beautiful story. It is about an experience of the “fruit of the Spirit”, a marvelous gift (cf. Tim Williams, Daily Guideposts 2014, p. 206).
Dianne, my wife, can tolerate a lot of pain, but her arthritic hip finally forced her to accept that it was time for surgery. She was in the hospital for three days after her hip-replacement operation. I was with her most of the time, but several dedicated nurses were with her all the time.
Yes, we are grateful for the skills of the surgeon and for nurses who can expertly find a vein when inserting a needle for an IV. And, yes, competence should be the tenth fruit of the Spirit. But in the course of the minute-by-minute duration of recovery, there is nothing more important than kindness, one of nine spiritual gifts listed in Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
“I’m just doing my job”, Nurse Kelley gently chided me after I thanked her more than once for taking care of my wife. How wrong she was! Kindness is a gift, not an obligation. Kelley, Bonnie, James, Lisa, and others whose names I’ve forgotten gave us that gift, again and again, until Dianne was able to come home.
Thank You, God, for the kindness of others. Please bless those who share such a precious gift.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we respond with praise and thanksgiving to the precious gift we received from the Risen Lord, the Holy Spirit? Do we allow ourselves to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in our mission to spread the Good News?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
how beautiful is your Easter gift to us!
We thank you for anointing us with the Holy Spirit.
Bathe us in his font of truth
and grant us grace
to delve into the mystery of your death and rising.
Make our hearts soar to the sky
with his promptings and inspiration.
Let him animate us with burning zeal
as we proclaim the Good News to all the nations
Fill all creation with your Holy Spirit
and renew the face of the earth.
We love you and praise you.
We commit ourselves to 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.
“The Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth.” (Jn 16:13)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Create an arena of silence deep within you. And in this silence, which is replete with the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, beg him to recreate your life anew. Pray that he will continue to be your guiding truth in the task and challenge of Christian witnessing in today’s world. By your acts of charity and compassion to the people close to you, enable them to experience the renewing force of the Spirit, the Easter gift.
***
May 25, 2015: MONDAY – WEEKDAY (8); SAINT BEDE THE VENERABLE, Priest, Doctor of the Church; SAINT GREGORY VII, Pope; SAINT MARY MAGDALENE DE’PAZZI, Virgin
MEMORIAL DAY (USA)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to a Radical Discipleship”
BIBLE READINGS
Sir 17:20-24 // Mk 10:17-21
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A wise and holy hermit finds a precious stone beside the brook. He brings it with him to his little cottage. One of his disciples sees the precious discovery and begins to covet it. The hermit notices that the young disciple is looking dismal and miserable day by day. “What is it?” he asks the young man. “It is the stone,” the disciple replies. “I want to have it. I will never have peace and happiness until it is mine.” The good master remarks serenely, “But, of course, you can have it.” The disciple takes the stone. The next morning he is back. “What is it?” the hermit asks. The disciple holds up the precious stone and says, “I want the wisdom that made you renounce this precious stone so unselfishly.”
The disciple’s “awakening” consists in discovering the need for wisdom, which gives a perceptive insight into human life. Wisdom directs our quest toward eternal life, the only goal worth striving for. The truly wise person is able to discern the unsurpassable value of God and chooses him above all. The full meaning of wisdom can be gleaned in the light of Jesus Christ, the divine Wisdom personified. Against this backdrop, the Gospel story of the rich man in pursuit of eternal life (Mk 10:17-21) acquires a deeper perspective. The man has responded to the demands of the commandments. For one who lives under the Old Covenant, such a response would have been sufficient. And, indeed, Jesus looks at him and loves him. But Jesus, the absolute treasure and font of all good, goes further. The incarnate Wisdom offers a greater challenge and demands a fuller response.
The challenge is Christian discipleship, which involves renunciation of false security. Jesus is the true wealth besides which everything pales in comparison. To follow Jesus is to make a radical choice for the absolute good. Jesus invites the rich man to make a fundamental choice. The enormity of the challenge is expressed in the Semitic hyperbole of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. It is a choice of a loving and discerning heart made possible by divine grace: “with God all things are possible” (Mk 10:30). This radical choice for the “treasure of all treasures” is addressed to us all.
****
The First Reading (Sir 17:20-24) is exquisitely beautiful. It is an acknowledgement of the reality of sin and the possibility of repentance. By the grace of God, an evil person has a chance to change his self-destructive ways. The fundamental reason for repentance is the mercy of God. How great is the Lord’s merciful forgiveness to those who turn to him! It is therefore exigent to come to the Lord and leave sin behind. It is good to be alive in his grace. Those who are alive can give thanks to the Lord, but the dead have no way to give him thanks and praise. The words of Ben Sira that we hear in today’s reading are resounded in the words of Jesus who, in his public ministry, calls people to turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel of salvation.
The following story is a dramatic illustration of repentance based on God’s merciful forgiveness (cf. Bernie Siegel, “Forgiven” in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Stories of Faith, Cos Cob: CSS, 2008, p. 4-5)
The real power of healing is not about curing diseases. This was revealed to me by a male nurse who spent a lot of time with a woman in a nursing home who hadn’t been able to walk for six years. Edward lifted her in and out of her chair or into the bed, depending on her schedule. She always wanted to talk about God and forgiveness. Because Edward had had a near-death experience, he felt comfortable doing this.
One night it was so late that Edward slipped out without being the one to
put her to bed. He was heading for his car in the parking lot when he heard
her call, “Edward!” He snuck back inside and into her room. “Are you sure
God forgives us for everything?” she asked. “Yes. I’m sure, from my own
experience”, he said.
You know the gospel song that tells us, ‘He knows every lie that you and I
have told, and though it makes him very sad to see the way we live, he’ll
always say I forgive‘.”
She sighed. “When I was a young woman, I stole my parents’ silver and gold and sold it so I would have enough to get married. I’ve never told anyone and no one found out. Will God forgive me?” “Yes”, Edward assured her. “God will forgive you. Good night.”
When Edward returned to work the next morning, he was told to see the administrator who asked what he had told the woman the night before. “As usual”, Edward explained, “we talked about God and forgiveness. Why?” “At 3:00 A.M. the woman came out of her room and, with no help, walked the entire length of the nursing home, put her Bible and teeth on the nurse’s desk and said, ‘I don’t need these anymore.’ Then she turned and walked back to her room, laid down and died.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we yearn for the gift of wisdom? Do we beg the Lord to give us this precious gift? How do we respond to Christ’s radical challenge of discipleship? Do we trust in Christ’s exhortation: “With God all things are possible” (Mk 10:30)?
2. Do we trust that the mercy and forgiveness of the Lord is great for those who return to him?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
you are the “treasure of treasures” and the absolute good.
Fill us with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit
that we may choose your incredible beauty and value.
By the power of the same Spirit,
help us to affirm our fundamental choice for you
in every moment of life.
Teach us to live fully our discipleship.
Give us the grace to inspire the people to pursue you,
the incomparable good.
We love you and honor you,
now and forever.
Amen.
***
Almighty God,
you call us to turn away from sin,
to return to you
and experience your love.
Great is your mercy!
Your forgiveness abounds
for those who return to you.
Grant that we may be faithful to you
and grateful for your saving love.
Teach us to be instruments of your loving compassion
and channels of your mercy and grace.
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.
“Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor … then, come, follow me.” (Mk 10:21) // “How great is the mercy of the Lord, his forgiveness of those who return to him!” (Sir 17:24)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for the gift of wisdom that will enable you to make a fundamental choice for Christ and follow him all the way. Take stock of your material possessions. Make a radical decision to share your material resources with the needy and to give to the poor. // Be thankful to God for his forgiving love. By your words and actions, inspire the erring to tread the path of return to the Lord.
***
May 26, 2015: TUESDAY – SAINT PHILIP NERI, Priest
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Promises Eternal Life”
BIBLE READINGS
Sir 35:1-12 // Mk 10:28-31
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The Gospel (Mk 10:28-31) tells us that the rich man who encounters Jesus on the road of discipleship goes away sad. He is a dramatic illustration that selfish attachment makes participation in the Reign of God impossible. The rich man is not able to renounce his possessions for the sake of eternal life. To rely on false security, or one’s ability to obtain eternal life, is like a camel trying to enter the eye of a needle. It cannot happen! But God can free us from enchantments and delusions. Through Jesus, he offers us the grace to renounce a false security or even a “relative good” so as to make a fundamental option for him, the absolute good - the source of all good, including eternal life.
Peter intuits the divine grace at work in the first disciples of Jesus. He asserts: “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus assures them and the Christian disciples through all times of the “hundredfold reward”. The “hundredfold reward” is already present in the present age, though its joy is overshadowed by the cross and threatened by the world’s persecution. Eventually those who leave “houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands” for the sake of Jesus will experience in the final age the full reward - eternal life in the bosom of God.
The following thoughts of Mother Teresa of Calcutta give insight into radical discipleship and the Christian disciple’s hundredfold reward (cf. Mother Teresa: Her Essential Wisdom, ed. Carol Kelly- Gangi, New York: Barnes and Noble, 2006, p. 2-7).
I knew that God wanted something for me. I was only twelve years old, living with my parents in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now Macedonia), when I first sensed the desire to be a nun. At that time there were some very good priests who helped boys and girls follow their vocation, according to God’s will. It was then I realized that my call was to the poor.
***
I remember when I was leaving home fifty years ago – my mother was dead set against me leaving home and becoming a sister. In the end, when she realized that this was what God wanted from her and from me, she said something very strange: “Put your hand in his hand and walk all alone with him.” This is exactly our way of life. We may be surrounded by many people, yet our vocation is really ours alone with Jesus.
***
I did my novitiate in Darjeeling and took the vows with the Loreto Sisters. For twenty years, I was at work in education in St. Mary’s High School, which was mostly for middle class children. I loved teaching, and in Loreto I was the happiest nun in the world.
***
In 1948, twenty years after I came to India, I actually decided upon this close contact with the poorest of the poor. It was for me a special vocation to give all to belong to Jesus. I felt that God wanted from me something more. He wanted me to be poor with the poor and to love him in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor. I had the blessing of obedience.
***
I was traveling by train to Darjeeling when I heard the voice of God. I was sure it was God’s voice. I was certain he was calling me. The message was clear. I must leave the convent to help the poor by living among them. Thus was a command, something to be done, something definite. The call was something between God and me. What matters is that God calls each of us in a different way. In those difficult, dramatic days I was certain that this was God’s doing and not mine and I am still certain. And it was the work of God. I knew that the world would benefit from it.
***
To leave Loreto was my greatest sacrifice, the most difficult thing I have ever done. It was much more difficult than to leave my family and country to enter religious life. Loreto meant everything to me. In Loreto I had received my spiritual training. I had become a religious there. I had given myself to Jesus in the Institute. I liked the work, teaching the girls.
***
On my first trip along the streets of Calcutta after leaving the Sisters of Loreto, a priest came up to me. He asked me to give a contribution to a collection for the Catholic press. I had left with five rupees, and I had given four of them to the poor. I hesitated, then gave the priest the one that remained. That afternoon, the same priest came to me and brought an envelope. He told me that a man had given him the envelope because he had heard about my projects and wanted to help me. There were fifty rupees in the envelope. I had the feeling, at that moment, that God had begun to bless the work and would never abandon me.
***
One by one, from 1949 on, my former students began to arrive. They wanted to give everything to God, right away. With what joy they put away their colorful saris in order to put on our poor cotton one. They came because they knew that it would be hard. When a young woman of high caste comes and puts herself at the service of the poor, she is the protagonist of a revolution. It is the greatest, the most difficult revolution – the revolution of love.
***
One of the most demanding things for me is traveling with all the publicity everywhere I go. I have said to Jesus if I don’t go to Heaven for anything else, I will be going to Heaven for all the traveling and publicity, because it has purified me and sanctified me and made me truly ready for Heaven.
***
The First Reading (Sir 35:1-12) underlines the meaning of worship. True worship of God is both internal and external. The author, Ben Sira, who is positively disposed towards and is ever enthusiastic for temple worship, insists that religious practices should be accompanied and animated by a concern for justice and the sacrifice of one’s being. Religious practices without internal dispositions are a mockery. Hence, keeping the Law, kind acts, care for the poor, and rejecting evil are part of true worship rendered to God. Yet good deeds and interior dispositions need to be fully expressed in external worship. One must participate in the religious festival and one must be true and generous in his “offering” at the temple. We should be cheerful with every gift we make and must be generous in paying our tithes. The Lord God can never be outdone in generosity. He always repays and will do it many times over.
The following profile of a young priest shows us that his priestly consecration is an offering that is pleasing to God (cf. Fr. Jan Kusyk, “Being a Priest Has Been a Dream Come True” in Columbia, April 2013, p. 34).
Father Jan Kusyk, Archdiocese of Kingston, Ontario: When my mother was six weeks pregnant, a doctor informed my parents that there were complications and recommended abortion. Thanks to the intercession of St. Joseph and the courage of my parents, I was born healthy. Three years later, Blessed John Paul II blessed me during one of his audiences at St. Peter’s Square.
Growing up Polish-Canadian, faith was a natural part of my family life, which included regular Sunday Mass, meals at home with parish priests, and devotion to Our Lady of Czestochowa.
My vocation to the priesthood came as an epiphany when I was 13. After secondary school, unable to shake the call, I decided to take a leap of faith and apply to seminary.
Since my ordination two years ago, I can honestly say that being a priest has been a dream come true. My greatest privilege and joy is to celebrate the sacraments, and I thank my brother Knights of Columbus for their prayers and support throughout my entire formation. Relying entirely on Our Lord Jesus Christ, I look forward to working for the salvation of souls and the glory of God.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Have we left everything in order to follow Jesus? Are we experiencing the hundredfold reward?
2. Do we realize what true worship of God means? Do we endeavor to offer God an integral worship that involves interior disposition and external manifestation? Do we worship God in spirit and in truth?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving Jesus,
you are the absolute good.
To follow you
is to be blessed with the hundredfold reward
and attain the exquisite gift of eternal life.
Give us the grace to renounce false security.
Grant us the wisdom to sacrifice a relative good
and to pursue zealously the eternal good.
Teach us to give up everything to follow you
and the divine saving will.
We adore and serve you.
You live and reign,
forever and ever.
Amen.
***
My God,
you deserve the worship
of our mind, our heart, and our will.
Let the sacrifice of our being
be a pleasing offering to you.
Teach us to worship you joyfully
through the liturgy and sacraments.
Let us be generous in the gift of ourselves
and help us to realize
that you love and reward bountifully a cheerful giver.
May we render you a fitting sacrifice
of praise and thanksgiving,
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.
“We have given up everything and followed you.” (Mk 10:28) //“To keep the law is a great oblation.” (Sir 35:1)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Humbly express your discipleship in the various renunciations and sacrifices that you carry out in daily life in union with Jesus Savior. // Let your life of daily service and personal dedication be a pleasing offering to the Lord. Be a sign of joyful giving to the Lord. Participate meaningfully, actively, conscientiously, and fruitfully in the Church’s liturgy.
***
May 27, 2015: WEDNESDAY – WEEKDAY (8); SAINT AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY, Bishop
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Came to Serve”
BIBLE READINGS
Sir 36:1, 4-5a, 10-17 // Mk 10:32-45
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Jesus Christ, the beloved Son-Servant of God, came to serve – his greatest act of servitude was his paschal journey to Jerusalem and his life-offering on the cross. To be a Christian is to be a servant like him. To imitate Christ is to reject such a non-Gospel stance as “lording it over others”, and to refuse to play the world’s power game. The criterion of Christian discipleship is mutual service for the good of others. The path to glory is to serve the needs of others. The Church is a community of loving disciples who take to heart the words of Jesus: “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.”
In the following account, Mother Teresa of Calcutta gives us beautiful examples of Christian service (cf. Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart, ed. Jeff Cavins, et. al., West Chester: Ascension Press, 2004, p. 232-233).
One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition. I told the Sisters: “You take care of the other three; I will take care of the one who looks worse.” So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand, and she said one thing only: “Thank you.” Then she died.
Then there was the man we picked up from the drain, half-eaten by worms. And after we had brought him to the home, he only said, “I have lived like an animal in the street, but am going to die as an angel, loved and cared for.” Then, after we had removed all the worms from his body, all he said – with a big smile – was: “Sister, I am going home to God.”
***
The First Reading (Sir 36:1, 4-5a, 10-17) is a powerful prayer of supplication for Israel, God’s chosen people. It is an appeal to God’s mercy for an afflicted and repentant nation. In the first part of the prayer, God is implored to intervene against godless nations so that it may be known that there is no God but the God of Israel. God is besought to “give new signs and work new wonders”. The second part of the prayer is an appeal for the ingathering of all Israel and God’s blessings on the Jerusalem temple. The plea to fill the temple with divine glory evokes the mournful period when the glory of God departed from the temple (cf. Ezekiel 11:23). If the glory returns, the prophecies will be fulfilled and the prophets be proved true. The basis of this prayer of supplication is reiterated towards the end: “For you are ever gracious to your people; and lead us in the way of justice.” Indeed, God’s positive response to this prayer will enable everyone to recognize the God of Israel as the eternal God.
In his life and ministry, our Lord Jesus worked so that the glory of God might shine upon earth. As his disciples, we need to work and live our life so that God may be known by all nations. The following is an example of a Christian disciple who promotes the glory and justice of God upon earth (cf. Fr. Ignatius Harding, OGM, “To Become Instruments of Peace, We Need to Work for Justice” in The Anthonian, Winter 2012-2013, p. 8-9).
As a Franciscan friar of Holy Name Province, I was ordained to the priesthood in mid-January 1972, just two weeks after Pope Paul VI published his annual January 1st World Day of Peace message. Addressed to world leaders and all people of goodwill, religious or not, his powerful message rings even louder and truer today. “If you want peace”, the Holy Father declared, “work for justice.” (…)
At the very end of his message, the Holy Father asked all Catholics to bring to the world “a message of hope through a brotherhood which is truly lived and through an honest and persevering effort for greater, true justice.”
I took the Pope’s words to heart in my first assignment in Bolivia, a land-locked country in the heart of South America. As one of the three friars in Sorata, a rural parish north of La Paz, we had to cover a huge territory with seven small towns and 248 indigenous Aymara villages, or, more exactly, small clusters of adobe homes. Most of the Aymara parishioners were impoverished, subsistence farmers, eking out a living for their families on small plots of ground with a few crops and animals.
As Franciscans, working with a “preferential option for the poor”, a contemporary expression by Latin American bishops to express the mission of Jesus (Luke 4:18-19), we reached out to everyone. To raise awareness of their dignity as people of God, we started with a parish mission team, which made rounds of the parish, calling the people together in what you might call old-fashioned revival meetings. Our aim in Sorata was to eventually form basic Christian communities, in which trained lay catechists (some 300 of whom were trained in the parish formation center we built) would lead small groups of parishioners to meet regularly to discuss the Bible in view of the conditions in which they lived. Then, in the light of God’s Word, to plan what they needed to do by working together to change those conditions for the better.
After seven years in Sorata and two more pastoral assignments, I joined other friars in an initiative to promote the Franciscan spirit of prayer and service with the rural poor. In Angostura, 15 miles from Cochabamba, we lived a simple lifestyle – we did our own cooking, cleaning, and gardening – with an open door for anyone who wanted to come and live with us to experience the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. (Later, we counted in one year, 2400 Bolivian men and women and young people who spent from one day to three or four weeks praying and working with us.) We spent the first half of the day in prayer and manual labor and the other half in spiritual direction with visitors, or in walking to serve the impoverished in the neighborhoods around us.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. How do I emulate Christ’s example of serving love? Do I believe that in service is true greatness?
2. Do we allow the glorious and compassionate God to give new signs and work new wonders through us?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O Jesus, the Father’s beloved Son-Servant,
you became a slave on the cross.
You did not come to be served, but to serve
and to give your life as a ransom for many.
You teach us the way of serving love.
By your public ministry and paschal sacrifice,
you show us how to serve fully
the saving will of God.
Help us to reject the world’s power game
and not to seek false prestige.
Let us imitate you in serving the needs of others,
especially the weak and vulnerable in today’s society.
We love you, Jesus Savior,
and glorify you,
now and forever.
Amen.
***
God of mercy,
you are ever gracious.
You lead us on the path of justice and peace.
Give new signs and work new wonders
so that all nations may recognize the glory of your name.
Make us instruments of your justice and peace.
Reward those who hope in you.
We give you glory and praise,
now and forever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.” (Mk 10:45) // “Give new signs and work new wonders.” (Sir 36:5a)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Let the service that you carry out on behalf of others be joyful and replete with love and self-giving. // By your service to the impoverished and the victims of injustice, let them experience that God is giving new signs and working new wonders in our midst.
***
May 28, 2015: THURSDAY – WEEKDAY (8)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Makes the Blind See”
BIBLE READINGS
Sir 42:15-25 // Mk 10:46-52
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
I met Philip, a ten-year old boy suffering from a malignant brain tumor, at our convent in Cebu Island in the Philippines, in 1977. The malady caused Philip to become blind and his growth was stunted. He had the body of a six-year old, but his face was radiant and beautiful. He was quite good at playing the organ and the guitar. After listening with joy to his improvised concerto, I accompanied Philip to the refectory, located on the second floor of our convent. I held his hand as we went up the flight of steep stairs. When we reached the top, he asked me, “How many steps are there in these stairs?” I had to confess with embarrassment that I never counted them. Philip gamely told me how many steps there were. The Sisters offered Philip fruit juice and cookies, and the usual children’s treats. He gently refused explaining that he had a diet. Philip knew that he would not live very long, but there was no hint of fear or regret in him. His sightless eyes seemed to have more capacity for seeing than our own. The lovable Philip could see beyond and was full of trust in the loving God who would soon bring him to heaven. As I bid him goodbye, I was praying deep in my heart, “Lord, help me to see the way Philip sees!” The blind little boy who made me realize that I needed “to see” and inspired me to pray for spiritual sight died a few years later. I know for certain that Philip is in heaven, “seeing” God face to face.
The need for true spiritual sight is the subject of today’s Gospel (Mk 10:46-51). The reading begins with an interesting geographical reference and a touch of local color: “As Jesus was leaving Jericho, with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging” (v. 46). The main road to Jerusalem runs right through Jericho, which is 15 miles northeast of Jerusalem and 5 miles west of the Jordan River. The messianic journey of Jesus that began in Caesarea Philippi (Mk 8:27-30) is reaching its destination: Jerusalem. The departure of Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, from Jericho evokes the movement of a large group of pilgrims on the way to Jerusalem for the Passover. The crowd that is moving towards Jerusalem, the place of sacrifice, does not, however, comprehend the meaning of Jesus’ paschal destiny. The disciples and the crowd are figuratively “blind” with regards to the destiny of this remarkable man who had declared: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45). Indeed, it is more convenient to see him as a wonderful miracle worker, a powerful political ruler and a generous breadbasket king. In comparison to the blind beggar Bartimaeus, they seem lucky for they could see with their physical eyes. But there is a deeper reality than physical sight.
Mark portrays Bartimaeus as sitting by the roadside begging. With undaunted hope, the blind beggar resolutely cries out his invocation, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me” (Mk 10:47). Ignoring the rebuke of the many unsympathetic people who try to silence him, he keeps calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me” (Mk 10:48). Bartimaeus’ use of the expression “Son of David” is the first public application of that messianic title to Jesus. The title “Son of David” designates Jesus as the heir of the promise made to David through Nathan (cf. II Sam 7:12-16). The biblical scholar Philip Van Linden remarks: “The title Bartimaeus gives Jesus, ‘Son of David,’ indicates that he, a blind beggar, actually sees who Jesus is more clearly than the disciples and crowd who have been with him all along!”
Today’s Gospel reading ends with a joyful note of healing and a decisive movement of discipleship. Having received his sight, he follows Jesus on the way of discipleship. Bartimaeus serves as an example of a person with “sight” and such a person follows Jesus into his passion. His response to Jesus’ command, “Go your way” is to embrace the way of the Divine Master, a way that leads from Jericho to Jerusalem, and ultimately – the way of the Cross. His response challenges the community of Christian believers today.
***
Today’s First Reading (Sir 42: 15-25) is a hymn to the wisdom of God revealed in creation. Through the word of God his works come into being. The glory of the Lord fills all creation, but not even the holy angels can fully describe all his mighty deeds and marvels. How beautiful are all his works! Great is his wisdom! From the beauty and order in creation, we can deduce that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and eternal. God’s creatures differ, one from another, and complement each other. Each in turn is good. Could anyone ever see enough of God’s splendor?
In Jesus Christ all things were made. In him who is the wisdom of God, we are able to perceive the glory of God in creation and our interconnectedness. The following article gives us a remarkable insight about how closely linked we are as part of God’s creation (cf. Elizabeth Sherill, “Connectedness” in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 234).
From the beach this afternoon I spotted a majestic schooner far offshore, tall white sails tilting in the wind. I watched it through binoculars till it was out of sight, bound, no doubt, for Newport.
Newport is nearby, at least by water. By land it’s a long, slow, twisting route following the coast. And watching that schooner skimming straight to its destination, I suddenly saw the ocean not as a place where roads end, but as the open highway that first connected the earth’s far-flung people. Long before reliable roads were built, the sea and the rivers flowing into it were the principal route for conquest, trade, settlement.
Three months earlier I’d also stood on a beach watching boats at sea. The sea was the Gulf of Thailand, and the graceful women walking past spoke a language I didn’t know. We give names to particular stretches of water – South Pacific, Indian Ocean, North Atlantic – but, of course, it’s all one ocean, one great waterway circling the earth.
It’s twilight now, and I’ve walked down to the point to watch the setting sun lay a golden trail across the water. Maybe, I think, one of those Thai women is watching this sun rise over the ocean this very moment. Maybe she, like me, is murmuring a prayer to the Creator of land and sea.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we recognize and identify the blindness within us that needs to be healed? Do we turn to Jesus and say, “Master, I want to see” (Mk 10:51)? In our experience of blindness and hopelessness, do we have the courage and the faith to cry out with Bartimaeus: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me” (Mk 10:47)? When Jesus sees us by the wayside and calls us to himself, what is our response? Do we throw aside the cloak of our old habits, get up, and run to meet him? Do we follow him on the way?
2. Do we allow ourselves to be touched by the glory of God’s creation? Do we thank and praise for the marvels of his creation and the wisdom that brought it forth into being?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
we are blind.
We are blinded by the visible,
which prevents us from grasping the invisible.
We have closed our eyes to our paschal destiny.
We turn to you for inner healing.
Master, we want to see!
Jesus, Son of David, have pity on us!
We love and adore you,
now and forever.
Amen.
***
Loving God,
you are all-knowing.
Great is your power and your wisdom!
How beautiful are your works!
Your glory fills all creation.
Help us to perceive our interconnectedness
as part of your beloved creation.
Make us wise and careful stewards of your creation.
We give you thanks and praise
in Jesus, the eternal Word,
through whom all things were made.
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.
“Master, I want to see.” (Mk 10:51) //“The glory of the Lord fills all his works.” (Sir 42:16)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray in thanksgiving for the many good people who endeavor to relieve the painful and difficult situations of the vision-impaired. Offer some help to various institutions for the blind. // Promote the integration of God’s beloved creation by following the ecological principle: Reduce-Reuse-Recycle.
***
May 29, 2015: FRIDAY – WEEKDAY (8)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us to True Piety”
BIBLE READINGS
Sir 44:1, 9-13 // Mk 11:11-26
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
In today’s Gospel (Mk 11:11-26), the story of Jesus cleansing the Jerusalem temple is sandwiched between the strange story of him cursing the fig tree. As he leaves Bethany to return to the Jerusalem temple he gets hungry. He goes over to a fig tree. It is covered with leaves but no fruit because it is “out of season”. Jesus curses the fruitless tree. Early in the morning of the following day it is withered. Against the backdrop of Jesus driving the buyers and sellers from the temple area because they have turned what was meant to be “a house of prayer for all peoples” into a “den of thieves”, the withered fig tree symbolizes the barrenness, irrelevance and condemnation of Jewish temple piety. The corruption of temple worship has provoked Jesus’ prophetic ministry and his pronouncement of divine condemnation. The fig tree symbolizes Israel. The cursing of the fig tree and its withering dramatizes God’s judgment against Israel’s perverted temple worship: unfruitful and “out of sync” with the signs of the time - the radical newness of the Reign of God that Jesus brings. The Divine Master then completes the lesson of the withered fig tree by challenging his disciples to a more efficacious prayer-worship that is based on “faith in God” and total surrender to his saving will and forgiving love.
The following story is a modern day example of a piety that is as irrelevant and unfruitful as the cursed fig tree (cf. Anthony de Mello, The Song of the Bird, New York: Image Books, 1984, p. 64).
October 1917: The Russian Revolution is born. Human history takes a new direction.
The story goes that that very month the Russian Church was assembled in council. A passionate debate was in progress about the color of the surplice to be used in liturgical functions. Some insisted vehemently that it has to be white. Others, with equal vehemence, that it had to be purple.
Coming to grips with revolution is more of a bother than organizing a liturgy. I’d rather say my prayers than get involved in neighborhood disputes.
***
The Old Testament reading (Sir 44:1, 9-13) continues to underline that God’s glory is manifested in Israel’s history and that the “godly men” or men of hesed (piety and compassion) reveals the divine wisdom and glory. The illustrious ancestors of glorious past live on through their good works and good name. Their righteous deeds will not be forgotten. Their descendants continue to keep the covenant because of what their ancestors did. Indeed, the godly persons deserve immortality while the fate of the wicked is oblivion.
The life of Saint Macrina gives insight into the glorious destiny of the godly. She is the matriarch of one of the Church’s most blessed families. Here is an interesting article on this illustrious matriarch whose progeny includes Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nyssa (cf. Our Sunday Visitor Special Supplement, “Saints for the Family”, p. 10-12).
Saint Macrina was the grandmother of Saint Basil the Great, his brothers Saint Gregory of Nyssa and Saint Peter of Sebaste, and their sister Saint Macrina the Younger. Macrina raised all of her grandchildren (she had 10) and took special care to give them a sound religious education. Her care paid off: Basil became a monk and wrote a monastic rule that is still followed by monks in the East. Gregory became bishop of Nyssa and then archbishop of Sebaste. Peter preceded his brother as archbishop of Sebaste. All three brothers were champions of the Catholic faith against Arianism, a heresy that was raging across the Christian world at the time. And Macrina the Younger became abbess of a small community of nuns near the Black Sea.
Saint Macrina had been converted by Saint Gregory Taumaturgus (the name means “wonder-worker”), a renowned preacher. It was said that when he was made a bishop of Caesarea, there were only 17 Christians in his diocese, but when he died there were only 17 pagans in his diocese he had not managed to convert.
In 303, Emperor Diocletian began his empire-wide persecution of Christians. It would be the last Roman persecution of the Church and it would prove to be the most ferocious. Thousands of Christians were killed, among them some of the most revered martyrs of the early Church, including Saint Agnes, Saint Sebastian and Saint Januarius, known to Italians as San Gennaro. As was true of so many Christians, Macrina and her husband went into hiding. They fled to a remote spot in a vast forest along the shores of the Black Sea, where they remained for seven years. It was a terrible time for the couple. In addition to the constant fear that they would be discovered and dragged off to a horrible death, they often had difficulty foraging for food. Several times Macrina and her husband nearly starved to death.
Only in 311 did they feel safe enough to leave their refuge and return to civilization. Soon thereafter, Macrina’s husband died, and she filled her days raising and educating her grandchildren.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Is our faith relationship with God manifested in true prayer and fruitful acts of charity? Do we seek to live the spirit of piety and strive for full surrender to the divine saving will?
2. Do we believe that the life of the godly is blessed by God and is destined for immortality?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Divine Master,
you taught us the meaning of prayer and true worship
upon the cross of salvation.
Let our life be focused
on the radical newness of the Reign of God.
Help us work for justice and peace
and promote the advent of his kingdom on earth.
Make our prayer an expression of faith in God
and submission to his saving will.
Do not allow us to degenerate
into a barren and cursed fig tree,
but rather transform us into a vigorous tree
with abundant fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Let us witness the power of prayer in today’s world.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
***
Loving Father,
help us to live a life of mercy and compassion.
Let our righteous deeds glorify you.
Help us to live forever in your love.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Have faith in God.” (Mk 11:22) // “Their glory will never be blotted out.” (Sir 44:13)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Endeavor to live the true meaning of prayer and worship in today’s world. By little acts of charity to the people around you, especially to the poor and vulnerable, let your life be pleasing to God and fruitful. // Endeavor to keep the integrity of your name and let your good deeds live on in the Lord.
***
May 30, 2015: SATURDAY – WEEKDAY (8); COMMON OF BVM ON SATURDAY
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Has Messianic Authority”
BIBLE READINGS
Sir 51:12cd-20 // Mk 11:27-33
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The chief priests and scribes are seeking a way to kill Jesus after his drastic cleansing of the temple and on account of his subversive actions and words. Now they are joined by the elders in challenging Jesus by what authority he is doing these things. Jesus counters with a question about John’s authority to baptize. For fear of the crowd, the opponents of Jesus refuse to make a statement about the source of John the Baptist’s authority. What began as a threat to Jesus’ authority ends in the exposure of how little authority and courage his antagonists really have. What was meant to subvert and humiliate Jesus turns into a manifestation of the authoritative wisdom of the Divine Master.
The messianic authority of Jesus continues in the “one, holy catholic and apostolic Church”. In the face of moral-social-political issues that convulse and challenge the faithful today, it is good to assert the authoritative Church teaching. The following are the Seven Key Themes of the Catholic Social Teaching in the Public Square (cf. USCCB, The Challenge of Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship, November 2007).
1. The Right to Life and the Dignity of the Human Person: Human life is sacred. Direct attacks on innocent human beings are never morally acceptable. Within our society, life is under direct attack from abortion, euthanasia, human cloning, and destruction of human embryos for research. These intrinsic evils must always be opposed. This teaching also compels us Catholics to oppose genocide, torture, unjust war and the use of the death penalty, as well as to pursue peace and help overcome poverty, racism and other conditions that demean human life.
2. Call to Family, Community and Participation: The family, based on marriage between a man and a woman, is the fundamental unit of society. This sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children must not be redefined, undermined or neglected. Supporting families should be a priority for economic and social policies. How our society is organized - in economics and politics, in law and public policy – affects the well-being of individuals and of society. Every person and association has a right and a duty to participate in shaping society to promote the well-being of individuals and the common good.
3. Rights and Responsibilities: Every human person has a right to life, the fundamental right that makes all other rights possible. Each of us has a right to religious freedom, which enables us to live and act in accord with our God-given dignity, as well as a right to have access to those things required for human decency – food and shelter, education and employment, healthcare and housing. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities – to one another, to our families, and to a larger society.
4. Option for the Poor and Vulnerable: While the common good embraces all, those who are in greatest need deserve preferential concern. A moral test for society is how we treat the weakest among us – the unborn, those dealing with disabilities or terminal illness, the poor and marginalized.
5. Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers: the economy must serve the people, not the other way around. Economic justice calls for decent work at fair, living wages, opportunities for legal status for immigrant workers, and the opportunity for all people to work together for the common good through their work, ownership, enterprise, investment, participation in unions and other forms of economic activity.
6. Solidarity: We form one human family; whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic and ideological differences. Our Catholic commitment to solidarity requires that we pursue justice, eliminate racism, end human trafficking, protect human rights, seek peace, and avoid the use of force except as a necessary last resort.
7. Caring for God’s Creation: Caring for the earth is a duty of our Catholic faith. We all are called to be careful stewards of God’s creation and to ensure a safe and hospitable environment for vulnerable human beings now and in the future.
***
Today’s Old Testament reading (Sir 51:12cd-20) is taken from the concluding part of the Book of Sirach. The passage we hear today tells of Ben Sira’s quest for wisdom. He boldly prays for wisdom at the temple and is rewarded with great knowledge. Greatly delighting in her, Ben Sira keeps himself free from sin that he may always have her. He therefore follows directly in her path and guidance. He has profited much from wisdom and he thus renders her grateful praise. Ben Sira has grown so much in wisdom since he has found her. He is resolved never to let go of her. Ben Sira’s yearning and love for wisdom should inspire us to commit ourselves totally to Christ, the Wisdom of God incarnate.
The following testimony gives us an idea how the spirit of wisdom is at work in our life (cf. Fay Angus in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 229).
Rose Kennedy has given us a legacy of faith and courage, and I frequently find myself inspired by the strength she showed throughout her life. I was desperately trying to hold together the raw and ragged edges of a hurt that wouldn’t knit together and heal. My thoughts were jumbled by grief and tears and became the only language I could speak. Then came a lifeline from something Mrs. Kennedy once said: “It’s not the tears that make the pain more bearable, it’s determination!” Determination. That one word gave me stamina, resolve and resilience.
As a young girl, during the contemplative moments of a Lenten retreat, Mrs. Kennedy thought of the joys and sorrows, difficulties and grief that inevitably come into all our lives. Whatever happened, she determined, “I will hold my soul forever free!” She refused to let her faith be bound by circumstances; instead, she placed unshakable trust in the goodness of God, which encircled her with an aura of peace.
Keeping in motion gave her emotional ventilation. Daily she plunged into the ice-cold waters of Cape Cod for a swim, and then went for a walk, praying and making up her mind that she is not going to be defeated by the tragedy of losing three sons. Senator Edward Kennedy said of her, “Mother believes that if there are rays of sunshine in a stormy sky, focus on the light, not the darkness.”
Each year on this day, Rose Kennedy’s birthday, I pause to give thanks for the strength she has given me.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we fully accept the messianic authority of Jesus? Do we promote the truth that Jesus the Divine Master teaches and incarnates in today’s world?
2. Do we yearn for wisdom and endeavor to be filled with it? Do we pray to God to give us wisdom that we may walk on a level path and give him glory and praise?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O Jesus Divine Master,
we adore as the Word incarnate sent by the Father
to instruct us in the life giving truth.
You live on in the Church.
Grant us the grace to embrace your authoritative wisdom
that enables us to embrace moral principles,
care for the needs of the weak,
defend the culture of life,
and pursue the common good.
We humbly submit to your messianic authority
for you are the One Sent by God
and anointed by the Holy Spirit for our salvation.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen.
***
Almighty God,
we thank and praise you
for the gift of Wisdom incarnate, Jesus Christ.
Let us follow the Divine Master all the way
and help us to be resolutely committed to him.
He guides us on the path that leads to 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.
“By what authority are you doing these things?” (Mk 11:28) //“I became resolutely devoted to wisdom – the good I persistently strove for.” (Sir 51:19)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Make an effort to understand the personal implication for you of the Catholic Teaching in the Public Square and to put it into practice. // Pray to the Lord that we may be imbued with the Holy Spirit’s gift of wisdom to enable us to live fully our Christian discipleship. Today be attentive to, and grateful for, the signs of divine wisdom that enfold our daily life.
***
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