A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 19, n. 9)
Week 3 in Ordinary Time: January 24-30, 2021
(The pastoral tool BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY & WEEKDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy from various perspectives. For the Lectio Divina on the liturgy of the past week: January 17-23, 2021 please go to ARCHIVES Series 19 and click on “Week 2 Ordinary”.
Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY:
January 24-30, 2021.)
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January 24, 2021: THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Today is the SUNDAY OF THE WORD OF GOD, devoted to the celebration, study and the dissemination
of the Word of God.
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Invites Us to Follow Him”
BIBLE READINGS
Jon 3:1-5, 10 // 1 Cor 7:29-31 // Mk 1:14-20
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 1:14-20): “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
I heard this charming story while I was attending an evening Mass in an old church beside the sea, during my vacation in scenic Goa, India. The story was narrated by the parish priest in Konkani, his native language, as an introduction to his homily. After the Mass, my host graciously translated it into English for me. Here is the story:
A group of fishermen attended a town fiesta on another island. The festivity continued late into the night. By the time it finally ended, the fishermen had had a few drinks too many. The merry drunkards got into a boat drenched in the soft brightness of a starlit night. They started to paddle toward the next island. They paddled doggedly until their arms were sore, but the distant, flickering lights from their coastal homeland never came any nearer. As the morning sun rising in the vast sky dispelled their stupor, they realized that they had been rowing with their boat firmly tied to the shore!
The story of the tipsy revelers is a charming caricature of what Christian discipleship ought not to be, while the Gospel of today’s liturgy gives us an insight into what it ought to be. Indeed, the following of Christ involves a spirit of detachment, a life of conversion, and total adherence to the Gospel, to the person of Jesus Christ. When he appeared by the seashore, Jesus had an immediate and transforming effect on the fishermen whose lives he touched radically. We too are called to respond, Yes, I leave all and follow you, not only in one radical conversion experience but continuously, until the end.
Today’s Gospel reading (Mk 1:14-20) is composed of two episodes: the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (v. 14-15) and the call of the first disciples (v. 16-20). These immediately follow the episode of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness (v. 12-13) where he, as the Son of God, had to overcome testing by Satan before beginning his public ministry. The inaugural words of Jesus’ public ministry contain the summary of his life-giving message. “Repent and believe in the gospel.” Jesus is in fact saying that he is the fulfillment of the divine promises and that the reign of God has begun in him. Indeed, for Mark, Jesus is the Good News in person. Jesus’ proclamation of the time of fulfillment would have exhilarated the faithful Israelites of his day, but he immediately links the Good News proclamation with an impelling call for a radical response. Jesus demands total conversion and faith, with its full biblical significance of orientation to a new existence and adherence to his very person.
The Evangelist, Mark, then completes his presentation of the inaugural ministry of Jesus by narrating the call of the first disciples. The story of the call of the fishermen, Simon and his brother Andrew, together with James and John, provides a model for our response to Jesus and depicts the sacrifices of Christian discipleship. To come after Jesus and to share in his saving mission is to walk a journey of self-giving and life-giving response. It is a call to tread in Christ’s paschal destiny.
B. First Reading (Jon 3:1-5, 10): “The Ninevites turned from their evil way.”
Today’s Old Testament reading (Jon 3:1-5, 10), about the mission of the reluctant prophet, Jonah, to the “doomed” Ninevites, provides parallels and contrasts to today’s Gospel. These would help us to appreciate the meaning of Jesus’ messianic ministry and perceive the enormous challenge of his call. Against the somewhat comic background of the reluctant, obstinate prophet, Jonah, the figure of the obedient Jesus as the true prophet, sent by God and anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring good news to the poor, becomes even more appealing. Totally committed to the Father’s will, Jesus Christ - the incarnation of the Gospel of God, is absolutely greater than the protesting Jonah, who was marked by parochialism and exclusivity. Inwardly hoping that the Ninevites would remain in their evil ways and thus receive their just punishment from God’s wrath, the extremely prejudiced Jonah couched his message as a prophecy of doom: “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed” (Jon 3:4), and willfully omitted any reference to God’s mercy in his preaching lest those wicked people repent.
In contrast, Jesus, who preached throughout Galilee, is not a bearer of doom, but of “good news” – the fulfillment of the divine saving plan and the coming of the kingdom of God. The imminent coming of the Kingdom would thus necessitate the conversion response: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15). Spontaneous repentance was the response of the Ninevites to the morbid threat of Jonah: “they believed in God … they proclaimed a fast … they put on sackcloth … they turned from their evil way” (Jon 3:14, 20). In the Gospel narrative, the response of the first disciples is likewise total and immediate, but even more: their conversion response is not just penitence and turning away from the evil way, but also faith adherence to Jesus Christ – the living Gospel. Indeed, the conversion experience of the Christian disciples surpasses those of the repentant Ninevites for it would involve an intimate configuration to Jesus Christ – the Gospel in person – especially in his paschal destiny.
The late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin comments: “Reform your lives and believe in the Gospel! With these words Jesus began his public ministry. Once we have heard the good news, what is left to do but to pay the price for it – to sell all to possess a pearl of such great worth? To respond means to change in mind and heart. It means faith and love. It means a new mind illumined by faith and a new heart inflamed by the love of Jesus Christ.”
The following, circulated on the Internet, is a beautiful conversion story.
Bartolo Longo was born in 1841 to a devout Catholic family. When Bartolo grew up he decided to study law. Naples at that time was undergoing a tremendous spiritual crisis. Paganism and Satanism of all sorts were abounding. Bartolo was not immune to these influences and became a satanic priest, much to the chagrin of his family who tried their hardest to get him to convert.
As Satanism began to torment his mind, his family convinced him to make a good confession. Alberto Radente, a saintly Dominican priest, helped lead him back to the Catholic faith and encouraged his devotion to the rosary. Bartolo had a miraculous conversion and in 1870, he became a third order Dominican and chose to live a life in penance for all the terrible sins he had committed against the Church.
One day, he nearly succumbed to the sin of despair, feeling that God could never forgive the tremendous sins he had committed against the church. At that moment he received divine inspiration and remembered the Blessed Virgin’s promise that she would help in all their necessities those who propagate her rosary.
He set out to restore the dilapidated chapel at Pompeii and promote the rosary to whoever would listen. Pamphlets about the rosary were distributed to help the people learn to pray this powerful devotion. He tried to find an image of Our Lady of the Rosary worthy of hanging in the chapel, but was only offered a worm-eaten painting with an image that he felt was coarse and not worthy of veneration, however, he accepted it from the convent in which it was stored.
As Bartolo continued his work of propagating the rosary, the chapel’s membership grew tremendously and many miracles began to be associated with Our Lady of Pompeii. Cures and spiritual conversions occurred due to the devotions through this new shrine. The people pledged their support to have a large church built that would properly honor Our Lady of the Rosary.
In 1894, Bartolo and his wife gave the church over to the care of the Vatican. The original image found in the convent was restored for the last time in 1965 and Pope Paul VI crowned the heads of Jesus and Mary with diadems given by the people of Pompeii. On October 26, 1980, Bartolo Longo was beatified by John Paul II who called him “the man of the Madonna” and the “Apostle of the Rosary”.
C. Second Reading (1 Cor 7:29-31): “The world in its present form is passing away.”
In today’s Second Reading (1 Cor 7:29-31), Saint Paul challenges the Christians in Corinth to develop an appropriate value priority in the midst of temporal and transient realities. The fact that “life is short” and that “the world in its present form is passing away” is not a license to indulge in a frenzy of pleasure and unbridled desires. But neither should it provoke them to despise and disregard earthly realities, since the Son of God became incarnate in this world and our salvation is carried out within this context of the created world.
With pastoral insight and paternal concern, Paul exhorts the Corinthians and the Christians of all ages to live the earthly realities with discernment and to appreciate them at their just values, proportionate to their purpose. He teaches us that marriage is not an end in itself and that the married life should be seen in the perspective of the eternal and absolute: union with Christ. He also enjoins us that sorrows and joys must be lived, as everything else, in the Lord.
Indeed, God is in control; he does not forget the tears entrusted to him nor disregard the moments of happiness we relish by his grace. Saint Paul encourages us not to be defeated by trials. He warns us likewise not to be wildly elated by false joys – by merriment and pleasures that do not lead to God. Furthermore, he reminds us not to act as the absolute owners of our possessions, for what we have received from the Lord is meant for the good of all. The right to use and abuse acquired goods at one’s whim is definitely un-Christian. It is utterly abhorrent and displeasing to God. Thus Paul advises us to use material goods in a spirit of detachment. We should be greatly aware and wary of their temporary character and perishable nature that we may appreciate and pursue more fully our eternal destiny with God, in Jesus Christ.
The following personal testimony written by Felix Carroll on November 24, 2008, illustrates the wisdom of the Pauline order of priorities, the need to trust God and seek first his kingdom, and the challenge of divine mercy, cf. Felix Carroll, “Go Ahead, Let It Fly, It Will Come Back, I Promise (Works of Mercy)” in The Army of God – 1st Saturday Devotion Newsletter, December 2008, p. 5-6.
This story is not about how wonderful I am. (The jury is still out on that one.) Rather, this is a story about how wonderful God is. I recently gave away $400 that I didn’t really have. I am writing about this now because, miraculously, I’ve incurred a net financial loss of exactly $0.00, which proves a fact of simple spiritual economics: when we show our love for God by caring for those in need, God fills us with abundant graces, someway, somehow …
A month ago, my wife and I decided to financially help one of my brothers and his family. They were – and still are – in desperate financial straits. Like hundreds of thousands of Americans this year, my brother lost his job – a high-paying job. Then he lost his house, then his car. He, his wife, and their two boys live in a ramshackle rental that should probably be condemned. Their world has been turned upside down. But the bad news wasn’t over yet. In September, my brother finally landed a low-paying job in a warehouse, but on his very first day, a forklift operator accidentally dropped the forks down and crushed my brother’s right foot. His doctors believe he will be permanently disabled … Then a few weeks ago, my brother’s wife was laid off from her job … The day his wife lost her job, I said to my wife, “I’m going to send them $200.” We didn’t really have $200 to give … It has pained me to see how my brother, a formerly successful businessman who went to work each morning looking sharp, proud to be a breadwinner, has now been reduced to sitting all day at home with his foot up and struggling to find purpose in his life. Sending him the $200 recently was my attempt to take great pains to help him. But the pain part of the equation didn’t work out that way. The following day I was offered a quick photography freelance assignment out of the blue, which, of course, I took. By the time I logged in my hours, I had earned exactly $200. I thought to myself, “Hmm, interesting.” So I sent my brother another $200.
Now just bear with me … OK, so at this point, I’m down $200, right? Now just bear with me a little more. In an effort to save money on heating costs this winter, I installed a woodstove in our home. I had done the math. We had free wood to burn, and the stove and piping would still cost less than half of what we would have spent on heating fuel. But my plan hit a snag two weeks ago. I couldn’t manage to get the last two sections of stovepipe up on the roof. We had to have scaffolding set up to finish the job, though we weren’t too sure how we would pay for it. We hired a contractor named David – the husband of a woman my wife works with – who came with his crew and set up the scaffolding for us at my house so I could finish the job. Neither my wife nor I had ever met David. After the stovepipe job was complete and the scaffolding taken away, my wife and I were going over our monthly expenses. We estimated the bill for the scaffolding (considering set-up time and travel expenses) would probably cost us at least (you guessed it!) $200. This Wednesday, we received an invoice in the mail from David. It said:
Amount owed ………… $0.00
And David included a typewritten note to us that read: “Dear Felix and Cara … At times like these, when someone is able, they help out friends. If we all did that maybe the world would be a better place. I could say to you, ‘I have done this for you, now go out and do the same thing in some way for another person,’ but I have a feeling you are the type of people who already would. So go use this money that you would have used to rent this scaffolding and buy something for Henry for Christmas. Glad to help … David.” Henry is our son. I couldn’t believe David’s kindness. I want to laminate his letter. My wife and I read it to each other – twice …
Then, like a tidal wave, it hit me: God arranged this! He arranged it because he pours an abundance of graces upon us when we help those in greatest need. That’s his promise to us. And he keeps his promise. I’m sending my brother more money today to help pay for his family’s Christmas … Please take special care to help many families who are suffering these days because of our country’s economic collapse. I’m convinced that, like my new friend David says, if we all sought to lessen the pain of others, “maybe the world would be a better place”.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
When we come face to face with Jesus who invites us, “Come after me”, what is our personal response? Do we dare to respond: “Yes, I will leave all and follow you”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Lord, the kingdom is at hand!
You call us to turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel.
We leave behind our security nets and those dear to us.
We leave everything behind and follow you.
Something mysterious and beautiful is ahead of us.
Give us the grace to be faithful to our call
and to love and serve you, now and forever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“They followed him.” (Mk 1:20)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for greater fidelity to our Christian vocation. Promote priestly-religious vocations by word, example, moral-spiritual-material support, etc.
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January 25, 2021: MONDAY – THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL, THE APOSTLE
January 25: CONVERSION OF PAUL, APOSTLE
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Transforms His Persecutor Saul into an Apostle”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22 // Mk 16:15-18
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul provides wonderful insights into his spiritual journey, which can be summed up as “MISTICA” (spiritual experience), “METANOIA” (conversion-transformation) and “MISSIO” (mission of evangelization). Paul’s spiritual journey was a spiritual experience that produced a transformation and impelled him to assume a mission of evangelization. The converted Paul thus became an apostle of Christ to the nations.
Mistica: On the road to Damascus, Saul of Tarsus had a profound, dynamic spiritual experience. It was God’s initiative, grace and compassion that brought about Paul’s encounter with the Risen Lord. It was an experience of light – of revelation – of who Christ really is for Paul. Christ revealed himself not as an enemy, but as a personal Savior. Moreover, on the road to Damascus, it was revealed that Jesus of Nazareth lives on in his Body, the Church – the suffering Church. It was a knocked-down experience that left 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.
Metanoia: Paul confessed: “I was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, a man filled with arrogance, but I have been mercifully treated … I thank Christ Jesus our Lord. He has strengthened me … made me his servant” (cf. I Tim 1:12-13). He experienced a change of heart, reorientation of goals, renewed vision and life transformation. From a bold persecutor of Christ-Church, he became a vessel of grace and the great apostle to the nations. As we look to Saint Paul as a model of true conversion, let us turn away from thoughts, words and actions that negate the love of Christ … from inconsiderate actions and words that wound the Church … from irresponsible deeds that do not promote the dignity and personal worth of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Above all, Saint Paul is our model of “christification”. Blessed James Alberione, the founder of the Pauline Family, exhorts us: “So then reach the point of Vivit in me Christus … when our thoughts and desires exist no more, but we live in Christ … It is not I anymore, but Christ in me. Transformation, transformation! In that way we have not only a body and soul, but another natural life – that is, the life itself of Christ.”
Mission-Evangelization: Paul’s mystic experience and conversion led to a special task or mandate: the mission of salvation … the call to evangelization. The Risen Lord who appeared to Paul made him a servant and witness to the nations. He mandated Paul to preach the Gospel that he may turn their darkness to light … that they may be brought back to God … that they may obtain forgiveness of sins and become part of God’s covenant people.
Today’s Gospel reading (Mk 16:15-18) about the missionary mandate to go out to the whole world and tell the Good News and about the signs of protection and power that will accompany the believers is fully exemplified in the life and person of Saint Paul. He went to the Gentile world to preach the Gospel of salvation. He was baptized by Ananias in Damascus. Totally obedient to Christ in faith, he became God’s vessel of salvation to the nations. He made the crippled man in Lystra walk. Through the apostle, God performed unusual miracles in Ephesus. Even handkerchiefs and aprons Paul had used were taken to the sick, and their diseases were driven away, and the evil spirits would go out of them. At Troas Paul resuscitated Eutychus, who fell from the third story to the ground during an evening fellowship meal while sitting drowsily by the window. When they picked him up, Eutychus was dead but Paul gave him back to them alive. After a shipwreck in Malta, Paul was bitten by a snake but was unharmed. Also in Malta, he healed the father of Publius, the chief of the island, and many others. Wherever he went, Paul was speaking a totally “new language” – the good news about Jesus as the Son of God – a marvelously “new language” of love and salvation.
The mystical and transforming experience of Saint Paul is replicated in the lives of many people through time and space. Here is a modern-day example (cf. Nathaniel Hurd, “Former Atheist Recounts His Journey to the Catholic Church” in Our Sunday Visitor, December 1, 2013, p. 22).
“These crazy Catholics are going to trample me to get to their bread”, I thought as the crowds pressed forward. It was Easter Sunday Mass 1998, outdoors in St. Peter’s Square. I was traveling with my friend Chris. He was a Catholic and a pilgrim. I was an unbaptized atheist and a tourist. Chris saw priests in cassocks and surplices, distributing the Body and Blood of Christ. I saw men in dresses, carrying bread. Fourteen years later, on October 11, 2012, I stood in that same square as a Catholic. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was the celebrant for the Mass starting the Year of Faith. I was preparing to receive Holy Communion, because seven years earlier, I had finally, fully accepted the gift of faith.
In my years as an atheist, agnostic and Episcopalian, I surprisingly remembered almost everything from that earlier Easter: Walking into St. Peter’s Square, thinking it was like two hands cupped together, waiting for people to fill it. Standing ahead of hundreds of thousands of people. Seeing flags from so many countries. Kenyans dancing when Pope John Paul II said “Happy Easter” in Swahili.
There is only one other sacred experience from my atheist years that I remembered so completely. My parents and I visited a cloistered convent when I was a teenager and heard the nuns sing evening prayer behind a screen. The prayer ended, and I sat transfixed. I thought it was only the beauty that moved me.
How did this atheist come to see the supernatural behind and beyond the beauty? First, Catholic friends modeled and shared the Faith. They answered my questions with respect and reason, not simplistic brush-offs. They stressed that they were sharing the teachings that Christ entrusted to his Church, not personal opinion. These friendships moved me to finally open the door to the divine.
God also provided moments of Grace. The first was during a run on Dec. 23, 2001. My thoughts were on the snow that covered the cornstalks, the river to my left and road under my feet. Although I had been thinking about faith over the past few years, I had not focused on Christianity. That moment I recognized the reality of one God in three Persons – Father, Holy Spirit and the Son who lived, died and rose for my sins. It was the start of seeing.
Easter 2002, I was baptized Episcopalian. However, I was a lazy disciple who took no responsibility for responding to the Lord. I eventually began to wonder if he was calling me to more than what I was receiving from my faith community. I stopped going to church.
On Good Friday two years later, a Catholic friend and colleague invited me to a “Way of the Cross” walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was the first Good Friday that the Passion was real and painful for me. The force of Christ’s challenge – “I did this for you. What are you doing daily for me?” – of the faith of the faithful around me, of the whole experience, overwhelmed and lifted me to an Easter Vigil Mass. I sat in back but felt as if I was in front on the altar experiencing Christ’s sacrifice. The power of the liturgy moved me to return for Easter Sunday and reconsider why I had been closed to Catholicism.
The more I learned the “what” and “why” of the Church and its teaching, the more it was clear that my original understanding had been based on stereotypes and misinformation. Only the Catholic Church seemed to be the sure way for me to know what Christ taught, how he wanted me to live and where I should go for whatever I needed to do. Only the Church seemed to be preserving and promoting the fullness of the Bible and the teachings of the apostles since Pentecost.
I entered a parish Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program … I was received into full communion with the Church and received first Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil 2005. I was struggling to understand some of the teachings of the Church, but my faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Church was strong.
God protected me during many trials. My mother threatened to cut off any communication with me. My father objected to the Church’s teaching that there is one Church and one way. For two years, my parents forbade me from visiting during Christmas and later banned me from using their car to go to Mass when I saw them.
Other obstacles were internal. I delayed going to daily Mass, thinking that I wanted to avoid “too much, too soon”. When I started going, I discovered what I had missed, what no one had explained to me: it is impossible to encounter God too much and too early. My personal and professional life changed. Daily Mass led to regular confession. When I returned to Rome, I returned as a Catholic. At St. Peter’s tomb, I made sure to pray for Christian unity.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we see the mystical experience as an important element in the conversion of Saint Paul and in our own personal conversion?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(cf. Opening Prayer, Mass of the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul)
God our Father,
you taught the gospel to all the world
through the preaching of Paul your apostle.
May we who celebrate his conversion to the faith
follow him in bearing witness to your truth.
We ask 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.
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
As we celebrate today the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, resolve to be more open to the grace of his presence, especially in the Letters of Saint Paul, and to find ways to make people interested in them.
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January 26, 2021: TUESDAY – SAINTS TIMOTHY AND TITUS, Bishops
“JESUS SAVIOR: His True Family Does the Will of God … He Is the Icon of Pastoral Ministry”
BIBLE READINGS
2 Tm 1:1-8 or Ti 1:1-5 // Mk 3:31-35
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 3:31-35): “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
In today’s Gospel (Mk 3:31-35), the relatives of Jesus misunderstand his public ministry as “crazy” and “overdone”. They want to take charge of him. They probably have pleaded with Mary to come and see the frantic situation involving her son Jesus. They arrive when a crowd is sitting around Jesus and listening to him. The relatives send in a message, asking for him. Jesus uses the moment to declare what true family means to him. Those who do the will of God are his mother, his brother and his sister. Jesus redefines the sacred boundary of the family in a radical way. The biological family is replaced with the larger family of God, that is, those who do the will of God, of whom his mother Mary is foremost. Jesus subordinates natural kinship to a higher bond of relationship based on the obedience of faith. Indeed, the “family of God” inaugurated by Jesus is greatly inclusive and faith-intensive.
The following missioner tale illustrates the beauty and warmth of belonging to a spiritual family based on the love and service of God and his people (cf. Jason Obergfell, “Missioner Tales” in Maryknoll, May/June 2011, p. 11).
Recently, Maryknoll Sister Marilyn Bell passed away in Bolivia after countless years of service here. She was a tough woman who was active until a few months before her death, which is why she died in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where I serve as a Maryknoll lay missioner, rather than in the United States. Although no one from Marilyn’s biological family in the States was able to attend her funeral, her death brought together her Maryknoll family of priests, Brothers, Sisters and lay missioners who also serve in Bolivia.
Just last year being in mission in Bolivia, I was unable to attend the funeral of my grandmother, but now I was able to attend Sister Marilyn’s funeral as a “grandson” in our Maryknoll family. It was an experience that revealed what we only strive to describe with words. The Maryknoll family of missioners, thrown together by chance but held together by love for one another, is a lived example of Jesus’ message – we are all family. Sister Marilyn’s family in Bolivia wasn’t just limited to Maryknollers. The church was filled with Bolivians who had become her family because of her love for them. Being a model of God’s family, bound together by our love for one another, may just be the most important thing any of us will accomplish in mission or in life.
B. First Reading (2 Tm 1:1-8 or Ti 1:1-5): “I recall your sincere faith.” // “To Titus, my beloved son in common faith.”
In the First Reading (2 Tm 1:1-8), Saint Paul underlines the obligations of Christian faith. Paul was martyred at Rome in the year 67. His second letter to Timothy represented his last will and testament. Paul exhorts the young pastor, Timothy, to exercise serving faith. The “gift of God” that Timothy received at ordination implies dutiful service to the faith community. Paul reminds Timothy that the divine gift received through “imposition of hands” needs to be continually exercised and rekindled for the common good. Timothy is likewise called to an enduring faith. Timothy needs to give witness to our Lord. He must endure sufferings for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.
The following inspiring article illustrates what it means to remain “in the faith and love that are ours in union with Christ Jesus” and how a Christian disciple could exercise a serving faith and an enduring faith in today’s world (cf. David Aquije, “The Bicycle Disciple” in Maryknoll, April 2010, p. 24-31). Fr. McCahill manifests his faith and shares this wonderful gift as he serves the sick poor in Bangladesh.
The day Maryknoll Father Robert McCahill arrived in Narail it was raining. The thin, 72-year old priest was physically exhausted and tired of looking for the place where he could begin a new phase of mission. Narail “was kind of miserable”, says the missioner, who for more than 35 years has been living in different villages of Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, with a population of 150 million in a land the size of Iowa. Narail, a small, underdeveloped village without infrastructure in the southeast of the country, seemed to the missioner like “a good place to make a mark of Christianity, not for the purpose of conversion but simply for the idea of showing what a Christian is and does.”
McCahill was one of five Maryknoll priests who arrived in Bangladesh in 1975 to begin a ministry of Christian witness. For eight years, the missioners lived together, forming a Christian fraternity in Tangail, near Dhaka, the capital. Afterward, McCahill focused his mission on traveling to the interior of the country to help people, particularly children, who were in urgent need of medical assistance. Finding a place to begin his next stay can take McCahill months of research. He has his own criteria: the place should be poor, have no other foreigners or Christians and some of the people must be willing to allow him free use of a small piece of land where he can build his own shack.
A disciple of our times, McCahill arrives alone – with only a bag with a change of clothing and the essential elements to celebrate his own Mass – in any community where he might live for the next three years. There he sits in any tea shop – “tea stalls” he calls them – where men generally congregate to drink cha, sweet tea with milk that is the national drink, the way coffee is in the United States. Noting the presence of a foreigner, the rustic shop quickly fills up with people and McCahill responds honestly to all their questions. “I am Brother Bob, a Christian missionary”, the priest from Goshen, Indiana, tells them. “I am here to serve seriously sick people who are poor.” In the predominantly Muslim nation with a large Hindu minority, the questions that McCahill receives are many: has he come to convert, how does he finance the help he offers and why had he no family? He responds that the medical help he offers depends completely on the financial donations of his extended family and not on an organization; that his purpose is to live among people who are not Christian and treat them with love, respect and brotherhood; and that his family is all of humanity. McCahill describes the three years that he lives in each town this way: “The first year many are suspicious of me. The second year trust begins to build. The third year people’s affection is felt. They say, ‘He said he only came to do good and that is what he does’.”
In Narail, a short while before finishing his three years, McCahill continues getting up very early in the morning to dedicate time for prayer and meditation before beginning his mission work. This morning in October, he leaves his shack of jute-stick walls, a dirt floor and a corrugated roof and mounts his bicycle that will carry him over windy dirt roads through the beautiful countryside of Bangladesh’s fertile farmland, where ironically millions of people live in extreme poverty. The missioner pedals some miles to the next village of Bolorampur, where he visits Mehenaz, a 3-year-old girl who suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of a poorly handled delivery by a midwife in the village. Mehenaz’ grandmother brings the girl out of her hut and puts a mat on the ground. The missioner squats down in the style of the Bangladeshis and observes and assists the grandmother with the recommended physical therapy for the child. The girl’s mother isn’t there and McCahill is happy that someone else in the family has learned the exercises.
Afterward, amid the songs of wild birds and the smell of burning firewood, McCahill again mounts his bicycle and pedals several more miles to the village of Buramara. In Buramara, McCahill visits Liza, a 2-year-old who suffered serious burns on her left arm before her first birthday. The burns were so grave that her entire hand was fused to her forearm. McCahill was able to take the girl to a hospital in Dhaka where surgeons separated her hand from the forearm. Liza wears a brace so that the hand stays straight. The missioner explains that the child needs another surgery to straighten out two fingers that are bent. Liza cries easily and McCahill thinks it is because she is still in pain, but he tries to console her and make her laugh.
That is McCahill’s ministry. He mounts his bicycle and rides miles to his destination. It doesn’t matter if the roads are full of mud during the monsoon season in this tropical Asian land, east of India, on the Bay of Bengal. He arrives in a village and looks to help people who would otherwise be disabled and burdened for a lifetime by their physical conditions. With a small camera he takes photos of their conditions: cerebral palsy, burns, muscular dystrophy, cleft lips, hernias, tumors and broken bones caused by accidents. Every week he goes to Dhaka, traveling the same as the poor, in the old buses that are part of the complicated and dangerous Bengali transportation system. At a hospital in the capital, McCahill shows the photos to doctors who make their provisional diagnosis. With this information the missioner arranges for free treatment at one of the government hospitals in the city and eventually makes the eight- or nine-hour trip again with the children and their parents. “Not a great expense”, McCahill says. “I afford them their tickets. I usually provide the medicine. It’s not a matter of money; it’s a matter of love, the heart.”
Because he lives in a poor and predominantly Muslim country, McCahill relies on only a modest budget that comes from donations from his extended family for his ministry. “If I had lots of funds at hand to use, and lived apart (in a parish), people’s attitude to me would differ”, he says, adding the people would be tempted to wheedle money out of him. “People here understand I’m using more money for their needs than I use for my own needs. No one can look at my life of service and say ‘he can only do that because he’s a rich American’.” For that reason McCahill shares the donations he receives through Maryknoll with other Christian communities that serve the poor in Bangladesh, especially communities of apostolic Sisters.
His is a life of service that he says began on Oct. 31, 1956. He was 19 years old and was interested in a career in political science. But that day as he was returning home from Seattle University, where he was studying, “I received – I can’t even describe it – an attraction to God like I had never felt before nor have needed since. The motivation I received in that moment was sufficient to keep me for life, as long as I continue to remember it.”
For years, McCahill has described his mission in a journal that he types every month on an antique Olivetti typewriter and shares with friends and family. “My mission”, he says, “is to show the love of Christ, the love of God for all people of all faiths; to be with them as a brother, to establish brotherhood by being a brother to them.”
***
In the alternative First Reading (Ti 1:1-5) we hear from Saint Paul’s letter to Titus, a Gentile convert to Christianity, who became a fellow worker and helper in missionary work. Titus is Paul’s young legate in the island of Crete. Paul underlines his authority as a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul has been chosen by God and sent to promote the faith of the God’s chosen people. Such a task will be accomplished through the help of Titus, Paul’s “loyal child in faith” who is faithful to his teaching. Paul charges Titus with the task of organizing the church in Crete. Such pastoral action is necessitated by the disruption caused by false teachers. In view of a more efficacious pastoral ministry, Paul’s invocation of blessing upon Titus becomes meaningful. He prays: “May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace.”
Saint Paul’s relationship with the Church leader, Titus, is inspiring. The following modern-day account gives insight into the bond of charity and unity of faith that fellow workers in the Lord share (cf. Francis, Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, Testimony of Hope, Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2000, p. 111),
I would like to remember for a moment the “kingdom of the wretched”, as one deportee called it, the prison camp in the Solovetsky Islands of Russia. One deported remembered an image of love in the midst of that great hell:
Uniting their efforts, a Catholic bishop who was still young worked together with an emaciated old man – an Orthodox bishop with a white beard, ancient in days but strong in spirit, who energetically pushed the load … Any of us who would one day have the good fortune of returning to the world, would have to testify to what we have seen here and now. What we saw was the rebirth of pure and authentic faith of the early Christians: the union of Churches in the persons of the Catholic and Orthodox bishops who participated unanimously in the duties, united in love and humility.
This happened in Solovetsky, “alma mater” of the Soviet prison camps.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we strive to belong truly to the family of God by our life of obedient faith and serving love?
2. Do we endeavor to rekindle the gift of faith we have received at baptism and when ordained for a special service to the faith community? Do we endeavor to remain in the faith and love that are ours as Christians united with Christ Jesus?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O Jesus, you are our brother.
You revealed to us the criterion for belonging to the family of God:
by doing the Father’s saving will.
We thank you for Mother Mary.
She exemplifies in her life the obedient faith
that makes us belong to God’s family.
Teach us to be faithful children of God our Father.
You live and reign, and forever.
Amen.
***
O gracious God,
faith is your gift – your offer of eternal life.
Thank you for your goodness!
Through the intercession of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops,
let our faith response
be marked with strength of hope
and service of love.
May our Christian discipleship
be known for its serving and enduring faith.
We adore you and give you 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.
“For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mk 3:35) // ““Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel.” (2 Tm 1:8) or “Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior” (I Ti 1:4)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your acts of charity and compassion to the poor and vulnerable, prove to the world that you belong to the family of God and inspire people to be submissive to the divine saving will. // Make an effort today to spread the Good News to the people around you. Pray that our Christian discipleship may be an authentic sign of an enduring and serving faith.
*** *** ***
January 27, 2021: WEDNESDAY – WEEKDAY (3); SAINT ANGELA MERICI, Virgin
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Sows the Seedling of the Word … He Makes Us Perfect by His Sacrifice”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 10:11-18 // Mk 4:1-20
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 4:1-20): “A sower went out to sow.”
Today’s Gospel (Mk 4:1-20) depicts Jesus as sitting in the boat on the sea, with a large crowd gathered on the shore. The eager crowd of country folks has the potential of opening their hearts to the word of Jesus. To them he addresses the parable of the sower and the seed. The seed sown by the sower falls on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns and on rich soil. In the first three cases nothing happens, but in the last case an abundant harvest is produced. Indeed, the coming of the kingdom of God means the abundance of all good. Jesus is the sower who sows abundantly the word of the Kingdom. The “seed” of the word is lavishly sown because the Lord wants to address all without discrimination.
Saint John Chrysostom asserts: “The sower does not make distinctions between different soils; he simply throws the seed. Similarly, Jesus does not distinguish between rich and poor, learned and unschooled, careless and fervent, courageous and timid. His word concerns everybody.” Though the parable underscores the inherent fecundity of the seed of God’s kingdom, it also emphasizes the responsibility and the positive response to be given by the recipients of the “seed” of the divine word. We need to believe and be more open to God’s word.
The following is a testimony regarding the power of God’s word and one’s personal response to the offer of God’s kingdom (cf. Janet Perez Eckles in Daily Guideposts 2015, p. 90). Janet lost her sight at the age of 31, when her sons were 3, 5 and 7. She uses her own example of victory to teach others to triumph over trials. She lives in Orlando, Florida, and is warmed by the love of Gene, her husband of thirty-eight years, and the joy of her two grandchildren.
“Retinitis pigmentosa”, the doctor said, and finally the dreaded day came. I awoke, held my hands in front of my face, and saw nothing. At thirty-one, I was facing the rest of my life as a blind person. It terrified me.
“I can’t do this, God. I hate my life”, I whispered. How could God let a young mother go blind? Why would He refuse to answer my prayers for sight? Family and friends tried to support me, but none could understand the depth of my pain.
Then a friend called. “Come to my church. You’ll enjoy the service.” A trace of hope flickered, and I went. The message of Matthew 6:33 shook me. God was asking me to seek Him first. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I soaked in God’s Word. He promised to be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I believed it. I received it. And I applied it to my every moment as a wife and mom.
My life is peaceful now. Rest comes knowing God guides my footsteps, holds my future, and erases my fear.
B. First Reading (Heb 10:11-18): “He has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.”
In today’s First Reading (Heb 10:11-18), the author of the letter to the Hebrews underlines for the umpteenth time the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the Old Testament priesthood. The Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times, but they can never take away sins. In contrast, Christ offers one sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and is effective forever. By his death on the cross, Christ has made perfect forever those who share in his priestly consecration. The words of the Holy Spirit give witness to the efficacious power of the New Covenant for the transformation of hearts and the forgiveness of sins. God will remember our sins no more because, in Jesus, our sins are forgiven.
The Christian disciples who share in his priestly consecration by baptism are called to live out in today’s world the meaning of forgiveness of sins and total conversion (cf. Patricia Treece, God Will Provide, Brewster: Paraclete Press, 2011, p. 159-160).
A nineteen-year-old student of metallurgic engineering, Paul Caporali had been surrendered to Christ since he fell “in love with him” somewhere around the age of sixteen or seventeen. Paul was home in his native Terni, with his mother, his fiancée, Lea, and his sister and her toddler on August 11, 1943, when American planes bombed the Italian city during WW II. Although Paul survived, and his father and two younger brothers were later found alive, after the bombing the young student found those he loved the most were dead. They had headed toward a shelter a few minutes too late. As he knelt at the grisly site, Paul wrote in his 2009 memoir, “I wanted to curse the bombers, but a deep surging of Christian piety arose … and looking up at the sky I called out, ‘Father, forgive them! They know not what they do!’ And I meant it. They’re soldiers, I thought, bowing my head. They are only carrying out commands.”
Experiencing “desolation too strong for tears”, Paul found in his fiancée’s purse a little prayer book he himself had given her. He read the words Lea would have meditated on that morning after her daily Mass: “Do not be overly distressed if I take something from you; it is mine and I take it back.”
“Thanks a lot, Lord”, he said with momentary bitterness. Continuing reading, he came to the words, “If I take something good from you, it is to give you something better.” Lea had told Paul that if the devout youth ever felt a call to the priesthood she would work to put him through the seminary. “Trying to get rid of me?” he had teased this selfless woman – who, like him, put God above everything. Immediately with her death he knew marriage could no longer be in his future. Lea could never be replaced.
Some years after his harrowing loss, the ways of providence led Paul Caporali to become a Salesian priest sent to work in the very country whose bombers had killed those he loved. Because of that earlier, wholehearted forgiveness, the Italian priest has been able to help countless American souls forgive their own tragedies, opening them to all the joys of living in the flow of divine providence.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Are we thankful for the goodness and generosity of Jesus the Sower? Do we truly believe in the power of the word of God?
2. Do we value the efficacious “one sacrifice” that Christ offered to take away our sins? What is our response to God’s kindness and loving mercy?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(The first prayer is by Nerses Snorhali in Jesus, Fils unique du Pere in Sources chretiennes 203, Paris: Cerf, 1973, p. 133)
I hardened myself like a rock;
I became like the path;
the thorns of the world have choked me
and have made my soul unfruitful.
But, O Lord, Sower of good,
make the seedling of the Word grow in me
so I may yield fruit in one of these three:
Hundredfold, sixtyfold, or even thirtyfold.
Thank you, loving Jesus,
Amen.
***
God our Father,
we thank you for the priestly consecration
that we share with Christ, the eternal High Priest.
We are grateful that in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross,
we are saved from sin.
Help us to respond to your kindness and tender mercy
and let us be renewed 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 day. Please memorize it.
“And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.” (Mk 4:8) // “For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.” (Heb 10:14)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray that the seed of the Kingdom may find rich soil to make it grow and be fruitful. Be attentive to the word of God in the liturgical assembly and in the daily events of life. // Pray that the Christian disciples of today may be instruments of the mercy and forgiving love of God. Practice the acts of forgiveness in your daily life.
*** *** ***
January 28, 2021: THURSDAY – SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, Priest, Doctor of the Church
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Reveals the Mystery of the Kingdom … He Is the New and Living Way”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 10:19-25 // Mk 4:21-25
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 4:21-25): “A lamp is to be placed on a lamp stand. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you .”
Jesus Master continues to reveal himself not only through miraculous deeds, but also by his teaching. His parables were not meant to conceal the mystery of the Kingdom but to enable his audience to take his word to heart more personally and more profoundly. A lit oil lamp is not put under the bed or covered with a bushel basket, but placed on a stand to maximize its light-giving. The parables of Jesus, when received with humble hearts, are like an oil lamp that shines brightly from a stand. They shed light on the heavenly kingdom that Jesus proclaims. They challenge the audience to conversion and, when pondered dutifully and lovingly, they evoke their faith response.
Today’s Gospel (Mk 4:21-25) also contains a parable-like saying of Jesus about the measure that is given is the measure that is received and that to one who has more will be given while the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is a powerful invitation to respond wisely and generously to the kingdom of God. The wise person who seeks to grow in the knowledge of God is fully rewarded. Those who foolishly refuse to listen to Jesus would end up terrible losers. Indeed, the Divine Master calls us to an attentive hearing and true understanding of his saving word. Jesus calls his disciples to a deep spirituality.
The following charming story gives insight into what true light means and what deep spirituality entails (cf. Anthony de Mello, Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations, New York: Image Books, 1988, p. 161).
A Guru asked his disciples how they could tell when the night had ended and the
day begun. One said, “When you see an animal in the distance and can tell whether it is a cow or a horse.” “No”, said the Guru. “When you look at a tree in the distance and can tell if it is a neem tree or a mango tree.” “Wrong again”, said the Guru. “Well, then, what is it?” asked his disciples. “When you look into the face of any man and recognize your brother in him; when you look into the face of any woman and recognize in her your sister. If you cannot do this, no matter what time it is by the sun it is still night.”
B. First Reading (Heb 10:19-25): “Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope and consider how to raise one another to love.”
In today’s First Reading (Heb 10:19-25), the author of the letter to the Hebrews enthusiastically describes the grace-filled situation resulting from Christ’s priestly offering on the cross. The Christian disciples now have access to the heavenly sanctuary “by the blood of Christ”, that is, through his sacrificial death that earned our salvation. Through the glorified humanity of Jesus, the new and living way, we are able to come near to God. Christ the Priest is our guide to a deeper relationship with God.
This privileged gift of access into the house of God obliges us to live in sincere faith, unwavering hope, and effective love. We are called to live our baptismal consecration to the full for Christ has washed us in his paschal blood. We are urged to hold on to the faith we profess because God is trustworthy. We are inspired to live in mutual love, showing concern for one another and encouraging each other to do good. Participation in the Eucharistic assemblies is a great stimulus for fraternal love and mutual encouragement. Hence, it is very unfortunate that some members of the congregation are neglecting to attend these Church gatherings. The imminence of the “Day of the Lord” makes the exhortation to live in faith, hope and love even more pressing.
The life of the great missionary to Russia, Fr. Ciszek, is an example of what it means to follow Jesus, “the new and living way” in today’s world (cf. Columbia, December 2012, p. 5). He is one who has held unswervingly to the faith that gives us hope and enables us love self-sacrificingly.
FATHER WALTER CISZEK (1904-1984): Born to Polish immigrant parents in the mining town of Shenandoah, Pa. Walter Ciszek grew up with a tough demeanor and often got into fights. To the surprise of his parents, he decided to become a priest and entered minor seminary in Michigan. Walter left to join the Jesuits in New York in 1928. In response to Pope Pius XI’s appeal for missionaries in Russia, he studied theology in Rome and was ordained to the Byzantine rite in 1937, receiving the name Father Vladimir.
Father Ciszek was first assigned to work in Poland. With the start of World War II two years later, he was able to enter Russia using false papers. In June 1941, the secret police arrested him under the suspicion that he was a spy. Father Ciszek spent five years in Moscow’s Lubianka prison, mostly in solitary confinement, and was subjected to torture and interrogation. He was then sent to serve a 15-year sentence at Gulag labor camp in Siberia. Amid brutal conditions, he managed to secretly celebrate Mass and hear the confessions of other prisoners.
Long presumed dead by his family and religious order, Father Ciszek was released under strict conditions in 1955. In 1963, he was allowed to return to the United States as a result of a prisoner exchange negotiated with the help of President John F. Kennedy.
After his return, Father Ciszek published a memoir titled With God in Russia (1964). In a second book, a spiritual reflection about his experience titled He Leadeth Me (1973), he explains how he found strength and comfort in realizing that God’s will was not an “abstract principle”, but was found in the unavoidable circumstances of any given day, even amid hardship and suffering.
Father Ciszek died in New York on December 8, 1984. His cause for canonization began five years later.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do I cherish the light of the Word of God and make it shine like a burning lamp on a stand? Do I dedicate myself to the meditation of God’s Word and the study of the parables of Jesus?
2. Trusting in the power of Christ’s priestly sacrifice and in the faithful love of God, do we hold unwaveringly to our confession of faith, to the hope that anchors it and to the love that gives substance to it?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Lord,
your Word is a light that brightens our path.
Help us to respond generously to your saving Word.
Let it transform us and may we continue to grow in your love.
You are our Divine Master, our way, truth and life.
We love and adore you, now and forever.
Amen.
***
O loving Father,
your Son Jesus Christ is “the new and living way”
to the heavenly sanctuary.
His priestly sacrifice on the cross
enables us to live in filial relationship with you.
Help us to respond to such a gracious gift
by upholding the faith we profess,
the hope that anchors it
and the love that gives substance to it.
Teach us to nourish this gift in the sacred assembly
and in our celebration of the saving mystery.
We give you honor 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.
“Is a lamp not to be placed on a lamp stand?” (Mk 4:21) // “Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope.” (Heb 10:23)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Make an effort to study and meditate upon the Gospel parables. // Let your daily duties and acts of service to your family, friends, and the people around you be a manifestation of your faith, hope, and love for Jesus Christ.
*** *** ***
January 29, 2021: FRIDAY – WEEKDAY (3)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Makes the Seed Grow … He Helps Us to Endure”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 10:32-39 // Mk 4:26-34
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 4:26-34): “A man scatters seed on the land and would sleep and the seed would sprout and grow; he knows not how.”
The farming images we have in today’s reading (Mk 4:26-34) are beautiful and powerfully symbolic. The parable of the growing seed while the farmer sleeps (verses 26-29) teaches us that the growth of the Kingdom is inevitable and that it is God’s initiative. The image of the sleeping farmer shatters the illusion of those who believe that the coming of the Kingdom is under human control. The Kingdom grows by the power of God. Like a seed that breaks forth from the ground, God’s Reign has already irrupted into the world through Jesus’ ministry.
The parable of the mustard seed (verses 30-34) underlines the contrast between an insignificant beginning and the full growth of God’s kingdom. The tiny seed grows into a full-blown tree. This symbolizes the organic continuity between Jesus’ ministry, so disappointing to Israel’s hopes, and the future of the Kingdom of God, that would encompass both the Israelites and the Gentiles – indeed peoples from all nations and cultures.
We are called to promote the growth of the Kingdom of God and the integration of creation. The following story illustrates the value of our personal contribution to bringing about the fruition of the divine saving plan (cf. Fr. Eric Haarer, “The Old Man in the Plaza” in Catholic Digest, July-August 2011, p.66-67).
Barcelona, Spain is an amazing city … I had been walking all day and it was hot, in the 80s. I wanted a rest away from the hustle and bustle, so I ambled down a side street and sat on a low wall in a tiny plaza near the Gothic Quarter. To my right was a small fountain, basically a pipe in the wall that spilled drinking water into a cement basin. In front of me stood a sickly looking sapling. It received little light in this narrow plaza, and its leaves were drooping and discolored from thirst and exhaust. An older, well-dressed gentleman at the fountain was filling an empty plastic soda bottle. He walked over to the tree and poured the water at its base. He returned to the fountain for more, and again watered the tree. And again. And again. I stopped counting after 12 trips and was on my way before he finished.
This simple act of kindness touched me deeply. It reminded me of something Mother Teresa said about her work in India: “We don’t do great things; we do small things with great love”. (…) This gentle man was tending the Earth, and in this “small thing done with great love”, he did his part to bring hope and new life into the world. Certainly he brought it to one foot-sore pilgrim.
B. First Reading (Heb 10:32-39): “Do not throw away your confidence. It will have a great reward.”
In today’s First Reading (Heb 10:32-39), the author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds them of their identity and dignity as baptized Christians – those “enlightened” by the light of faith. Having welcomed the light of Christ, they have endured all sorts of suffering. They have suffered for their Christian identity and share in the similar sufferings of others. They have been publicly insulted and mistreated; dispossessed and put in prison. Yet they are not defeated by the struggle. They are not disheartened by the loss of belongings because they know that they still possess something that which would last forever. Indeed, they need to endure and not lose courage. They should remember the prophet Habakkuk’s exhortation that the just one lives by faith. They have made a tremendous personal response in following Christ. It would be unfortunate if they give it up. Through the example of Christ in his passion, they will not turn back, but instead persevere in faith and be saved.
The following example of enduring faith in today’s society is very inspiring. Fr. Jon Sobrino, a Jesuit theologian based in El Salvador, gives us a firsthand account of an incident that illustrates Archbishop Oscar Romero’s radical faith response for Christ and his people.
“On May 19, 1977, the army went to Aguilares, expelled the three remaining Jesuits, desecrated the church and sacristy, and declared a state of emergency. After a month of the state of emergency, the army simply drove the people out of Aguilares. Archbishop Romero decided to go there at the first opportunity, denounce the atrocities that had been committed, and try to inspire a threatened, terrorized people with hope. ‘You are Christ today, suffering in history,’ he told them. After the Mass we held a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. We processed out into a little square in front of the church to make reparation for the soldiers’ desecration of the sacramental Body of Christ and the living Body of Christ, the murdered ‘campesinos’. Across the square, in front of the town hall, were armed troops, standing there watching us, sullen, arrogant and unfriendly. We were uneasy. In fact, we were afraid. We had no idea what might happen. And we all instinctively turned around and looked at Archbishop Romero, who was bringing up the rear, holding the monstrance. ‘Adelante! (Forward!)’, said Archbishop Romero. And we went right ahead.”
On March 24, 1980, Archbishop Romero was shot to death while celebrating the Mass, the blood of his martyred body mixing with the sacramental body and blood of Christ on the altar of Eucharistic sacrifice. His death was a priestly sacrifice radically united with the sacrificial offering of Jesus, the eternal Priest-Victim upon the cross. Archbishop Romero was beatified on May 23, 2015 in the capital city of El Salvador.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we believe in small beginnings and in the power of God to make his kingdom grow and embrace all nations and creation? What do we do to promote the growth?
2. Are we willing to live by faith and endure the sacrifices that Christian discipleship entails? Do we trust that, united with Christ, we will not be overcome by suffering and not be defeated by the struggle?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
how marvelous is the growth of the heavenly kingdom!
It is a seed sown in human history by your messianic ministry.
Its power irrupts into our lives and we are a part of its growth.
We thank you for the power of life
and the universal expanse of the kingdom of God.
Grant that we may continue to give our very best
– no matter how humble and insignificant –
to promote the growth and fruition of God’s Reign
upon earth and in all creation.
We love you and praise you, now and forever.
Amen.
***
Loving Father,
we thank you for the light of faith
and for our Christian identity.
Give us the grace to endure the sufferings
that our consecration to Christ entails.
Let the passion of Christ be our strength
and help us to believe
that with faith we will have eternal 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 week. Please memorize it.
“Once it is sown, it springs up.” (Mk 4:32) // “You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.” (Heb 10:36)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for social justice and the integration of creation. In view of the integration of God’s creation, practice proper waste management in your household using the ecological principles: reduce, reuse and recycle. // Be courageous to uphold the social teaching of the Church in the public square.
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January 30, 2021: SATURDAY – WEEKDAY (2); BVM ON SATURDAY
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Calms the Raging Sea … He Calls Us to Faith”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 // Mk 4:35-41
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Mk 4:35-41): “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
(Gospel Reflection by Andy Ruperto, Fresno, CA – U.S.A.)
Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? Lord, who are You? Is this not the question we must constantly ponder? In today’s Gospel we again see Jesus’ disciples continuing on their journey of faith and asking, “Lord, who are You? You have power over the wind and the sea!”
In this event, we must place ourselves in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. The wind and waves are beginning to violently shake the boat. The disciples are stumbling around and yelling, trying to get things under control. I do not know what it must have been like being in a potentially life-threatening storm, but I do remember being in a motorboat with family on a lake. When the front of the boat took on some water, because it was too heavy, there were screams and a bit of hysteria. How much more so if we were in a violent storm?
In the meantime, our Lord is asleep in the stern. So, then the disciples ask – “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” This is a question I sometimes ask in different life situations. God, do You not know what I’m going through?” “Why is this happening to me?” Sometimes I ‘feel’ like my life is ending or that I cannot go on. There are too many storms – confusion, stress, studies, relationships, finances … So I ask, “Lord, do You not care that I am perishing?”
Jesus then comes in power, and stills the storms with His word and says, “Peace! Be still.” This is the peace that comes from Jesus and it is a peace not as the world gives it. Christ is the only way to true peace. Here, our Lord Jesus shows His power over the wind and sea and amazes the disciples. Jesus is GOD. He is powerful. He is mighty. He can do anything. He can calm these modern-day storms. He is also humble and sometimes we cannot see through the veil of humanity.
A friend once told me that the hard part for God is not the miracles, but changing human hearts. It seems that in this event, our Lord Jesus was using the storm to awaken the disciples’ hearts to faith. He asks them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”
The “good news” of the reading today is one that was constantly repeated by our late Holy Father, John Paul II. It was the message, “Do not be afraid!” Our Lord tells us not to let our hearts be troubled. He is with us, and so what can we fear? He will take care of us. It is our faith that enables us not to fear. Let us always call on the name of Jesus in the stormy chapters of our lives. In these times let us quickly say, “Jesus, I trust in You. Jesus, I trust in You …”
B. First Reading (Heb 11:1-2, 8-19): “He was looking forward to the city whose architect and maker is God.”
Today’s Second Reading (Heb 11:1-2, 8-19) gives beautiful insight into the meaning of faith. According to the author of the letter to the Hebrews, faith assures us of the reality of what is hoped for and gives evidence of things not seen. God’s own assurances are behind the object of our faith. Though we may not understand the events of our lives, we trust in the benevolent God and his saving word. Abraham and other patriarchs manifested great faith in God’s oath of salvation, which was fulfilled in due time. We therefore imitate our great ancestors in faith.
The following story illustrates models of faith in today’s situation (cf. Patricia Normile, “Caregivers Need Care Too” in Saint Anthony Messenger (May 2010, p. 22-26). Both the caregiver and the dying person are animated with dynamic faith. In our preparation for the eternal encounter with God, we must trust in his goodness, mercy and saving promise. The faith of a Christian is rooted, informed and deepened by the word of God spoken in his Son Jesus Christ.
Caregivers often share with patients the wisdom of Scripture and God’s mercy. A hospice visitor, Deacon Amado Lim of Blue Ash, Ohio, knew Richard well. World War II veteran, great story teller, man with a fine sense of humor, Richard (name has been changed) was a joy to visit. Then one evening Deacon Lim noted that he looked unusually sad. “I asked him why”, says the deacon. He said, “I was afraid.”
Richard continued, “I’ve shared many stories, but there’s one story I’ve not told you or anyone.” When Richard’s unit attacked a Nazi hiding place in Belgium, they met heavy fire and his best friend was mortally wounded. “I became livid”, Richard said. “I entered the building with my gun blazing. I saw two Nazi soldiers fall. I rushed toward them. They sprawled on the floor, covered with blood. I saw their faces. They were barely 12 years old – children! They didn’t say anything, just looked at me. Their faces were pleading, begging for mercy. My adrenaline pumped furiously. I shot them both. The faces of those boys have haunted me ever since. I cannot erase their images from my mind. Now I’m dying. I’m afraid to stand before God. He’ll never forgive me for what I did to those boys.”
Deacon Lim invited Richard to describe God. To Richard, God was a just God who rewards good and punishes evil. Voice trembling, Richard said that he couldn’t imagine God forgiving anyone who hurts children. Deacon Lim asked Richard to read aloud Bible stories describing God’s mercy. When the repentant criminal crucified on Calvary begged, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”, Jesus replied, “Amen I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:42-43). Richard wept. When Deacon Lim returned later, Richard smiled. “I’m no longer afraid. Jesus forgave the criminal. He forgives me because he knows how sorry I am.” Richard died two days later.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we believe in faith that God is in control? Do we place our trust in Jesus whom even the wind and sea obey? Do we derive strength from the fact that the Lord Jesus masters the storms and the raging seas?
2. Do we experience in our daily life the assertion of the author of the letter to the Hebrews: “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(Prayer n. 1 by Andy Ruperto, Fresno, CA-USA)
So, Lord, who are You?
You are my refuge, savior and teacher in the storms.
You are GOD!
I have often tried to control the storms myself.
Let me learn to go through them with You,
having recourse to You when I find myself in trouble.
Peace! Be still my soul!
Know that Jesus is GOD and that He does care
and that He loves me.
Mother Mary,
you know our Lord so intimately.
Please purify our faith in Him.
Form us into His likeness and into fearless saints.
Amen.
***
Loving Father,
how great was the faith of Abraham, Sarah and our ancestors
in your saving promise.
Help us to heed the call of Jesus
to live our faith in vigilance and readiness
for the advent of your kingdom of love, justice and peace.
Deepen our faith by your living Word spoken in your Son Jesus.
We praise and glorify you, now and forever.
Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it.
“Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mk 4:41) // “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Offer comfort and assistance to those whose faith is wavering. Share with those who are overwhelmed in the sea of sorrows the comforting presence of Jesus who masters the winds and the raging seas. // To grasp more deeply the meaning of Christian faith and respond to its challenges, spend some moments of quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
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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