A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 5, n. 1)
1st Sunday of Advent, Year C – December 3, 2006
“He Will Come Again …”
BIBLE READINGS
Jer 33:14-16 // I Thes 3:12-4:2 // Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
N.B. Series 5 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year C from the perspective of the First Reading. For another set of reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US and open Series 2.
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
This year’s September issue of ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER magazine dedicates a special section to“Healing After 9/11”. Its cover photo by Eric Bechtold is deeply evocative. The cover shows a beautiful rose discretely opening its yellow-pink petals and glistening in the radiance of the sun. This symbol of life and beauty is set against the grim backdrop of an austere iron fence beside the former World Trade Center, in New York’s Ground Zero site. The cover photo, as well as the interesting articles that accompany it, conveys a lesson of hope and reminds a bruised people that goodness prevails, that grief will turn to joy for such is the nature of grace, and that the challenge of today is to look forward to a healing future, notwithstanding the tragedy and the destruction of the past.
We begin a new liturgical year with the season of Advent, which starts today. Replete with grace and hope and permeated with the reality of redemption, the liturgy of the First Sunday of Advent challenges us to look beyond the specter of doom and destruction that assails us day after day. It invites us to trust in Jesus Christ who assures us that our redemption is at hand. The eschatological vision of final redemption by the coming of the Son of Man in power and glory at the end of time acquires deeper perspective against the background of the suffering people of Israel and the prophetic promise of a “just shoot” sprouting from the royal lineage of David (cf. Jer 33:14-15). Despite everything, even destruction and exile, the prophet Jeremiah assures the people of Israel and Judah that nothing can turn God away from keeping his promise of redemption.
Lawrence Mick explains: “Jeremiah highlights three points about the coming of the promised one: God is faithful in fulfilling the divine promise; the Messiah will come from the family of the great king, David; the Messiah’s coming will provide safety and security, because he will act justly and righteously. Jerusalem will even be called by a new name, which reflects the justice of God. These are words of promise and hope … These words remind us that God has given us such a leader in the Messiah whose coming we celebrate and whose second coming we await.”
The promised virtuous branch from the branch of David is accomplished in Jesus, the Messiah, who has come and will come again on the last day. Indeed, Christ who has brought about our redemption by his death and resurrection, will come again at the end time to restore the whole universe to himself. The goodness of the faithful God in sending us “the just shoot” and the grandiose saving act accomplished by Jesus Christ – “the righteous branch of David” - by his death and rising invite us to look with hope and joyful expectation to the event of the parousia, which is all-embracing and cosmic in perspective.
Teilhard de Chardin asserts: “From the historical point of view, expectation of the parousia has never ceased to guide the progress of our faith like a torch. The Israelites were constantly on the watch for the Lord’s coming; so too were the first Christians. Christmas, which one might think would have turned our minds toward the past, has actually carried them further forward into the future. For one moment the Messiah appeared in our midst, allowing himself to be seen and touched; then he vanished again, more luminous and mysterious than before, into the impenetrable depths of the future. He has come. Yet now, once again, we must go on expecting him more than ever. This time it is no longer a small chosen group that awaits his coming; it is the whole of humanity. The Lord Jesus will only come soon if we ardently long for him. The breakthrough of the parousia will be the result of a mounting flood of desire … No matter what the price, we must rekindle in ourselves the desire and hope for the great future coming.”
Recognizing the importance of the “last day” and the broad vision that sets its sights on the reconciliation of all humanity, the rebuilding of the entire world and the integration of God’s beloved creation, Adrian Nocent remarks: “Such a broadening of perspective will also affect our sense of urgency with regard to conversion and moral life. We will be able to see how our personal decisions and our efforts to live as God would have us live do not simply affect us as individuals but contribute to the reconstruction of creation as a whole. The object of our faith-inspired hope will likewise become far more vast, and we will forget the paltry expectations we cherished when we thought merely of our own narrow life.”
From the perspective of looking forward to the end time and from the faith generated in us by the historical coming and the saving act of Jesus Christ, the promised “just shoot of David”, we can look at our present time with greater discernment and make our choices for what really matters. With the goodness and fidelity that God has shown us in the past to bolster our faith and with the future vision of “christification” to impel us to move on in the history of salvation, we are more alert to perceive his presence and continual “advent’” in our daily lives.
Harold Buetow concludes: “We meet Jesus not only historically at Christmas, or at our death, or at the end of the world. We meet him every day of our lives, through all the graces of our friendships and the opportunities he gives us. We must watch for him. To watch for Jesus means – as Cardinal Newman said (Parochial and Plain Sermons) – to be awake, alive, quick sighted, zealous in honoring him; to look out for him in all that happens; to be detached from what is present, and to live in what is unseen; to live in the thought of Christ as he came once, and as he will come again; to desire his Second Coming, from our affectionate and grateful remembrance of his first. Let our preparation for Christmas be a test.”
PERSONAL REFLECTION
By Katie Tassinari
Parish of Immaculate Conception
Monrovia, CA-U.S.A.
We stand at the threshold of a new Liturgical Year. The 1st Sunday of Advent is full of new beginnings, new hope for the Liturgical Year and preparation for the birth of our Savior. As a wife and mother, my mind conjures up images of the beginning of a marathon that begins the day after Thanksgiving and continues through all of Advent. To prepare for the holidays my “To Do” list can be overwhelming. Even if I ignore the secular push to buy more “stuff” for my family at Christmas there are still endless tasks that lay before me to create a special family celebration. Besides shopping for gifts, there are Christmas decorations, sending of holiday greetings from our family, menu planning, purchasing of food, cooking and preparing the meals and preparing the house for guests. The question I have to ask myself is how can I prepare my heart and the heart of my family for this Christmas? How can this Advent season truly be a time of readying our hearts for the coming of our Savior?
Today’s readings seem to shout – stay awake and be ready! The Prophet Jeremiah states – “The days are coming …” St. Paul tells us “… strengthen your hearts.” And St. Luke seems to be speaking directly to my Mother’s heart – don’t let the anxieties of daily life – your own expectations of how everything must happen – get in the way of preparing your heart this Advent Season. The Psalmist seems to have the answer: “To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.”
So my challenge this 1st Sunday of Advent is to think of preparing my heart and the heart of my family for the coming of our Lord. Can I lower my expectations for this holiday season and spend less time running around finding the “perfect” gift and have a little more time in quiet prayer even if it is just 5 minutes? As the world around me is going crazy standing in line overnight to buy a PlayStation 3, can I find a place of peace that allows me to enjoy each moment of preparation and each treasured minute I get to share with my family and friends? Can this Advent Season not be a blur of activity but instead be a true Season of Joy? I am sure that my days will still seem too busy but with a conscious effort my mantra can be – “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What feelings and insights are evoked in us by the prophetic promise “I will raise up for David a just shoot” and by the eschatological vision given to us by Jesus about his second coming in power and glory? Do we allow ourselves to be comforted and strengthened by the astounding reality that God is always there for us and that he is in complete control? Are we able to survey our present history in the light of the fulfilled promise of salvation and against the horizon of saving history still in the process of completion?
B. What place does the “last day” have in our lives? Do we commit ourselves to rekindle in ourselves the desire and hope for the great future coming of Christ, the Lord of history and creation? Does the vision of the parousia help us to look critically at our present time and discern what really matters today?
C. What are the meaning and the challenge of the Advent season for us? How do we allow the various seasons and elements of the Church’s liturgical year to shape and mould us into the beautiful and precious persons God meant us to be? Are we thankful to God for his sacramental gift of the liturgical year?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(Adapted from D. Rimaud, cf. Days of the Lord, vol. 1, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991, p. 58)
Leader: Behold, the time is coming when the Lord of justice will fulfill his promise of peace for those he loves!
Assembly: Read the signs of God in the moon and the sun. He is coming, coming on the clouds!
Leader: See the nations shake before the storms of the sea. He is coming; he is coming, victorious!
Assembly: Reform yourselves, for look: Our salvation is at hand! He is coming, coming for our joy!
Leader: Let us stay awake and escape the snare. And we will stand before the Son of Man on the day of judgment!
Assembly: Happy the one who believed that one day would be fulfilled the words of God for all whom he loves!
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“They will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory … Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” (Lk 21:27-28)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray that the Christian disciples of today may be permeated with greater desire and hope for the future coming of Christ at the parousia and that this eschatological reality efficaciously shape their choices and actions in daily life. Make this Advent season a privileged occasion to respond with fraternal solicitude to the many tragedies and forms of poverty and abuses in this world. An Advent “fasting” in view of a more generous Christmas sharing with the poor is greatly recommended.
B. ACTION PLAN: To help us contemplate more deeply the incredible glory of the Son of Man when he comes to restore all things on the “last day”, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 3, n. 1): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
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