A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday and Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 11, n. 15)
LENT WEEK 4: March 10-16, 2013 *****
(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 C from three perspectives. For reflections on the Sunday liturgy based on the Gospel reading, please scroll up to the “ARCHIVES” above and open Series 2. For reflections based on the Old Testament reading, open Series 5. For reflections based on the Second Reading, open Series 8. Please go to Series 10 and Series 11 for the back issues of the Weekday Lectio.
Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: March 10-16, 2013. The weekday reflections are based on the First Reading. For the weekday reflections based on the Gospel Reading, please open Series 10.)
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March 10, 2013: FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Makes Possible Our Homecoming”
BIBLE READINGS
Jos 5:9a, 10-12 // I Cor 5:17-21 // Lk 15:1-3
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Some years ago, I participated in a course entitled “Liturgical Dance and Drama”, offered at the Pope Paul VI Liturgical Institute in Malaybalay, Bukidnon in the Philippines. The culminating event of the course was a Eucharistic Celebration in which elements of dance and drama were used to highlight the important parts of the Mass. At the Gospel proclamation, the parable of the Prodigal Son was mimed by an excellent cast, which made the liturgical assembly feel more intensely the saving message and see with a deeper vision Jesus’ teaching on God’s concern for the lost. After the presiding priest had finished the reading and declared solemnly, “The Gospel of the Lord”, the prodigal son and the servile brother gently placed their heads on the bosom of the welcoming father, whose arms enfolded them both in a joyful embrace. My eyes welled with tears. The actors had put an appropriate resolution to an open-ended story. The “coming home” of the two lost sons is the best ending of all.
Today’s parable is commonly called, “The Parable of Prodigal Son”, which is a misnomer. The popular name fails to indicate that the father has two lost sons, not one. The resentful elder son, however, did not know that he was “lost”. Though physically near, he was just as lost as the one who had set off for a distant country, squandering his inheritance in a dissolute life.
Others prefer to call this story, “The Parable of the Prodigal Father”. Aelred Rosser remarks: “I agree with those who feel that the story would be more appropriately called the parable of the prodigal father. Clearly, the point that Jesus makes in this story is not how bad the boy (or his elder brother) is but how good the father is. It is the father who is excessive and extravagant and immoderate, anything but frugal, with his forgiveness and mercy. It is the father who squanders love and reconciliation on the son. The father is the true spendthrift here, sparing no cost of labor to celebrate the homecoming of his wayward son. The reluctance of the elder brother to forgive with similar prodigality makes the father all the more generous.”
The joy of the father in the return of the wayward son is so unmitigated and intense that it must be expressed in a celebration. There is an Easter motif in the compassionate Father’s call for celebrating and rejoicing: “Your brother was dead and has come home again; he was lost and has been found” (Lk 15:32). Indeed, the conversion of a repentant sinner is a paschal experience. It is an intimate participation in Christ’s saving death and resurrection. Moreover, this life-giving joy that results from God’s patient mercy and forgiving love has an ecclesial impact. The whole Church rejoices when God finds the lost and when a sinner is converted from sin. In order to experience real joy and inner peace, we must participate in the Father’s compassionate mercy and saving love with a generous and humble heart. Self-righteousness prevents empathy with the compassion of God and thus, cuts us off from the joy resulting from his forgiving love. This is the case of the “lost” elder brother.
The parable of the Father’s prodigal love finds its completion in Jesus Christ, God’s beloved Son who, in taking on human nature, became totally identified with the pathetic experience of the wayward son and of every sinner. In his paschal offering on the cross, Jesus would experience the total and excruciating pain of alienation caused by humanity’s sin. By his passion and death, the Servant of Yahweh and Son of God carried the burden of sin as a means of expiation and redemption. When he breathed forth his last on the cross, crying out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23:46), Jesus radically experienced the “homecoming”. In that unique saving event, Jesus Christ, the beloved Servant-Son, made possible the “homecoming” of the lost children of God and their reconciliation with the compassionate Father, who had been so prodigious with his saving plan.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
In what way am I the lost wastrel son? In what way am I the lost, elder brother? In what way am I the compassionate Father prodigal in love?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Father, you are full of mercy and compassion. Forgive us for having chosen our own way, independent from you. Forgive us for having wasted the spiritual riches and gifts you have bestowed on us. We wanted to build our lives outside of your loving plan. We were eager to taste the thrill of death-dealing adventures and relish the recklessness of false freedom. We also drank the dregs of sinful pleasure and indulged in selfish satisfactions. Now that we are done, we feel degraded, isolated, and empty. Please help us for we are broken and our life is shattered. Father, we have sinned against heaven and against you. We no longer deserve to be called your children. By the loving passion of our brother Jesus and his sacrificial death on the cross, we return to you, laden with tears of repentance.
The compassionate Father says, “We must celebrate and rejoice, because the dead has come to life again; the lost has been found.”
Father, your merciful love is abounding. Forgive us for being self-righteous. Our brutal sense of justice and unwarranted indignation made us resent your kindly embrace for those in need. Forgive us for treating harshly our brothers and sisters who have erred, but are humbly seeking to return to your loving embrace. Father, our pride has alienated us from you. We are “lost” and are in need of healing. In the name of our brother Jesus, your beloved Son-Servant, we turn to you with filial love and tears of repentance. Gracious Father, your joy is our joy. Everything you have is ours to share with those in need.
The compassionate Father says, “We must celebrate and rejoice, because the dead has come to life again; the lost has been found.”
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.
“But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come back to life again; he was lost and has been found.” (Lk 15:32)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Make a step toward reconciliation involving a person you have hurt and/or offended. Do this in the spirit of the repentant “lost” son and the compassionate forgiving Father.
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March 11, 2013: MONDAY – LENTEN WEEKDAY (4)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is Font of Life and Joy”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 65:17-21 // Jn 4:43-54
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The Old Testament reading depicts the restoration of Jerusalem as a new creation. The prophet Isaiah transmits to the suffering chosen people the consoling words of God about the salvation of the remnant. The world will not be destroyed but transformed into “new heavens and a new earth”. The creative action of God is the font of joy. The Jerusalem he will “create” will be full of joy and its people will be happy. What he creates is the fullness of life. Babies will no longer die in infancy, and all people will live out their life span. This idyll of joy and peace gives delight both to God and his people. In Jesus Savior who saves the dying son of a royal official, the word of God once again calls “new heavens and a new earth” into being. The creative love of God at work in Jesus is font of life, healing, and joy.
We too are called to be a part of this idyll of love, joy, and peace. The following story, circulated on the Internet, gives us an insight into how we can be an instrument of the “new creation” and a font of joy.
There was once an elderly woman who lived in a violent, drug-ravaged, crumbling neighborhood in an old city. Her children had died before her. Time had left its mark on her too. She was no longer pretty in the eyes of the world. She had become wrinkled, stooped, thin and hollow-eyed. Her body was now half crippled with arthritis. Still, this little old lady continually brought joy to the community around her. Everyone called her "Granny" and she was a loving Grandmother to all. As she moved slowly down the street she would sing hymns and share smiles. She had a kind word for everyone. She gave her gentle laughter as a free gift to all. She offered encouragement, said prayers for, and brought hope to the disheartened. She went about doing good every chance she could. No one, after meeting her, left without the heart feeling lighter and the smile shining brighter. Her serenity and tranquility remained a mystery to the neighborhood, though. No one could figure out how someone who had lost and suffered so much could live so beautifully.
One day a curious little girl ran up to the tiny old woman shuffling along with her walker and called out to her. "How do you do it Granny?" she asked. "How do you love so freely? How do you live so happily? How do you give so much to all of us everyday?" Granny just smiled at her and said, "Because God loves me child! Because He loves me, I love Him and you and everybody else!”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we open our hearts to God’s creative action and the idyll of a “new creation”? Do we strive to be a font of joy, peace and healing for the people around us?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving God,
how wonderful you are!
You have forgiven our disobedience and infidelity
and make of us a “new creation”.
In Jesus Savior,
we experience what joy and peace there is
in your gift of life.
Help us to be open to that gift.
You are kind and merciful.
We adore and praise 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.
“Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth.” (Is 65:17)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your act of charity and kindness, lift up the spirit of a despondent person and allow him to experience the joy of God’s “new creation”.
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March 12, 2013: TUESDAY – LENTEN WEEKDAY (4)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Water of Salvation”
BIBLE READINGS
Ez 47:1-9, 12 // Jn 5:1-16
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
When my dad was sick with cancer, my family would go in pilgrimage to a Marian shrine in Novaliches, Philippines, where a devotee, grateful for the healing received, had built a modest replica of the Grotto in Lourdes, France. We would attend the Mass, pray the rosary and the novena, and make the Stations of the Cross. My dad was too weak to make the Stations of the Cross spread throughout a grassy hillside, but he would take a bath at the springs. Water from the Grotto in Lourdes, France, had been poured into the wellspring of the local Grotto, which greatly comforted the sick devotees. Bathing in that water was, for my dad, an act of faith in the healing power of God and a sign of total surrender to the divine saving will. I also remember the delicious, sweet guavas and the bottles of fresh milk (from carabao, a water buffalo) that the farmers were selling outside the shrine. We would buy bunches of guava fruits and some bottles of carabao’s milk. We would boil the milk until a creamy stuff forms. My sick dad loved to eat that creamy stuff and drink the pasteurized sweetish milk, which I believe is the best in the world.
This teenage experience enables me to savor vividly the beauty and the hope that today’s Old Testament reading offers. God’s life-giving power is imaged in the flowing temple water that purifies and makes the trees fruitful. The prophet Ezekiel has a series of visions of the restoration of a new Israel to its homeland. The vision of the healing and life-giving waters that flow from the temple is the climax and a fitting conclusion to his visions. New life flows from the presence of God forever in the midst of his people. The vision of abundance and plenitude that was given to the prophet Ezekiel finds fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ, the healing water of salvation. Our Lord Jesus is the font of healing and of joy. In him is the life-generating and healing river of the Spirit.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Are you willing to open your heart to the healing and life-giving waters that flow from God’s temple?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we thank you for the wellspring
that flows from your temple.
It revitalizes the dead desert sea
and makes the trees on the river banks sturdy and fruitful.
Your Son Jesus is the new font of life.
In him is the healing river of the Spirit.
Let our life be steeped in the water of life he brings.
We bless and adore you, dear Father,
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 shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.” (Ez 47:12)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your loving care and kindness to the sick, enable them to experience the wellspring of life that Jesus gives.
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March 13, 2013: WEDNESDAY – LENTEN WEEKDAY (4)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Incarnates God’s Faithful Love”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 49:8-15 // Jn 5:17-30
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today’s Old Testament Reading depicts with poignant beauty God’s protestation of love to a people crying out in despair that they been had abandoned and forsaken. To his anguished people exiled in Babylon, the Lord God spoke these consoling words: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” The love of God surpasses that of a mother for her child. God would never forsake his Chosen People though they themselves had forsaken him. Deeply chastised and painfully humbled by the Exile experience, they would become the object of divine mercy that transcends anything we could ever imagine.
The biblical scholar Eugene Maly comments: “God has always been faithful to his people; he had never forgotten them. Our first reading presents God under the tender image of a mother, and the people of God under the image of a nursing infant. Isaiah makes it clear that God’s love is ever greater than the image presented … While the people of God were in exile in Babylon, God still loved them; their release was a sign of compassion. He had never abandoned them, and they had no reason to lament … All through their punishment, God had remembered them and had now liberated them from bondage. Isaiah’s message is that we are to trust God even when the days are darkest, for God does not abandon his people.”
Jesus Savior incarnates the Father’s love that is beyond telling. The Christian disciples continue to make present in today’s world God’s tenderness and faithful love. Through them the Lord God comforts his people and shows mercy to the afflicted. The following story of Sr. Mary Rose of the Covenant House, America’s largest shelter for homeless and runaway kids, gives insight into this (cf. Sr. Mary Rose McGeady, Sometimes God Has a Kid’s Face, Covenant House, 2010, p. 35-38).
Finally, the tears began to form in her eyes, and she decided to take a chance. Dana decided to trust in us. “I used to live in a real house”, she said. “I had a mother and a father and five brothers”, she said. “That was a long time ago”, she said. “Then, last year, my dad decided to leave. He just walked out one day … he didn’t even tell me he was going anywhere … he just left. My mother … my mother couldn’t take it anymore. She tried to get a job … but it all got to be too much. About two months ago, she sat me down and told me I had to leave. ‘You’re 16, Dana’, she said. ‘You’re the oldest … I can’t afford all of you … you’re going to have to leave.’ I looked at her like she was kidding. I mean, leave for what, Sister? Go where? I’m 16 … it’s not like I know a million places to go. But my mother kept telling me I had to get out. ‘You can make it, Dana’, my mother said. ‘You’re strong like me. Pack up your things. I’m sorry, you have to go.’”
As she poured out her story, the tears began rolling down Dana’s cheeks in streams. They were angry, pained, disbelieving tears of a 16-year-old girl who suddenly found herself all alone, on the street, by herself. I grabbed her hand and told her again how glad I was she had found us. (…)
I made sure our staff took extra special care of Dana tonight. We got her some brand-new pajamas, and I made sure she got a room right near one of her counselors, so she could see someone by her all night. (…) I do know one thing. We’re going to do everything humanly possible to help her, and try to rebuild her life (and as we’re doing all we humanly can, I’m going to be praying extra hard to God for His help too).
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
In moments of despondency or distress, do I ever cry out with reproach: “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me”? What do I do to trust in God’s faithful love?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving God,
you love us tenderly and constantly,
as a mother loves the child in her womb,
but with a love that surpasses all we could ever imagine.
We are your chosen people.
You will never forget or forsake us.
We thank you for your Son Jesus Christ,
the full revelation of your saving love.
Help us to trust in you
and to rely on the name of Christ.
He lives and reigns,
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.
“Even should she forget I will never forget you.” (Is 49:15)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray that by our life of loving service we may clearly image the faithful love of God. Be attentive to the urgent needs of our brothers and sisters and assist them in any way you can.
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March 14, 2013: THURSDAY – LENTEN WEEKDAY (4)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is Our Mediator”
BIBLE READINGS
Ex 32:7-14 // Jn 5:31-47
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today’s Old Testament reading presents Moses as a mediator who intercedes for the erring Israelites. His mediation is meant to turn the divine wrath away from the chosen people. Rescued by God from slavery, they now have become idolatrous. They have foolishly built a gold bull-calf to worship in place of the true God. The Lord God intends to wipe them out and begin a new nation from Moses. The ministry of mediation of Moses is courageous and persuasive. He asks God to change his mind and not to bring disaster up on the people. Moses carries out his role of mediation by appealing to the honor of God’s name before the pagan nations. To have the Israelites die in the wilderness would only provoke the ridicule or the Lord’s enemies in Egypt. Likewise Moses reminds God of his promises to the patriarchs. To abandon the Israelites now is to renege on the promises he made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to make of them a great nation and to lead them to their eternal possession. So the Lord relented and did not bring upon his people the punishment he had threatened.
The ministry of mediation of Moses finds exquisite fulfillment in Jesus Christ who reconciled men with God. The Christian disciples are also called to a life of mediation and intercession on behalf of today’s world. They are called to be peacemakers and to help people evade the path of evil and self-destruction. The following story gives us a glimpse into what we can do (cf. Mike McGarvin, Papa Mike, Fresno: Poverello House, 2003, p. 74).
There weren’t many who hit the streets with me, but quite a few helped by preparing the food. Two of these early volunteers were John Graham, a man who would later become a board member, and his wife Barbara, who would cook chili to hand out.
Another volunteer, Frank Stommel, came from the local Newman Center. Frank was originally from Holland, and he spent a good part of World War II dragging his family all over Europe as he fled the Nazis. He’d seen a lot of hard things in his life, but a more loving man you couldn’t find anywhere. Frank was one of those unique people who overflow with warmth.
Frank came along about the time I was starting to burn out. If he hadn’t shown up, I may not have been able to keep it going. He had a thick accent, and half the time the street guys couldn’t understand him. But they understood that he accepted them and cared about them. Frank’s a big bear of a man with a twinkle in his eye, and he threw himself into the work. He’d scare me sometimes, because he was absolutely fearless. He trusted God to take care of him, but my faith wasn’t as deep as his. I worried about him.
One time a big melee started near where he was serving. Frank waded into the middle of it, saying something like, “Friends, friends, de gude Lord vants you to love each other, not fight. Let’s settle down, now.” Amazingly, they did. I think they were stupefied by this big Dutchman who boldly stepped between them and spoke in what surely seemed to be a language from outer space.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
What does the ministry of mediation and intercession of Moses say to you? Did you ever carry out this ministry on behalf of others?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving Father,
we thank you for the gift of the mediation of Moses.
Above all, we give you thanks for your Son Jesus Christ
who brought to fulfillment
this role of covenant mediation upon the cross.
Teach us to love
and to intercede for the people
who foolishly refuse your love.
You are merciful and compassionate.
We adore and praise 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.
“So the Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.” (Ex 32:14)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Open up today’s newspaper and, after reading some of the local, national, and world events, lift up your hands in prayer for the people and the world that need to be brought back to God.
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March 15, 2013: FRIDAY – LENTEN WEEKDAY (4)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Just One”
BIBLE READINGS
Wis 2:1a, 12-22 // Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
I was born in the Philippines, in a small town near the slopes of the majestic Mayon Volcano that is renowned for its perfect cone. When I reminisce about the little town where I was born, I also remember our hardworking houseboy named Julian. A no-nonsense orphan, it was his dream to go to school. My parents made arrangements so that he could be a working student. One day, when he was going to school to pay his tuition, his half-brother accosted him, asking for money. The half-brother grew up with bad companions and was involved in gambling and drinking. He detested Julian’s clean character. For him Julian, the “good boy”, was obnoxious. When he threatened Julian with a gun, the latter refused to give up his hard-earned money and his dream of a better future. The half-brother shot him to death. Our quiet neighborhood was convulsed by the dreadful violence inflicted on an innocent lovable boy.
The conflict between good and evil is verified again and again in human experience. The life of Julian gives insight into the “just one” referred to in today’s Old Testament reading. The life of the “just one” is a reproach to those who do evil. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 5, comment: “Those who do evil are intolerant of contradiction, whatever its form. They strive to silence it. But nothing is more unbearable to them than the living reproach and permanent challenge of the life of just persons in their midst … By not living like everyone else, the just become marginal … Through their very lives, led in conformity with God’s law, the just denounce the misconduct of the impious.” The unmerited injustice suffered by the “just one” mentioned by the Book of Wisdom adds poignancy and intensity to the figure of Jesus, the Suffering Servant-Messiah. While the figure of the “just one” who patiently withstands insults and torture points to Jesus, the wicked ones who sought the destruction of the “just one” anticipate those who seek the suffering and death of Jesus.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
How do we respond to the permanent challenge of the just persons in our midst? Is the life of the “just one” a reproach to our sinful ways, or is it an invitation to conversion? Are we ready to embrace the paschal destiny of the “Just One” par excellence?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Lord,
we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ,
the “Just One” par excellence.
He is a living reproach to our evil ways.
He invites us to conversion.
Give us the grace to welcome him
so that we may have the wisdom and strength to return to you,
our loving and merciful Father.
Help us to be united
with the paschal destiny of Christ, our Savior.
He lives and reigns,
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.
“Let us beset the just one.” (Wis 2:12)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for the just whose life of integrity is a living reproach to those who do evil. Endeavor to replicate in your everyday life the paschal destiny of the Divine Master who forms us in the ways of the just. By your life of service and witnessing to the light of truth, nurture the Christian call to goodness and justice.
***
March 16, 2013: SATURDAY – LENTEN WEEKDAY (4)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Was Persecuted”
BIBLE READINGS
Jer 11:18-20 // Jn 7:40-53
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today’s Old Testament reading presents the persecuted Jeremiah entrusting his cause to God. Jeremiah was appalled to realize that his enemies were making plots against his life. They wanted to kill him so that he would stop proclaiming God’s message and thus be forgotten by all. He was as vulnerable as a trusting lamb taken out to be killed. Jeremiah therefore prayed to God, who is a just judge and who probes one’s thought and feelings, to vindicate him. This death threat caused the suffering Jeremiah to reflect on the meaning of life and his mission as a prophet. The figure of Jeremiah as a rejected and persecuted prophet points to Jesus, the Suffering Servant of Yahweh.
The disciples of Jesus Christ continue to live out the pathos of persecution and rejection. The modern-day martyrs, like Jeremiah and Jesus, place their cause in the hands of God (cf. Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, Testimony of Hope, Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2000, p. 113).
Martyrs for the Faith: The Armenian Catholic bishop of Mardin. Monsignor Maloyan, a man of peace, was unjustly accused, arrested, and forced to march at length with a contingent of Christians. Some proposed that he renounce his faith in order to save himself. He responded: “We will die, but we will die for Jesus.” He died a martyr with his faithful in 1925.
Martyrs for ethnic hatred: At the seminary of Buta in a Burundi tormented by ethnic wars, forty Hutu and Tutsi seminarians were massacred together on April 30, 1996, by Hutu guerrillas. They had been told to divide themselves into two groups – Hutus and Tutsi. By doing so, the Hutus would have saved their lives, but they refused to separate themselves from their companions and all were killed.
We cannot describe the wonders of grace in so many of our brothers and sisters whose suffering is known only to God. Brothers and sisters, we will not forget you!
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
What experiences do you have of being persecuted for the sake of your faith? What does it mean to entrust one’s cause to God?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving God,
you uphold those who trust in you.
Give us the strength to stand for you
in today’s challenging, secularized world.
Help us to be meek and strong just like Jesus in his passion,
who was like a trusting lamb led to slaughter.
Let your saving will be done.
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.
“To you I have entrusted my cause.” (Jer 11:20)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your self-giving and personal dedication to daily duties, replicate in your life the loving sacrifice of Jeremiah and Jesus.
***
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