A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 5, n. 22)
4th Sunday of Easter, Year C – April 29, 2007
“I Give My Sheep Eternal Life …”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 13:14, 43-52 // Rev 7:9, 14b-17 // Jn 10:27-30
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
One beautiful experience I had was to come in contact with some diocesan priests who had received the special gift of contemplative prayer. One of them is Fr. Paul, who was ordained last year by Cardinal Mahony for the Diocese of Los Angeles. A former bearded, long-haired, motorcycle riding “hippie”, the enigmatic Fr. Paul presided yesterday at the Eucharistic celebration held in our new convent in downtown LA. His deep intimacy with the divine mystery, drawn from long hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and his tremendous openness to the workings of the Risen Lord, present and at work in a world charged with divine glory, galvanized us. Indeed, his profound experience of God has deeply inspired us. He has renewed in us the Easter joy and the awareness that we are blessed by the Risen Lord Jesus, the Eucharistic Master and Good Shepherd, with the gift of eternal life.
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday and the key statement in today’s Gospel proclamation is Jesus’ declaration, “I give my sheep eternal life …” (Jn 10:28). Eternal life is the gift of the Good Shepherd who offered his own life for us on the cross and gives it to us in abundance. Harold Buetow remarks: “The relationship between the Father and the Son is so close that the Good Shepherd can make promises to his flock that can be fulfilled only by the Father (v. 28). He promises eternal life, a foretaste of God’s own life instead of the pettiness that many people know in this present life. He promises that his sheep shall never perish – physical death won’t be the end but the beginning. And he promises that no one can take us out of his hand – our life despite the same sorrows and sufferings that others have, will be secure under his protection … We are God’s people and Jesus is our Lord. That is part of the essence of the ever-old and ever-new Easter message: that God offers us eternal life, the life of the risen Jesus, the life of God himself. That is Good News - News because it is something which never happened before, and Good because it concerns what all human beings hold most dear: eternal life. The eternal life he offers is not simply ordinary human life without end, but the fullness of human existence. To find that fullness, we ought every day to adapt the Good Shepherd’s message to the ever-changing circumstances of our lives.”
In the Acts of the Apostles, eternal life is also the gift offered by Paul and Barnabas, both to the Jews and eventually to the Gentiles. It is what they preached to the Chosen People Israel who have first place in the actualization of God’s saving will. When the Jews rejected the apostolic witnessing and the Gospel about Jesus, the Son of God, who died and rose for our salvation, Paul and Barnabas turned to the Gentiles in accordance with the Lord God’s mandate, “I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth” (cf. Is 49:6). Indeed, the Gospel of eternal life must be preached throughout the world for that is God’s gracious plan. The seed of divine life grows and blossoms in the hearts of those who are willing to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow him wherever he goes.
Expanding their missionary endeavors to the non-Jews, the apostles marvelously participated in the saving works of Jesus, whom Simeon met in the temple as an infant and whom he identified as “a light to reveal God’s saving will to the Gentiles and bring glory to his people Israel” (cf. Lk 2:32). Indeed, those who believe in Jesus would never perish for he leads them to the light of truth and gives them the gift of eternal life. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, continues to defend and care for the flock given to him by his loving Father. Though faith and struggle are intimately woven into the fabric of Christian discipleship, the Good Shepherd assures his followers of ultimate victory. As an Easter people still journeying towards the completion of our personal paschal destiny, we trust in the love and strength of the victorious Shepherd and Paschal Lamb, Jesus Christ.
The biblical scholar, Eugene Maly concludes: “While the young Church rejoices in the risen Lord, while the disciples could not but be filled with joy and the Holy Spirit, they still suffer violent abuse and persecution. Those who suffer in this way are not less convinced of God’s love for them. Rather, their spirit of gratefulness, their constant joy, their eagerness to spread the Word in the face of opposition are infallible signs of that love working its way in them. They have really found his love and cannot keep from responding to it … We could hardly be an Easter people if we did not believe that the resurrection does mean, ultimately, total victory … We sing our Alleluias now, even if a bit off key. But then we will sing them on key and in harmony with unfettered joy.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. How does Jesus’ description of his sheep impact us: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me” (Jn 10:27)? Do we truly belong to the flock of the Good Shepherd who hear his voice and follow him? How many times did we fail to listen to his voice and follow him? What provoked this resistance to the shepherding love of Christ?
B. Do we trust in the promise of the Good Shepherd to give us eternal life and in his assurance that we will not perish? What are the situations of conflict and distress in which we lose hope in the love and protection of the Good Shepherd? Are we ready to be embraced by the strong arms of the Good Shepherd and eager to receive with joy his gift of eternal life?
C. When we are rejected and suffer adversity, do we follow the example of Paul and Barnabas who are open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Are we ready to be Christ’s instruments of salvation like the apostles? Trusting in the care and love of the Good Shepherd, do we endeavor to give witness to the Gospel to all peoples, nations and cultures? In our daily lives, do we endeavor to be an Easter people filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(A prayer composed by Blessed James Alberione)
Leader: Jesus Good Shepherd,
who brought from heaven the fire of your love,
give us your heart.
Inflame us with the desire for the glory of God
and with a great love for our brothers and sisters.
Make us sharers in your apostolate.
Live in us,
that we may radiate you in word, in suffering,
in pastoral action, in the example of a good life.
We offer you ourselves as docile and faithful sheep,
to become worthy of cooperating
in your pastoral mission in the Church.
Dispose all minds and hearts to receive your grace.
Come, divine Shepherd, guide us.
May there soon be one flock and one Shepherd.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” (Jn 10:27-28)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray that the people of today and in every culture may be disposed to receive the shepherding love of Jesus, the Risen Lord. Pray for an increase of priestly and religious vocations and for the grace needed by Christian disciples to be bearers of eternal life. Be an instrument of salvation to the people around you, especially the poor and the sick, the suffering and the lost, who are special objects of Christ’s pastoral ministry.
B. ACTION PLAN: To help us participate more intimately in the love and pastoral ministry of Christ, the Good Shepherd, 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. 22): 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