A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 5, n. 32)
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – July 8, 2007
“Bearers of Joy and Peace”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 66:10-14c // Gal 6:14-18 // Lk 10:1-12, 17-20
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 story happened in Bombay, now called Mumbai. One pleasant day in November 1984 I accompanied our local Superior, Mother Mary Dorothy, an Italian born PDDM Sister assigned in India, to a cemetery where Italian soldiers who fought against the British and died during World War II were buried. A special memorial service was being held for them. Members of the diplomatic corps and many Italian citizens were there to attend the celebration, which was graced by the presence of the visiting Italian Minister of Finance, the Honorable Signor Spadolini. After Signor Spadolini had laid the floral wreath in honor of the deceased soldiers and bid the assembly goodbye, the Eucharist was celebrated in Italian. I then noticed two very handsome young men who were actively participating in the Mass. Probably, the sons of some diplomats, I thought. After the Mass, the two men were introduced to us. I was amused to know that they were members of Chiara Lubich’s Focolare Movement and working in the slums of Bombay as bearers of Christ’s peace and joy. They hitched a ride in the car that was bringing us back home. One elderly Italian Sister who was with us, a burned out and frustrated pastoral worker, was reciting a litany of woes and cynically asked, “Where is the Kingdom of God, tell me!” One of the young men responded with conviction, “The Kingdom of God is within you!” That was a good reminder. The Sister sobered up and coming to her senses, she became more peaceful. I really blessed the Lord for the gift of wisdom given to that Italian youth and for the dedication of those two missionaries to the Kingdom values. They had renounced the comfort and ease that their Italian home could offer and embraced a life of sacrifice for the sake of Christ. Those two Focolare missionaries were for me a reminder of what it means to be bearers of Christ’s joy and peace to a world that needs wholeness and healing.
This Sunday’s liturgy helps us contemplate our vocation to be bearers of God’s peace and joy. Today’s First Reading (Is 66:10-14c), from the last chapter of prophet Isaiah’s writings, underlines that Yahweh is the source of shalom – the joy and peace, the harmony and well-being – the prosperity that flows like a river upon his Chosen People. The prophetic passage refers to the restoration of Jerusalem, a wondrous event resulting from God’s direct intervention in the history of his Chosen People. The end of the Exile was a cause for ecstatic joy and exultation. The image used to symbolize the renewed and deeper relationship between the Lord Yahweh and his beloved People, chastised by long suffering in the land of their Exile, was that of mother and child. God consoles as a mother consoles, and in him, the Chosen People would experience joy and consolation in their return to their mother city - Jerusalem. The poetic image of the children of God nursing with delight at the abundant breasts of Jerusalem signified the peace, contentment and love that God had in store for his Chosen People. Indeed, Jerusalem would be a place of consolation for the Chosen People.
The Gospel reading (Lk 10:1-12, 17-20) depicts the mission of Christian disciples to be peace-bearers and carriers of the Gospel joy as they moved from village to village, proclaiming the coming of God’s kingdom. Jesus commanded them: “Go on your way … Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household’. If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you … Cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you’.” Indeed, the disciples were to be a consoling, maternal presence for in offering the Gospel of peace and joy to God’s children, those who were yearning for God’s shalom could fully suck the milk of comfort. In proclaiming the nearness and immanence of the Kingdom to God’s sons and daughters, those who were longing to be nourished with joy and peace from the bosom of God would receive them and experience the healing gift of salvation.
The biblical scholar Eugene Maly explains: “And peace is that concrete and dynamic shalom of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is given to this house, suggesting that all the blessings and closeness that shalom is will pervade the house and those who dwell in it. All that is needed for the greeting to be effective is openness to its power. The passage says this, If there is a peaceable man there, your peace will rest on him. The Greek has literally, a son of peace, that is, one who knows what true peace is and ardently desires it. The heart of the missionaries’ message is God’s reign. Twice does Jesus state the nearness of that reign as the power behind whatever else they say or do. In the case of those who welcome them it is a power of salvation; in the case of those who do not, it is the power of judgment.”
The mission of the disciples was extensive and universal as indicated by the symbolism of the “seventy two disciples”, the number “72” referring to all the nations of the world. Moreover, the image of the “rich harvest” signified the peoples of the whole world that needed to be gathered into the Kingdom of God. In order to be more efficacious in the universal mission of gathering the people of God as in a “rich harvest”, Jesus gave his disciples remarkable directives. They were to travel light and not to carry any moneybag, sack or sandals. The detachment from material goods would enable them to uphold the absolute priority of preaching the Good News. The spirit of detachment would also help them to trust more deeply in Divine Providence and oblige them to rely humbly on the hospitality of those who were receptive to the Gospel. The mission of the Christian disciples was extremely insistent and urgent. Hence, they were enjoined not to greet anyone on the way. Above all, they were to be persevering. Even if not always welcomed, they were to continue to bring the peace of Christ and the Good News of the Kingdom. Their power to heal the sick would reinforce their message that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Finally, this Sunday’s liturgy tells us that peace and joy are the lot of those who carry out their mission on behalf of God’s Kingdom. Just as the Chosen People returning to the mother city Jerusalem was filled with joy, so were the disciples of Jesus, returning from a successful mission. They enthused: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name” (Lk 10:17b). Jesus rejoiced with them, saying “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky” (verse 18) and encouraged them with this reality: “Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you” (verse 19). Lest their joy may be perverted and displaced upon personal achievement, Jesus Master gave them the true cause of joy and exhorted them not to rejoice because the evil spirits obey them, but because their names were written in heaven. Indeed, because they belonged to God and experienced his salvation, they were immensely joyful and became bearers of Gospel joy and his abounding peace.
The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent concludes: “This Sunday conveys to us something of the vibrant emotions of the early Church as she saw the slowly ripening fruits of her missionary activity in the name of the Lord Jesus. We can feel a touch of her joy, of her awareness of the presence of God whose kingdom was spreading. Do we still feel any of that joy today? Has not our enthusiasm diminished somewhat? The centuries have passed, it is true, and yet history, despite its sometimes unedifying pages, surely provides in the past and at the present time a magnificent vision that should stir us to joy and fill us with peace. Is our missionary zeal sufficiently focused on the proclamation of God’s kingdom? Do we spread peace and joy to others? Do those who come in touch with us sense that we are filled with peace and joy because we are convinced that the kingdom is among us and that we are experiencing it?"
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What are the moments of joy and peace that we have experienced in our life? What is our response to God’s exhortation to joy that we heard through the prophet Isaiah? Does the image of God as a mother comforting her child impact us? Do we rely on the presence of God and his power at work in us as the cause of our joy?
B. Do we follow Jesus’ instructions to his disciples, especially with regards to the sense of urgency, spirit of trust and detachment, and absolute commitment that the mission of the Gospel entails? Do we take to heart Jesus’ exhortation: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Lk 10:2)?
C. Are we bearers of the Gospel joy and Christ’s peace? Are we convinced that the Kingdom of God is in our midst and that we are experiencing it? Is our zeal for the Christian mission strong, enthusiastic and persevering? Do we feel the touch of joy and the spirit of peace alive in the Church today? If not, what can we do about it?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(Cf. Tropaires pour les dimanches, Dourgne, Livre d’Heures d’En-Calcat, 1980, 87 – Fiches de chant T 61 // Days of the Lord, vol. 6, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991, p. 119)
Leader: Workers for peace, the harvest awaits you: to reconcile the world carry only love. To those who welcome you, and those who drive you out, proclaim the news: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Assembly: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Leader: The deaf hear; the dead awaken; the good news is announced to the poor.
Assembly: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Leader: The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are healed.
Assembly: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Leader: Prisoners are freed; a year of favor is proclaimed.
Assembly: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“The kingdom of God is at hand for you.” (Lk 10:9)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray that the Christian disciples may truly be bearers of the Gospel joy and his peace in today’s anguished world. Be actively engaged in the peace-making effort of the Church and the world community. Bring your gift of peace to a person who is in a painful and stressful situation.
B. ACTION PLAN: To help us delve more deeply into the meaning of our Christian vocation as bearers of joy and peace, 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. 32): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
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