A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 37)
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – August 8, 2004
“You Also Must Be Prepared”
Wis 18:6-9 / Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 // Lk 12:32-48
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
For nearly 20 years, Secret Agent Jerry Parr had guarded presidents and vice-presidents, always on the lookout for one pair of crazed, hate-filled eyes; always at the ready. He had to pass target practice every month as a requirement for his job. According to Jerry, prayer was an essential part of his life and job. In a way, Christian discipleship is similar to his job – something requiring watchfulness and constant vigilance.
Today’s Gospel reading (Lk 12:32-48) presents the theme of dynamic vigilance and alert watchfulness in view of welcoming Christ, the bearer of God’s kingdom. The disciples of Jesus through all times are to keep in mind his urgent admonition to be ready for his return. The Christian disciples are to be ready to open their hearts to the Essential One who came to save us, who continually comes in our daily life, and will come again at the end time to restore all things in himself. They must be prepared to welcome the kingdom of glory that he brings to fulfillment.
The call to vigilance and watchfulness presented in this Sunday’s reading is introduced by Jesus’ promise of God’s kingdom: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:22). The Divine Master’s reassuring words and heart-warming promise to his beloved disciples are immediately followed by an astounding challenge: “Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Lk 12:33-34).
Indeed, the Master’s promise of the kingdom value demands a spirit of detachment and freedom from useless anxiety and greediness. The absolute concern of Christian disciples is tending towards the realization of God’s kingdom on earth. According to the biblical scholar, Jerome Kodell: “The primary concern is the establishment of God’s kingdom, not one’s own. It is absurd to let life be concerned in the building of a vanishing kingdom when the Father wants to give you his own eternal kingdom. Finally Jesus comes back to the admonition to give alms. Parting with what one depends on is the best way to learn the freedom of the kingdom. The attitude towards earthly goods is not an indifferent or innocent question; it is really the barometer of what is really important in a person’s life.”
Hence, our lives as Christians should be marked by a positive response to the Lord’s promise of the kingdom inheritance. We must not be encumbered and laden with worldly concerns. If our eyes are trained primarily on the material things of this world, it is difficult to focus on Christ’s coming and the kingdom that he shares with us from the Father as inheritance.
The fundamental choice for the kingdom value demands vigilance on the part of Christian disciples. Jesus tells them to be prepared for his return: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return … You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Lk 12:35-36a, 40). Adrian Nocent comments on the spirit of expectation that characterizes a true Christian follower: “The spiritual nature of the Christian is such that he is made both to wait for and move toward his encounter with God. If his soul is always pointed toward this encounter, he cannot be taken by surprise … Readiness is not a kind of accessory quality, either for the Church or for the individual. It is rather something inherent in the nature of both the Church and the individual. Only forgetfulness of what he really is could allow the Christians to be surprised by the coming of Christ. If he follows his true nature, he will want that coming, look for it, await it, and regard it as a blessing.”
For the Christian disciples, Advent – the time of hopeful waiting – is a year-round season and an ongoing experience. Aelred Rosser asserts: “Every task, every little job, every good word, every kind deed – all of these are the Lord at work in us, enabling us to prepare for his coming – now and finally. Blessed is that servant whom the master finds ready – busily waiting.” Indeed, the life of Christian disciples is dynamically driven by the expectation of the full realization of the kingdom inheritance and the definitive coming of our Lord Jesus.
The Christians who are dynamically waiting for the full realization of God’s kingdom are personally involved in promoting its growth. Their vigilance is characterized by a sense of responsibility and personal dedication. Their alert watchfulness for the Lord’s coming leads them to carry out their task and mission on behalf of the reign of God upon earth. Karl Rahner, a theologian of penetrating insight, thus exhorts us, the Christian vigilant laborers of today: “We are still the laborers who must bear the heat and the burden of the day, who will never fully achieve the mission on which we are sent: for the fact remains that this culture, toward which we have a mission and a duty, which we are to perfect in a Christian manner, which we are to continually purify from the power of darkness and evil, will only reach its fulfillment in the kingdom of God. Before that comes about, we can, with the finger of God, show signs here and there that the kingdom of God has come into the world in the form of something bright and wholesome, something sound and true. More than this we cannot do. But even this is a noble mission set before us as men and as Christians, a mission against the darkness, to enkindle the faith that the kingdom of God is come.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. Do I put trust in Christ’s reassuring words: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32)?
B. What is my response to the following challenge: “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Lk 12:40)? Are we ready to welcome the advent of Christ in our everyday life and at the end time? How do we prepare for death? How do we prepare for the Lord’s coming in mystery in the events of our life? How do we prepare for his definitive coming in glory?
C. In word and deed, do we strive to enkindle the faith that the kingdom of God is come? Is our dynamic vigilance a source of inspiration for others to focus on the coming of the Master and the kingdom inheritance?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
prepare our hearts to welcome the coming of Christ
and the kingdom of glory that he brings to fulfillment
by his paschal destiny.
Do not allow us to be encumbered by worldly possessions,
but rather, give us the grace to share them
with the poor and needy.
Fill us with spiritual wisdom
that we may treasure the kingdom inheritance
that comes from you.
United with your Son Jesus,
help us to promote your kingdom on earth
by offering to a wounded world
something bright and beautiful,
something wholesome and true.
May we work on behalf of your kingdom
with dynamic vigilance and creativity.
Bless us that we may truly be
the loving and watchful servants
who wait for the glorious return of Jesus, our Lord.
He lives and reigns forever and ever.
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.
“You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (Lk 12:40)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: List three events in your life for which you were prepared and three other events for which you were unprepared. Pray over these events and ask the Lord to strengthen your vigilant expectation for his coming. Pray also that he may deliver you from complacency and fretfulness, and lack of dedication in bringing forth his kingdom on earth.
B. ACTION PLAN: If possible, help an elderly and/or seriously ill person prepare to receive Jesus at the hour of death.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US