A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday and Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 11, n. 45)
27th WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME: October 6-12, 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: October 6-12, 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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October 6, 2013: 27th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
“JESUS SAVIOR: “He Leads Us into the Miracle of the Trees in the Sea”
BIBLE READINGS
Hb 1:2-3; 2:2-4 // II Tm 1:6-8. 13-14 // Lk 17:5-10
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The story “A Son of Tears” is about Saint Monica’s love and care for her wayward son, Augustine, who would become one of the greatest saints and pastors in the Church (cf. Stories for the Heart, Multnomah Publishers, Sisters: Oregon, 1996, p. 185-187). It underlines the transforming power of an authentic faith that is at the service of God’s saving plan, which is the theme of today’s Gospel reading (Lk 17:5-10). St. Monica’s faith was so pure and limpid that it helped bring about the miraculous conversion of Augustine. He who wallowed in a life of sin and falsehood was later transported into the immense sea of God’s forgiving grace when he finally made a committed response to the love of Jesus. Cassandra Lindell retells the famous story of St. Augustine’s conversion and of St. Monica’s faith experience below.
Saint Augustine did not start out that way. His mother, Monica, taught him about Christianity carefully and she prayed, but his incredible mind had always troubled her. One day, in his teenage years, he announced that he was throwing aside her faith in Christ to follow current heresies. He went on to live a life of immorality … Monica prayed through her son’s sin and she prayed through her son’s heresy. She prayed her son through his fight with God … Those years were not easy for Monica, as any mother of a child lost in darkness knows. Those years hurt. Finally, she went to the bishop, a devout man who knew the Scriptures inside and out, and asked him to talk to Augustine, to refute his errors. The bishop refused – Augustine had quite a reputation as an orator and debater by then. Instead, he wisely comforted Monica by saying that a mind so sharp would eventually see through the deception … Monica would not be consoled by those words. She continued to beg the bishop, and plead with him through rivers of tears. Finally, wearied by her tenacity but at the same time moved by the ache in her soul for her son, the bishop said, “Go, go! Leave me alone. Live on as you are living. It is not possible that the son of such tears should be lost.” Harshness was interwoven with kindness and compassion.
The son of such tears continued to run from his mother and from his God. He ran for many more years. Then, one day, Augustine listened to Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan and the most eminent churchman of the day. Exhausted by the years of running, convicted and broken, he turned to embrace Jesus … Not too long after her prodigal Augustine came home for good, she told him that she had nothing to live for. Her lifelong quest had been to see him come back to Jesus. Nine days later, she was dead.”
This Sunday’s Gospel reading begins with the apostles’ petition to the Lord: “Increase our faith” (Lk 17:5). This request needs to be seen against the backdrop of Jesus’ sayings on leading others astray (Lk 17:1-3) and brotherly correction (Lk 17:4). In order to avoid leading others astray by bad example and to be able to forgive the habitual offender in a spirit of charity, the disciples asked Jesus for greater faith. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 6 comment: “The fact that this request is formulated by the apostles is itself very meaningful. The apostles are those who believed in Easter, and were invested with the mission to call all people to faith, to the ends of the world. Here, they address Jesus as Lord, a title given to him only by those who recognize in him the Christ exalted in the glory of the Father. Therefore, if these bulwarks of faith petition the Lord in this manner, how much more reason do we have to do so, we who are men of little faith.”
Jesus, however, did not answer that he will give them what they ask, but depicted what true faith can do: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Lk 15:6). Jesus expressed the extraordinary power of faith in evocative imagery. A mulberry tree is relatively large, with an extensive root system. It is extremely difficult to uproot this tree and let it grow in deep water. True faith, however, even if it is the size of the mustard seed, will bring about the miracle of “a mulberry tree uprooted and planted in the sea”. True faith increases, blooms and grows. What matter are not the small mustard seed beginning and the littleness of our inchoative faith, but our personal response to God’s saving love offered to us in his savior son, Jesus. Indeed, genuine faith in the person of Jesus Christ brings about true miracles for life, healing and salvation. The image of “a mulberry tree uprooted and planted in the sea” thus points to an astounding phenomenon: the marvelous spreading of the good news of salvation throughout the whole world, and the multitudes of races, peoples, and nations won over to faith by the preaching and witnessing of the Christian apostles and disciples. In every situation of trial, difficulty and hardship in today’s world, life-giving miracles can be accomplished by the power of faith in Jesus.
The next part of this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Lk 17:7-10) presents the parable of the dutiful servant who is expected to go about his ordinary tasks in a responsible, devoted and self-giving way. The Divine Master challenged the apostles with this provocative domestic-agricultural reality: “Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’” (Lk 17: 7-10)
The parable of the dutiful servant underscores God’s unmerited graciousness to his disciples. According to the biblical scholar, Robert Karris: “Stressed here is responsible ministry on the part of church officials who till the field of the Church and shepherd its flock … The point is not that the disciples are not worth anything in themselves or in their work for the Lord. The fact that disciples have done their duty does not empower them to lay a claim upon God that they are worthy of God’s graciousness. That graciousness is and remains sheer gift.” The translation of Lk 17:10 in the Jerusalem Bible corroborates R. Karris’ insight and underlines the ministerial aspect of Christian discipleship more clearly: “When you have done all you have been told to do, say, ‘We are merely servants; we have done no more than our duty’.”
This Sunday’s liturgy invites the worshipping community to become dutiful servants who serve the Divine Master faithfully in a totally disinterested manner, through love. As faith-filled servants of God, we should claim nothing for ourselves, not only because we have received all that we have from the Lord, but above all, in imitation of the Divine Master who came not to be served but to serve (Lk 22:27). In our own frailty and humble dedication as unprofitable servants is displayed the power of Christ.
Indeed, the generous ministry of faith-filled Christian disciples-apostles in today’s world brings about, what D. Rimaud calls, the miracle of “the trees in the sea”, which is characterized poetically by the following: “Beggars as kings, power overturned, hoarded gold shared with all! … Hangmen without work, rusted manacles, empty prisons! … Buried guns, disbanded armies, dancing mountains!”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
In the challenges of daily Christian living, do we humbly cry out to the Lord, “Increase our faith”? Does our faith work wonders? Animated by the power of faith and the grace of God, are we able to bring about the miracle of “the trees in the sea”? In our personal dedication to the kingdom ministry, are we always ready to avow: “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we are obliged to do”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Lord,
together with your apostles,
we cry out to you: “Increase our faith” (Lk 17:5).
We are fragile and vulnerable to temptation,
and we ask you to assist us
in our task of Christian witnessing and forgiving.
O Divine Master,
you assure us
that as long as we personally respond to your loving initiative,
our mustard-size faith will be sufficient
for moving mountains and uprooting trees.
Help us to cultivate the gentle budding of our faith within.
Let the power of our faith in you
enable us to achieve the miracle of “the trees in the sea”.
With the strength that comes from you,
we resolve to toil
for the coming of God’s kingdom in today’s world
and to say at the completion of our kingdom ministry:
“We are merely servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do”.
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 week. Please memorize it.
“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’ and it would obey you” (Lk 17:6).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Carry out your daily tasks with the dutiful attitude of God’s faithful servant. To help bring about the miracle of “the trees in the sea”, offer your personal service for the poor and the needy in your community.
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October 7, 2013: MONDAY – OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
“JESUS SAVIOR: His Cry of Distress Is Heard”
BIBLE READINGS
Jon 1:1-2:2, 11 // Lk 10:25-37
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today we start reading from the Book of Jonah, which portrays God as a God of love and mercy, who would rather forgive and save even enemies of his people, than punish and destroy them. God chooses Jonah to be his prophet to the people of Nineveh, to warn them of their sinfulness. But Jonah makes a desperate attempt to flee from God’s call. The story of his flight is a masterpiece of irony. Jonah confesses that he worships “the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the seas and the dry land”, but why does he escape to Tarshish and believe that Tarshish is far enough to escape from the Lord? When the storm breaks at sea, the sailors pray to their gods but Jonah sleeps. He seems to be humane to the sailors that he is willing to be thrown into the sea to placate the raging waters, but deep in his heart he is far from humane in his attitude to the hated Ninevites, the would-be recipients of his saving mission.
Jonah is a reluctant prophet, recalcitrant and a bit silly. But God does not give up on him as he would not give up on the Ninevites. At the Lord’s command a large fish swallows Jonah and he stays inside the whale for “three days and three nights”. It is in the belly of the fish that Jonah comes to his senses, experiencing the despairing situation to the bitter end. According to Saint Augustine, Jonah’s own passion prophesies that of Christ’s death and resurrection. Like Jonah’s supplication from the belly of the whale, Jesus’ cry of distress from the belly of the earth is heard by God. For both of them, their cry of distress becomes a prayer of thanksgiving.
The prayer for supplication in the midst of distress does not remain unheeded as the following modern account testifies (cf. Katie Powers, “Running on Faith” in GUIDEPOSTS, October 2013, p. 60-64).
April 15, 2013, 3:00 P.M. MEDICAL Tent A, the Boston Marathon. My fourth year volunteering as a nurse. Our 150-person medical team was busy that afternoon - mostly treating runners with minor injuries and dehydration. I was taking the vitals of a female runner who felt light-headed – a typical post-race complaint. But there was nothing typical about the sound I heard while listening to her heartbeat, Thump, thump, BOOM! A powerful force shook the tent and reverberated through my body.
I yanked the stethoscope out of my ears and looked at the TV above my patient’s cot showing live footage from the finish line, about a hundred yards away. Plumes of smoke covered the picture. Probably just a celebratory cannon shot for Patriots’ Day, I thought, turning back to her.
BOOM! A thunderous explosion louder than the first rocked the ground beneath us. Sirens wailed. An acrid smell filled the air. I looked at the other volunteers as we struggled to make sense of everything. “Stay calm, and remain with your patients while we figure out what’s going on”, our medical coordinator, John, said over the loudspeaker.
Seconds later, I heard the screams of pain. Runners started staggering into the tent covered in blood and soot, their expressions frozen with shock. First responders wheeled in others with gruesome shrapnel wounds and missing limbs. Word spread that the sound we’d heard were bombs. Our first-aid tent was now a trauma unit. (…)
John continued to direct us while a trauma doctor relayed instructions to him “We need to prepare for triage”, John said. Patients would be quickly assessed 3, 2, or 1, according to the seriousness of their injuries. The most badly injured ones – the 3s – were sent to the back of the tent, where a handful of ambulances were waiting to transport them to one of the city’s major hospitals. “Stay calm and do what you are trained to do”, he added. “Treat one patient at a time.”
A rookie volunteer turned to me, trembling. “I’m a primary-care nurse. I’m not qualified to treat these kinds of injuries”, he said. I knew how he felt. No one could have been prepared for this. “You can do this!” I said, grabbing his face with my hands, willing him not to give up. And, in a way, maybe I was willing myself as well. “We have the supplies we need and we’ll work together to handle anything God sets in front of us.” “Okay, okay”, he said.
I didn’t want anyone else to be afraid either. Almost unwittingly, I thrust my hand up and waved it. “Does anyone want to pray?” I called out. “Prayer is powerful! It will give us strength!” Before I knew it, several volunteers had gathered around me. I said the first prayer that came to my mind, the Our Father. But when I came to the line “Give us this day our daily bread”, I quickly changed it to “Give us this day our skills and supplies.” Today, those were our daily bread. And when we got to the part about forgiveness, I found it difficult to say. How could we forgive this atrocious act of terror?
I followed the Our Father with a line from the prayer to Saint Michael that I said daily before leaving my house: “Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.”
I looked around the tent. The pandemonium ceased as we all sprang into action. We worked together like a well-oiled machine. Then, a man was wheeled past me with two bones protruding from where legs should have been. Blood was everywhere and his face was completely void of color. More people in horrifying shape entered the tent. I repeated the prayer as we worked. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …” Others joined in. Over the next two hours I continued praying that prayer with patients and volunteers. Hoping to comfort them and, in turn, comforting myself. I felt God’s presence at every cot. (…)
We processed an incredible 97 patients in the first 20 minutes following the explosions. Three people were killed and there were 264 injuries, but no one died in the tent that day. (…)
I’ll never understand why tragedies like this happen, why senseless acts of terror occur. But I know who helps us get through them. The One who gives us the strength to rise above fear when we aren’t sure we can …
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we find ourselves, like Jonah, trying to flee the Lord and his wise and compassionate plan? Do we ask ourselves why we flee from the Lord?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving God,
forgive us for running away
from your compassionate plan and loving wisdom.
Like the reluctant prophet Jonah,
we are lost in our own prejudices and selfish perceptions.
Bless us with the light of faith.
Let us follow you.
And teach us to speak your word of mercy
to the people in today’s society.
We give you glory and praise,
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.
“From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God.” (Jon 2:1)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
In distressing situations, let prayers of supplication be lifted up to the Lord, trusting that he will give us the grace and strength we need.
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October 8, 2013: TUESDAY – WEEKDAY (27)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Calls Us Turn Away from Evil”
BIBLE READINGS
Jon 3:1-10 // Lk 10:38-42
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today’s Old Testament reading is about the mission of the reluctant prophet Jonah to the “doomed” Ninevites. The Benedictine scholar, Irene Nowell, gives us a background: “The Book of Jonah was written in Palestine around the 5th century B.C., when the Jews were still recovering from the Babylonian Exile, a serious threat to their existence … The returning Jews were convinced that they had suffered exile because of their infidelity to God. As a result, they developed an attitude of exclusivity and rigorous observance of the law. They avoided anything that might lead them away from God, such as foreign customs or even foreign wives … The author told this story to an audience that desired to avoid other peoples in order to be faithful to God. The story of Jonah presents the shocking truth that other nations may also be dear to the heart of God. It is a hard truth, conveyed through a powerful story.”
Inwardly hoping that the Ninevites would remain in their evil ways, and thus receive their just punishment from God’s wrath, the extremely prejudiced Jonah couches his message as a prophecy of doom: “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed”. He deliberately omits any reference to God’s mercy in his preaching lest those wicked people repent. Spontaneous repentance, however, is the response of the Ninevites to the morbid threat of Jonah. The people of Nineveh believe God’s message, put on sackcloth and turn away from their evil ways. Seeing that they have repented, the merciful God does not inflict upon them the punishment they deserve.
The forgiveness that God has shown to the wicked Ninevites is the same gift that we need to offer to those who have offended us. The following story gives us an insight (cf. Marcus Weaver, “A Different Man” in GUIDEPOSTS, September 2013, p. 52).
I sat on my bed with my Bible, trying to tear my eyes off the T-shirt crumpled on a chair beside me. The shirt was stained - with blood. A few weeks earlier, I’d survived one of the worst mass shootings in American history, at the Century movie theaters in Aurora, Colorado. A gunman had burst into a theater and fired dozens of rounds from a shotgun, killing 12 people. I was shot in the shoulder, one of the 58 injured. My friend Rebecca, who’d come with me that night to watch the new Batman movie, was one of the dead.
Now my shoulder was healing. My heart was slowly healing. Even my soul seemed to be healing. At least I knew it would heal if I could take some time to pray and collect myself. That’s why I was in my bedroom, clutching my Bible and staring at my T-shirt. I’d kept the shirt as proof I’d survived that nightmare. Somehow, God had saved me.
Yes, but saved me for what? My Bible was open to II Corinthians: “For it is God who said, ‘Let light shine out in darkness’.” My bedroom was dark. It was daytime, but I’d pulled the blinds and closed the door. I wanted to be alone. The days after the shooting had been a blur of media interviews, people rushing to help. Somewhere in there I’d said something about forgiving the killer. After that, all anyone wanted to ask was, “Do you forgive him, Marcus? How can you forgive something like that?”
I’d become known as the victim who forgave the killer. Inside, I was numb. For some reason, every time I read that passage about light and darkness, I heard something else: “Who do you really need to forgive, Marcus?” That was the question, wasn’t it? I knew forgiveness was the path I should take as a Christian. But James Holmes, the suspect with the dyed orange hair and crazed eyes, wasn’t the only one I needed to forgive. I’d carried my own darkness into that theater. A lifetime’s worth. Who did I need to forgive? I closed my eyes and remembered.
My parents weren’t married when I was born. In fact, my dad was engaged to another woman. He married her and walked out of my life. By the time I was old enough to know such things, my mom had married another man, Herbert Weaver. He’d been in the military, then went to work for the finance division of General Motors. He earned a good salary and seemed stable and upright. But Herbert was a monster. After he and Mom had two kids of their own, he treated me like an outcast. The abuse started with yelling. Then came vicious whippings with an extension cord. I was just seven the first time I ran away from home. Herbert always found me and dragged me back. He chained me to my bed. Once, he filled a trash can with concrete and chained me to that. He abused Mom too. We were all terrified of him. (…)
The gunman had wounded my body. But all these years later, Hebert Weaver was still tearing away at my soul. He damaged me because I let him. Because, like a wrestler, I refused to let him go.
“Do you forgive him, Marcus?” The reporters’ words echoed in my mind. I looked at my shirt. At my Bible. At the light behind the blinds. The silhouette was gone. In its place I saw plain old Herbert Weaver, a man who lashed out at others because he couldn’t face his own torment. His fate was in God’s hands too. I could let him go. I could let God’s light fill the shadow in my soul.
I took a breath. I closed my Bible, setting it beside my bloodstained shirt. I opened the blinds; sunlight streamed in. It was a beautiful summer day. I knew it wouldn’t be long before James Holmes had a court date. My phone would ring and the reporters would ask their question again. I knew what my answer would be. And this time, I knew exactly what it meant.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
What does the conversion experience of the Ninevites and the Christian disciples tell me? What are its implications?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(“For All Who Preach the Gospel” by Henri Nouwen)
Dear Lord,
many people experience our era
as an apocalyptic time full of dangers and threats.
I pray now for all who witness for you in this time –
ministers, priests, and bishops,
men and women who have dedicated their lives to you,
and all those who try to bring the light of the Gospel
into the darkness of this age.
Give them courage, strength, perseverance, and hope;
fill their hearts and minds with knowledge of your presence,
and let them experience your name as their refuge from all dangers.
Most of all, give them the joy of your Spirit,
so that wherever they go and whomever they meet
they will remove the veil of depression, fatalism, and defeatism
and will bring new life to the many who live in fear.
Be with all who bring the Good News into this present darkness.
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.
“When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do with them.” (Jon 3:10)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for the conversion of sinners that they may renounce what is evil and turn to God in a spirit of repentance. Extend your help and collaboration to the prison ministry and for the priestly vocations.
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October 9, 2013: WEDNESDAY – WEEKDAY (27); SAINTS DENIS, bishop, AND COMPANIONS, martyrs; SAINT JOHN LEONARDI, priest
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Incarnates the Divine Mercy”
BIBLE READINGS
Jon 4:1-11 // Lk 11:1-4
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today’s First Reading underlines the need for the education of Jonah’s heart. Disappointed that the Ninevites have repented and have experienced the clemency of God, Jonah is greatly displeased and angry with God. The indignant prophet feels that the Lord has robbed his life of all meaning by showing mercy, rather than blazing wrath, to the Ninevites, his enemies. Jonah’s misery is senseless and self-inflicted. The irony is that Jonah, an unworthy object of God’s mercy, begrudges that same mercy to others. The person of Jonah is a satire on the narrow-minded Israelites who, despite their long experience of God’s mercy, resent the limitless extent of divine mercy. But God continues to be patient with the sulking Jonah. He uses a gourd plant to teach him the grandeur and universal scope of divine mercy. Jonah is concerned with the plant, which costs him no labor and which he does not cause to exist. Should not God be concerned with Nineveh, the great city, with more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between good and bad, not to mention the many cattle? Should not God have mercy on his creation? The story is open ended. Like Jonah, we are challenged to answer these questions.
The following story gives insight into the gracious character of God’s loving mercy (cf. Anne Nolan, “Honor Made Him a Brave Man” in ALIVE! September 2013, p. 6).
Recently I read a marvelous report about a German ace pilot in World War II, Lt. Franz Stigler. On 20th December Stigler, aged 28, spotted a lone Allied bomber returning to England after bombing Bremen, and gave chase. It turned out that the bomber was holed all over by flak and bullets and was down to a single engine. One gunner was dead, the other unconscious and the rest of the 10-man US crew were wounded and in shock.
The pilot, 21-year-old Charlie Brown, had worked miracles to get the plane this far, but was losing height fast and would probably not make it back to England. Stigler quickly took in the scene, even spotting crew members huddled together, and eased his finger off the trigger. But instead of just letting the bomber escape, he decided to try and save it and its crew.
Up ahead he knew, were antiaircraft batteries along the coast, and they would quickly take down the low-flying airplane. Stigler signaled to Brown to head for neutral Sweden, but his signs were misunderstood and taken as hostile. He now decided to accompany the plane, risking being shot down himself, but gambling that the gunners on the ground would hold fire if they saw his Messerschmitt alongside the enemy. If reported he could also face court martial and execution for treason. Having done all he could, Stigler saluted and headed back to the base, not knowing if the bomber ever made it home.
Not till 42 years later, then living in Vancouver, did he learn that Charlie Brown had pulled it off. Retired to Florida, Brown was, in 1985, finally free to tell his story at a veteran’s reunion. For the next five years he tried in vain to trace the Luftwaffe pilot, finally writing his story for a newsletter for German fighter pilots. There Stigler came across it by chance.
Only when the two men met did all the pieces of the jigsaw fall into place. From their meeting came a friendship that lasted until both died in 2008. But their story is told in a new book, A Higher Call, by Adam Makos. And what was the “higher call”; why did Stigler not finish off the bomber? Because he saw himself as an honorable man.
The first time he went into combat as a young man was with a much admired officer who told him he might be tempted to fight dirty to survive, but honor was everything. “You follow the rules of war for you, not for your enemy”, said the officer. “You fight by rules to keep your humanity. So you never shoot your enemy if he is floating down on a parachute.” Stigler remembered the lesson. On that day in 1943 he muttered: “I will not have this on my conscience for the rest of my life.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we allow ourselves to be embraced by God’s all-inclusive love and do we strive to imitate his loving mercy that has no barriers or confines?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Heavenly Father,
you are a gracious and merciful God,
slow to anger, rich in clemency and loathe to punish.
We have been the object of your loving mercy.
Do not let us begrudge this mercy to others.
Help us to avoid the recalcitrant stance
of the sulking and narrow-minded Jonah.
Let us imitate your love “without frontiers”
and may we rejoice in your all-embracing mercy.
We praise and glorify 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.
“Have you reason to be angry?” (Jon 4:4)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
When you are tempted to be parochial and when you refuse to be all-inclusive in your love and service of others, call to mind the story of Jonah and the lesson of the gourd plant.
***
October 10, 2013: THURSDAY – WEEKDAY (27)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us to Trust in the Lord”
BIBLE READINGS
Mal 3:13-20b // Lk 11:5-13
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
At times, the power of evil seems so overwhelming that even persons of faith began to falter. This is evident in the following account:
Archbishop Romero offers her a chair. Marianela prefers to talk standing up. She always comes for others, but this time she comes for herself. Marianela Garcia Vilas, attorney for the tortured and disappeared of El Salvador, does not come this time to ask the archbishop’s solidarity with one of the victims … This time she has something personal to say to him. As mildly as she can, she tells him that the police had kidnapped her, bound, beat, humiliated, stripped her – and they raped her. She tells it without tears or agitation, with her usual calm, but Archbishop Romero has never before heard these vibrations of hatred, echoes of disgust, calls for vengeance. When Marianela finishes, Archbishop Romero, who always gives advice and comfort, is weeping like a child without mother or home. He who always gives assurance, the tranquilized assurance of a neutral God who knows all and embraces all – Archbishop Romero doubts. He weeps and doubts.
In today’s First Reading is the encouraging message of God’s decisive triumph over the power of evil. The day is coming when all that is evil will be brought to nothing. This is the message of hope addressed by the prophet Malachi to the returned exiles around 450 B.C. Malachi, whose name means “my messenger” or “Yahweh’s messenger”, voices dire threats that will befall the confirmed sinners on judgment day. At the same time, he has words of hope for the just.
The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent comments: “This text refers to a time of great discouragement for Israel. The exiles have been back home for fifty years, and the Temple has been rebuilt, yet there is great disillusionment. The returning exiles had not been well received; their possessions had been taken by others; they were isolated and poor; there was little concern for them. The city was insufficiently fortified and often subject to raids. All this had serious repercussions on the religious life of the people. They were disillusioned, and their faith was weak; fidelity to the covenant was undermined. The disillusionment is summed up in words that Malachi quotes a little before today’s pericope: It is vain to serve God (3:14). Malachi now endeavors to revive the people’s spirit by telling them that the Day of the Lord is coming. First, the wrath of God will be unleashed against the wicked and the arrogant. They will burn up like straw, and there will be neither root or branch left of them … Fire symbolizes the chastising wrath of God … The second phase of the Lord’s coming will be the appearance of the sun of righteousness, the rays of which bring healing … In this passage the sun symbolizes the powerful intervention of the Lord in defense of the poor and the oppressed … The clear vision of our destiny in God makes illegitimate any kind of morose disillusionment; on the contrary, it should, as in Malachi, rouse our courage and make us vigilant.”
In our times, people oppressed and wounded by structuralized violence and injustice can draw hope from Malachi’s words. In them, Bishop Romero’s anguish – and that of many hapless victims in today’s world – finds a fitting answer.
The biblical scholar, Eugene Maly explains the impact of the apocalyptic or end-time message: “The underlying conviction of the apocalyptic authors was not that the end was coming now, but that the end would witness God’s victory … It is the absolute assurance of the Lord’s control of history and of his ultimate victory at the end that is at the heart of apocalyptic literature. Despite all the evil that can be imagined, he will emerge victorious … We look forward to the second coming of the Lord. The certainty of that coming is a prominent part of the Christian faith. The assurance of it is to brighten our lives and encourage us to labor mightily for the kingdom of God.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Are there times when we feel that the power of evil is overwhelming and we begin to falter? How do we respond to the powerful images presented to us by the prophet Malachi? How does the image of the blazing fire relentlessly burning the wicked stubble in the field impact us? How does the image of the sun’s healing rays console us?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
help us to trust fully
that you are in absolute control.
Let our eyes gaze confidently
toward your final victory.
Grant us the strength and faith we need
to persevere in trials
and to overcome the forces of evil
that assail us and wound our society.
May the options we make
and our actions in daily life
be shaped by your final victory.
We adore you as our triumphant Lord,
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.
“But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.” (Mal 3:13-20b)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Resolve to overcome the forces of evil that block God’s compassionate plan for each of us. With the grace of God and his assurance of ultimate victory, endeavor to overcome the poverty, injustice, oppression and falsehood that confront us daily in our community and society today.
***
October 11, 2013: FRIDAY – WEEKDAY (27)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Prepares Us for the Day of the Lord”
BIBLE READINGS
Jl 1:13-15; 2:1-2 // Lk 11:5-13
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today’s First Reading is from the Book of Joel, written in the 5th or 4th century B.C. during the time of the Persian Empire. The prophet Joel describes a terrible invasion of locusts and a devastating draught in Palestine. The tragedy is overwhelming: the harvest has failed, the yield has dried up and withered, there is no grain or wine for temple offering, the land instead of a blessing has become a curse. The prophet sees in this event a sign of the coming Day of the Lord, a time when the Lord will punish those who oppose his righteous will. The Day of the Lord is a day of final conflict and will unleash God’s terrible might. The prophet Joel therefore calls the people to repent and do penance, and to assemble for a communal lament and prayer of supplication to the Lord. This present catastrophe impels them to rally close about the Lord God and his temple to seek salvation.
The following excerpt describing a natural disaster gives insight into the Day of the Lord, a day of “destruction” leading to a new era of blessing and grace (cf. Richard Martin Stern, Tsunami! in Reader’s Digest Condensed Books, vol. 4, New York: The Reader’s Digest Association, 1988, p. 115-118).
Jimmy Silva had appeared on the top of the bluff, and with him, Joe Hines. They stood silent, looking seaward. Because of the sheer drop-off on the ocean side of the point, they were unable to see the enormous swell as it met the rocks, but the solid sheet of water flung skyward at impact, high above the top of the rocks, told the story all too well.
They watched in near disbelief as that sheet of water, now reinforced from behind, crashed down upon the top of that point. It caught up Todd’s parked car, threw it high into the air and carried it forward across the land on the swell’s crest, to slam it down finally into the waters of the bay, where it disappeared.
Peter said, “Look at the channel! That incoming wave is thirty feet high and still building!” “More like forty”, Joe Hines said. “Houses there are sixty feet above high water.” Johnny Silva said, “There go the first houses. See there, middle of the peninsula. And the wave isn’t even slowing.”
It was not. The huge mass of solid water was sweeping across the peninsula, burying houses within its monstrous body, bringing the sea itself across the land until the ocean and the bay were one, the peninsula no longer visible. Still the wave swept on, its top a dirty whitish gray color now, frothing as a breaker froths, neither slowing nor collapsing in the manner of surf, but continuing its relentless surge. It reached and engulfed the coast highway and slammed itself at last against the solid mass of the high bluff with a crash and a shock that could be heard and felt by those above, as if there had been a massive underground explosion.
Solid water and spray flew high and fell like a cloudburst on the onlookers, leaving them drenched and stunned. “We ought to get underwater pay”, one of the cameramen said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. No one even smiled.
Unbelievably, almost as rapidly as it had come, the water began to recede. The backwash uncovered the bay, the scattered and smashed boats torn from their moorings. It uncovered the peninsula, displaying wreckage of the cheek-by-jowl houses, some shattered, some still partially standing in drunken attitudes, as if the slightest push would bring them crashing to the ground.
What remained of the beach on the ocean side of the peninsula was gradually visible again, but what had been smooth, plump contours were now gaunt, jagged stretches of rock, with the wreckage of houses, carried seaward by the backwash, strewn along the shore as far as one could see.
The entire process had taken only a matter of minute or so. And now all was changed. The seas retained their stormy character; the wind still gusted in howling fury, still snatching spray from the wave tops. But the monster wave was suddenly gone, retreated back into its watery lair, its fury spent, and the scene, instead of turbulently chaotic, seemed by comparison almost peaceful.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we prepare ourselves for the coming of the day of the Lord, a day of destruction and gloom for those who oppose his righteous will?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
be near to us in our distress.
The day of your coming
is a day of darkness and gloom
for those who have rejected your plan
of justice and peace.
Listen to our plea for mercy
and save us from calamity.
Deliver us from evil, Lord.
Bring us into the joy of your kingdom.
We give you glory and praise,
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.
“The day of the Lord is coming.” (Jl 1:13-15)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Take to heart the sufferings of the victims of natural and man-made calamities. Do what you can to aid them in their distress.
***
October 12, 2013: SATURDAY – WEEKDAY (27); BVM ON SATURDAY
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Will Defend Us on the Day of Judgment”
BIBLE READINGS
Jl 4:12-21 // Lk 11:27-28
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today’s passage from the Book of Joel underlines that the day of judgment has come for sinful and warring nations, who surge upon God’s chosen people as hordes of locusts. They are very wicked and the image of a ripe harvest and fruitful vine signifies it is time for the execution of just punishment upon them. Moreover, the prophet Joel conveys God’s assurance of blessings and protection upon his people. Joel’s vision reaches its high point with the presence of God in the midst of the people. This divine presence is the source of refuge and strength for the beleaguered and the suffering. Indeed, the Lord who dwells on Mount Zion promises to defend them in time of adversities.
The following story gives a glimpse into the exquisite quality of God’s benevolent promise of presence and protection (cf. Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger, Christmas Miracles, Avon: Adams Media Corportaion, 2001, p. 47-50).
During the push to Berlin during the latter stages of World War II, Bryan Potter and a group of other bone-weary GIs were quartered in a brick farmhouse and told to get a good night’s rest. The order was as unnecessary as telling a starving man to eat everything on his plate. The men were cold and exhausted in the bleak December of 1944, and although there was little to burn in the fireplace and the antiquated kitchen stove, any warmth at all was greatly appreciated.
They had just finished a sparse, but somehow comforting and filling meal, when one of the men started tapping his fork on his metal mess kit. “Fellas”, he said, when he had everyone’s attention. “Do you know what today is?” (…) And then the realization seemed to strike everyone in the crowded kitchen at the same time. It was Christmas Eve. (…)
One of the men shifted uncomfortably on the hard wooden bench, then spoke up before he lost his nerve. “I think we should do something to observe Christmas Eve – you know, like singing a Christmas hymn. Something like ‘Silent Night’ or ‘Little Town of Bethlehem’.”
“If he had been expecting ridicule from the hardened, tough men around him, he received none that cold and lonely Christmas Eve far away from our homes”, Potter recalled. “Softly at first, as some of us struggled to remember the words, we began singing ‘Silent Night’. Then as we got more into the spirit of the hymn, our voices became stronger and stronger until the rafters of that old farmhouse were reverberating. By the time we got to the third verse, most of us were just humming along, but even that had a good Christmas sound to it.”
Then, suddenly, someone carrying a bright light slammed open the kitchen door and shouted: “Everyone out! A mortar shell is about to hit!” Potter and his buddies scrambled for the door, ran several yards, then threw themselves headlong on the frozen, snow-packed German terrain. Seconds later, the demolished farmhouse erupted in a fiery explosion and began to rain pieces of brick down on them. Nazi mortar fire had scored a direct hit on their temporary sanctuary.
“It was a good thing for us that even though we were bone-tired, we simply reacted on our training and our war-honed instincts”, Potter said. “None of us thought to stop to ask the stranger with the bright light just how he knew that a mortar shell was about to hit the specific target of our particular farmhouse.”
“Whoever the guy was, he didn’t burst in among us and shout, ‘Heads up! The Jerries are going to start shelling!’ He told us to get out because a round was about to hit us. That statement required special and specific knowledge, and if any of us had stopped to interrogate the fellow concerning the source of such intelligence, none of us would have survived the direct hit.”
Peter and his buddies spent the rest of the night in the ruins of a barn, huddled around a sheltered fire. One of the men commented that Christmas Eve was the perfect night to sleep on a pile of straw near mangers and cattle pens. “Later, when some of us had a chance to talk about the incident, a couple of the guys were already calling it a miracle”, Potter said. “After discussing it at great length, we all agreed that the man who burst into the farmhouse was not carrying a bright light, he was the light.
“When we compare our collective memories, we concluded that the stranger was surrounded by a brilliant kind of illumination. We were convinced that an angel saved our lives on Christmas Eve in 1944 by warning us to get out of the farmhouse immediately before the mortar shell hit us.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we believe that on judgment day and the threat of destruction, we will be saved by the Lord as long as we trust in him?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we thank you for your indwelling
and the abundant graces you pour upon us.
Be our refuge and strength
on the day of distress and trial.
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 week. Please memorize it.
“The Lord is a refuge to his people.” (Jl 4:16).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
When you are distressed and anxious about something, pray and put your trust in the Lord. Be an instrument of God’s comfort to those whose hearts are filled with fear and anxiety.
***
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