A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 5, n. 48)
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – October 28, 2007
“The Prayer of the Lowly”
BIBLE READINGS
Sir 35:12-14, 16-18 // II Tm 4:6-8, 16-18 // Lk 18:9-14
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
When I was reading this Sunday’s scripture passages about the prayer of the lowly (cf. Sir 35:12-14, 16-18 and Lk 18:9-14), the figure of Pierre Toussaint came to my mind. He was a slave, but by the time of his death he was a respected businessman and philanthropist, admired by people of all races for his unshakable faith and for his loving service of God and neighbor. He was a man who translated prayer into charitable action. This extraordinary man of great humility and sacrifice epitomizes the insight given in today’s Old Testament reading: “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds …” (Sir 35:17). In his article, “The Rise of Pierre Toussaint” (cf. GUIDEPOSTS, October 1999, p. 52-61, Large Print Edition), Thomas Fleming depicts the sterling character of this noble personality.
Pierre Tousaint had come to New York in 1787 as a slave in the household of Jean-Jacques Berard and his wife, Marie. Owners of a large sugar plantation on the island of Saint Dominique (which was soon to become Haiti), the Berards were fleeing an imminent revolt by the country’s 700,000 slaves who toiled in the cane fields. The 21-year-old Toussaint and his family were house servants, and the Berards were kind masters. They baptized their slaves and raised them Catholics. They rejected the cruel punishments – common on other plantations – that had brought Saint Dominique to the brink of bloody upheaval. When Pierre was a boy the Berards saw he was unusually intelligent. They taught him to read, and he was permitted to spend hours in the family’s library, educating himself. He read sermons and books on the Bible by the greatest churchmen of France. He was no doubt fond of a book by Saint Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, which stressed the importance of sanctifying everyday life with acts of kindness and generosity. In New York, Jean-Jacques Berard decided he did not need Pierre as a house servant. Pierre’s sister, Rosalie, and his aunt, Marie-Boquement, were all the help the Berards required in their modest rented home. “Pierre,” he said, “I have decided you should learn a trade. Mr. Merchant, who has a shop nearby, has agreed to teach you the art of hairdressing.” Pierre discovered he not only liked the art – he had a knack for it … Pierre was soon making as much money as his mentor, Mr. Merchant. There was more to his popularity than his skill as a hairdresser. Women discovered Pierre had an uncanny ability to say exactly what they needed to hear when they talked to him about their husbands, their families, their friends. Often when women discussed some serious problem – a sick husband, a dissolute son – Pierre said, “I will keep him in my prayers.” Frequently the husband recovered, the son changed his ways … New Yorkers began to realize the unique generosity that animated Toussaint’s soul. He received pleas from both white and black people. He always responded, sometimes with money, more often with other kinds of aid. From his wealthy clients, Toussaint rounded up students for destitute French refugees to teach. He brought firewood to freezing fellow parishioners of Saint Peter’s. He visited lonely men in debtor’s prison. When yellow fever ravaged the city, Pierre was among the few who dared risk the deadly scourge to help the suffering victims … In his later years a client asked Toussaint why he was still working. He had plenty of money. Why not retire? “Madam, then I should not have enough for others,” he said. Many women from the best New York families came to regard the black hairdresser as their spiritual counselor. They sought his advice and prayers on every imaginable problem … Pierre Toussaint died in 1853 at the age of 87. His funeral at Saint Peter’s Church was packed to overflowing with people both black and white.
The author of this Sunday’s Old Testament passage (Sir 35:12-14, 16-18), Jesus Ben Sirach declares that the one who serves God willingly is heard and that his petition reaches the heavens. He affirms that the Lord of justice and salvation responds swiftly to the cry of the poor and the prayer of the lowly. God who is the protector of the lowly and the judge of exploiters heeds the persevering prayer of the anawim – the poor of Yahweh. The prayer of the lowly is pleasing to God and humility is the basic stance of the poor man in prayer.
Aelred Rosser comments: “Here in poetic form we see a summary of the way God responds to those who approach in humble prayer … One’s state in life does not automatically guarantee divine approval of one’s requests. It is the state of our interior life that does that. And the one who serves God willingly is the one who is guaranteed a hearing. Above all else, the point being made here is that a humble stance before God is what gives power to our prayers. Humility is not necessarily abject breast-beating, however. Humility is honesty. Coming to God in prayer with an open and honest realization of both our need and God’s fidelity puts us in a truly humble stance. We can never hear too frequently how necessary it is to approach God simply and directly. Nor can it be too often repeated that God always sides with those who have no one else to side with them. The weakest of the weak have the strongest ally in the God who always has been revealed as their special patron.”
Against the backdrop of the reading from the book of Sirach which underlines the efficacy of prayer of the lowly, the Gospel parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Lk 18:9-14) reinforces more powerfully the message that God looks kindly upon the prayer of the humble for mercy, forgiveness and salvation. According to one humorist, two men went up to the temple to pray; one did and the other did not. One went home justified; the other did not.
The biblical scholar, Eugene Maly explains: “One of the characteristic features of biblical religion is that, between God and the human person, counting one’s assets is meaningless. We do not bargain with the Lord on our own behalf. We do not list our virtues in the expectation of a generous divine response. That is what the parable in today’s Gospel reading tells us. The Pharisee is depicted, subtly, as an arrogant man who is quite proud of his accomplishments. His prayer is a listing of his supposed assets. While he does begin with an expression of thanks to God, the impression is given that the man really considers himself ultimately responsible for his goodness …The tax collector does not list his assets. Probably he doesn’t have any, at least the kind that would be acceptable to the Lord. His major assets were likely material ones and were frequently gained by unjust means, if he acted as the majority of tax collectors in the Roman Empire did at that time. But his attitude now is clearly one of humility and sorrow. He begs, not for divine approval as the Pharisee did, but for divine forgiveness. Sorry for his sins, he is determined with God’s grace, to amend his life. Therefore, is this man justified (made right before God) while the other is not.”
This Sunday’s liturgy reminds us that our basic stance before God is humility – a true recognition of our poverty, our dire need for his forgiveness, and our dependence on him, who is the source of all justice and grace. Like the tax collector who prayed with a lowly and contrite heart: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner”, let us allow our prayer for his saving grace to pierce the clouds of heaven and touch his compassionate heart. To him who always treats us with love and justice, we address our prayers in the name of Jesus, who offered the ultimate “prayer of the lowly” in his self-emptying or kenosis on the cross. Indeed, God looks kindly upon the prayer of the lowly ones – the anawim – just as he responded lovingly to the prayer of intercession humbly offered by his Son Jesus Christ on the cross. In the sacrificial prayer of Jesus on the cross we are “justified” and experience forgiveness, salvation, wholeness and healing.
The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent concludes: “The tax collector went home justified. The word is important. The just man is one whom God makes just; he receives God’s favor, not because he is already just, but because in his humility he believes that God can be merciful to him and forgive him his sins. The deeds of men, even if these be not all evil, could never be such as to merit forgiveness; only the sacrifice of the incarnate Son has that power. Because of that sacrifice, the Spirit bestows forgiveness on those who believe, and they return home justified.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
What is the image of God presented by Ben Sirach in the Old Testament reading? How does the affirmation, “The Lord God hears the cry of the oppressed” impact us? What is the connection between the life of humility and service of the believer and his prayer? Do we experience in our personal life Ben Sirach’s insight that “the prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds” and that God’s response to the prayer will be swift and sure?
2 What is our reaction to the prayer the Pharisee spoke to himself in the temple? How does the prayer offered by the tax collector inspire us? Is our prayer like that of the Pharisee or that of the tax collector, or both? Why was the Pharisee not justified, but the tax collector went home justified? Who is the source of our justification?
3 What are our experiences of prayer – our difficulties as well as our salutary and inspiring moments of prayer? Do we recognize that humility is a basic stance in our prayer and relationship with God? How do we allow this realization to shape and mould our life of prayer and service of God and others? Do we endeavor to offer to God daily “the prayer of the lowly”? Do we thank the Lord for the gift of salvation offered to us in Jesus Christ, in the ultimate “prayer of the lowly” that he offered on the cross?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
you are our Lord and the God of justice.
You hear the cry of the poor,
the wail of the orphan
and the weeping of the oppressed.
May we continually serve you with undivided heart
and trust your saving plan for us.
May the prayer that we offer for healing and salvation
pierce the clouds of heaven
and evoke your benevolence and compassion.
Like the tax collector in the temple,
we pray: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner”.
We believe that our salvation comes from you
through Jesus Christ your Son.
He offered the ultimate “prayer of the lowly” upon the sacrificial cross,
the font of reconciliation and healing.
Let the prayer of Jesus on the cross
be our salvation, justification and glorification.
We adore you, we thank you, we love you, now and forever.
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.
“The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds.” (Sir 35: 16-17a)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: In your relationship with God, cultivate a loving attitude and assume a filial and humble stance. Meditate on “the prayer of the lowly” and its implication for you personally and as a community. Strive to incarnate in your daily life the prayer of trust, adoration and intercession that you lift up to God. By your life of service to the poor and needy, endeavor to give a living witness of the power of prayer in today’s world.
ACTION PLAN: To help us develop a stronger faith in Jesus, in his ultimate “prayer of the lowly” on the cross, 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. 48): 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