A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy

A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 5, n. 49)

31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – November 4, 2007

“You Have Mercy On All”

BIBLE READINGS

Wis 11:22-12:2 // II Thes 1:11-2:2 // Lk 19:1-10

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

The account of Curt Klueg, a Lay Maryknoll Missioner in Kenya, illustrates the message of this Sunday’s liturgy: To the bountiful mercy of God who loves all his creatures, we are all called to respond with faith and love (cf. “Missioner Tales” in MARYKNOLL magazine, July/August 2007, p. 6).

Recently I went to the Catholic baptism of eight condemned prisoners in Mombasa, Kenya. I serve all condemned prisoners in a social service capacity regardless of their religion, but knowing that I’m a Catholic missioner, these men asked that I be present. The baptism took place in the courtyard outside the “death row” cell block where they live. When I arrived, the Giriama men from a large tribe on the coast were doing traditional songs and dances. Nearby, the Pentecostal prisoners were praying and singing. The Mass was celebrated in simple fashion, yet so genuine, so lacking in pretense. The priest spoke of the unconditional forgiveness of God, saying, “While we may be surrounded by prison walls, no walls separate us from God.” The prisoners asked me to say a few words at the end. In my broken Swahili, I told them how moved I always am to see the faith of Christians and Muslims alike in the prison – how deep and honest their faith seems to me. Then I reminded them that they experience Christ in a way that most other people cannot – as men condemned to death as common criminals just as Jesus was. Upon leaving I heard a loud “Allah Akbar” as the Muslims in the block began their midday call to prayer. What a blessing to experience the profound depth of faith and spirituality of all these men awaiting execution.

The passage from the Book of Wisdom, the latest of the books of Old Testament, dating between 50 and 30 B.C., is a beautiful meditation on the all-powerful God who is full of love and mercy for his creation (Wis 11:22-12:2). Overwhelmed by the great might of God, the author of the Book of Wisdom declares that the Creator God, who is powerful enough to do anything, chooses to be merciful to everyone. He overlooks our sins and gives us time to repent. He gently corrects those who sin against him. How could such a powerful Lord God, for whom the whole universe is as a drop of morning dew, be so caring and magnanimous toward his sinful creature?

The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent comments: “The Lord can do all things. Therefore he takes pity on men and overlooks their sins so that they may repent and be converted. God has created everything that exists. How, then, could he possibly hate the sinner? Nothing could endure in being, after all, if God did not will it to exist; he is Creator and Master of life, and loves all things. The passage contains a fine theology of God’s anxiety for the creature, his creature, who has rejected him. This anxiety is the source of all God’s efforts through history to create anew what sin has destroyed. Above all, the text emphasizes the lengthy and un-wearying patience of God, who does not abandon the fellow sinner but little by little corrects him and brings him back. The Lord does not act in a brutal manner; he respects his creature, even when it is faithless … God respects even the man who has been unfaithful to him; he does not punish brutally. In fact, God’s first reaction is not to punish at all, but to convert. He warns men and reminds them of their sinful state. He wants them to turn away from evil and believe in him.”

Against the backdrop of the Old Testament reading that extols the all-powerful and merciful Creator God, the Gospel story of Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10) depicts dramatically the kind of response that such magnanimity of God deserves. The diminutive tax collector Zacchaeus, treated with merciless contempt and deeply despised by his countrymen for his collaboration with the Romans, recognized the moment of mercy brought about by the coming of Jesus of Nazareth to Jericho. Zacchaeus was deeply touched by Jesus’ offer of grace and kindness, and responded with a spectacular conversion.

Harold Buetow remarks: “Zacchaeus’ conduct with Jesus was born of the courage of desperation. It was his courage that led him into the moment … Whereas the crowd saw in Zacchaeus a tax thief who earned his large commissions on the backs of the poor and a shrewd manipulator, Jesus saw Zacchaeus’ heart and his hope. Zacchaeus looked at Jesus, and Jesus looked into Zacchaeus. Like all true seekers after God, Zacchaeus got more than he bargained for, and he was delighted … So delighted was Zacchaeus at the Lord’s visit that he promised to give half his belongings to the poor … Zacchaeus was showing himself to be a man of feeling, deeply touched by Jesus’ kindness. He responded to a moment of truth – the moment he knew that God’s love was bigger than the whole world – by letting go of his accumulations of a lifetime. And he went way beyond his religious laws. The rich man was becoming merciful; he was getting through the needle’s eye.”

Responding fully to the grace of mercy, incarnated in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, directed to Jerusalem for his paschal sacrifice on behalf of sinful humanity, Zacchaeus firmly opted for God and entered the Gospel path on the proper use of wealth and care for the poor. Salvation had come to his house on account of Jesus Christ. Because of his faith response, the identity of Zacchaeus as “a descendant of Abraham” was firmly affirmed. The charming episode of his conversion at Jericho ended with a heartwarming saying of Jesus: “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost” (Lk 19:10).

The author of the Days of the Lord, vol. 6, conclude: “In Jesus’ actions, one can recognize God at work; his ministry is the appearance and work of the mercy of God for sinners; he is the intermediary sworn to go to God from whom the initiative always comes. But to the fullness of the divine gift must correspond the generosity of whoever receives it … Occurring during the last stage of Jesus’ life, what happened at Jericho illuminates the importance of the events that will take place at Jerusalem, and it teaches us, through a remarkable example, how we can participate in it. One could even say that the call and conversion of Zacchaeus constitutes a sort of summary of the whole of Luke’s Gospel. In Jesus we see the true face of God the Father who forgives whoever is converted. Receiving salvation joyfully involves not only not doing evil to others, but also being cheerfully rid of all that might slow one down on the road to Jerusalem, on which Jesus draws us.”

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

What insights are evoked in you by the enchanting declarations of the author of the Book of Wisdom about the power and mercy of God? How do the following affirmations impact you: “But you have mercy on all … You love all things that are … You spare all things because they are yours … You rebuke offenders little by little that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord”? Do you marvel and thank the Lord for his power and merciful love that seek out sinners and lead them to conversion?

2 What are the remarkable things that impress you in Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus at Jericho? Why did Zacchaeus want to see Jesus? How did he overcome the obstacle that impeded him from seeing Jesus? What was his response to Jesus’ initiative to stay at his house? What transformation did Jesus bring into the life of the tax collector, Zacchaeus? How does his total response to Jesus, who called to him to come down from the tree, inspire you in your own faith response and life of discipleship?

3 How did Jesus manifest the Father’s omnipotent mercy in his encounter with Zacchaeus? How did Jesus make it possible for salvation to come into the house of Zacchaeus? How does the following affirmation of Jesus affect and inspire you: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and save what was lost”? How do you incarnate Jesus’ merciful love for the lost and sinners?

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD

(Cf. Commission Francophone Cistercienne, Tropaires des dimanches, Dourgne: Le Livre d’Heures d’En-calcat, 1980, 73 // Days of the Lord, vol, 6, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991, p. 289)

Leader: The table is opened to sinners; Jesus calls and waits for us. Draw near to the Master of life; he alone can heal us. Give us the joy of being saved.