A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday and Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 11, n. 9)
WEEK 3 IN ORDINARY TIME: January 27 – February 2, 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: January 27 - February 2, 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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January 27, 2012: THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Fulfills the Message of Salvation in Our Hearing”
BIBLE READINGS
Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10 // I Cor 12:12-30 // Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Following a one-year sabbatical at Santa Clara University, California, where I enrolled in some courses at the Pastoral Ministry Program, I returned to the Philippines in 1996. Soon after that, I was invited to be a speaker at the Clergy Day of the Antipolo Diocese where I belong. I presented to the priests, including our Bishop, some insights on the Word of God proclaimed in the liturgy and encouraged them to read an important pastoral document, “Fulfilled in Your Hearing: The Homily in the Sunday Assembly” (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1982). I was awed by the interest shown by the Antipolo clergy with regards to that document. The Diocesan Committee on the Priestly Formation made sure that each of the priests would have a copy of that document. I sensed in those priests the desire to be truly ministers of the Word and be vital instruments of the fulfillment of God’s “day of salvation”. Through their prophetic ministry, they desired to replicate the saving event in the synagogue of Nazareth, when Jesus proclaimed to the assembly of worshippers, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21).
Today’s Gospel passage tells us that Jesus goes to Nazareth, where he grew up, and goes according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and participates in the liturgy. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah is handed to him and, unrolling the scroll, Jesus solemnly proclaims the messianic prophecy: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Lk 4:18-19). This passage is an excellent summary of the messianic work of Jesus, “the anointed” of the Spirit. The biblical scholar Eugene Maly remarks: “The works that Jesus would do in his earthly life and in his death and resurrection are precisely those mentioned in the Isaiah text. Good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, liberty to the oppressed – these are signs of the messianic age, of the jubilee year in its fullness.”
Jesus’ pronouncement about Isaiah’s prophecy: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21), is an astounding revelation and a challenging moment of truth. Jesus of Nazareth declares himself to be the long-awaited Messiah and the fulfillment of the messianic yearning through the ages. He radically avows that the moment of salvation is already being achieved in his person. Moreover, the “today” of salvation that he inaugurates is transcending. Indeed, the inaugural “today” of Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth continues to unfold in his public ministry until his death, resurrection, and glorification when it would become for us the eternal “today” of salvation. The continuous saving presence of the Risen Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit enables his divine Word of salvation to be present to us through time and space.
The Gospel passage of today’s liturgy abruptly ends with Jesus’ declaration of the fulfillment of the Scripture passage in their very hearing. Eugene Maly reflects: “Perhaps the Church deliberately ended the reading here, not continuing with Luke’s report of the people’s reaction. Perhaps she ends it with this bold statement of Jesus to let us hear the fullness of the Word and express our own reaction, not influenced by that of others. What will it be? Rejection and continuing in the same rut? Or acceptance and change? It must be one or the other; that’s the nature of the Word.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
When we listen to the Gospel according to St. Luke, do we respond with love and faith to the proclamation of Christ and the saving events that bring to fulfillment God’s plan of salvation? What is the personal significance of the following words of Jesus: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing”? How do we respond to the task and challenge to actualize the “today” of salvation?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
we believe that you are “the anointed” of the Spirit
to bring good news to the poor;
the one sent to proclaim liberty to the captives
and give sight to the blind;
the liberator of the captives and the oppressed;
and the inaugurator of the “today” of salvation.
Through your prophetic and paschal ministry,
the message of salvation is fulfilled in our hearing
and in the daily events of our life.
Consecrate us anew
and let your creative and all-powerful Word transform us
that we may become docile and efficacious instruments
of the “today” of salvation.
By our lives of charity and ministry to the poor,
let us be your limpid witnesses
and instruments of your saving Word.
We love you, serve you,
and give ourselves totally to you.
You are our saving 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.
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk 4:21)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for all Christians that they may carry out with joy their prophetic ministry to proclaim the Good News. Offer special prayers for all those commissioned in the Christian community to be ministers of the Word, e.g. homilists, lectors, etc. By your acts of charity and by your kind and inspiring words, be an instrument of God’s healing word for the poor, the needy, the grieving, and the lonely.
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January 28, 2013: MONDAY – SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, priest, doctor of the Church
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Takes Away Sin by His Sacrifice”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 9:15, 24-28 // Mk 3:22-30
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant because, by his sacrifice on the cross, he delivers us from sin. Through him we receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. His life-giving sacrifice is definitive and final. It continues eternally in heaven on our behalf. Jesus’ priestly act surpasses the Day of Atonement sacrifice offered by the Old Testament High Priest. Through his once-and-for-all sacrifice, Christ has effectively made salvation available through time and space. He will appear a second time not to deal with sin, but to bring into eternal glory and salvation those who trust in him.
The eternal value of Christ’s efficacious sacrifice is made present in the Holy Mass. Hence, the “weight” of one Holy Mass is beyond our imagining. The following true story was related by Sr. M. Veronica Murphy, an elderly nun, who heard it from the lips of the late Reverend Father Stanislaus, SS.CC.
One day many years ago, in a little town in Luxemburg, a Captain of the Forest Guards was in deep conversation with the butcher when an elderly woman entered the shop. The butcher broke off the conversation to ask the old woman what she wanted. She had come to beg for a little meat but had no money. The Captain was amused with the woman and the butcher. “Only a little meat, but how much are you going to give her?” he wondered.
“I am sorry I have no money but I’ll hear a Mass for you”, the woman told the butcher. Both the butcher and the Captain were indifferent about religion, so they at once began to scoff at the old woman’s idea. “All right then”, said the butcher. “You go and hear a Mass for me and when you come back I’ll give you as much as the Mass is worth.”
The woman left the shop and returned later. She approached the counter and the butcher said, “All right then, we’ll see.” She took a slip of paper and wrote on it: “I heard a Mass for you.” He placed the paper on the scales and a tiny bone on the other side, but nothing happened. Next he placed a piece of meat instead of the bone, but still the paper proved heavier. Both men were beginning to feel ashamed of their mockery but continued their game. A large piece of meat was placed on the balance, but still the paper held its own. The butcher, exasperated, examined the scales but found they were correct. “What do you want, my good woman? Must I give you a whole leg of mutton? At this he placed the leg of mutton on the balance, but the paper outweighed the meat. A larger piece of meat was put on, but again the weight remained on the side of the paper. This so impressed the butcher that he was converted and promised to give the woman her daily ration of meat.
As for the Captain, he left the shop a changed man and became an ardent lover of daily Mass. Two of his sons became priests, one a Jesuit and the other a Father of the Sacred Heart. Father Stanislaus finished the story by saying, “I am from the Religious of the Sacred Heart and the Captain was my father.” From the incident the Captain became a daily Mass attendant and his children were trained to follow his example.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we believe in the eternal value of Christ’s once-and-for-all sacrifice? Do we truly welcome his gift of redemption, and look forward to the glory of his final coming at the end time?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Lord,
you are the mediator of the New Covenant.
Through you, we receive
the eternal blessings that God has promised.
By your “once-and-for-all” sacrifice on the cross
we are saved.
We adore you and praise you
as our saving Lord.
Help us to be faithful to you so that,
as we look forward to your final coming,
we may give efficacious witness
that you are indeed Christ, the eternal High Priest,
living on in the heavenly sanctuary,
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.
“Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time.” (Heb 9:28)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
By your life of holiness and service, manifest to the world the efficacy of Christ’s once-and-for-all sacrifice.
***
January 29, 2013: TUESDAY – WEEKDAY (3)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Comes to Do the Father’s Will”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 10:1-10 // Mk 3:31-35
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Today’s reading gives us a profound insight into the “why” of the Lord’s incarnation. The Son of God became man so that through his “body” he could offer a sacrifice of perfect obedience to the Father’s saving will. The effect of Christ’s perfect sacrifice is our salvation and redemption. Through the offering of the body of Christ for all, we have been sanctified and consecrated to the loving, merciful God the Father.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 1, comment: “Christ was near to God … He handed over his body on the cross, consecrating his heart to the fulfillment of the Father’s plan: I have come to do your will, O God (…) Like the Son of God, who made to the Father an offering of his body, we are able to offer a sacrifice that is pleasing to God, being truly consecrated and united to the Father: through him, with him, and in him . Real worship in spirit and truth is that of a holy life, which the liturgy, the source and summit of all the activity of the Church, brings together and transforms into the praise of his glory.”
The following article in the Irish newspaper, ALIVE! (July/August 2009 issue, p. 6) extols the decision of a young Catholic couple to trust in God and accept the divine will. The moral commitment of Austin and Nuala Conway gives us an insight into Christ’s irrevocable resolve to follow the divine saving will.
The parents of Ireland’s first ever set of sextuplets decided to put their trust in God rather than follow the doctors’ immoral advice during their pregnancy. “These babies are a wonderful gift from God. Whatever God laid out for our lives we were taking it”, said 26-year-old Nuala Conway of Dunamore Co Tyrone. Doctors warned the married couple about the risks of a multiple pregnancy, and “more or less” advised them to have several of their unborn babies aborted. But the young Catholic couple rejected such a heartless solution and opted to trust in God and accept his will. “Doctors gave us a couple of days to think about it, but we knew without discussion what we both wanted”, said Nuala. “Whatever God laid out for our lives, we were taking it.”
The four girls and two boys, weighing between 1 lb 7 oz and 2 lb 7 oz, were delivered by Caesarian section 14 weeks early at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital, with the aid of 30 medical staff. In an interview with the Sunday Express, Mrs. Conway said, “I prayed as much as I could for a child. I would have been happy with one, but God blessed us with six, which is amazing.” It wasn’t until just three months before the birth that a scan showed she was carrying six babies. “I’m in love with every single one of them. I fell in love when they were in the womb. When one moved they would all move and I could definitely feel 24 limbs kicking”, she said.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do you bless and thank God for the Lord’s incarnation and its marvelous consequences? Do you imitate Christ in his total submission to the Father’s saving will? Do you declare “through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ” with receptive heart: Behold, I come to do your will, O God?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we thank you for giving us visions of hope
and the promise of a redeemed and fruitful tomorrow.
We thank you for Christ the Lord.
At his incarnation, your divine Son avowed,
Behold, I come to do your will, O God.
His perfect life-giving sacrifice on the cross
resulted in our redemption and sanctification.
For this wondrous mystery of love,
we praise you, God our Father.
Grant us the grace to follow our vocation to holiness
and to live out our calling to perfect charity.
We adore you and praise you;
we give you thanks and serve 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.
“Behold, I come to do your will, O God!” (Heb 10:7)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Let your acts of charity and deeds of kindness strengthen the hope of the people around you and inspire them to be submissive to the divine saving will.
***
January 30, 2013: WEDNESDAY – WEEKDAY (3)
“JESUS SAVIOR: By One Sacrifice He Makes Them Perfect”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 10:11-18 // Mk 4:1-20
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The author of the letter to the Hebrews underlines for the umpteenth time the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the Old Testament priesthood. The Jewish priest performs his services every day and offers the same sacrifices many times, but they can never take away sins. In contrast, Christ offers one sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and is effective forever. By his death on the cross, Christ has made perfect forever those who share in his priestly consecration. The words of the Holy Spirit give witness to the efficacious power of the New Covenant for the transformation of hearts and the forgiveness of sins. God will remember our sins no more because, in Jesus, our sins are forgiven.
The Christian disciples who share in his priestly consecration by baptism are called to live out in today’s world the meaning of forgiveness of sins and total conversion (cf. Patricia Treece, God Will Provide, Brewster: Paraclete Press, 2011, p. 159-160).
A nineteen-year-old student of metallurgic engineering, Paul Caporali had been surrendered to Christ since he fell “in love with him” somewhere around the age of sixteen or seventeen. Paul was home in his native Terni, with his mother, his fiancée, Lea, and his sister and her toddler on August 11, 1943, when American planes bombed the Italian city during WW II. Although Paul survived, and his father and two younger brothers were later found alive, after the bombing the young student found those he loved the most were dead. They had headed toward a shelter a few minutes too late. As he knelt at the grisly site, Paul wrote in his 2009 memoir, “I wanted to curse the bombers, but a deep surging of Christian piety arose … and looking up at the sky I called out, ‘Father, forgive them! They know not what they do!’ And I meant it. They’re soldiers, I thought, bowing my head. They are only carrying out commands.”
Experiencing “desolation too strong for tears”, Paul found in his fiancée’s purse a little prayer book he himself had given her. He read the words Lea would have meditated on that morning after her daily Mass: “Do not be overly distressed if I take something from you; it is mine and I take it back.”
“Thanks a lot, Lord”, he said with momentary bitterness. Continuing reading, he came to the words, “If I take something good from you, it is to give you something better.” Lea had told Paul that if the devout youth ever felt a call to the priesthood she would work to put him through the seminary. “Trying to get rid of me?” he had teased this selfless woman – who, like him, put God above everything. Immediately with her death he knew marriage could no longer be in his future. Lea could never be replaced.
Some years after his harrowing loss, the ways of providence led Paul Caporali to become a Salesian priest sent to work in the very country whose bombers had killed those he loved. Because of that earlier, wholehearted forgiveness, the Italian priest has been able to help countless American souls forgive their own tragedies, opening them to all the joys of living in the flow of divine providence.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we value the efficacious “one sacrifice” that Christ offered to take away our sins? What is our response to God’s kindness and loving mercy?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
God our Father,
we thank you for the priestly consecration
that we share with Christ, the eternal High Priest.
We are grateful that in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross,
we are saved from sin.
Help us to respond to your kindness and tender mercy
and let us be renewed in your love.
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 day. Please memorize it.
“For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.” (Heb 10:14)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray that the Christian disciples of today may be instruments of the mercy and forgiving love of God. Practice the acts of forgiveness in your daily life.
***
January 31, 2013: THURSDAY – SAINT JOHN BOSCO, priest
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the New and Living Way”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 10:19-25 // Mk 4:21-25
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The author of the letter to the Hebrews enthusiastically describes the grace-filled situation resulting from Christ’s priestly offering on the cross. The Christians disciples now have access to the heavenly sanctuary “by the blood of Christ”, that is, through his sacrificial death that earned our salvation. Through the glorified humanity of Jesus, the new and living way, we are able to come near to God. Christ the Priest is our guide to a deeper relationship with God. This privileged gift of access into the house of God obliges us to live in sincere faith, unwavering hope, and effective love. We are called to live our baptismal consecration to the full for Christ has washed us in his paschal blood. We are urged to hold on to the faith we profess because God is trustworthy. We are inspired to live in mutual love, showing concern for one another and encouraging each other to do good. Participation in the Eucharistic assemblies is a great stimulus for fraternal love and mutual encouragement. Hence, it is very unfortunate that some members of the congregation are neglecting to attend these Church gatherings. The imminence of the “Day of the Lord” makes the exhortation to live in faith, hope and love even more pressing.
The life of the great missionary to Russia, Fr. Ciszek, is an example of what it means to follow Jesus, “the new and living way” in today’s world (cf. COLUMBIA, December 2012, p. 5). He is one who has held unswervingly to the faith that gives us hope and enables us love self-sacrificingly.
FATHER WALTER CISZEK (1904-1984): Born to Polish immigrant parents in the mining town of Shenandoah, Pa. Walter Ciszek grew up with a tough demeanor and often got into fights. To the surprise of his parents, he decided to become a priest and entered minor seminary in Michigan. Walter left to join the Jesuits in New York in 1928. In response to Pope Pius XI’s appeal for missionaries in Russia, he studied theology in Rome and was ordained to the Byzantine rite in 1937, receiving the name Father Vladimir.
Father Ciszek was first assigned to work in Poland. With the start of World War II two years later, he was able to enter Russia using false papers. In June 1941, the secret police arrested him under the suspicion that he was a spy. Father Ciszek spent five years in Moscow’s Lubianka prison, mostly in solitary confinement, and was subjected to torture and interrogation. He was then sent to serve a 15-year sentence at Gulag labor camp in Siberia. Amid brutal conditions, he managed to secretly celebrate Mass and hear the confessions of other prisoners.
Long presumed dead by his family and religious order, Father Ciszek was released under strict conditions in 1955. In 1963, he was allowed to return to the United States as a result of a prisoner exchange negotiated with the help of President John F. Kennedy.
After his return, Father Ciszek published a memoir titled With God in Russia (1964). In a second book, a spiritual reflection about his experience titled He Leadeth Me (1973), he explains how he found strength and comfort in realizing that God’s will was not an “abstract principle”, but was found in the unavoidable circumstances of any given day, even amid hardship and suffering.
Father Ciszek died in New York on December 8, 1984. His cause for canonization began five years later.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Trusting in the power of Christ’s priestly sacrifice and in the faithful love of God, do we hold unwaveringly to our confession of faith, to the hope that anchors it and to the love that gives substance to it?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
O loving Father,
your Son Jesus Christ
is “the new and living way” to the heavenly sanctuary.
His priestly sacrifice on the cross
enables us to live in filial relationship with you.
Help us to respond to such a gracious gift
by upholding the faith we profess,
the hope that anchors it
and the love that gives substance to it.
Teach us to nourish this gift
in the sacred assembly
and in our celebration of the saving mystery,
where we give you honor 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.
“Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope … Consider how to rouse one another to love and good works.” (Heb 10:23-24)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Let your daily duties and acts of service to your family, friends, and the people around you be a manifestation of your faith, hope, and love for Jesus Christ.
***
February 1, 2013: FRIDAY – WEEKDAY (3)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Helps Us to Endure”
BIBLE READINGS
Heb 10:32-39 // Mk 4:26-34
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds them of their identity and dignity as baptized Christians – those “enlightened” by the light of faith. After having welcomed the light of Christ, they had endured all sorts of suffering. They have suffered for their Christian identity and shared in the similar sufferings of others. They have been publicly insulted and mistreated; dispossessed and put in prison. Yet they were not defeated by the struggle. They were not disheartened by the loss of belongings because they knew that they still possessed something better which would last forever. Indeed, they need to endure and not lose courage. They should remember the prophet Habakkuk’s exhortation that the just one lives by faith. They have made a tremendous personal response in following Christ and it would be unfortunate if should they give it up. But in fact, through the example of Christ in his passion, they will not turn back, but instead will persevere in faith and be saved.
The following example of enduring faith in today’s society is very inspiring. Fr. Jon Sobrino, a Jesuit theologian based in El Salvador, gives us a first hand account of an incident that illustrates Archbishop Oscar Romero’s radical faith response for Christ and his people.
“On May 19, 1977, the army went to Aguilares, expelled the three remaining Jesuits, desecrated the church and sacristy, and declared a state of emergency. After a month of the state of emergency, the army simply drove the people out of Aguilares. Archbishop Romero decided to go there at the first opportunity, denounce the atrocities that had been committed, and try to inspire a threatened, terrorized people with hope. ‘You are Christ today, suffering in history,’ he told them. After the Mass we held a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. We processed out into a little square in front of the church to make reparation for the soldiers’ desecration of the sacramental Body of Christ and the living Body of Christ, the murdered ‘campesinos’. Across the square, in front of the town hall, were armed troops, standing there watching us, sullen, arrogant and unfriendly. We were uneasy. In fact, we were afraid. We had no idea what might happen. And we all instinctively turned around and looked at Archbishop Romero, who was bringing up the rear, holding the monstrance. ‘Adelante! (Forward!)’, said Archbishop Romero. And we went right ahead.”
On March 24, 1980, Archbishop Romero was shot to death while celebrating the Mass, the blood of his martyred body mixing with the sacramental body and blood of Christ on the altar of Eucharistic sacrifice. The death of Archbishop Romero was a priestly sacrifice radically united with the sacrificial offering of Jesus, the eternal Priest-Victim upon the cross.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Are we willing to live by faith and endure the sacrifices that Christian discipleship entails? Do we trust that, united with Christ, we will not be overcome by suffering and not be defeated by the struggle?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we thank you for the light of faith
and for our Christian identity.
Give us the grace to endure the sufferings
that our consecration to Christ entails.
Let the passion of Christ be our strength
and help us to believe
that with faith we will have eternal life.
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.
“You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.” (Heb 10:36)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Be courageous to uphold the social teaching of the Church in the public square. Do not be timid in expressing your Christian faith publicly.
***
February 2, 2013: SATURDAY – THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Is Presented in the Temple”
BIBLE READINGS
Mal 3:1-4 // Heb 2:14-18 // Lk 10:1-9
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
Forty days after celebrating the joyful feast of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, we recall today his presentation in the temple. The presentation of the Lord is a feast of light and of encounter: Christ, the Light of the nations, meeting his faithful people represented by Simeon and Anna who, with great expectation, joyfully proclaimed him as the Lord. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 7, comment: “The feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a prolongation of the feast of the Nativity. But it has a definite paschal orientation: the acclamation of Christ as Light is a prelude to that which will flow unrestrained in the liturgy of the Easter Vigil. The Encounter with God coming among us as his Son made human has its prolongation and fulfillment in the encounter that the Risen Christ is preparing for us at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, in a Pasch like his.”
The Old Testament reading of today’s feast (Mal 3:1-4) presents the coming of the Lord into the temple – the Lord whom we greatly seek. Against the backdrop of this prophetic reading, we see the coming of the Lord Jesus into the temple as the fulfillment of the divine promise of purifying intervention and salvation. The infant Jesus is carried by Mary and Joseph into the Jerusalem Temple, in which many years later he would proclaim the Good News, cleanse its sacred precincts from thieving merchants, and declare his body as the Temple of new worship “in Spirit and truth”.
The following story is a modern-day “encounter” with the Lord in his temple (cf. C.J. Herrmann, “The Visit” in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Stories of Faith, ed. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Cos Cob: CSS, 2008, p. 6-9).
Slowly I walked down the aisle of the empty church. It had been a while since I’d stopped for a visit. After many years of attending Catholic schools I’d slipped into the category of “lapsed”. Whatever spiritual juice I’d felt as a young boy growing up had evaporated years ago.
I looked around before slipping into a pew and kneeling down. It was pretty much the same as I remembered. I glanced up toward the altar and noticed the flickering candle that symbolized God was present, though invisible. “So”, I whispered, “maybe you’re here and maybe you aren’t. We’ll see.” Somewhere along the line I’d lost faith in whatever had sustained me in my earlier days.
I blessed myself, sat back on the hard wooden pew, gazed ahead and continued to address the God whose presence I doubted. “Anyway, if you’re really here, I need your help. I’ve tried everything I can think of. Nothing works. I feel totally helpless. I have no idea what else I can do. I’m thirty-three, healthy and fairly successful. You probably know all this. But I’m lonely. I have no one to share my life with, no special woman to love, no one to start a family with. My life feels empty, and I have nowhere else to go. I’ve taken eighteen seminars in as many months, learned how to access my feelings, release past hurts, complete old relationships, communicate my needs, understand and respond to what my partner wants. But I’m still alone. I can’t seem to find the right woman, the one who feels right deep inside. What am I missing?”
I sat still, listening. There was no reply to my question, no still small voice. Just the occasional car horn outside, or the sound of a bus passing by. Just silence. I shrugged. Continuing to sit quietly, I let the silence wash over me.
Day after day, I repeated this routine. I sat in the same pew, on the same hard bench, uttering the same plea to a flickering candle, in the same silence. Nothing changed. I was as lonely as I had been on day one. There were no mystical answers, no hidden messages.
I continued to live my life, managing to laugh and have some fun. I went on dates and enjoyed myself, whether I was dining out, dancing or at the movies. I also prayed. Day after day, I took an hour away from my regular activities, emptied myself and asked the same questions again and again.
One morning about six weeks later, I awoke and knew that something had shifted. I looked around. Something about the slant of light through the clouds, the fragrance of newly bloomed jasmine, the warm beach breeze, was different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was, but I felt it. On my way home that afternoon, I stopped by the church as usual. Instead of my usual whining, I knelt and smiled at the candle.
Then I conveyed my thoughts to God. “I’m not quite sure what happened, but I feel different. Something has shifted inside. I don’t feel lonely anymore. Nothing’s changed ‘out there’, but it all feels completely different. Would you happen to know anything about that?”
Suddenly, I was struck by the foolishness of the question, and I laughed out loud. My laughter echoed off the high ceilings and the stone walls, and then there was silence once more. But even the silence felt different. It no longer conveyed a feeling of emptiness and desolation. On the contrary, it radiated a wonderful serenity and tranquility. I knew in that moment that I had come home to myself. I felt full, complete inside. I bowed my head, took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Thank you”, I whispered. “I have no idea what you did but I feel this happiness comes from you. I know that. I haven’t done anything new or different. So I know it’s not from me. Who else could it be from?”
I continued to sit in the silence, alone, content, happy. Then I spoke again to God. “I surrender to not knowing. I surrender to you being in charge. I surrender to my life being an expression of your will instead of my will. And I thank you for this feeling, this change or transformation or whatever it is.” (…)
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
What is the significance of today’s feast of the Presentation of the Lord for you personally?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(cf. Opening Prayer of the Mass, feast of the Presentation of the Lord)
All-powerful Father,
Christ your Son became man for us
and was presented in the temple.
May he free our hearts from sin
and bring us into your presence.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, 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 day. Please memorize it.
“And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek.” (Mal 3:1)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Participate consciously and actively in today’s Mass and in the “Blessing of Candles and Procession”. Light the blessed candles and use them in your personal prayer. Endeavor to encounter Christ the Light of the nations, especially in the poor and needy who claim your love and compassion.
***
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