A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday & Weekday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 22, n.23)
Easter Week 6: May 5-11, 2024
(The pastoral tool BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY & WEEKDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy from various perspectives. For the Lectio Divina on the liturgy of the past week: April 28 – May 4, 2024 please go to ARCHIVES Series 21 and click on “Easter Week 5”.
Below is a LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY - WEEKDAY LITURGY: May 5-11, 2024.)
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May 5, 2024: SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Lays Down His Life for Us”
BIBLICAL READINGS
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 // 1 Jn 4:7-10 // Jn 15:9-17
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 15:9-17): “No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
“The Inn of the Sixth Happiness” is a 1958 movie based on the true story of Gladys Aylward, a modern day saint whose unquenchable passion to do good took her halfway around the world. Inspired by her dream to be a missionary, the English parlor maid, Gladys, journeyed to China and opened an inn for tired, hungry mule drivers crossing desolate mountain trails. Her greatest feat was achieved during the Japanese invasion of China when she led one hundred orphans to safety across enemy-held terrain. She was helped by a young man, Lee, an ex-convict and former teacher, who laid down his life in order to save the children. As Gladys and the children were crossing a forest, they chanced upon the enemy troops. Lee purposely presented himself as a decoy to lure the Japanese soldiers away from them. He was pursued and shot to death. Gladys and the children buried him with grief and devotion. The scripture text that Gladys used at the last rites for their heroic friend ended with the following words: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13). This evocative text on true friendship is part of the Gospel reading that is proclaimed in today’s Sunday liturgy.
Today’s Gospel passage (Jn 15:9-17) fittingly serves as a catechesis on the great Easter event of our redemption by Jesus Christ. True love is sacrificial. The model of this ultimate self-giving love is Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep (cf. Jn 10:11). In this Easter season, it is good to focus our attention on the great act of love that the Good Shepherd carried out for us by his saving sacrifice on the cross. St. Thomas More, an English martyr and layman, exhorts us: “Let us deeply consider the love of our Savior Jesus Christ who so loved his own unto the end that for their sakes he willingly suffered that painful end, and therein declared the highest degree of love that can be. For, as he himself says: A greater love no one has than to give his life for his friends. This is indeed the greatest love that ever anyone had. But yet had our Savior a greater, for he gave his for both friend and foe.” Indeed, God is the love that appeared in the person of Jesus Christ. He brought this sacrificial love to perfection in his death on the cross and his rising to new life.
The love of Jesus “for his own” shown in his death on the cross provides the foundation for love among his disciples. In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us the various aspects of this love. Christian love is, first of all, a participation in the love of the Father and the Son. It springs forth from the love of the Father and the Son. Adrian Nocent remarks: “In speaking of our union with him, Jesus uses the same terms that he uses to describe his own union with the Father. While our own union with him is only analogous to his union with the Father, the identity of the language indicates how very close our relation to God can become. The very love that unites the two divine Persons - Father and Son - is communicated to us.”
Christian love is abiding in the love of Christ who enjoins us: “Remain in my love” (Jn 15:9). As Christian disciples, we must nurture the blessings and the creative power that the Father’s love gives to us. We are the “beloved” of Christ. We are called to live a life of loving obedience to the Father’s saving will in imitation of him, our Divine Master and Shepherd. The Christians who remain in the love of Christ “listen” to the Son even as the Son “listens” to the Father. At the level of service, the Christian disciples serve fully in the way Christ did, that is, as the Servant of Yahweh. Indeed, there is nothing degrading in serving with love. At the level of intimacy, however, the Christian disciples are no longer slaves “because a slave does not know what his master is doing” (Jn 15:15), but they are “friends” for Christ has said: “I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father” (Jn 15:15).
The love of Christ, with the fullness of joy that it brings, has a vital implication: the moral imperative of loving one another. The fact that God has loved us into a new existence in Jesus and that we are no longer slaves but friends of God, moves us to follow the utmost Christian command: “Love one another as I love you” (Jn 15:12). As loving and serving disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to transcend our selfishness and misplaced concerns in order to respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters. We can be helped in this through prayer. Madeleine Delbrel remarks: “Without prayer we can never love. It is in prayer, and prayer alone, that Christ will reveal himself to us in each person we meet, by a faith that grows keener and more clear-sighted. It is in prayer that we can ask for the gift of loving each person, a grace without which there can be no love. It is the expansion of faith and hope by prayer that will clear the path before us of the most cumbersome obstruction to love, which is self-concern.”
Finally, Christian love entails an apostolic mandate: “I appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain” (Jn 15:16). Abiding in the life-giving vine, Jesus Christ impels his followers to go to the ends of the earth, proclaiming the Gospel and bearing abundant spiritual fruits of conversion and faith. The mission “to go and bear fruit” is a result of their new status as “friends”. Indeed, as they go about harnessing for God the energies of love and reaping the rich spiritual harvest of their sacrifice, the Christian disciples keep in mind the Master’s command: “Love one another” (Jn 15:17).
B. First Reading (Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48): “The gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles also.”
I had a chance to visit Auckland, a picturesque place in New Zealand. It is a dreamland. Its vast meadows are green as emerald. The beautiful harbors are enchanting. The peaceful seas are turquoise blue and the sound of the soaring seagulls is deep and haunting. The place is so clean, serene, hospitable and inviting. One cheerful, sunny day in January 1986, I accepted the gracious invitation of one of our Sisters from Tonga to attend a special Sunday Mass in an Auckland parish. The Mass, which was participated by hundreds of Tongan families from different parishes, included the blessing of children. The animation of the sung elements of the Mass was distributed among various parish choirs. When the choirs and the assembly started to sing, I was transported to an exquisite world of beauty, harmony and divine love. Though I did not understand the words of their songs, I was permeated by the sheer grace of the moment. They were praying and singing in foreign tongues, glorifying God in their native language. I felt that the gift of the Holy Spirit was being outpoured anew. What a wonderful experience of a new “Pentecost”!
This Sunday’s First Reading (Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48) narrates the “Pentecost of the Gentiles”. The visit of the Apostle Peter to the God-fearing and devout Cornelius is utterly significant for it makes possible the universal evangelization of the Gentiles, symbolized by the Roman centurion, Cornelius, and his household. A docile instrument of the Holy Spirit, Peter perceives that God does not have favorites, but that anyone of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him (Acts 10:34-35). Indeed, Peter does something radically new and remarkable: he ministers to a non-Jewish household by sharing with them the Easter kerygma of the saving acts of Jesus Christ, dead and risen, the glorious Lord of all (cf. Acts 10:36-43). Peter’s proclamation of the Easter event to the Gentiles concerning Christ, who laid down his life for the salvation of all, is climaxed by an astounding release and outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit on those who are speaking in tongues and are glorifying God (Acts 10:44-46). The Apostle Peter confirms this phenomenal sign of the baptism in the Holy Spirit by baptism with water (Acts 10:47-48).
Indeed, this episode from the Acts of the Apostles records a giant step in the fulfillment of Jesus’ command of love that we hear anew in this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Jn 15:9-17). Harold Buetow explains: “The story of the centurion Cornelius is not just another conversion story. It is the conclusion of one of the first dilemmas facing the early Church: whether a pagan could become a Christian without first accepting Judaism … Peter becomes the first to accept a non-Jew for baptism – a revolutionary step in the life of the Church, for it was an acknowledgement that blood, ethnic origin, being one of the so-called ‘beautiful people’, or other extrinsic traits, mean nothing.”
The marvelous event of the “Pentecost of the Gentiles” is an offshoot of the tremendous love and self-giving offered by Jesus on the cross. The love of the Father in sending his Son and fully revealed in the latter’s sacrifice in laying down his life for his friends is the same gratuitous divine love manifested in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit - the Easter gift – both upon Jewish believers and the Gentiles. The paschal event of Christ’s death and glorification on the cross, the “Pentecost of Jewish believers” (cf. Acts 2:1-41), and eventually, the “Pentecost of the Gentiles” are various manifestations of the ineffable love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for humankind. The ultimate love that Christ revealed in his passion and death is the same life-giving love that energized the apostles in preaching the good news of Easter to peoples of all nations, races and tongues. Indeed, the ministry of the apostles as resolute and zealous Easter witnesses – then and now - is deeply motivated and strongly powered by God’s universal love for all.
C. Second Reading (1 Jn 4:7-10): “God is love.”
The Second Reading (1 Jn 4:7-10) helps us to delve into the beautiful reality that God is love. God has first loved us. He loves gratuitously, unmotivated by any worthiness on our part. He radically reveals his love by sending his Son Jesus as our Savior. God sends his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have eternal life. God loves us so much that we too must love one another. Whoever loves proves that he is born of God. The love revealed by God in Jesus is perceived by faith and must be responded to in faith. We “manifest” our communion with God by our love for each other. Indeed, by loving one another as brothers and sisters, God dwells in us and his love is made perfect in us.
The following story is charming and fascinating. The life of Saint Matilda gives insight into what Christian love entails (cf. Saint Matilda in Our Sunday Visitor Special Supplement: “Saints for Family”, p. 18-20).
SAINT MATILDA, Saint for Parents with Difficult Children: During the Middle Ages, love matches between royalty were rare. Princes and princesses were expected to marry in order to establish political alliance or secure for their families more territory, or to bring in a substantial dowry. Whether the royals liked – let alone loved – each other did not enter into the equation. But Matilda and her husband, Henry the Fowler, loved and respected each other.
Matilda had always been charitable, but as empress of Germany she could be more generous than before. Her favorite charities were churches, monasteries and convents, but she also gave abundantly to the poor. Matilda’s kindness even extended to criminals and prisoners from her husband’s wars. If she could not persuade Henry to release them, then she comforted them in the cells with food, light and warm clothes. Henry never tried to limit Matilda’s acts of charity; rather, he attributed his victories to his wife’s prayers and good works. Over time, the couple had five children.
Saint Matilda’s troubles with her children began the day Henry died. By right, the crown would pass to their eldest son, Otto. But Otto’s younger brother, Henry, wanted to be emperor, and what he could not have by right, he tried to take by force. Young Henry raised an army against his brother, but Otto defeated the rebels easily, captured his little brother and was trying to do decide what to do with him when Matilda intervened, begging for clemency. Otto gave up any plans he may have had to execute Henry, and Henry swore allegiance to Otto.
With peace restored in the family, Matilda did what she loved best: endowed convents and monasteries and built new ones. She spent so lavishly that Otto insisted she stop. Then Henry the troublemaker stepped in. For one not only did he agree to his brother, but he suggested more drastic action to prevent their mother from squandering any more money on monks and nuns. The family should take charge of their mother’s finances, including the property she had inherited from their father, the late emperor. As her sons dispossessed her, Matilda, to blunt the pain of being persecuted by her own children, indulged in a little irony, saying how good it was to see her boys working in harmony at last. Then she packed her bags and went to live at the Engern convent.
But worse was to come for Matilda. Henry made another attempt to seize the throne, this time recruiting a team of assassins that included one of Matilda’s grandsons and one of her sons-in-law. Otto survived the plot unharmed, and once again treated Henry with forbearance. It was just as well; not long after his final conspiracy failed, Henry died.
As for Matilda she spent the final years of her life in a Benedictine convent. There, after she had given to the poor absolutely everything she still owned, including her burial shroud, she died peacefully.
She is also the patron saint of parents with large families.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
The Lord Jesus has revealed the depth of his love in laying down his life for us. Are we ready to make the same sacrifice? How do we carry out Christ’s command: “Love one another as I have loved you”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
(From a prayer composed by Blessed James Alberione)
Jesus, Divine Master,
I thank and bless your most meek Heart,
which led you to give your life for me.
Your blood, your wounds, the scourges, the thorns, the cross,
your bowed head tell my heart:
“No one loves more than he who gives his life for the loved one.”
The shepherd died to give life to the sheep.
I too want to spend my life for you.
Grant that you may always, everywhere,
and in all things dispose of me for your greater glory
and that I may always repeat: “Your will be done.”
Inflame my heart with holy love for you and for souls.
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.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Offer a sacrificial act of loving service for God’s special “friends”: the poorest of the poor.
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May 6, 2024: MONDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (6)
“JESUS SAVIOR: His Spirit Will Strengthen Us … He Opens the Hearts to the Good News”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 16:11-15 // Jn 15:26-16:4a
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 15:26-16:4a): “The Spirit of truth will testify to me.”
In the Gospel (Jn 15:26-16:4a) we hear that Jesus is deeply concerned for his disciples. They will experience rejection and suffering in an unbelieving world. Because of their intimate union with him, they will meet the same fate from unbelievers who think they are serving God by persecuting them. Jesus assures his disciples that the Advocate will come – the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. Indeed, assailed by the world’s hatred and in order not to give up the faith, the disciples would need the sustained help of the Holy Spirit, who gives witness to Jesus. They are called to bear witness just as Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, bears witness to God unto death. The testimony of the Christian disciples in an unbelieving world is powered by the witness of the Holy Spirit, sent by Jesus to be the “Helper” of the Church.
The following article gives insight into the conflicts and duress that Christian disciples are experiencing in today’s world (cf. “Media Could Learn from Allen” in Alive! April 2014, p. 8).
John Allen Jr. is a new associate editor of the Boston Globe, with the task of covering global Catholicism … In a recent report for the Globe he told the remarkable story of how Catholicism “is growing by leaps and bounds” in the heart of the Muslim world.
Due to persecution and war, the Arab Christian population of the Middle East has fallen from 20% to 5% in a century, and some communities face extinction. But “the Arabian Peninsula today is, improbably, seeing one of the most dramatic Catholic growth rates anywhere in the world”, wrote Allen. “The expansion is being driven not by Arab converts, but by foreign expats whom the region increasingly relies on for manual labor and domestic service.”
Thanks to the arrival of Filipinos, Indians, Sri-Lankans, Pakistanis, Koreans and so on, the peninsula’s Catholic population is now estimated at 2.5 million. Saudi Arabia alone has 1.5 million Catholics with up to 400,000 in Kuwait and Qatar and about 140,000 in Bahrain.
“Despite the triple handicaps of being poor, lacking citizenship rights, and belonging to a religious community often viewed with suspicion, these folks are trying to put down roots for the faith, and having some surprising success”, wrote Allen.
Indeed, the King of Bahrain has agreed to donate land for the Catholic Church to be called “Our Lady of Arabia”, which will serve as the cathedral for Northern Arabia. At present Catholics attend Mass in Western embassies, especially Italy’s, or in a private home, or on the grounds of a foreign-owned oil company. The bishop of the area, a 69-year old Italian, sees the Bahrain king’s decision as “a good sign of dialogue which should be imitated by other countries.”
But he admitted that the region is one of the world’s most difficult places to be a Christian. Apart from pressures from radical Islamic movements, Christian workers are offered better salaries or other perks if they convert and their work hours can make it virtually impossible to attend Mass.
“In the Arabic world in general, this is a time of cruel fanaticism”, said Bishop Camillo Ballin. “We don’t want to provoke the fanatics by making ourselves a target.” As a result, the new cathedral will have no cross at the top or other outward sign it is a Christian.
In contrast to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia is a complete “no-go area” for any church, despite its large Catholic minority. “Muslims preach that the entire country is a big mosque, and they say you can’t build a church inside a mosque”, said the bishop. “The day we can build a church in Saudi Arabia will be a glorious day not just for the Saudis but for the whole world.”
B. First Reading (Acts 16:11-15): “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul taught.”
The reading (Acts 16:11-15) is very significant. The Gospel is proclaimed for the first time in Europe. Paul’s evangelization of Europe begins with his missionary activity in Philippi, a prominent city in the district of Macedonia. Philippi holds the key to land communication between Europe and Asia Minor and it has a certain status as a town settled by Roman citizens. On the Sabbath, Paul and his companions go to the Jewish place of prayer outside the city beside a river. There they meet a group of women worshippers, including Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a wealthy dealer in purple cloth. The Risen Lord opens the heart of this “God-fearing” woman to listen to the Gospel proclaimed by Saint Paul. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Lydia is receptive to what Paul says about the Christ. She responds in faith to the saving message and is baptized together with her household. United with them as “a believer in the Lord”, she persuades Paul and his companions to partake of the gracious hospitality she offers in her home.
The Risen Lord manifests his “living presence” when he “opens” the heart of Lydia to receive the Gospel. Something similar occurs during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain in September 2010 (cf. “’A Triumph of Enthusiasm over Cynicism’, Says Salmond” in The Tablet, September 25, 2010, p. 7).
The success of the Scottish leg of Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain has been described by First Minister Alex Salmond as “a triumph of enthusiasm over cynicism”, writes Sam Adams. Mr. Salmond made the comment during a conversation with the visit’s coordinator, Lord Patten, after witnessing first hand the remarkable and perhaps unexpected welcome given to the Pope by the Scottish people on Thursday.
Fears of widespread protests or, worse still, public apathy proved to be unfounded as people turned out in their tens of thousands to cheer Benedict in Edinburgh and Glasgow on day one of the tour. Poor ticket sales for the pastoral events and media criticism of the Pope over his handling of the clerical-abuse crisis and his attitude towards issues such as hom*osexuality provoked downbeat expectations for his reception in Edinburgh, so the scale of support the Pope received in Scotland took many observers by surprise.
An estimated 125,000 people lined Princes Street in the Scottish capital to see him driven past in the Popemobile following his welcome to the United Kingdom by the Queen and spiritual leaders at the Palace of Holyroadhouse.
Benedict set the tone for the rest of the four-day visit during his opening speech at Holyroadhouse, in which he warned against the influence of “aggressive forms of secularism” in society. He expanded on this theme during his homily at the Mass in Bella Houston Park in Glasgow, where he had been given a raucous welcome by 65,000 flag-waving supporters in the early evening sunshine.
Pope Benedict called on Catholics to help evangelize a culture threatened by the “dictatorship of relativism”, in order to counter those who were trying to “exclude religious beliefs from public discourse, to privatize it or even to paint it as a threat to equality or liberty”.
“Society today needs clear voices which propose our right to live, not in the jungle of self-destruction and arbitrary freedoms, but in a society which works for the true welfare of its citizens and offers them guidance and protection in the face of their weakness and fragility”, said the Pope, appealing to lay Catholics to “put the case of the promotion of faith’s wisdom and vision in the public forum”.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we open ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit who strengthens us in persecution and duress?
2.Do we allow our hearts to be opened by the Lord that we may listen with renewed sensitivity to the Gospel? Do we imitate Saint Paul in his zeal to spread the Good News to all people and to the ends of the world?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Father,
we thank you for the Spirit of truth. He is our Advocate and “Helper”
in a secularized world that demands our Christian witness.
We thank you for the missionary zeal of Saint Paul
and his fellow apostolic workers.
Open our hearts
to the transforming presence of the Risen Lord.
Let the Easter victory reign over all.
We love and adore you, now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia.
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 Advocate will testify to me.” (Jn 15:26) // “The Lord opened her heart.” (Acts 16:14)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Pray for the persecuted Christians in today’s world. When you read the newspaper, watch television, log on to the Internet, etc., identify the Gospel elements, focus on them and promote them in your conversation with your family, relatives, and friends.
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May 7, 2024: TUESDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (6)
“JESUS SAVIOR: His Spirit Is Our Advocate … They Believed in Him and Were Saved”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 16:22-34 // Jn 16:5-11
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 16:5-11): “But if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.”
Parting can be heartbreaking. When I was eight years old, my parents decided to transfer the whole family from Guinobatan, a small peaceful town at the foot of picturesque Mount Mayon in Albay province, to Manila, a large chaotic city where my father was employed. When we were boarding the train, I caught a glimpse of my farmer grandparents – standing together in silence – their venerable faces poignant with sadness. I will never forget the pained expression they wore. I wanted to run and embrace them. Tears welled up in my eyes and grief filled my young heart. My beloved grandparents tried to be strong. I knew I had to do just that.
In today’s Gospel (Jn 16:5-11) Jesus talks to his disciples of his imminent departure. Sadness and perplexity come upon them. But he assures them that his going to the Father is beneficial: for unless he goes away the Advocate will not come to them. Jesus’ earthly departure is a gain. He will send from the bosom of the Father the Holy Spirit, his Easter gift. The Spirit of the Risen Lord Jesus is the Advocate-Judge who will prove the claims of Jesus as Son of God and condemn the world for their sin of unbelief. As an Easter people, we need to be receptive to the Spirit-Advocate who continues to witness to Jesus in today’s world. As we live the divine life shared with us by the death and resurrection of Christ, we testify in the Spirit that Jesus Christ is the righteous one. He triumphs over Satan and is victorious over sin and death.
B. First Reading (Acts 16:22-34): “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.”
In the reading (Acts 16:22-34), Saint Paul and his companions continue their Gospel work in Philippi. One day as they are going to the place of prayer, a slave girl with an occult spirit accosts them. She earns a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. The possessed follows the missionaries, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They announce to you how you can be saved!” She does this for many days until Paul becomes so upset that he exorcises the evil spirit. The owners, realizing the loss of financial profit, seize Paul and Silas and drag them to the Roman officials, falsely charging them with civil disturbance. The magistrates order them to be whipped. After the severe beating, the missionaries are put in the innermost cell for the night, with their feet chained to a stake. Paul and Silas, however, are irrepressible. Despite their wounds, they pray and sing in prison as the criminals listen. About midnight, in a divine intervention that evokes the Easter event, Paul and Silas experience deliverance. They are also able to proclaim the Good News of salvation to the jailer and his family. Responding in faith, the jailer and his family are baptized and celebrate their new-found faith with a meal shared with Paul and Silas. The night in prison has become a saving event and a “celebration” that resembles an Easter Vigil.
The Easter event experienced by the jailer and his family in Philippi continues to live on in the people of today. The life of Thea Bowman, a Franciscan sister born in Mississippi at the tail-end of the Depression is an example (cf. “A Soulful Pray-er” by Vincent Rougeau in America, April 12-19, 2010, p. 23-24).
Thea Bowman’s home was the fertile Delta region of Mississippi. Its rich alluvial soil supported huge plantations that produced the prodigious wealth on display in places like Vicksburg, Natchez, and Memphis. Enormous numbers of slaves were required to keep the money flowing, and well into the 20th century the descendants of these slaves labored as sharecroppers to provide the cheap labor vital to this economic system. A relatively small class of wealthy, white landowners and a very small white middle-class were supported by poor blacks, who far outnumbered them. Consequently, the Delta became an area of the South with some of the most rigid and harshly enforced Jim Crow laws and social practices.
Thea (born Bertha) Bowman was born into the relatively privileged (but materially modest) household of the only black doctor and one of the few black schoolteachers in Canton, Miss. They were an educated couple who, when blessed with their only child late in life, provided the loving home and high expectations that would ground Sister Thea for her entire remarkable life.
It is hard for us to imagine today the leap of faith that was required for young Bertha Bowman to leave the tightly knit confines of the black community in Canton to become a nun in La Crosse, Wis. Attracted by the improved educational opportunities made available by the opening of a Catholic mission to blacks, Bertha’s family become involved with Holy Child Jesus parish and eventually converted to Catholicism. The parish school was staffed by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, strong, inspiring women who lovingly encouraged young Bertha’s intellectual gifts and who modeled the unimaginable – a loving community of faith made up of blacks and whites. These women ultimately set the example that moved Bertha to leave everything she had ever known.
In 1953, at the age of 15, she became a Franciscan aspirant at the motherhouse in La Crosse. In 1958, Sister Mary Thea became a professed sister. She would remain dedicated to her vocation as a nun for the rest of her life – no easy task for anyone, but particularly not for an African-American woman in an all-white congregation during the tumultuous decades that followed the Second Vatican Council.
The council created an opportunity for Sister Thea to find her authentic spiritual voice, which knitted together her black Southern self, her remarkable intellect and her fierce devotion to her Catholic faith. She earned her doctorate in English at Catholic University of America in 1972 and went on to teach in and chair the English department at Viterbo College in Wisconsin. Her life as a graduate student in Washington, D.C., exposed her to the intellectual ferment of the civil rights movement, and as she befriended men and women from around the world, she began to realize the rich possibilities offered by life in a cosmopolitan community. She would later make extended trips to Europe and Africa. Ultimately, the seeds were planted for her ministry of African-American expression in Catholic worship and, more generally, greater cross-cultural awareness in the church.
Thea Bowman’s life was cut short by cancer in 1990, but during the 1980s, she achieved international renown by sharing and spreading the African-American spiritual traditions of her Mississippi childhood. An accomplished singer, she demonstrated through song, dance, body movement, moaning, humming, and chant that people of African descent had important messages and gifts to offer the universal church. (…) Perhaps the most enduring symbol of Sister Thea’s legacy is the Lead Me, Guide Me hymnal, a collection of hymns in the African-American tradition for use in Catholic churches.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do I experience painful but beneficial departure? Do I open my heart to the presence of the Spirit-Advocate who testifies to the world about Jesus, the Risen Lord and the Son of God?
2. How do the trials and sufferings of Saint Paul and Silas make them better apostles and missionaries? Do you wish to imitate them in transforming situations of duress into occasions of grace?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
Saint Paul and Silas suffer beatings and imprisonment
for the sake of the Gospel.
Yet their faith is undaunted
through the power of the Spirit-Advocate.
They pray and sing songs of trust in moments of trial.
When things are difficult for us,
let us imitate the apostles
in their trust and total surrender to you.
Help us to welcome the Spirit-Advocate in our life
and be attentive to his inspiration.
May we always look forward with hope
to the Easter triumph of the Risen Christ.
We bless and glorify you, now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia.
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.
“If I go, I will send the Advocate to you.” (Jn 16:7) // “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Recall some significant “departure” moments in your life and see how they have contributed to strengthen your character. Let the suffering, trial, and difficulty you are experiencing at the moment be united with the heart of Jesus and the heavenly Father’s saving will. Offer them to God for an apostolic intention.
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May 8, 2024: WEDNESDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (6)
“JESUS SAVIOR: His Spirit Guides Us to All Truth … His Gospel Is Proclaimed to All Cultures”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 17:15, 22-18:1 // Jn 16:12-15
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 16:12-15): “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you to all truth.”
The following story entitled “Half Truths” is humorous, but it can give us an idea of the importance of Jesus’ promise to his disciples concerning the Spirit of truth who would guide us to the fullness of truth.
The first mate had somehow gotten drunk, so that night the captain wrote in the record for the day, “Mate drunk today.” The mate begged the captain to take it out of the record, for it might cost him his job with the ship’s owners. It was also his first offense. But the captain refused saying, “It’s a fact and into the log it goes.” Some days later the mate was on the bridge and it was his turn to keep the log. He duly recorded the location, speed, and distance covered that day. Then he added, “The Captain, sober today.” The captain protested that this would leave an altogether false impression – that it was an unusual thing for him to be sober. But the mate answered in the very words of the captain, “It’s a fact and so into the log it goes.”
A thing may be true, but the time and manner of telling and the circ*mstances may give an entirely false impression of another’s action or character. Many of us are languishing in situations of incomplete truth or are suffering the painful consequences of half-truths. Indeed, many lack complete understanding. Our contact with Jesus Truth-Way-Life, the glorified Lord and Redeemer, inspires us to seek the fullness of truth and nurtures in us a faith seeking understanding.
Today’s Gospel reading (Jn 16:12-15) underlines the life-giving promise of Jesus about the coming of the Spirit of truth who will guide his disciples to all truth. The role of the Holy Spirit in our life is to make the mission and message of Jesus clear in every age. The revelation of God’s saving love by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is complete, but our understanding is incomplete. We need the guidance and the memory of the Holy Spirit to enable us to grasp, understand and accept the import, the personal implication and the challenge of Christ’s paschal destiny as a suffering and glorified Lord. Through the guidance of the Spirit of truth, we become more united with the Paschal Mystery of the incarnate Truth, Jesus Christ.
B. First Reading (Acts 17:15, 22-18:1): “What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.”
Today’s reading (Acts 17:15, 22-18:1) is again from the second missionary journey of St. Paul the Apostle. After being persecuted in Thessalonica and Berea, he is escorted to safety in Athens by Christian believers. While waiting for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him in Athens, Paul holds discussions with people in the public square as well as with Jews and “God-fearers” in the synagogue. Athens is a center of Greek intellectual life and Hellenistic learning and piety. Paul attracts the attention of philosophers who bring him to the Areopagus, the city council of Athens. The apostle takes the opportunity to expound his teaching to the city’s philosophers and leading politicians. Paul’s speech in Athens is notable because he attempts “to inculturate” the Gospel message to an academic world. He first recasts the Easter proclamation (that is, Jesus is the Son of God whom God has raised from the dead) as “one God, one Lord”, who is the author of salvation. Paul deems it wise to use initially an approach that corresponds with the Greek rhetoric. In this the apostle manifests a readiness to accept the best in the culture and philosophy of the Gospel recipients.
Saint Paul, however, cannot and does not dilute the Easter message. He is impelled to proclaim to the Greek intellectuals the radical salvation that Jesus Christ won for us by his death and resurrection. A sharp reaction ensues when Paul proclaims that “the man whom God has appointed to judge the world with justice” God has confirmed “by raising him from the dead”. Some scoff at Saint Paul; some dismiss him with a polite “We should like to hear you on this some other time”; but a few become believers, including Dionysius, a member of the Court of Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris. After achieving rather modest success among the intellectuals, the irrepressible Paul moves on to spread the Good News to Corinth, the capital of the Roman province of Achaia.
The missionary zeal of Saint Paul is absolutely inspiring. He uses all means to proclaim the Gospel. In light of his experience, we need to examine our hearts and see how we can be more efficacious in our Gospel proclamation. The following incident in the life of the great world leader Mahatma Gandhi can also help us in our examination of conscience (cf. Anthony De Mello, Taking Flight: A Book of Story Meditations, New York: Image Books, 1988, p. 80).
In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi tells how in his student days in South Africa he became deeply interested in the Bible, especially the Sermon on the Mount.
He became convinced that Christianity was the answer to the caste system that had plagued India for centuries, and he seriously considered becoming a Christian.
One day he went to a church to attend Mass and get instructions. He was stopped at the entrance and gently told that if he desired to attend Mass he was welcome to do so in a church reserved for blacks.
He left and never returned.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1.What is the role of the Holy Spirit in my life? Is my personal life immersed in “the truth” of God’s love, revealed by his Son in the Holy Spirit?
2. Do we use all means to proclaim efficaciously the Gospel to all people? Are we ready to suffer rejection and the lack of response to the Gospel proclamation?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
God our Father,
we thank you for Saint Paul,
the great apostle to the Gentiles.
He creatively proclaimed the Gospel
to all peoples and cultures.
He showed us the need to “inculturate” the Gospel
without diluting it.
Guide us by the Spirit of truth
as we share the Good News to all the nations.
We love you and we serve you,
now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia.
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 Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth.” (Jn 16:13) // “What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:23)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Offer a special prayer and sacrifice for the mass media and the digital communications that they may be used to promote the truth and not to distort the truth. Be sensitive to the riches and beauty of other cultures and be a part of the process of Gospel “inculturation”, that is, of letting the faith unfold from the culture of the people we are evangelizing.
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May 9, 2024: THURSDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (6)
N.B. Where the Ascension is celebrated today, the Lectio Divina for that feast is found in the “PDDM Internet Library”.
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Will Change Our Grief into Joy … His Apostles Toil for the Gospel”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 18:1-8 // Jn 16:16-20
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 16:16-20): “You will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”
In the Gospel reading (Jn 16:16-20) we hear Jesus talking to his disciples about sadness and gladness. He prepares them for his impending death and the grief that they will experience in a “little while”. But their grief will give place to the joy of resurrection. His impending passion will plunge his disciples into great sorrow, but his victory over death will, in a “little while”, turn their grief into joy. As Christian disciples we continually experience desolation and consolation, trial and triumph, sadness and gladness, death and resurrection. They form the warp and the woof of our daily life. Through these complementary experiences, we develop a spiritual “insight” that enables us to see the presence of God even in the midst of difficulties. They help us grow in faith and trust as we pursue the divine through various crises and adversities. Indeed, life in the Risen Christ enables us to savor a joy that is deeply profound and enduring.
The following story circulated through the Internet gives us a glimpse into the joy that results from being totally united with God’s life-giving will.
Pam has known the pain of considering abortion. More than 24 years ago, she and her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine cause by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant.
Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors didn’t think of it as life; they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue.
While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: if you will give us a son, we’ll name him Timothy and we’ll make him a preacher.
Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy on August 14, 1987. Pam’s youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prison, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father’s ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam’s son is Tim Tebow
B. First Reading (Acts 18:1-8): “Paul stayed with then and worked and entered into discussions in the synagogue.”
The Acts of the Apostles continues in today’s reading (Acts 18:1-8) to depict the mission of Saint Paul the Apostle. After doing his very best though only with modest success in Athens, Paul goes to Corinth, a great commercial center with corresponding wealth and luxury. There he meets Aquila and Priscilla, who have recently arrived from Italy because the Emperor Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul stays and works with them for they are “tentmakers” like him. Paul supports his day-to-day activity by the work of his hands since he does not want to be a burden to the Church he serves. The apostle’s fundamental ministry, however, is to proclaim the Gospel, which he does while plying his trade. Moreover, every Sabbath he holds discussions in the synagogue, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks. The arrival of his co-workers Silas and Timothy from Macedonia, with financial assistance from the believers there, enables Paul to devote himself full time to preaching the Word.
In his work of evangelization in Corinth, Paul again experiences opposition and abuse. With the symbolic shaking of the dust from his clothes, Paul disclaims responsibility for the Jews’ rejection of the Gospel and asserts that he will bring it to the Gentiles. Like his mission in Athens, Saint Paul’s work of evangelization in Corinth is not a failure. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, together with his household and many other people in Corinth who heard the message, believe and are baptized.
The trials and sacrifices of Saint Paul and the first apostles as well as the grace of vocation continue to be experienced by the Gospel workers in our time. The following story illustrates this (cf. James Martin, SJ, “God Is Ready” in America, March 8, 2010, p. 18).
At one point in my Jesuit training, I spent two years working in Nairobi, Kenya, working with the Jesuit Refugee Service. There I helped East African refugees who had settled in the city start small businesses to support themselves. At the beginning of my stay, cut off from friends and family in the States, I felt a crushing loneliness. After a few months of hard work, I also came down with mononucleosis, which required two months of recuperation. So it was a trying time.
Happily, I worked with some generous people, including Uta, a German Lutheran lay volunteer with extensive experience in refugee work in Southeast Asia. After I had recovered from my illness, our work flourished. Uta and I helped refugees set up about 20 businesses, including tailoring shops, several small restaurants, a bakery and even a small chicken farm. Uta and I also started a small shop that sold the refugee handcrafts. It was located in a sprawling slum in Nairobi.
It was a remarkable turnaround – from lying on my bed, exhausted, wondering why I had come here, anguished that I would have to return home, puzzled what I could ever accomplish, to busily working with refugees from all over East Africa, managing a shop buzzing with activity and realizing that this was the happiest and freest I had ever felt.
One day I was walking home from our shop. The long brown path started at a nearby church on the edge of the slum, which was perched on a hill that overlooked a broad valley. From there the bumpy path descended through a thicket of floppy-leaved banana trees, thick ficus trees, orange day lilies, tall cow grass and cornfields. On the way into the valley I passed people, silently working in their plots of land, who looked up and called out to me as I passed. Brilliantly colored, iridescent sunbirds sang from the tips of tall grasses. At the bottom of the valley was a little river, and I crossed a flimsy bridge to get to the other side.
When I climbed the opposite side of the hill, I turned to look back. Though it was around five in the afternoon, the equatorial sun blazed down on the green valley, illuminating the long brown path, the tiny river, the people, the banana tree, flowers and grass. Quite suddenly I was overwhelmed with happiness. I’m happy to be there, I thought. After some loneliness, some illness and some doubts, I felt that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Do we believe that if we open ourselves to the Easter event our trials and sadness will be transformed into triumphs and joy?
2. Do we realize the importance and dignity of human labor? Do we realize the fundamental character of the work of evangelization? How does Saint Paul inspire us?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Loving Father,
we bless and praise you for giving us Saint Paul
as the model for Gospel proclamation.
He suffers rejection and opposition,
but he is not discouraged
because the Holy Spirit, the Easter gift, empowers him.
Help us to imitate Saint Paul
in his apostolic zeal and his physical-spiritual toil
to proclaim the saving Word to all nations.
Together with the apostle Paul
and animated by the Spirit of Jesus,
help us to endure the “little while” trials of daily life.
You live and reign, forever and ever.
Amen. Alleluia.
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.
“You grief will become joy.” (Jn 16:20) // “They believed and were baptized.” (Acts 18:8)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Through prayer, word and action, be present to a grieving and/or troubled person and assure him/her that his/her sorrow will be turned into joy. Sanctify your daily human labor by uniting it with the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and by offering it for an apostolic intention.
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May 10, 2024: FRIDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (6); SAINT JOHN OF AVILA, Priest, Doctor of the Church;
SAINT DAMIEN VEUSTER, Priest (USA)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Suffers the Birth Pangs of the Kingdom … He Exhorts Us Not to Be Afraid”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 18:9-18 // Jn 16:20-23
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 16:20-23): “No one will take away your joy from you.”
Jesus uses the image of a woman in labor to describe the birthing of the kingdom of God. A laboring woman is in pain but there is tenderness and joy at the birth of her child. The “birth pangs” symbolize the suffering and trials of the disciples as they participate in his passion and death as Savior of the world. There will be sadness and pain, but these will be replaced by tremendous joy at the Lord’s resurrection. The Good News of the Risen Lord will enable them to situate trials and adversities in a new perspective. The “birth pangs” are part of the paschal process that leads to new life and eternal joy. In Jesus Lord, the font of joy, gladness has the ultimate word. Easter is a call to rejoice in the Risen Lord and to be missionaries of joy to a tormented world.
The following account of a woman in labor gives us a glimpse into the difficult birthing of the kingdom of salvation (cf. Karen Valentin in Daily Guideposts 2010, p. 44).
Everything I’d read about labor and delivery promised ninety seconds of contractions maximum, with three to four minutes of relief in between. I can handle that, I thought. But the books lied, or else I missed the chapter about labor-inducing drugs that sent an army of tortures into my body every other minute for twenty hours! I was in shock from the intensity of the pain, and by the time I gave birth I was completely exhausted.
Perhaps I was still in a delivery-room fog, but the tiny baby now wrapped like a burrito and surrounded by family didn’t quite feel like mine. “Do you feel like a parent yet”, I asked my husband, hoping I wasn’t the only one. Apparently I was.
Hours later, alone with the sleeping infant parked near my bed, everything still felt surreal. The baby was quiet and still like a doll, and had been asleep for hours. I needed sleep, too, but my body still hurt. I couldn’t get comfortable, and every movement – no matter how small – was torture.
Finally I drifted off, but just as my dream began, the little burrito woke me up. His loud, urgent cry penetrated deep inside me to a place I’d never known. It made me sit up, gritting through the pain as I inched toward my son. I picked him up and cradled him close to my body, and to our mutual relief the crying stopped. And during that peaceful moment, as I fed my little boy, I finally felt like a mother.
B. First Reading (Acts 18:9-18): “I have many people in this city.”
The reading (Acts 18:9-18) is a beautiful episode in the life of Paul. He is depicted as the object of divine protection. At the moment, Paul must have felt very vulnerable – like a fragile earthen vessel – having experienced so much persecution and revilement. But one night in Corinth, the Lord appears to him in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.” The Lord Jesus assures Paul that he will not be harmed for there are many believers in that city. The apostle is comforted and strengthened by the divine assurance. He continues his mission in Corinth for a year and a half. Heeding God’s command, he continues to speak and proclaim the word of God. Even when the apostle is brought by an angry Jewish crowd to the proconsul Gallio, the “vessel of election”, Paul, remains unscathed for God’s grace is upon him. The magistrate refuses to deal with intramural religious squabbling and sends them away to thresh out their issues locally. The angry Jews vent their anger and frustration on Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue. Saint Paul miraculously survives another lynching. He stays with the believers for many more days, after which he sails off with his co-workers Priscilla and Aquila for Antioch.
Today’s episode is very meaningful for us as members of the Pauline Family founded by Blessed James Alberione. The same assurance of divine grace that Saint Paul had experienced is also present in the life of Blessed Alberione. Here is his account (cf. Rev. James Alberione, “Abundantes Divitiae Gratiae Suae, English trans. Boston: FSP, 1979, p. 91-93).
In moments of particular difficulty, re-examining his whole conduct to see if there were impediments to the action on his part, it seemed to him that the Divine Master wanted to reassure the Institute, started only a few years previously.
In a dream which he had afterwards, he felt he was given an answer. In fact, Jesus Master said: “Do not be afraid. I am with you. From here I will cast light. Be sorry for sins.”
The from here came from the tabernacle and with strength as to make him understand that from Him – the Teacher – comes all the light that has to be received.
He spoke of it to the Spiritual Director, explaining the light in which the figure of the Master had appeared. He replied: “Be serene. Dream or otherwise, what was said is holy. Make it a practical program of life and of light for yourself and for all the members.”
From this he always oriented himself more; and he drew all from the Tabernacle.
So he understood the following expressions in the midst of all circ*mstances: Neither the socialists, nor the fascists, nor the world, nor the demands of the creditors in a moment of panic, nor shipwreck, nor Satan, nor the passions, nor your insufficiency on every side … but be sure you let me stay with you; do not drive me out by sin. “I am with you”, that is, with your Family, which I have willed, which I nourish, of which I am a part, as the head. Do not hesitate! Even if there are many difficulties …; but just let me stay with you always. Do not sin! (…)
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
1. Are we willing to experience the birth pangs of the kingdom of salvation? Are we willing to embrace the joy in the Risen Lord and the mission that it entails?
2. In moments of difficulties and crisis do we trust in the Lord’s assurance: “Fear not … I am with you!”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Lord Jesus,
you appeared in a vision to Saint Paul,
a fragile earthen vessel.
You assured him,
“Do not be afraid for I am with you.”
We thank you for the loving assurance
you offered to the “vessel of election”.
As we experience the birth pangs of your kingdom,
let us feel the victory of your grace.
You are the center of our life.
Let our hearts rejoice in you.
We adore you and praise you, now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia.
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.
“Your hearts will rejoice.” (Jn 16:22) // “Do not be afraid.” (Acts 18:9)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Alleviate the suffering and anxiety of a person close to you and enable that person to experience the joy of the Gospel. In moments of trial and difficulty, cling to the assuring words of the Lord: “Do not be afraid … I am with you.”
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May 11, 2024: SATURDAY – EASTER WEEKDAY (6)
“JESUS SAVIOR: He Teaches Us to Pray in His Name … The Scriptures Testify He is the Christ”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 18:23-28 // Jn 16:23b-28
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
A. Gospel Reading (Jn 16:23b-28): “My father loves you because you have loved me and believed in me.”
In the Gospel (Jn 16:23b-28), Jesus tells his disciples that those who love him will be loved by his heavenly Father. Those who believe in him as the Son of God will share in the joy of his glory as the Risen Lord. They will likewise enter into a new and intimate relationship with God the Father in prayer. At the birth of his kingdom and in his victory over sin and death, they will efficaciously pray and intercede. Jesus exhorts his disciples to ask the Father anything in his name. This will be given to them and their joy will be complete. Easter is a time to trust in the power of prayer. Easter invites us not only to rejoice in the Lord, but also to intercede in his name.
The following story gives witness to the power of prayer (cf. Susan Orneck, “Air Lift” in Guideposts, May 2012, p.65).
San Diego to Tampa – a long flight. I was on my way home from a real-estate agent workshop. If only I could relax, I thought as I shifted in my seat. Even a lucky upgrade to first class wasn’t enough to calm me down. My nephew had been diagnosed with melanoma. Jordan was in his early twenties, just starting a career as a songwriter. He faced his disease with incredible courage, believing in God’s plans for his life, whatever they were. Lord, I am so worried about him, I thought.
I noticed the man sitting next to me – long hair, ratty T-shirt, headphones and tattoos. He looked like a rocker dude from the seventies. “I’m traveling with my band”, he confirmed as the flight attendant served us a beverage. “Really? My nephew wants to be a songwriter.” He pulled off his headphones and asked me more about Jordan. I talked about his cancer, how much I feared losing him. Usually I was good at keeping my feelings in check. But here, with a complete stranger, I suddenly felt free to share how anxious I was. “I see him fighting so hard”, I said, starting to cry. “Chemotherapy is so difficult. I don’t know where he finds the strength to bear it.”
“I had cancer myself a few years ago”, my seatmate said after a moment. “I know how hard it can be.” A tear streaked down his cheek. He grabbed my hand and held it tight. “You can pray for your nephew’, he said. “I’ll pray with you.” A woman spoke up from across the aisle. “I’d like to pray for him too.” “Me too”, said the man behind me. I hadn’t known everyone was listening!
The next thing I knew our entire cabin was on its feet and holding hands – including the two flight attendants. I didn’t know anything about leading a prayer circle so I just spoke from the heart about Jordan. For the first time since his diagnosis I didn’t feel so alone in my fear. God was with me 30,000 feet above the earth, and so were these people who were praying – and would continue to pray – for my nephew.
Jordan’s cancer went into remission. He is still writing songs. And I am still lifted up by what I learned about the power of prayer.
B. First Reading (Acts 18:23-28): “Apollos established from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.”
In the reading (Acts 18:23-28), Saint Paul begins his third missionary journey. From his home base in Antioch, he proceeds to Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the believers. In the meantime we are introduced to a Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, a very eloquent speaker who is well-versed in the Scriptures. Apollos goes to Ephesus where he speaks boldly in the synagogue. With great enthusiasm, he speaks accurately the facts about Jesus, which he knew through his association with a movement of reform preached by John the Baptist. Priscilla and Aquila take Apollos under their patronage and explain to him more correctly the “Way of God”. With a letter of recommendation, Apollos moves to Achaia, where he becomes a great help to the church in Corinth. He engages the Jews in public debates and is able to prove from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah. Through the instruction of Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos’ biblical knowledge acquires a radically new element: that Jesus is not merely a Teacher, but the “Messiah” revealed and foretold in the Scriptures. Thus the bible scholar Apollos is transformed into a believer in, and a preacher of, Jesus as the “Messiah”.
The radical newness of Christian faith that Apollos experienced continues to transform the hearts of people throughout history. Here is an example.
The story is told of an Indian Christian evangelist who was distributing the Gospels to passengers in a train speeding through Central India. One man in anger took the copy, tore it into small pieces, and threw them out the open window.
That seemed to be the end of the matter, but actually it was only the beginning … for a man was walking along the railroad track that day. He saw this little piece of paper, picked it up and in his own language saw written on it the words, “The Bread of Life”. He did not know what that meant, so he asked around among his friends. One told him, “That comes out of a Christian book. You must not read it or you will be defiled.”
He bought a New Testament and someone showed him the passage with Jesus’ words, “I am the Bread of Life.”
That started it! He studied the Gospels and light flooded into his heart. Later he became a preacher of the Gospel. And so it was that a little piece of paper, through the power of the Spirit, became the bread of life in this man’s life.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we trust in the power of prayer? Do we believe that whatever we ask the Father in the name of Jesus will be given us? Do we allow ourselves to be transformed by the radical newness of our faith: Jesus is the Messiah?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Jesus Savior, the life-giving Word,
you assure us of the power of prayer.
You tell us that whatever we ask the Father in your name
will be given to us.
We turn to you in humble supplication.
Prompted by the Holy Spirit
we pray that the heavenly kingdom may come
and his saving will be done.
Give us the grace to know you,
serve you
and love you more and more.
We treasure the Father’s love for you and for us.
We desire to serve you, now and forever.
Amen. Alleluia!
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.
“Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” (Jn 16:23b) // “He established from the Scriptures that the Christ is Jesus.” (Acts 18:28)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
Make a serious effort to offer a prayer of intercession on behalf of the people of today, especially those being led astray by false teachings and erroneous moral principles. By your words and deeds, manifest to the people around the radically new and transforming element of Christian faith: Jesus is the Messiah.
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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
