A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 6, n. 10)
4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – February 3, 2008
“The Anawim”
BIBLE READINGS
Zep 2:3; 3:12-13 // I Cor 1:26-31 // Mt 5:1-12a
N.B. Series 6 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year A from the perspective of the First Reading. For another set of reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year A, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US and open Series 3.
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
Some of my favorite Bible readings proclaimed in the Eucharistic liturgy are taken from the prophet Zephaniah. It is a very short book, consisting of 53 verses divided into 3 chapters, but from it are drawn four impressive passages for liturgical reading:
- Zeph 3:14-18a for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C
- Zeph 3:1-2, 9-13 for Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Advent
- Zeph 3:14-18 as an optional reading for Dec. 21
- and Zep 2:3; 3:12-13 as this Sunday’s Old Testament reading.
The book of Zephaniah contains some of the most poetic and consoling passages in the entire Sacred Scriptures. I chuckled with amusement when I came across Zephaniah’s delightful image of the Lord God as joyfully dancing: “He will exult with joy over you; he will renew you by his love; he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on the day of festival” (Zep 3:18). This passage should inspire us - Christian disciples - to use dancing as an expression of our joy in the Lord.
The prophet Zephaniah made a profound contribution to spiritual life. In today’s Old Testament reading, he presented the concept of “anawim” (from anawah = humility), “a people humble and lowly” who find their blessedness in God. They are the “remnant” of those who have survived the judgment of the Lord in his “day of wrath”. These humble believers are eager to welcome God, always ready to do his will and their hope is in him alone. With his double-edged prophecy of doom for the godless and salvation for the humble and lowly, Zephaniah inaugurated the growth of the spirituality of the anawim.
The biblical scholar, Eugene Maly comments: “This Sunday an obvious theme threads its way through all three readings. It is that of the humble and lowly (first reading), the weak and lowborn (second reading), and the poor in spirit and the lowly (third reading). The Hebrew Bible developed a technical term for those people; it called them the anawim. They are the ones to whom the Messiah would bring shalom (peace). The prophet Zephaniah lived in the 7th century B.C., perhaps toward the end of that century and so not too long before the total collapse of Judah and the devastation of Jerusalem. Like Amos and Hosea in the northern kingdom a century before him, he witnessed the bankruptcy of the policies of kings and princes, of the wealthy and powerful. Their materialism and lack of social concern could only lead to disaster. Against that background what Zephaniah has to say in the first reading makes perfect sense, at least for believers. There will be a day of the Lord’s anger, but the anawim will be a remnant preserved. They recognize the ultimate source of all strength, wisdom and health. It is the Lord and in him, they take refuge.”
Formed in the spirit of the anawim by his mother Mary, the “humble handmaid of the Lord” Jesus is the ultimate anawim. He is the “Servant-Son of Yahweh”, who is “meek and humble of heart” (cf. Mt 11:29). In his inaugural discourse as Divine Master on the mountain, Jesus declared that the anawim – the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peace makers and those persecuted for justice’s sake – are blessed by the Lord. They are the full recipients of salvation and of God’s infinite favor, benevolence and peace. Jesus is the “New Moses” transmitting the foundation guide for the new Israel. On the mountain of the “Galilee of the Gentiles”, Jesus radically pronounced the “Beatitudes” of the anawim, the very foundations of the new law of his kingdom.
Immersed into the baptismal waters of his paschal destiny, the Christian disciples are called to live the spirit of the anawim and to proclaim to the world the beatitudes of God’s anawim. The following story illustrates how two Peruvian women exemplify what it means to be an anawim and the sacrifices, challenges and beatitudes that go with it (cf. “Blessed Are the Peacemakers” by Fr. Thomas Burns, M.M. in MARYKNOLL, November 2007, p. 36-37).
“Emma’s been shot. It was Sendero.” This was not the first time I had heard such words – shot by Sendero - nor would it be the last. But Emma Hilario was special. I had known her and Alfredo, her husband, as friends and catechists in my parish in Pamplona Alta, a shantytown 10 miles south of Lima, where we lived. It was December 1991 and Emma had been receiving death threats constantly over three months from Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), the most violent terrorist group in the history of the Americas. The group’s aim was to overthrow the government and establish a Maoist state where economic disparity would be eliminated. Viewing grassroots efforts to alleviate poverty as counterproductive to their radical plan. Senderistas targeted people like Emma, a community leader and member of the national committee of the Soup Kitchen Movement to assist the poor with food. We often reflected together on what to do in the face of the threats against Emma. Just 10 days before she was shot, along with Alfredo and her brother-in-law, we had organized a march for peace in Pamplona. Fortunately, Emma and her family survived and, after hiding in a safe house for two months, went into exile in Costa Rica. No sooner had I heard of their safe arrival than I got word that another friend, Maria Elena Moyano, had been shot before a large crowd. She did not survive. As she lay dead in the presence of her children, a young terrorist stuck a stick of dynamite under her body and blew her to pieces. Mara Elena had gone from being a parish catechist to a community organizer and leader in the “Glass of milk” program, a national effort to assure a daily glass of milk to poor children. From there she became assistant mayor of the shantytown of Villa El Salvador. Maria Elena and Emma were both well known and highly respected by their neighbors in southern Lima, as well as by activists throughout Peru. They had become friends in their common struggle for peace, and their testimony has much to teach us about peacemaking. Both women were victims of the terrorists but were ultimately victorious over them. They truly deserve to be called “children of God.” Emma continues as a grassroots “peacemaker” in Costa Rica today. Maria Elena’s death and dismemberment made the Shining Path’s brutal tactics evident to all and helped weaken the group’s popular support. Peace making is not for the faint of heart. It is for the passionate and the brave, the lovers of life, and, above all, for those who live a life rooted in faith and fidelity to the Spirit. The goal of peace and its first fruits is justice. That requires the courage to risk losing battles – and sometimes even life itself.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
What does it mean to be “a people humble and lowly”? Why do the “humble and lowly” take refuge in the Lord? What is Zephaniah’s contribution to the spirituality of the anawim?
Do we look upon Jesus as the ultimate anawim? How do we allow ourselves to be shaped by his sacrificial spirit as the humble and obedient “Suffering Servant of Yahweh”?
How does the teaching of Jesus Master on the Mount of Beatitudes impinge upon you? Do you accept in your heart his declaration that the anawim are indeed blessed by the Lord? Do you endeavor to live out in your life the beatitudes of the anawim?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Jesus,
you are the true Anawim.
In your humility and obedience,
you have put your total trust and dependence on God,
even to the point of self-emptying on the cross.
On the mountain in the “Galilee of the Gentiles”,
you have taught us the beatitudes of the anawim.
We thank you for showing us the way to life
and for guiding us into the perfect happiness with God.
May we truly experience the beatitudes of God
and endeavor to be poor in spirit,
to be meek and lowly,
to be peacemakers
and to exemplify in our daily life
the challenges and blessings of being God’s anawim in today’s world.
We adore you, Jesus, meek and humble of heart.
Live in us, Christ our Lord, now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“But I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord: the remnant of Israel.” (3:12)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Meditate on the Beatitudes and our identity as Christian anawim. In your service to the poor, those who mourn, the victims of injustice and violence, etc., endeavor to be an instrument of God’s beatitude for them.
ACTION PLAN: To help us experience more deeply the beatitudes of the anawim, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 4, n. 10): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US