A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 6, n. 14)
Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A – March 2, 2008
“Seeing with the Light of Faith”
BIBLE READINGS
I Sam 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a // Eph 5:8-14 // Jn 9:1-41
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
This Sunday’s Old Testament reading about the election and anointing of David (I Sam 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a) helps us to be grateful for the graciousness of God’s choice and his kind predilection. The almighty and all-knowing God who chose David to be the shepherd of his people is the same loving God who called forth the entire creation and all peoples into existence. He is the same compassionate God who brought forth the community of faith from the regenerating waters of Baptism. He is the font of vocation of the “elect” candidates preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation during the Easter Vigil celebration. Above all, he is the author of the benevolent saving plan to redeem mankind and to renew creation through the paschal sacrifice of his Servant-Son, the ultimate “Chosen One” in whom he is well pleased.
As we continue our Lenten journey with the “elect” preparing for Christian initiation, we relish the beauty and ineffable quality of God’s free choice. The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent remarks: “The first reading emphasizes the fact that God chooses those whom he wills to draw to himself and consecrate. There is evidently an allusion here, in the liturgical context, to the gift of faith that God freely gives to the catechumens. His choices are manifested in a very personal way; that is, God has his own way of choosing and judging, and his judgments are not superficial, like those of men, who can only judge by externals. The person chosen for the gift of faith is not chosen because of any merits on his part; the gift is often a thorough surprise to others looking on and even baffles them completely. The element of free choice is the point to be emphasized in this reading.”
The anointing of the young shepherd David and God’s choice of him as the future king of Israel provide an interesting backdrop for the contemplation of Jesus Christ - the ultimate “Anointed One”– destined to be the light to the nations and font of the light of faith. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 2 comment: “When recalling the main step in salvation history, the biblical authors could not fail to mention the election and anointing of David … David is the founder of the dynasty from which the Messiah, whom he prefigures, will be born. The hope of Israel constantly recalls the promises made to David, promises God cannot go back on … Recalling these promises and prophecies, the New Testament and early Christian preaching will announce that Jesus is the awaited son of David. Born in Bethlehem, the city of David (Lk 2:4), he was not different from others in human eyes. But God anointed him with the Spirit and made him known as his chosen one to those who listen to his voice and follow him.”
This Sunday’s Gospel reading (Jn 9:1-41) depicts Jesus as “the Son of Man” - the Messiah who gives sight to the blind for he is the true Light of the world. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 2 explicate: “By celebrating Christ, the Light of the world, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A, calls Christians and the entire Church to a new impetus in their journey of following the Lord. We may say of some people that they are lights, because their doctrine, their wisdom, their teachings, and their examples shine like beacons on the road, or because they attract and fascinate us. But it is in the proper and not in the metaphorical sense that we speak of Christ when confessing that he is the Light of the world, Light from Light because true God from true God. In him and through him, believers become children of light and can, like him, perform works that are pleasing to God. It is a marvelous transformation that turns a blind person into one who lives by light and is called to walk from light to light.”
This Sunday’s Lenten liturgy invites the “elect” catechumens and those already baptized to contemplate the light of faith given to us in baptism. Immersed into the sacramental waters of baptism and Christ’s paschal destiny, our personal encounter with the true “SILOAM” – Jesus Christ, the Light of the world - enables us “to see”. Indeed, the grace effect of baptism is “illumination”. Christ justifies and redeems us from sin, transferring us from the darkness of guilt into a life of grace. The Man Born Blind’s journey from blindness to light signifies our own spiritual journey. This remarkable man’s response to Jesus is a paradigm of the Christian response - a daily progressive surrender in service and self-giving to the font of light and the healer of all spiritual blindness. The baptized Christian, who sees with “the light of faith”, constructs the daily existence according to the vision of light. The faith response is essentially lived in a continuous and ever-growing rapport with Jesus Lord, the Way, Truth and Life. Outside this personal relationship is perpetual blindness – the sin of unbelief and incredulity.
The challenge of the baptized is to walk in the light and to radiate to a dismal and suffering world the light of Christ. The vocal and forceful witnessing of Christian faith by Chris Horn and his family in the world of athletics is an example of how to radiate the light of Christ toward the socio-cultural situation we are in. Cf. “Torchbearers of Faith” by Emily Stimpson in OUR SUNDAY VISITOR, June 10, 2007, p.11.
A crucifix, a Divine Mercy image and a Bible. There’s nothing surprising about a Catholic keeping those three devotional items about. What’s surprising about these particular items is where they’re housed: inside the locker room of the Carolina Panthers football team. Or to be more precise, inside the locker of Panthers wide receiver Chris Horn. The devotional items housed in his locker are just one of the ways the Idaho native lets his teammates know about his Catholic faith. Horn’s faith is no secret in the NFL, mostly because as Horn, 28, moved through the ranks of professional football, he discovered that the more open he was about his Catholicism, the easier it was to live his faith. He also discovered that the more open he was, the more chances he had to help others. Now teammates regularly seek counsel from him on issues ranging from abortion ethics to marital problems. Even before he felt free to share his beliefs, Horn still took his faith seriously. The second oldest of five, he remembers his mother coming home early in the morning after working all night and forgoing sleep so she could take the children to Mass. “Her sacrifices and lessons were priceless,” Horn recalled. Now married and the father of two, Horn and his wife, Amy, try to provide the same kind of faithful witness to their young children. Together, they’ve twice prayed the yearlong St. Brigitte novena for each of their children, and family Mass-going and family prayers are integral parts of daily life. In the world of professional sports, where an injury or a bad season can quickly end a career, that daily practice of faith provides a steady foundation for Horn’s family. Conversely, the discipline that years of training for his sports demanded has helped Horn grow in the practice of spiritual disciplines – prayer, forgiveness, charity.
Horn knows the lessons he’s learned about the faith through football are lessons others can learn as well, which is why a year ago he joined Catholic Athletes for Christ (CAC). The recently founded organization, made up of athletes and former athletes, uses sports as a platform to teach the faith. Through speaking engagements and conferences arranged by CAC, Horn regularly speaks to youth and men’s groups about God, the Church and football. According to Horn: “As Catholics we haven’t always been as vocal as we need to be about our faith. But because of the importance our culture gives to sports, we can use athletics as a way to start talking to people about it and reach people who might not normally be open.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
What insights can you derive from the beautiful story of the election and anointing of David by the prophet Samuel? What makes the divine choice meaningful and unique? What is the significance of the “anointing” of the young shepherd David? What lessons can you derive from the actions of Samuel, the obedient prophet of God
How does the story of the healing of the Man Born Blind impact you? How did the experience of healing and personal encounter with Jesus transform the Man Born Blind? How did the Pharisees react to the healing and “illumination” performed by Jesus for the Man Born Blind? Do you feel the tragic element in this faith story?
Why is Baptism a sacrament of “illumination”? How do we respond to our baptismal vocation to follow and to participate intimately in the paschal destiny of Christ, “the Light of our eyes”? How are we “torchbearers of faith” and “light givers” in our daily life and in our very own socio-cultural situation?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for the election and anointing of our forefather David,
a youthful and courageous shepherd
who led your people Israel to unity and greatness.
An object of your mysterious predilection,
David was anointed and filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
We thank you for Jesus, your Servant-Son,
the Messiah prefigured by David.
He is the ultimate “consecrated one”
filled with messianic gifts and the radiant light of the Holy Spirit.
“Anointed” for the healing of the world,
Jesus offered the light of faith to the Man of Born Blind,
who responded deeply to it.
Together with the Man Born Blind,
we are healed at the pool Siloam
and journey from blindness to faith.
In Jesus, the radiant light of faith is given to us.
Loving God, full of majesty and love,
give us the grace to be faithful to our baptismal vocation.
Transform us
into courageous torchbearers of faith and messengers of light.
Immersed into the paschal destiny of Jesus
and renewed with a vision of faith,
help us to dispel the gloom of death and the spiritual blindness of sin.
Make us limpid witnesses for the “elect” catechumens
preparing for the sacraments of initiation.
Receive these “chosen ones”
as members of the rich harvest of your new covenant
and enable them to rejoice in the glory of Christ’s paschal mystery.
We adore you and thank you;
we worship and serve you;
we love you and glorify you, now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“So he went and washed, and came back able to see. (Jn 9:7b)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Meditate on the meaning and the challenge of our baptismal consecration as “illumination”. By your prayer and acts of charity, especially to the poor, hungry and the sick, endeavor to be a “torchbearer of faith” and a “messenger of light” in today’s shadowed and gloomy world.
ACTION PLAN: To help us experience more gratefully God’s gift of “light” personified in Jesus Christ, 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. 14): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
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Website: WWW.PDDM.US