A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 6, n. 18)
2nd Sunday of Easter, Year A – March 30, 2008
“The Disciples Rejoiced”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 2:42-47 // I Pet 1:3-9 // Jn 20:19-31
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
The community of believers is built on the Easter experience of the passion, death and rising of Jesus Christ. The Church is a powerful sign of the astounding event of Christ’s paschal mystery. The transforming effect of the Easter experience for the community of disciples could be gleaned from this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Jn 20:19-31). Harold Buetow remarks: “The Gospel reading takes us from fear to joy, seclusion to mission, absence to presence, disbelief to faith, mere existence to new life. It shows Jesus breathing on the Apostles, reminiscent of the first creation when God breathed his Spirit into a living being (Gen 2:7). This second creation, like the first, was the start of something big. Through baptism it made it possible for us to be born again in Jesus, into the life of holiness and the Spirit, and to renew that life through the forgiveness of sin. This Easter season constitutes a special time of celebrating that new life.”
The Church is a continuation and the result of the wonderful work of redemption of Jesus. Today’s First Reading (Acts 2:42-47) shows the Easter spirit that filled the early ecclesial community and delineates the profound characteristics that constitute the inner life of the newborn Church. It is a faithful Church dedicated to the teachings of the Apostles, a communal Church where all the members shared and cared for the poor, a praying Church, devoted to the breaking of the bread and prayers, and a joyful Church that radiates the radiance of the Risen Lord to the people around them.
The Jesuit biblical scholar William Kurz explicates: “Luke gives an idealized picture of the first community, but his message still holds for today. When a Christian community seriously repents of sin and opens itself to the power of the Spirit, this dramatically changes the way Christians live and attracts others to Christianity. The elements of community life Luke highlights are teaching by the apostles, sharing their lives with one another, breaking of the bread (Eucharist) and prayer together. This is the first of several summary passages Luke composed to show that the individual stories he reports exemplify more general patterns of behavior. In Acts 2:44, unanimity and considering all things as common express the ideal of friendship at that time. The point is that all community members had their needs met, and no one hoarded selfishly while others were in want. Luke often stresses another major fruit of the Spirit: the joy and praise of the community.”
The Christian disciples of today are called to be a joyful Easter people who relish the healing and renewing power of the Risen Lord. The community of believers that resulted from the aftermath of the Easter event are called to rejoice and to be animated by the creative action of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Risen Christ. The Church of today must try to relive the idyll of the early Christian community and keep the joy of Easter alive in their hearts.
At the coffeecake party that followed the Rite of Family Blessing at our convent in downtown L.A. last March 9 – the fifth Sunday of Lent – I expressed to our dear friend Adam and his charming wife Cora, my desire to make an Easter pilgrimage to various mission churches in California. Kindhearted and generous as ever, Adam and Cora obliged to sponsor the trip. I knew that this would be a real “pasqueta” for me. A “pasqueta” is an Easter holiday that is traditionally practiced in our Congregation, usually on Easter Monday. I extended the invitation to the community, but on account of various concerns and assignments, only Sr. Mary Joanne could come. I also invited Alma, a member of our prayer group and she willingly responded.
At about nine in the morning on Easter Monday – March 24, 2008 – also the 11th death anniversary of the PDDM Servant of God, Mother Mary Scholastic Rivata, Adam and his 12-year old daughter, Caresse came to pick us up. Cora, a professional nurse at Kaiser Hospital, could not join us because she had to work. We started the pilgrimage at our convent’s chapel by singing an Easter hymn and by praying Psalm 118 and the Prayer for a Happy Trip composed by Blessed James Alberione. It was a pleasant drive from downtown Los Angeles to the hilly countryside of Camarillo, where Adam and his family reside.
Our first church station was the Parish of Blessed Junipero Serra in Camarillo. The church is nestled peacefully in a fantastic rustic setting. Deacon Neil kindly led us to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel where we read and prayed over Matthew’s account of the Easter apparition. After making a quick stop at Adam’s home to greet Cora, we proceeded to the second church station: the Mission Church of Saint Buenaventure where we meditated and prayed over Luke’s account of the apparition of the Risen Lord to two disheartened disciples on the road to Emmaus. The cloistered garden of that mission church is breathtaking! As we tarried in the garden, I feasted delightfully on the intense hues of the yellow Calla lilies and relished the incredible beauty that surrounded us. Driving to Mission Santa Barbara, our third church station, we had a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean – so immense and yet so calm – and the mountains that bordered the highway were carpeted with verdant grass and lovely spring flowers. The resurrection cross on the immense front lawn of the mission church in Santa Barbara was majestic as it proclaimed resolutely the glory of Easter. After a quick tour of the museum, we went to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel to pray and meditate on Luke’s account of the risen Lord’s apparition to his disciples in Jerusalem. We then visited the cemetery where about 4,000 Chumash Indians and other deceased were buried and prayed that they may experience the peace of the Risen Lord. The last church station we visited was the Mission Church of Santa Ines. In the enchanting chiaroscuro setting of that ancient church, we meditated on Mark’s Gospel account of the resurrection and prayed for greater receptivity to the Holy Spirit so that the Easter mystery may touch our lives with the healing power of God’s love.
We then made a short drive to Solvang, a quaint Danish-like town, where Adam treated us to freshly baked pretzels and chocolate fudge. As we sat on the benches, munching on the delicious, lightly salted bread and flavoring it with bits of chocolate, I felt that we were a Church in miniature – experiencing the idyll of the early Christian community and savoring the joy of Easter. Right there and then, I had a glimpse of what a Spirit-filled Church of Easter means! At 9:00 P.M. we capped the Easter pilgrimage by singing the “Regina Coeli” at our convent’s chapel in downtown Los Angeles. This was a “Pasqueta” we would never forget and our hearts were filled with thanksgiving for our benefactor Adam and to God for this gracious Easter gift.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
What was the transforming experience that the disciples had at the Easter apparition of the Risen Lord? Why was that Easter experience an experience of “creation”? What prompted the doubting Thomas to confess “my Lord and my God”? Why is the Easter season a celebration of new life?
What were the characteristics of the inner life of the Church born from the aftermath of the Easter event? Why is the Church a continuation of the wonderful redeeming work of Christ? In Luke’s idyll of the early Christian community as a faithful, communal, praying and joyful Church, how did their life impinge on the people around them?
What are the challenges we face in trying to be the faithful, communal, praying and joyful Church? Do we trust that the Easter mystery continues to touch our lives with the healing power of God’s love? Do I truly rejoice in the gift of Easter? Do I try to radiate and share that joy with others? How do I enhance the faithful, communal, praying and joyful character of the Church in the modern world?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father, by the Easter mystery you touch our lives with the healing power of your love. You have renewed our lives by the death and rising of your beloved Son-Servant Jesus Christ and we have received the Holy Spirit, the Risen Lord’s Easter gift. Together with the formerly doubting Thomas may we be able to confess our faith in Christ and truly witness that indeed he is “our Lord and our God”. By the power of the Holy Spirit, transform us into a faithful, communal, praying and joyful Church. As we continue our spiritual pilgrimage to eternity, enable us to carry out your divine will. Together with the PDDM Servant of God, Mother Scholastica Rivata, help us to experience fully the eternal Easter in heaven. You live and reign forever and ever.
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.
“The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” (Jn 20:20b)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Meditate on the transforming experience of the Easter event upon you personally and on the Church. Radiate the splendor of the Easter experience by striving to be an active and efficacious member of the faithful, communal, praying and joyful Church. In your service to the poor, the suffering and the marginalized members of today’s society, enable them to experience our joy in the Risen Lord.
ACTION PLAN: To help us experience more deeply the transforming gift of the Easter event and in view of becoming more and more a faithful, communal, praying and joyful Church, 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. 18): 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