A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 6, n. 19)
3rd Sunday of Easter, Year A – April 6, 2008
“We Are Easter Witnesses”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 2:14, 22-33 // I Pet 1:17-21 // Lk 24:13-35
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 Risen Lord continues to pursue his disciples with the reality and graciousness of the Easter event. The Gospel reading of this Sunday (Lk 24:13-35) presents Jesus walking with two dismayed disciples journeying to Emmaus and how he enlightened them concerning the messianic references in the Scriptures, and how they finally recognized him in the breaking of the bread. The story of the apparition of Jesus to the disheartened and perplexed disciples escaping to Emmaus is one of the most beautiful post-Easter accounts of encounter with the Risen Christ.
Harold Buetow remarks: “Cleopas and his companion were disciples of Jesus … They had left Jerusalem downcast because of their disappointment that Jesus their hope had been crucified – the end of their dream, they thought … The disciples revealed the false expectations they had of the Messiah … They had been unable to see the saving hand of God in Jesus’ sufferings and death, as shown in all the Scriptures beginning with Moses (v. 27). How much more satisfied we would feel if only Luke had given us an account precisely which Scriptures Jesus used, and Jesus’ exact comments on them! An educated guess tells us that what Jesus spoke of was the constant scriptural theme that is also the theme of the Easter season: that God reveals Himself unceasingly as the One whose characteristic work is to bring life out of death … When Jesus pretended he was leaving them, he gave them a further opportunity to reveal themselves. Their now-responsive hearts begged him to stay, which he was – and is – only too willing to do. Then, as he had nourished them on the word of God in Scripture, as in the Mass he nourished them on the bread of life, which he is; that is how they recognized him. Thus he left them. The disciples, renewed and invigorated – as we can be after prayer - hurried back to the city. They wanted to tell their good news to the others. They found their thunder stolen by the news that the others had given, but meeting Jesus had changed them. Now they were willing to listen. When they got their chance, without any frustration at the delay they told their story of how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread (v. 35).”
Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the apostle Peter and the “Eleven” were privileged recipients of the Easter experience. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, outpoured upon them as a gift by the Risen Lord, they became resolute witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. This Sunday’s First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (2:14, 22-33) contains Peter’s first sermon, which was given on Pentecost. A masterpiece of Easter witnessing, this inaugural sermon presents in a nutshell the faith of the Church and proclaims boldly the reality of God’s action in raising Jesus, who now sits in glory at the right hand of God, whence he sent the Spirit.
The authors of the Days of the Lord: The Liturgical Year, vol. 3, explicate: “Peter’s proclamation is very solemn: he stands up with the Eleven who are gathered around him … But what Peter proclaims this day, in this city, to a specific audience, is a message and a testimony that is valuable for all, especially for us today. We are gathered to listen faithfully to the apostles’ teaching, on which our faith is based … Faithful to the apostles’ teaching, Christians continue in the Church and under the guidance of the Spirit to study the Old and New Testaments, which tell us over and over things that we will never fully comprehend … One remembers God’s intervention on behalf of those he loved, whom he did not abandon, even when everything seemed lost … As faith proclaims: God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. He was raised in fulfillment of the Scriptures, the creed says … Yes! Jesus has known death. He was laid in the tomb, but he escaped corruption. Such is God’s doing, the fruit of his intervention … The reading ends with the evocation of the mission of the apostles and, after them, the Church and each believer: to testify to Christ’s resurrection, glorification, and sending of the Spirit.”
Today – as Church built upon the faith in the Risen Lord – we are Easter witnesses to the power of life over death, of good over evil, of hope over despair, of love over hatred, and of healing over brokenness. In the anguished and terrifying situations of modern society, we proclaim that grace prevails over wickedness through the victory of Jesus Christ, raised from the dead and assumed into glory in heaven by the faithful God. As Easter people, we are witnesses that Jesus of Nazareth has been confirmed as the Lord and Messiah by undergoing obediently his paschal destiny of passion, death and resurrection. Indeed, by our life of holiness and prayer, of charity and service, we invite people to submit to the saving hand of God, who brings life from death and transforms our brokenness and sadness into beauty, healing and grace.
In the following article by David Crary, “Faith Behind Bars” published in FRESNO BEE (October 15, 2007, p. A1, A7), we can glean how the healing and renewing power of Easter is at work in the faith-based prison programs sponsored by Christian volunteers.
Killer-turned artist Manny Hernandez in the prison where he is finishing an eight-year term remarks: “It’s a blessing to be here.” Fellow murderer and inmate Raymond Hall likens it to heaven. “I love this place,” says their warden, Cynthia Tilley. “It’s so calm.” They’re praising the Carol Vance Unit, founded in 1997 in the outskirts of Houston. It’s the oldest of a rapidly growing number of faith-based prison facilities across the nation. (…)
Evidence is strong that violence and trouble-making drops sharply in these programs, and they often are the only vibrant rehabilitation option at a time when taxpayer-funded alternatives have been cut back. Inmates at Vance offer another compelling argument. Unlike many of America’s 2 million prisoners, they feel they are treated with respect. They have hope. “A bunch of cats in prison, they never had anyone show them love – even their father and mother,” said Anzetta Smith, who served 18 years for attempted murder before graduating from Vance this year. “You get in the program and everybody shows you love.” (…)
The Inner Charge program at Vance is open, on a voluntary basis, to men with fewer that two years left on their sentences. Sex offenders and inmates with bad disciplinary records are excluded. The days are filled with spiritual and academic classes, community meetings and work duties. Bibles are a common sight on the bedside tables in the inmates’ cubicles. Religious paintings, including eye-catching works by self-taught Manny Hernandez, decorate the walls. Tilley, the warden, said the security staff is asked to treat the criminals politely. The atmosphere can be a pleasant shock to men arriving from tougher prisons. “In my other prison, on a daily basis there was rape, drugs,” said Raymond Hall, who was convicted at 16 of murder and hopes to complete his 15-year sentence in early 2009. “When you come to Carol Vance, it’s like a load is lifted. It’s like heaven.” (…)
Some skeptics say the programs “cherry-pick” motivated inmates who would be less likely to re-offend under any circumstances … “It’s not that these programs are a bad idea,” said Dan Mears, a Florida State University criminologist. “But there’s no good evidence that they work.” To some graduates, like Anzetta Smith, their own positive experience is evidence enough.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
How did the encounter of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus with the Risen Lord transform their lives? How did Jesus open their eyes to the meaning of the Scriptures and reveal himself to them in the breaking of the bread? Do we believe that in every Sunday Mass the “Emmaus experience” is repeated?
In his Pentecost sermon, what was Peter’s testimony concerning Jesus of Nazareth? How did Peter’s encounter with the Risen Lord strengthen him for his Easter witnessing? What was the role of the Holy Spirit, the Risen Lord’s Easter gift, in giving witness to Christ?
As Christian disciples today, are we ready to encounter the Risen Lord in the Word and Eucharist? How do we respond to the Lord’s presence and revelation in the Word and Eucharist and in the daily events of our life? Do we give faithful witness to the God who brings life from death and who raised his Son Jesus from the dead? Are there barriers within us that prevent us from recognizing the Lord who journeys with us through life? How do we overcome these barriers?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father, the two dismayed disciples encountered the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus. Their hearts were aglow as Jesus spoke and opened their understanding to the messianic meaning of the Scriptures. The Lord Jesus then revealed himself radically in the breaking of the bread and they finally recognized him as the one whose body was broken and whose blood was outpoured on the cross. Their Easter experience with Jesus transformed them and they became witnesses of his resurrection. The Risen Lord outpoured his renewing Spirit upon the apostles. Thus Peter and the apostles became courageous witnesses that God’s saving hand raised Jesus to life. In his public discourse on Pentecost, Peter avowed that God released Jesus from the throes of death and now he is exalted at the right hand of God, as Lord and Messiah. We too have experienced the Easter event of Christ’s death and rising in the daily events of our life, and in the Word and sacraments. We are the Easter people of today. We are called to witness by our life of holiness, by our charity and service, that Jesus Christ is Lord. Continue to anoint us with the renewing Spirit, the Risen Lord’s Easter gift, that we may unceasingly proclaim to the world the beauty and marvel of Christ’s death and resurrection. We praise you, love you and serve 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.
“God raised this Jesus; of this we are witnesses.” (Acts 2:32)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Meditate on the transforming power of the Lord’s resurrection. Strive to be more courageous witnesses of the Easter event in today’s death dealing situations by your acts of charity and spirit of hope.
ACTION PLAN: To help us experience more deeply the transforming gift of the Easter event and in view of becoming more courageous witnesses of the Risen Lord, 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. 19): 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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