A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 6, n. 21)
5th Sunday of Easter, Year A – April 20, 2008
“The Service of Christ, the Way, Truth and Life”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 6:1-7 // I Pet 2:4-9 // Jn 14:1-12
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
We have heard in last Sunday’s liturgy that the Risen Lord Jesus Christ is the Shepherd that guards God’s flock and the Sheep Gate that leads to eternal life. The Gospel reading of this Sunday (Jn 14:1-12) presents Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. By his example of utter submission and intimate identification with the Father, Jesus Way is the unique means of salvation. Jesus Truth is the splendor of the Divine Word that reveals the Father’s intimate nature as self-giving love, in contrast to the deceptive disordered and selfish inclination of humankind. Jesus Life is the communicator of divine life, the eternal life that he shared with God and won for us by his sacrificial death on the cross. Indeed, Jesus Christ lovingly fulfills the ministry of shepherding God’s people as well as the unique service of being the way, the truth and the life for humankind. He reveals the Father in the way he lives, in the truth of his word and in the new life that he brings.
Jesus Christ is the means of encounter, revelation and life communion with God. Like the Lord Jesus Savior, we too – as Christian disciples – are called to be the Way, the Truth and the Life in the “here and now”. The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent remarks: “The Church must continue this role of Christ, showing men the way to the Father. The Church is of course not identical with Christ, but Christ wills that the Church be, like him, the sign of the Father. In her lowly state (in this she is, once again, like Christ) and always under the guidance of the Spirit, she too must be the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (6:1-7) presents the endeavor of the early Christian community to be configured to Jesus Christ, the Way, Truth and Life, in its life and service. The Church is depicted as responsive to a challenging situation, receptive to the needs of others and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, able to organize in view of a more efficient community ministry, and has the capacity to restructure existing service system and to innovate under charismatic impulse. In the beautiful springtime of its growth, the Church is presented as ministerial – a serving Church that cares for the needs of the faithful.
Harold Buetow comments on the First Reading (Acts 6:1-7): “The first converts came from two groups of Jews, the Hellenists and the Hebrews. The Hellenistic Jews were Greek-speaking, and had returned to Jerusalem from all over the Mediterranean region. The Hebrews were native Palestinian Jews who spoke Aramaic. Today’s reading from Acts demonstrates one of the tensions between them: the Hellenistic group complaining that their poor widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food from the common store (v. 1) by the majority group, the local Hebrews. Another problem was that some of the members were so overworked in the service of the community that they were neglecting other important duties. The solution, arrived at by prayer and discernment, showed flexibility and growth, optimism and imagination. It showed the Church as an organization with an atmosphere of love, consideration, and enthusiasm. It showed a Church with each person treated equally with love, in the forefront of breaking down ethnic and racial barriers. Many of the qualities of the early Church were embodied in a new office: that of deacon. Though the assistants are not called deacons here, their office is deaconing: that is, service. Deacons were, however, to meet more than the immediate material needs. Later (Acts 6:8 and 8:5) we see two of the deacons involved in evangelization. All the faithful are called to serve with commitment. We are the lifeblood of the Church.”
The ideal of a serving and responsive Church, patterned after the ministry of Jesus Master-Shepherd, the Way, the Truth and the Life, continues to live on in today’s modern world. The following testimony and appeal of Tom Monaghan, a poor boy turned millionaire, illustrates the creative spirit of service and mission that animates the Christian disciples who endeavor to be the truth, the way and the life in the here and now.
My name is Tom Monaghan, and I am the founder of DOMINO’S PIZZA. Nine years ago I sold DOMINO’S in order to devote my time and assets to helping the Church. Over these last nine years, I have spent most of my time and money on advancing higher education through Ave Maria University, and I need your help to do it well. During the last quarter-century, I have given to a lot of Catholic causes, and been asked to give to more than I can remember. Frequently, I have been criticized for both causes I have and haven’t supported. I think the first public example came in 1984 when I helped build the new Cathedral in Nicaragua. Some people said “Why put up a building, when there are poor people who need food?” So I then supported a mission in Central America that taught the youth how to farm to raise enough food for their families, and other people said “Why give them just food? You need to educate them so they can earn their keep.” So I started a system of Catholic grade schools. However, after building a number of schools, I realized that as worthwhile and important as this was, due to the expense of starting all these individual schools, I was going to run out of money faster that I had first thought. During this time, I realized that through Catholic higher education, we could train young men and women – tomorrow’s leaders, most importantly – in the precepts of Catholic Church, but also to be dynamic and successful contributors in our society and the Church. When this happens, people thrive, the society thrives, and the Church thrives. (…)
Years ago, I started going to daily Mass and then added praying the rosary daily some years later. I share this with you to invite you to do so as well. I first started going to daily Mass when I still owned DOMINO’S PIZZA, and I thought I was so busy. Then I read that Don Shula, the great head coach of the Miami Dolphins, who had just finished the only perfect season ever, was a daily communicant, and I thought, if a head coach of a pro football team has time to go to daily Mass, then so do I. Then, I heard a sermon regarding some of Mary’s apparitions and how she was asking us to pray the rosary daily. I thought, if Mary is going through all this trouble to appear to us in such an extraordinary way, and she herself asked us to do this, then why shouldn’t I do so? It may sound funny coming from a guy who built a pizza delivery company, but I know what fasting is and that it will remain an integral part of worshipping God. I have always been taught that we were both physical and spiritual – having both bodies and souls – and that Christ clearly wants us to bend the body to the will of the soul. Christ fasted, and that’s good enough for me. It is especially important that we fast as the Church directs us. It is good for us, and not coincidentally, the money we save by cutting back on food and restaurants can be applied to the Church. (…)
In the late 80’s and early 90’s, I was approached by many Catholic causes asking me to support their efforts – some I did and some I didn’t. I wanted to be prudent with the resources at my disposal and I wanted them to have the greatest impact for the good of the Church. I learned that not everything that called itself “Catholic” was really Catholic, so I had to be discerning, as you do, in what I supported. As I got more and more involved in Catholic causes, I developed what I thought was a fairly specific focus of what I thought was the most important work for me to do, because I knew I couldn’t support everything that was good. Yet, I soon became convinced that I needed to get even more focused, and through this process I became convinced that investing in Catholic higher education would be the most efficient and effective way to train the next generation of Catholic leaders, both lay and clerical, who will carry on the vital work of the church after you and I are gone.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Why is Jesus Master-Shepherd the Way, the Truth and the Life for us all?
How did the early Church try to configure itself to the life and ministry of Jesus Master-Shepherd, the Way, the Truth and the Life? How does the Church of today endeavor to incarnate the life and ministry of Jesus Master-Shepherd and to become the way, the truth and the life in the here and now?
How do you deepen your personal relationship with Jesus Master-Shepherd and strive to bring to the world his life and ministry as the Way, the Truth and the Life of the world?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for the gift of Jesus Master-Shepherd.
In the Easter event of his death and resurrection,
he became the way that leads to peace and reconciliation,
the truth that reveals your saving love,
and the saving Lord that offers eternal life.
We also thank you for the witness of the early Church.
In the beautiful springtime of its creative growth,
the believers were receptive to the promptings of the Spirit,
responsive to the needs of the community,
and lived fully our vocation as a serving Church.
Bless the Church in the modern world that,
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Risen Lord’s Easter gift,
we may endeavor to incarnate in the here and now
the life and ministry of Jesus Master-Shepherd,
the Way, the Truth and the Life.
We adore you, compassionate and caring Father;
we 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.
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Meditate on the spirituality of Jesus Master-Shepherd and our participation in his ministry and mission as the Way, the Truth and the Life of the world. Pray for Pope Benedict XVI that he may have the wisdom, grace and strength to live fully the spirituality and mission of Jesus Master-Shepherd. By your service to the voice of truth and the call to promote justice and peace in the world and by your ministry to the poor and the needy, endeavor to keep alive the saving presence of the Risen Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
ACTION PLAN: To help us experience more deeply our vocation and mission to be perfectly configured to Jesus Master- Shepherd, the Way, the Truth and the Life, 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. 21): 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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Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US