A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 6, n. 22)
6th Sunday of Easter, Year A – April 27, 2008
“He Will Give Another Advocate …”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 // I Pet 3:15-18 // Jn 14:15-21
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 readings of this Sunday are charged with the energy of the Holy Spirit and the intensity of joy as God’s “resurrected” people. Within two weeks we will be celebrating the feast of Pentecost – the climactic outpouring of the Easter gift of the Holy Spirit for the Church’s universal mission – and today’s readings anticipate and introduce us to that liturgical celebration.
The Gospel passage proclaimed in today’s assembly (Jn 14:15-21) is taken from the Farewell Discourse given by Jesus during the Passover meal he shared with his disciples on the eve of his sacrificial death on the cross. As Divine Master-Shepherd, Jesus assured his forlorn disciples that he would not leave them orphans and promised them the gift of another Advocate, the Spirit of truth.
The Dominican scholar Gerald Vann explains: “The word paracletos means first of all an advocate, a defending counsel; but it also means he who speaks out prophetically, proclaiming, exhorting, enlightening; and this leads to a third meaning, one who consoles, when the message proclaimed is the message of salvation, of hope and of joy. In the first epistle of Saint John our Lord is referred to as a paraclete or advocate who will plead our cause; and this is implicitly affirmed by Christ himself when he tells the disciples he will send them another paraclete to befriend and defend them. But there is an essential difference between the mode of activity of the Spirit and that of the incarnate Word. The mission of the Spirit is the direct result of the mission of the Son: the lifting up of the Son in death and glory brings about the coming down of the Pentecostal wind and fire … But the Spirit does not simply continue the work of the Son; his activity is of a different kind precisely because it is the activity of the Spirit, whereas the work of the Son was carried out through human flesh … The Spirit will teach them what they have been taught before but have failed to assimilate so fully as to be possessed by the truth in mind and heart alike. It is the hearts of men that the Spirit instructs, and instructs not by an external voice but by his indwelling presence, by being for them precisely the breath of life.”
The Spirit Advocate-Consoler, promised by Jesus and released to the Church as Easter gift, is the same one who propelled the early Christian community to proclaim Christ to the non-Jews and to all the nations. The inevitable spread of the Gospel to the non-Jewish world was hastened by the hostility and attacks directed against the Christian disciples in Jerusalem. The general persecution that broke out in Jerusalem prompted the scattering of the disciples to other lands. The outward movement of the first missionaries, like Philip, was outwardly provoked by the stress of persecution but inwardly instigated by the Holy Spirit. Powered by the Spirit of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, the persecuted Christians became evangelizers to the nations.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 3, remark: “Sometimes, events that are undoubtedly painful or tragic for groups, societies, even nations, can have happy results. Thus it was at the beginning of the Church. The persecution that followed Stephen’s martyrdom forced the Greek-speaking disciples to flee Jerusalem. One of them was Philip, a member of the Seven, the group that the apostles had instituted to serve the Greek-speaking community. He went to a village in Samaria: there, his preaching of Christ, accompanied by many signs, found great success: There was great joy in the city.” Philip proclaimed the Gospel to the Samaritans, members of a despised “mixed race”. The Samaritans were descendants of the Israelites and foreigners living in Israel after most of the people were exiled to Babylon.
Today’s First Reading (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17) depicts the beautiful response of the Samaritans to the proclamation of Christ: With one accord, the crowd paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing (v. 6). When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria to confirm the Samaritans’ baptismal consecration to Jesus Christ with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and to incorporate officially the fledging Christian community in Samaria into the one fold – the Church. The Jesuit biblical scholar William Kurz explains: “The point in Acts 8:16 is to show confirmation by God and by the apostles of Philip’s unexpected outreach to despised Samaritans. Luke’s only concern was to show that God ratified the Church’s outreach to the Samaritans and non-Jews.”
The Holy Spirit that confirmed the Samaritans and was transmitted to them by the apostles’ laying on of hands is likewise given to us at our baptismal consecration and confirmation. We should be fully grateful for the Easter gift of the Holy Spirit and as Christian disciples we are challenged to become “another Advocate” in today’s anguished world. Harold Buetow remarks: “Our world needs the discipline of love and the life of the Spirit … There are many painful lives affected by broken relationships, shattered dreams, disappointments, physical and mental ills, and torturing guilt. We must let such people know that they need not be alone in their pain. So let us not be faint-hearted in receiving the Spirit and in communicating him to others by the witness of our lives.”
The article published in the Los Angeles Times (April 16, 2008, p. B6) on Dr. John Stein (1962-2008), a USC staffer and an expert in urologic cancer, caught my attention. A Catholic surgeon deeply animated by the Holy Spirit, he is an example of what it means to be a consoler and an “Advocate” for others. Here is an excerpt from the obituary.
Dr. John Stein, a professor at the USC Keck School of Medicine and an internationally known specialist in urologic cancers and bladder reconstruction, died Friday at a hospital in Naples, Fla. He was 45. A research scientist and unusually skillful surgeon beloved for his compassionate bedside manner, Stein was a star in his field. He was, according to Keck Dean Carmen A. Puliafito “what every dean of a medical school wants in a faculty member, who was a dedicated clinician, a state of the art surgeon. He was a great innovator, a scientist … a terrific role model,” who touched the lives of thousands and saved many lives … He also earned the adoration of patients, who valued his humanity as much as his expertise. He hugged them, sometimes prayed with them, sat by their side when they cried, and joked with them to relieve their fears. Said Santa Monica resident Paul Scott, who credits Stein with saving his life after being diagnosed with bladder cancer six years ago: “When you’re thinking about dying and your life is just in turmoil, here is this man who takes your hand in his and looks you in the eye and says ‘You’re going to be OK.’ He was just the kindest guy.” Now a leader in the electric car movement, a cause he took up after regaining his health, Scott added, “I owe him so much.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
How does the following assurance of Jesus touch you: “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate”? Do I feel the presence of “another Advocate” in my life and fully at work in me? What is the role of the Spirit Advocate in my personal life? What is my response to the promptings of the Holy Spirit?
Do we perceive that painful events and tragedies could have positive and life-giving results? How did the persecution of the early Christian community result in the witnessing to the nations? How did Philip’s Spirit-filled life and proclamation of Christ give joy to the greatly despised Samaritans? What was the role of Peter and John in transmitting the confirming and life-giving Holy Spirit? What is the meaning of the laying on of hands on the Samaritans who have embraced the life of Christ?
What part do I play in helping needy and anguished people experience the consoling action of the Holy Spirit? Do I endeavor to be “another Advocate” to the people around me? Do I resolve to be always animated by the Holy Spirit, the ineffable gift of Christ the Risen Lord?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for Jesus, your beloved Son and our Risen Lord.
We thank you because Jesus did not leave us orphans.
He continues to be present to us through the Holy Spirit,
the promised “another Advocate”.
The Easter gift of the Spirit energized the persecuted Church
to reach out to the nations
and proclaim Jesus as Savior and the glorified Lord.
May we allow the Holy Spirit to animate our lives
and the love of Jesus Christ to grow in our hearts.
May we proclaim the Gospel to the nations
and share the consolation of the Holy Spirit
with people burdened with miseries and various afflictions.
Help us to be today’s “another Advocate”
who bring the Easter joy of Christ
to many painful, lonely and broken lives.
We adore and serve you;
we praise and glorify you with Jesus and in the Holy Spirit,
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 will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16-17a)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Meditate on the graciousness of Jesus’ promised gift of “another Advocate”. By your profound life witnessing and service to the broken-hearted and the needy, endeavor to bring the consolation of the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ into their aching hearts and painful lives.
ACTION PLAN: To help us experience more deeply our vocation and mission to be “another Advocate” in Christ and in his Spirit 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. 22): 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