A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 9, n. 28)
Ascension of the Lord, Year A – June 5, 2011 *
“The Ascension of the Lord: An Easter Feast of Exultation”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 1:1-11 // Eph 1:17-23 // Mt 28:16-20
(N.B. Series 9 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 Second Reading. For reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C based on the Gospel reading, please scroll up to the “ARCHIVES” above and open Series 3. For reflections based on the Old Testament reading, open Series 6.)
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO
The Easter feast of the Lord’s Ascension celebrates the exaltation of the Risen Jesus, as Lord of heaven and earth, as well as the Church’s humble participation in it. It is not a feast of departure, but of presence. The loving and saving presence of Christ is made visible and palpable through the evangelizing work of the people of God, the Church.
Today’s Second Reading (Eph 1:17-23) helps us to delve into the meaning of the Lord’s Ascension into heaven and its significance for Christian disciples. The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent explains: “The Second Reading gives a more doctrinal vision of the ascension, showing us Christ as the sign of God’s strength and wisdom. The passage is one of enthusiastic praise for the victorious Christ. He is the Christ of glory, whom God raised from the dead, set at his own right side, and made Master of all things. Above all, God has made him Head of the Church, which is his Body and fullness. (…) The Church is here called the fullness of Christ, his pleroma … The Church is his fullness because in her the saving action of God is seen in a maximum degree. The Church is the privileged locus of the action of God and Christ. The victory and glory of Christ, now Master of all things, is the source of hope for us, because what belongs to Christ belongs also to his followers. We can see in the heavenly Christ the inheritance that shall someday be ours.”
The Easter feast of the Lord’s exaltation calls us to be missionaries of his saving work and partakers of his passion and glorification. Eugene Maly explicates: “In a society in which religion has low priority and in a world in which secularism reigns supreme, the words of today’s celebration are vastly important. In them is power to move the Christian into deeper communication with the Lord and power to assist that same Christian to go forth and proclaim the good news message: Jesus lives. Jesus’ ascension has conferred power upon all those who follow him and find strength in that most powerful of all names, Lord Jesus Christ. He desires to remain close to his people: that is why he says, I am with you always. He is no absentee leader leaving his disciples to go it alone. His words of presence have provided comforting strength for the multitudes from the time when they were uttered until the present day: for those in concentration camps, for those seriously ill, for those who have lost loved ones, for those who doubt, for those who want to give up. On this day we are called to accept the hardships of Jesus Christ over his Body, the Church. It is the feast on which we are called to acknowledge that Jesus in whom we believe did ascend to the right hand of the Father. He is glorified and possesses power. He will come again with that same power. (…) The Church and each member need not only be faithful and dedicated to the glorified Christ, but must also be seen and heard by those who do not know Christ. The ascending Christ has given us this charge.”
Today is also the 45th World Day of the Means of Social Communication. Let us pray that these modern means may be used wisely and propitiously to spread the Gospel. Through the mass media, we can more efficaciously follow the command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations. By utilizing and maximizing the means of social communication, let us make the saving presence of the Risen Christ felt, known and received by the people in the here and now.
The following prize-winning story by an eighth-grader at St. John Vianney School in San Jose, California illustrates how to follow faithfully the missionary mandate of the ascending Jesus in today’s world, using the means of social communication and other means (cf. Clarissa Vokt, “Good News Alive Today” in MARYKNOLL, May/June 2011, p.47-49).
In the days when Christianity was still forming, men such as Paul and Peter had much difficulty spreading the Good News of God but were very determined to do so, just as Maryknoll missioners are today. They had to sail to different lands, only to have stones thrown at them by people when they started to preach about the Good News. Today, we do not have to sail the seas to get the news across. We have the Internet. Popular websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google and more can all help us spread the Good News to others.
The ways that I share the Good News are posting and reading articles on the social network websites about men and women doing good deeds in our community, to encourage others to do the same. I also send messages to others telling them to go to church on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist, and learn all about the Good News.
I spread the Good News almost all the time when I help out at places in my community. Sometimes I volunteer to help at the park, where I help clean up after the animals and wash their feeding bowls so they always have clean water, because they are also God’s creation and should be treated so.
If I am not doing community service, then usually I will go around the house and search for items that we no longer use, and donate them to organizations such as The Salvation Army to help those in poverty who do not have the luxuries we take for granted each day.
I experience the Good News being spread when I listen to the radio. There is a radio station called Catholic Radio that my mother and I listen to almost every day, and it is always talking about the Gospel, answering questions about our beliefs, and telling us about campaigns and upcoming Catholic events in our community.
One such campaign is called “40 Days for Life”. This campaign draws attention to the evils of abortion with a three-point program including prayer and fasting, constant vigil and community outreach. My family joined this campaign together and we have blue wristbands we wear to show our support and spread the Good News everywhere we go.
Catholic Radio has expanded my knowledge of the Gospel and inspired me to share this Good News with my friends and neighbors. This radio station has their own page on Facebook, so I decided to join it and share the Good News with my friends on the social network, who did the same.
The Good News is being spread everywhere, from the radio to popular websites, and through community service, and is spread by everyone, including teenagers and older men and women. The ways in which the Good News is being spread may have changed over the past 100 years, but the meaning still stays the same, and today it is as alive as ever.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
How do we respond to the missionary mandate of the Risen Jesus to make disciples of all nations? How do we make the Good News alive in the here and now?
Do we really believe that the glorified Lord Jesus is present and not absent? How do we attest to that belief?
How do we witness to the glory and power of the Risen Lord who was exalted by the Father as the Master of all creation in the heavens and on earth? How do we manifest the fullness of Christ’s power at work in the Church?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Leader: Loving Father,
you exalted your Son Jesus as Lord of heaven and earth.
We thank you for the Easter feast
of the Risen Christ’s ascension into heaven,
which is a mystery of exaltation.
His ascension into heaven
is the glorious outcome of his death on the cross
and total self-giving to your gracious will.
By your power,
you raised Christ from the dead
and seated him at your right hand as the Master of all.
You put all things under his feet
and subjected all things to him.
You made him head of his body, the Church.
As parts of his mystical body,
give us the grace as Church
to manifest the fullness of his saving action in today’s world.
Teach us to use wisely and efficaciously
the modern means of communication
to spread the Good News.
Show us how to utilize all means at our disposal
to share the saving love of our glorified Christ and Master
to all peoples and cultures.
Let the power of Easter be upon us
as we share his gift of salvation to all.
May the name of Jesus the Lord
be praised, honored and revered,
now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“He worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens.” (cf. Eph 1:20)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
ACTION PLAN: Pray that the modern means of social communication may be wisely and efficaciously used to preach the Gospel. Using whatever means and by your words and deeds, help the people of today to experience the saving glory of Christ exalted into heaven.
ACTION PLAN: That we may experience fully the glorious inheritance of the Risen Christ exalted over all, 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: A Weekly Pastoral Tool (Year A, vol. 7, # 28).
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