A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 6, n. 29)
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – June 15, 2008
“The Summons”
BIBLE READINGS
Ex 19:2-6a // Rom 5:6-11 // Mt 9:36-10:8
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
This Sunday’s liturgy presents to the worshipping community the beautiful reality of divine election. In the Old Testament reading (Ex 19:2-6a), we hear of God’s choice of Israel as his covenant people and his “special possession”. Challenged to be attentive to the divine voice, the people of Israel – rescued from slavery in Egypt by Yahweh who bore them up on “eagle’s wings” – were summoned to an intimate and exclusive covenant relationship with him. Today’s passage contains the preamble to the great covenant-making event on Sinai whereby Israel became God’s people. The Lord God called Israel to be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation” dearer to him than all other peoples.
The biblical scholar Eugene Maly comments: “The Exodus reading speaks of Israel, under the leadership of Moses, coming to Sinai after having left Egypt, the land of bondage. Here the Lord was to establish a special relationship between himself and them; it was called a covenant, meaning a treat or pact. Our passage indicates how God looked upon his new covenant partner. But first there is recorded what God had done for Israel. This is always a presupposition in the biblical concept of vocation. God acts first and acts out of love. Here he is said to have borne his people to him “on eagle wings” to himself. Eagles are referred to often enough in the Hebrew Scriptures to suggest that the people were greatly impressed by their strength, speed and concern for their young. Thus they are an apt figure for the Lord’s action on behalf of his own.”
Israel’s experience of being borne up by God on “eagle wings” – that is, of his benevolent and mighty saving action on their behalf - was the basis of their positive response to the divine initiative. God’s covenant plan was not imposed, but so totally benevolent and gratuitous that it deserved a loving response of acceptance and fidelity. Indeed, the covenant life that the Israelites had freely embraced was a constant challenge to ongoing fidelity. It was Yahweh’s gracious will to make of them a “kingdom of priests”, that is, a people set apart to give glory and praise to God, to pray and intercede, to offer spiritual sacrifices, and to make the Lord’s kindness known. Moreover, the Lord Yahweh also destined them to be a “holy people”, set apart from what is ungodly and consecrated to love and serve him alone.
Against the backdrop of Israel’s covenant vocation to be a “kingdom of priests” and to be a “holy nation”, the call of the twelve apostles narrated in this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Mt 9:36-10:8) takes on a deeper meaning. The naming of the twelve apostles was a first phase in the constitution of the Church, the new Israel and the number “twelve” evoked the constitution of the twelve tribes of ancient Israel as God’s covenant people, destined for worship and with a special mission to other nations. Just as Israel was summoned to be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation”, God summoned the Church and willed it to be a kingly people, a priestly people and a holy people, witnessing the divine benevolence before the nations.
The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent underlines the implication of the vocation and ministry of Israel in relation to the Church, the “new Israel”: “The role of Israel was to bear witness that it was a holy nation, and she was to do this for all nations of the earth. In like manner, the Church can never become a self-centered reality, for her missionary vocation and her apostolate to all mankind are part of her very being … The entire people of God is called to be a missionary, to intercede, to offer sacrifice, and yet their activity is not the same as that of the ministerial or ordained priesthood. The latter is a special participation in Christ’s priesthood; it is higher in degree and possesses essentially different powers. The ordained priest is commissioned to make the mysteries of salvation present and operative here and now; the faithful, as priests, can share intimately in the mysteries thus rendered present and operative … Each member has his place and his missionary function; each member prays, teaches, and offers the one sacrifice according to the place and position that has been given to him. Each believer is thus invited to reflect on how he thinks of the Church and his role in it. He must face the fact that he cannot be truly a Christian unless he carries out his mission as someone chosen and sent in accordance with God’s plan.”
God continually summons the Church, the new covenant people, to a life of holiness and worship, mission and service. The community of Christian disciples is in a state of mission and is continually being summoned to listen and obey the voice of the Lord. Using the pastoral image of sheep without a shepherd and the agricultural image of abundant harvest without enough laborers, Jesus delineates the intense and urgent need for more apostolic workers and missionary personnel and asserts the importance of the ministry of prayer in this regard: “Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (Mt 9:38).
Last May 31, 2008 (Saturday), the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was a joyful event in the life of the Church in Los Angeles. Twelve men from an array of ages, cultural backgrounds and life experiences have responded to God’s summons and were ordained to the priesthood. The presence of these twelve newly ordained priests is a testimony of God’s loving initiative to pastor the Church and gather in the harvest. Moreover, the filial, faithful and trusting response of these men to the divine call for a more intimate relationship with God and priestly ministry is an assurance that the love of God continues to be incarnated in the Church and in the world.
One of the newly ordained is Fr. Leo Ortiga, who was born in the Philippines on January 23, 1961. He studied at the Manila Science High School and obtained a B.S. in Occupational Therapy from the University of the Philippines and an M.A. in Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern California. He remarked: “I found the seeds of my vocation in my work among people with disabilities. As an occupational therapist, I had the privilege of working with people from all backgrounds – from Hollywood directors and actors to CEOs, from undocumented immigrants to gang members. I came to realize that regardless of background, people are essentially good; we all share a deep hunger to be loved and our needs ministered to. I came to appreciate the ‘holiness’ of my work in helping rehabilitate people to physical wholeness, yet I never was able to touch the deepest hunger and brokenness of their souls. That is the privileged role of the priest by the nature and exercise of his office. With this realization I entertained the possibility that I might have a calling to the priesthood.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
How does the vocation of Israel to be a covenant people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation relate to us and inspire us?
What is the significance of Jesus calling the twelve apostles to himself and the mission entrusted to them? How does this reality affect us?
What is our response to Jesus who summoned us and continues to summon us to a deeper and more intimate relationship with God and for a greater service in the Church and in the world?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for choosing Israel as your covenant people
and for considering them as your “special possession”.
What a great privilege
and what a tremendous love you have shown
for your chosen people!
In Jesus, your beloved Son-Servant,
the twelve apostles were chosen to be the foundation stones for the Church,
the new people of Israel.
Like Israel of the ancient covenant,
the Church of today is called to be a priestly people,
a kingly people and a holy people.
As members of this faith community,
you have given us the grace to build up the life and mission
of the priestly, kingly and holy Church, the new Israel.
Grant us the grace to respond fully to Jesus,
who summoned us and continues to call us
to a deeper filial relationship with you.
In the name of Jesus,
enable us to proclaim your saving plan to all the nations
and serve our brothers and sisters in need.
May we faithfully participate in Jesus’ care for the sheep
and in gathering the fruitful harvest of your kingdom.
We trust you and we love you,
we praise and thank you for your kindness and goodness.
You bore us up on eagle wings
and destined us to share intimately your joy and peace in heaven,
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 harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. ” (Mt 9:37-38).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Meditate on the beauty and challenge of our Christian vocation. Pray for all those called by God for a special mission and ministry in the Church as priests, religious and consecrated lay apostles. By your words and actions on behalf of the suffering and the needy, endeavor to incarnate God’s will that we may truly become a priestly, kingly and holy people in the world of today.
ACTION PLAN: To help us experience more deeply the divine summons, 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. 28): 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