A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 9, n. 29)
Pentecost of the Lord, Year A – June 12, 2011 *
“Pentecost Gift: Unity in Diversity”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 2:1-11 // I Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 // Jn 20:19-23
(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
This Sunday’s Gospel reading (Jn 20:19-23) depicts the Risen Lord’s gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples as well as his missionary mandate to them. In the Easter apparition on the evening of that first day of the week, while the doors were locked in the place where they gathered, Jesus told his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”.
The Easter missionary mandate that the disciples received was set in universal motion on Pentecost day (Acts 2:1-11). The Holy Spirit filled them with special gifts for the Gospel proclamation. The dramatic, prodigious events of Pentecost meant that the Good News would be preached in every language to every nation under heaven. The agent of the worldwide expansion of the Gospel message is the Holy Spirit, the Easter gift.
Today’s Second Reading (I Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13) underlines that those who have responded in faith to the Gospel, with their vast richness of socio-cultural backgrounds and their beautiful gifts, are brought into unity by the Holy Spirit, the font of gifts. The Spirit dwells in and animates those baptized into Christ’s body, the Church.
The biblical scholar Eugene Maly comments: “In the reading from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth we note two characteristics of the Spirit’s work. The first is the bestowing of special gifts on the believer. In later passages Paul gives lists of them. Some are extraordinary, such as speaking in tongues, but many are the ordinary tasks of everyday life, such as teaching, assisting others, and engaging in administration. The point is that anything we do as Christians to help one another is the Spirit’s power working in us; it is his gift. The one major criterion for recognizing the possession of a gift is if it helps others, or, as Paul puts it, if it is for the common good. The Spirit’s gifts are not for chosen elite; they are for all who believe and who act on their belief. That is why Paul says that the greatest gift is love. The other characteristic of the Spirit’s work mentioned here is his unifying power. He makes the most disparate peoples one. That means that in one spirit all of us were baptized into one body. While every Christian around the world has his or her own special gifts, they all form one body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the unifying principle.”
The Church’s celebration of Pentecost is a thanksgiving for the gift of the Spirit, the Easter gift. It is also a call to maximize the gifts we have received for the good of others and to build the unity of the one body of Christ, the Church. The following charming story expresses in a quaint, “colorful” way the “Pentecost” effect and the beautiful reality of “unity in diversity” in the Spirit (cf. La Vita in Cristo e nella Chiesa, May 2011, p. 54, translated by Sr. Mary Eugenia Pia, pddm).
Once upon a time the colors had a terrible fight. All of them were proclaiming themselves the best, the absolute, the favorite.
The green said: “Clearly I am the most important since I am the symbol of life and hope. I was chosen by the grass, by trees and by all the shrubs.”
The blue interrupted: “You think only about the earth, but don’t you consider the sky and the sea? Water is the basis of life. Without me you would be nothing.”
The yellow butted in: “You are all so serious. I bring smiles and warmth throughout the world. The sun is yellow. The sunflowers are yellow. The whole world seems to smile with me.”
The orange exclaimed: “I am the color of health and strength. I am precious because I carry with me the most important vitamins. I am so beautiful that no one thinks about you any more.”
The red shouted: “I am the king of all of you. I am the color of passion, of love, of a rose.”
The purple stood up in all its height and spoke with pompous voice: “I am the royal and powerful color. The heads have already chosen me because I am the sign of authority. People listen to and obey me!”
Finally the violet said: “Think of me. I am the color of silence. I represent thoughts and peace.”
And so they continued to discuss, each one convinced they were the most beautiful, the most useful and the one preferred by all. They argued and fought more and more. But suddenly a lightning bolt broke the sky. The thunder and the rain which followed scared the colors so much that they pulled together to comfort one another so as not to be afraid.
In the midst of the noise, the rain began to speak: “You foolish colors – fighting among yourselves and each one trying to dominate the other. Don’t you realize that each one of you has a unique, different purpose? Hold each other’s hand and come with me.
After they had reached peace, they took each other’s hand. The rain continued: “From now on when it rains, each one of you will extend yourself throughout the sky as a great arch of color as a reminder that you are all friends and live in peace.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do I deeply appreciate the Easter missionary mandate of the Risen Christ, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”?
Do I realize that the Holy Spirit continues to work a “little Pentecost” in our personal life? How do I respond to it?
How do I promote and realize the Pentecost gift of “unity in diversity”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Leader: Loving Father,
you are full of power and mercy.
We thank you for the paschal event of your Son’s passion and death
which led to his glorification and our redemption.
The Holy Spirit is the Easter gift
that propels us to proclaim the Good News of salvation
to all peoples, to all cultures,
to all creatures under the heavens and throughout the earth.
We give you praise for the Holy Spirit,
wellspring of manifold, wondrous gifts
for the building up of Christ’s body, the Church.
We open our hearts completely
to the Easter-Pentecost mystery.
Baptized into the body of Christ,
help us to live fully the Pentecost reality
of “unity in diversity” in the Spirit.
Make us living, active members of the body of Christ.
Help us to be worthy temples of the Holy Spirit.
We adore you, we serve you and we love you,
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.
“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” (cf. I Cor 12:13a)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
ACTION PLAN: Pray that the feast of Pentecost may help us appreciate the loving presence and vital role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In any way you can, promote the Pentecost gift of “unity in diversity” most especially in the context of your daily life.
ACTION PLAN: That we may experience fully the wondrous presence and activity of the Holy 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: A Weekly Pastoral Tool (Year A, vol. 7, # 29).
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