A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy

 

 

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 6, n. 31)

Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Year A – June 29, 2008

 

“Pillars of the Church”

 

BIBLE READINGS

Acts 12:1-11   // II Tim 4:6-8, 17-18 // Mt 16:13-19

 

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 celebrate today the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the two great pillars of the Church. This year’s festivity is especially significant for with the First Vespers of this Solemnity we are ushered into the Pauline Year to honor Saint Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, whose 2000th birth anniversary we are commemorating. The liturgical Solemnity of the Princes of the Apostles helps us to contemplate more deeply the nature of the Church and its call to ministry. Saint Peter and Saint Paul, by their faith-filled life that culminated in martyrdom, remind us that the cost of Christian discipleship is dear. By their pastoral ministry and priestly service of the Gospel, they have witnessed to the nations that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and the Savior of the world.

 

The source of strength of Peter and Paul as pillars of the Church is Christ himself. The Cistercian monk, Aelred of Rievaulx (1109-1167) remarks: “You know, brethren, that of all our Lord’s apostles and martyrs the two whose feast we celebrate today seem to possess a special grandeur. Nor is this surprising, since to these two men the Lord entrusted his Church in a special way. For when Saint Peter proclaimed that the Lord was the Son of God, the Lord told him: You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. But in a way the Lord put Saint Paul on the same level, as Paul himself said: He who worked through Peter in the apostolate also worked through me among the Gentiles … And indeed, brethren, is there any place on earth that has not seen the power and grandeur of these apostles? These are the pillars that support the Church by their teaching, their prayers, their example of patience. Our Lord strengthened these pillars. In the beginning they were very weak and could not support either themselves or others. This had been wonderfully arranged by our Lord, for if they had always been strong, one might have thought their strength was their own. Our Lord wished to show first what they were of themselves and only afterwards to strengthen them, so that all would know that their strength was entirely from God. Again, these men were to be fathers of the Church and physicians who would heal the weak. But they would be unable to pity the weaknesses of others unless they had first experienced their own weakness. And so our Lord strengthened these pillars of the world, that is, of the Church. One pillar, Saint Peter, was very weak indeed … Then this pillar became so strong that he could not be moved by being flogged, stoned, threatened, and at last even by being put to death. Again, that other pillar, Paul, was undoubtedly weak at first, but hear how strong he became afterwards. I am certain, he said, that neither death nor life, nor angels nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate me from the love of God.”

 

Today’s First Reading (Acts 12:1-11) and Second Reading (II Tim 4:6-8, 17-18) underline the intimate participation of Peter and Paul in Christ’s paschal mystery and their wondrous experience of the Lord’s liberating power. The Acts of the Apostles narrate that King Herod Agrippa had Peter arrested and put into prison in Jerusalem so that he may be tried before the people after the Passover. He was under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains and sleeping between two soldiers, was rescued by an angel from an imminent death. Peter asserted: “Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting” (Acts 12:11) This miraculous divine intervention on behalf of Peter evokes God’s marvelous works on the night of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and at the Passover event of Jesus Christ from death to life. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 7, remark: “This was during the week of the Passover … The deliverance of Peter, whom God frees from prison at night, and precisely at this period of the year, assumes the value of a parable. For the Church, it is still the time of Exodus. During the night of this world, it prays with confidence, remembering the Pasch of Christ and giving thanks for the marvels God has accomplished, including thanksgiving ahead of time for the crowning marvel: when Christ himself, and no longer an angel, will come back to snatch her finally forever from the hands of her enemies.”

 

In the Second Reading (II Tim 4:6-8, 17-18), we hear about the apostle Paul who was also a prisoner for Christ and an intimate participant in his paschal mystery. Undergoing the humiliating conditions of a captive in Rome, he entertained no illusions as to the outcome of his trial. Knowing that he would be condemned to death, he did not allow the specter of death to daunt him. Confronted by the certainty of martyrdom, he avowed God’s benevolent protection and recognized the divine saving plan at work in his life: “The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth” (v. 17). Trusting fully in the Lord Jesus and knowing that he had done all he could to proclaim the Gospel, Paul compared his life to a spiritual sacrifice and spoke of his upcoming death as a “passage” – a Passover toward the divine kingdom. Knowing that he had competed well in his endeavor for Christ and that he had kept the faith in him, he was sure of the “crown of righteousness” that the Lord Jesus had prepared for him and all those who long for Christ’s coming.

 

Today’s Gospel reading (Mt 16:13-19) speaks of Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and the subsequent investiture of Peter at Caesarea Philippi with the “keys” of the Kingdom of heaven. The “keys” symbolize the authority and governance entrusted to the apostle Peter to lead the young church after Jesus’ resurrection. Acknowledged by Jesus as the “rock” upon which he would build his Church, Peter would take on a role of primacy and a service of authority on behalf of the entire spiritual edifice, the Church whose cornerstone and ultimate foundation is Jesus Christ himself. As willed by Jesus Christ, Peter’s ministry as a “rock” foundation of the Church and his service of authority as a recipient of the “keys” would live on through time and space. The biblical scholar, Eugene Maly comments: “Our feast today is, in fact, a celebration of God-willed structure in the Church. The Gospel reading says it clearly. The Church of Jesus Christ is built on this man, Peter. He is given keys to open and close doors. He is given authority to declare bound and loosed. It is difficult to imagine that Matthew was recording these grandiose works just for a short-lived community in some Syrian outpost. Yes, Jesus willed structure. But just as clearly, he willed it for us, not for it. Structure is not an end in itself, but a means to come closer to God and one another. When structure stifles the Spirit instead of providing the channel for its free and authentic expression, it does not serve its purpose.”

 

In our celebration of the God-given gift to the Church of its great apostolic pillars, Sts. Peter and Paul, we are invited to consider anew our vocation and mission as Church and to pray for the Pope and all those who have received the special mission as stewards of the mysteries of salvation. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 7, conclude: “Peter and Paul, with their contrasting charisms put at the service of one and the same gospel. Illustrate the nature of the Church of Christ and of the ministry entrusted to those whom the Lord chooses. Through the faith of which the apostles are witnesses and guides, the community of believers is solidly founded on Christ, the cornerstone that nothing can dislodge. Whatever may happen, despite all the trials, God delivers his friends as he freed his Christ from the power of death. Like their Master and Lord, those who exercise their responsibilities in the Christian community have only one ambition, to stay the course, to remain faithful to their mission as stewards of the mysteries of salvation, and to make themselves, without counting the cost, the servants of the servants of God, the messengers of his love.”

 

As we celebrate the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul and enter into the Pauline Year of the 2000th birth anniversary of the apostle Paul, I thank the Lord in a special way for having me the opportunity to spend several years of my apostolic life in Rome, Italy under the shadows of Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican City and Saint Paul’s Basilica on Via Ostiense. While studying liturgy at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy at St. Anselm, it was a great privilege and experience for me to help our Sisters at the Souvenir shops in Saint Peter’s Basilica. I had a chance to meet pilgrims from five continents of the world and savor the “universality of the Church”. It was a great joy for us PDDM Sisters to take daily turns for Eucharistic Adoration at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Saint Peter’s Basilica and offer special prayers for the Church and the Pope. One Wednesday afternoon, after finishing our work at the Cupola’s souvenir shop and while walking on the courtyard to board our van, we were asked by the Vatican police to stay put. From the other part of the courtyard, there was a tremendous activity as the Pope’s entourage arrived. When we saw Pope John Paul II, we cried out zestfully, “Viva il Papa!” Pope John Paul II, who was boarding the Pope’s Mobile for his Wednesday audience with the pilgrims, turned to us like a loving Father and waved at us. Moreover, I would like to reminisce the days when I would go to the SSP Provincial House at Via Alessandor Severo, near the Basilica of St. Paul, to pray at the tomb of our Founder Fr. James Alberione and the first Pauline priest, Fr. Timothy Giaccardo, who were both beatified by Pope John Paul II. These two great pillars of the Pauline Family were deeply and vitally influenced by Saint Paul. The first foundation of the Pauline Family in Rome, at Via Alessandro Severo, was intimately linked with the graciousness and kindness of the nearby Benedictine community at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. In my prayer, I thank the Lord because the life and mission of Blessed James Alberione and Blessed Timothy Giaccardo and the entire Pauline Family have deep connection with the life witness and service of truth of Saint Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. On this year of St. Paul, I consider it a “grace” to belong to the Pauline Family and I look forward to all the blessings that the Pauline Year would bring to us all.

 

 

 

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

 

  1. What insights does the celebration of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul give us about the nature and the ministry of the Church?

 

  1. How did Saint Peter and Saint Paul participate intimately in Christ’s Paschal Mystery? How did Sts. Peter and Paul carry out the life and mission of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God?

 

  1. What will you do to make the celebration of the Pauline Year more meaningful and transforming?

 

 

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD

 

Preface of Peter and Paul, Apostles

 

Leader: Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. You fill our hearts with joy as we honor your great apostles: Peter, our leader in the faith, and Paul, is fearless preacher. Peter raised up the Church from the faithful flock of Israel. Paul brought your call to the nations, and became the teacher of the world. Each in his chosen way gathered into unity the one family of Christ. Both shared the martyr’s death and are praised throughout the world. Now, with the apostles and all the angels and saints, we praise you forever.

 

Assembly: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

 

 

Prayer to St. Paul the Apostle: By Blessed James Alberione

 

Holy Apostle who, with your teachings and your charity, have taught the entire world, look kindly upon us, your children and disciples.

 

We expect everything from your prayers to the Divine Master and to Mary, Queen of the Apostles. Grant, Doctor of the Gentiles, that we may live by faith, save ourselves by hope, and that charity alone may reign in us. Obtain for us, vessel of election, docile correspondence to divine grace, so that it may not remain unfruitful in us. Grant that we may ever better know you, love you, and imitate you; that we may be living members of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. Raise up many and holy apostles. May the warm breath of true charity permeate the entire world. Grant that all may know and glorify God and the Divine master, Way and Truth and Life.

 

And, Lord Jesus, you know we have no faith in our own powers. In your mercy, grant that we may be defended against all adversity, through the powerful intercession of St. Paul, our Teacher and Father.

 

 

 

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 Lord stood by me and gave me strength.” (II Tim 4: 17a)

 

 

 

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION

 

  1. ACTION PLAN: Meditate on the marvels God has accomplished in the Church through the life witness and ministry of Saints Peter and Paul. In this Pauline Year that we are beginning, make an effort to read and reflect on the Pauline letters and be inspired by his St. Paul’s teachings. In any way you can, enable the people of today to experience the pastoral and evangelizing ministry of Sts. Peter and Paul.

 

  1. ACTION PLAN: To help us experience more deeply what a beautiful gift God has given us in the persons of the great apostles Peter and Paul, 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. 31): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.

 

 

Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang  PDDM

 

 

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SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER

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Website: WWW.PDDM.US

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