A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 9, n. 33)
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – July 10, 2011 *
“Toward the Integration of Creation”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 55:10-11 // Rom 8:18-23 // Mt 13:1-23
(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
One of the most beautiful and evocative passages of the Bible is this Sunday’s Old Testament reading (Is 55:10-11) about the power and purpose of the word of God to give life to those who receive it. The life-giving word depicted by the prophet Isaiah became flesh in Jesus Christ who brought the divine saving plan to perfection.
Mary Ehle comments on the Isaiah prophecy: “Using the natural cycle of precipitation and evaporation, the prophet explains the life-giving movement of the Lord’s word. Just as rain and snow have a purpose – watering the earth so crops will grow and produce fruit – so too, the Lord’s word has a purpose – to do God’s will, bringing life to those who hear it. Thus, the coming of the word of the Lord is an event; it is not a passive occurrence on either the Lord’s part or the part of those who will receive it. As baptized members of Christ’s body, we believe the word of the Lord was made flesh in Jesus. The announcement of salvation contained in these two verses is fulfilled in him and through his life, death and resurrection. He himself, and the message of the kingdom he proclaims, are the precipitation which cultivates in believers and unbelievers alike the willingness to build up the kingdom of God on earth.”
The word of the Lord – with the vitality and fruitfulness it brings – demands a personal response (cf. Mt 13:1-23). The biblical scholar Eugene Maly explains: “Its efficacy was limited, not in itself, but only by the human refusal to hear it, by the closed ear and hardened heart. But if there was openness, then wonderful things happened; miracles occurred. (…) If we are not open to the word, how will it have its effect? It must find a resting place deep within us so that it can do its work. If we are like the hardened footpath, or the patch of rock, or the unfriendly briers, the word remains a stranger to us. To help us be ever more open to God’s word we should reflect often on its power. If we don’t really believe in the word’s power, then it is powerless to help us. But if we believe, we will become, with increasing fruitfulness, the good soil. We will have the conviction and the confidence of Jesus himself.”
In the Second Reading (Rom 8:18-23), we glean an important insight on what responding to the saving word of God entails: our connectedness with the entire creation in the experience of destruction and sin and in our vocation to redemption and glory. Harold Buetow remarks: “Paul sees all of creation as joined to humankind in being wounded by sin and in its present misery. We are God’s representatives in his marvelous creation, and human destiny is intricately interwoven with the world we live in: its sufferings, corruption and agony. That means that we carefully nurture not only our personal moral growth, but also that of nature. (…) At present, though, both humanity and nature suffer. This suffering is a sign of how much all creation is damaged by sin. Even so, we have received help: redemption by Jesus and the Holy Spirit is the principle of our new life.”
The present time, which is pregnant with glory, is a painful birthing moment. The integration of creation will be achieved and our glorious destiny fully revealed. But we need to continue to sow and nurture laboriously the seeds of God’s kingdom. Likewise, we need to promote the integrity of creation, care for the earth and be careful stewards of all God-given gifts and resources in the here and now.
The following newspaper article gives us a glimpse of how to promote the integration of creation and to make the living word of God fruitful through loving concern for others (cf. Tovin Lapan, “Organic Farm Gives Back, Aids Hundreds of Groups” in San Jose Mercury News, December 18, 2010, p. 2 of the SV Life: Home and Garden Section).
When UC Santa Cruz graduate Drew Goodman and his wife, Myra, took over a 2½ acre raspberry farm in Carmel Valley in 1984, they were too busy learning how to farm to think about ways of giving back to the community. “Once we got to the farm, we got a one-day tutorial from the owner, who was moving on, and we woke up the next morning as farmers”, Goodman says. “Other than knowing how to drive the tractor, we didn’t have any skills nor experience growing anything … We had to figure it out from scratch. You couldn’t just log on to Google and learn about growing organic raspberries.
Today, Earthbound Farm is the largest grower of organic produce in the United States, with 150 growers farming 35,000 acres, and the Goodmans have set up a variety of ways to give back to the community as the company has grown. In recognition of their charitable work, Earthbound Farm was named the Central Coast’s 2010 philanthropic organization of the year. The company supports a wide array of charities, including more than 350 non-profits a year, ranging from a monthly donation to an employee nominated charity. It has helped offset its carbon emissions by planting 50,000 trees with American Forests. Earthbound Farms sponsors student scholarships, including a graduate student fellowship in environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz.
“The business emerged with no concrete plan and no upfront capital”, Goodman says. “We wanted to pay employees as much as we could afford, and a lot of the philanthropy started out with offering the employee-influenced programs. We started out with scholarships for children of our employees, and then also scholarships for UCSC and CSUMB (Cal State Monterey Bay). Now we have the program where employees nominate a charity monthly, and a donation is made in their name to something they support.”
By growing organically, the farm avoids the use of more than 338,000 pounds of toxic pesticides and over 11.2 million pounds of synthetic fertilizers. In his book, “Omnivore’s Dilemma”, Michael Pollan said Earthbound Farm “arguably represents industrial organic farming at its best.”
Drew, who got a degree in environmental studies, and Myra, who studied political economy of industrial societies at UC Berkeley, both grew up in Manhattan. After some time with their hands in the soil cultivating raspberries, they decided to start growing salad greens. Every day they worked dusk to dawn on what, at first, was supposed to be a one-or-two-year venturous experiment. “We were growing great organic food outside of the house and we weren’t eating it ourselves. Our diet was frozen pizza or anything we could heat up after a long day of work”. Drew Goodman said. “Every Sunday we would harvest and wash greens so we could have salads for the whole week.”
They noticed how well the greens were keeping, which eventually led to selling pre-washed salad in a bag. Soon, the markets for organic produce and pre-prepared salad would take off, and Earthbound Farm grew as well.
The company kept an eye on sustainable practices the whole way, using recycled materials for packaging and converting to bio-diesel fuel in the majority of its farming machinery.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we allow the word of God to carry out its life-giving action in us in the same way that the rain and snow from the heavens make the earth fertile and fruitful?
What do we do to nourish the seed of the word of God planted in our hearts?
Do we cherish the first fruits of the Spirit and unite ourselves with the entire creation awaiting the revelation of the children of God? What do we do personally and as a community to promote the care of the earth and the integration of God’s creation?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Leader: O loving Father,
we thank you for the snow and rain
that come down from heaven to water the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful.
Your life-giving Word
is like the rain and snow
that make the soil yield bountiful harvest,
but infinitely powerful and efficacious.
We therefore welcome and obediently respond to Jesus,
your ultimate and most beautiful word.
Like well-watered gardens,
let us produce abundant spiritual harvest.
United with your Divine Word,
we give birth to new creation
and yield fruits of the Spirit.
In the name of Jesus,
help us to liberate creation from destruction and sin
and promote its healing and integrity.
With the entire creation,
we look forward to the final revelation of our glorious destiny
and our marvelous freedom as children of God.
We adore you and praise 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.
“The sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” (cf. Rom 8:18)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
ACTION PLAN: Pray that the word of God may efficaciously be proclaimed and received by the people of today. In any way you can, promote the healing of Mother Earth and the integration of creation.
ACTION PLAN: That we may experience the efficacious power of the Word and adore worthily Jesus with the entire creation, 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, # 33).
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