A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 9, n. 42)
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – September 11, 2011 **
“We are the Lord’s … a Forgiving Lord”
BIBLE READINGS
Sir 27:30-28:9 // Rom 14:7-9 // Mt 18:21-35
(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 A 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 Sunday celebration continues to shape us in the meaning of Christian discipleship. The purifying and life-giving word of God that echoes in the liturgical assembly teaches that forgiveness is a vital element of our life in Christ and in the Church.
The Old Testament reading (Sir 27:30-28:9) is an exhortation to forgiveness. The writer of the Book of Sirach asserts: “If you forgive someone who has wronged you, your sins will be forgiven when you pray … You yourself are a sinner, and if you won’t forgive another person, you have no right to pray that the Lord will forgive your sins.” We are all in need of forgiveness and life is too short for grudges. Someday, we will die and our body decay. Indeed, it is wise to give up hate, anger and revenge and abide by the Lord’s commands concerning love of neighbor.
The Gospel reading (Mt 18:21-35) underlines the awesome formula “seventy times seven”, which indicates forgiveness without end. Christian disciples are urged to imitate the frequency and depth of divine mercy. Failure to do so has dire consequences at the final judgment.
The biblical scholar Eugene Maly explains: “Divine forgiveness flows from a creating and unmerited love and a new creation results. If that creating love is rejected, it is clear that the chaos of sin remains. Punishment is the necessary result. But as long as life remains, the forgiving hand of God is outstretched to all. Vengeance is final only when the refusal of forgiving love is final. (…) Jesus’ parable in the Gospel illustrates this motive even more powerfully. The huge amount of money written off by the king is contrasted with the tiny amount that the official refuses to forgive. Jesus is saying that the official did not really understand and make his own the great forgiving act of the king. If he had, he would have readily forgiven his fellow servant. Because he did not, his own debt remains. We are fortunate that we can experience in a concrete way the forgiving love of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But it is not magic. We show that it is not magic when we find ourselves forgiving others.”
In the Second Reading (Rom 14:7-9), Saint Paul reiterates our total belonging to Jesus, who died and came to life that he may be Lord of both the dead and the living. We belong to a forgiving God who is kind and compassionate. To forget that we are the Lord’s makes us unable to forgive.
The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent comments: “The verses read today from the letter to the Romans show a fortuitous but real correspondence with the first reading and the Gospel. The main point that Paul is making here is that whether in life or in death we belong to the Lord, since Christ has become Lord of both the living and the dead. If we accept the Gospel, embrace the faith and receive baptism, we are accepting the lordship of Christ: we live to the Lord. But then, all of us alike are under the same lordship, and if we are all servants of one and the same Lord, why do we condemn one another? (…) Such condemnation of one another is unthinkable: we must all appear before God’s judgment seat and render an account of ourselves. In the community of the Church, then, each person must forgive the others and stop passing judgment on them.”
The following intense and impressive personal story illustrates the power of forgiveness (cf. Roberta Messner, “The Kindness Factor” in GUIDEPOSTS, March 2011, p. 66-70). The narrator avows that forgiveness is how she shows her love for God in return for the unending love he gives her.
A V.A. hospital is a big place. I should know; I work in one. But that morning it wasn’t big enough. Not with my newly ex-husband and fellow nurse, Mark, roaming the halls. I’d managed to avoid him for a few weeks since our divorce had become final, but now, there he was, dressed in his scrubs, escorting a patient to the radiology room. He saw me and smiled. At least I thought it was a smile. “Just thirty-six more days until retirement!” he announced blithely. My blood ran cold. I’d almost forgotten. When we’d married 25 years ago, we’d planned to retire and travel around the world right about now. I guessed that was still Mark’s plan, but thanks to him, it couldn’t be mine anymore. No way could I afford retirement.
I tried to be civil. “So, still planning to do some traveling?” I asked. “Moving to Alaska”, he said. “Maybe do a little consulting, but for the most part, I’ll just fly and live the good life.” “Fly?” “Didn’t I tell you? I bought that vintage airplane I always wanted.”
No. He didn’t tell me. Now my blood was boiling. Even the knowledge he’d be thousands of miles away didn’t soothe me. He was going to live it up while I spent the next five years or more digging out from the financial mess he’d left me in. I stormed off before I made a scene.
The words from the Bible that Mark and I had pledged to each other on our wedding day came to mind: “Whither thou goest I will go; where thou lodgest, I will lodge.” How meaningless these words had been to Mark! Maybe he could on like nothing happened, but I couldn’t.
Since I was a teenager, I’d suffered health problems that could cause debilitating pain and other complications. Stress made it worse, and living with Mark didn’t help. At first, he’d made me laugh with his crazy brand of humor. He’d stood by me through all the doctor’s appointments and treatments. I put almost every cent I earned into paying off our house and making it beautiful. It was even featured in a few home magazines. I pictured us growing old there, together. But instead, we grew apart. Things changed. Mark’s good qualities gave way to the bad ones. He had a miserable temper, and could fly into rages over the littlest things. Bad feelings built up between us. For eight years I’d worked an extra job to get us by while he’d gone back to school for an advanced degree. Then when I mentioned that my boss urged me to consider going on disability during one of my more severe health flare-ups, Mark flew off the handle. “Wait one minute!” he yelled. “I didn’t sign up for this. You’re not going to quit your job and expect me to pick up the slack.” That was the last straw. After all I’d put up with, when I needed him the most, he turned his back. I’d never forgive him for that.
Mark stayed in our house while we worked out the details of the divorce. I moved to a ramshackle log cabin. I thought I could fix it up to start anew. I tried to put a good spin on things to my friends, laughing about how I called my new home The Leaning Log because everywhere I stood in it, the uneven floor made me lean. “I’m sorry, Roberta”, they’d say. “He just treated you awful.” “No”, I’d say, “we just needed to go our separate ways.”
What I couldn’t bear to bring up was how little I got in the divorce settlement, how the lawyers’ fees and the low sale price we’d taken on our house didn’t leave nearly enough to fix up the cabin. I wondered how Mark could afford his retirement. It wasn’t fair!
At a checkup, my doctor said, “Your blood pressure’s up, Roberta. Anything bothering you?” I started to say I was fine when all at once it came out, all the anger I’d been storing up. I told him how Mark had left me with almost nothing in the divorce, how I still had to see him at work, how it seemed he was rubbing my face with his quips about retirement, doing all the stuff we’d dreamed about.
Dr. Brownfield shook his head. “Stress can aggravate your condition. You know that… Take care of yourself. Eat right. Get rest. You’ve got to find a way to let this go.”
Let it go? How? I knew the doctor was right. But I wasn’t done being angry. For a solid week afterward, I couldn’t sleep. I felt myself getting more and more sick. By the weekend, I didn’t know if I’d have the energy to go in to work the following Monday. I collapsed on my bed. I did the only thing I knew to do. I prayed. Not for the first time, of course, not by a long shot. But with a desperation I’d never experienced. “Lord, I know I need to let go of this”, I cried out. “But how? Even when he’s gone, every day at work will just remind me I have no one and he’s out having the time of his life.” I knew what God’s answer was. Forgive Mark. Focus on the future, not the past. But I simply didn’t know how to forgive Mark. I tried. I couldn’t.
The next day at work, I could barely function. “You okay?” asked Sandy, one of the other nurses. She’d recently lost her husband. If she was asking me if I was okay, I must have looked in really bad shape. “I’m fine”, I insisted.
Sandy sat down with one of our long-term patients, Mr. Lansing. He’d once told me how seeing her was the best part of his day. I’d meant to tell Sandy that but had let it slip my mind. At my desk I spied a box of pansy-patterned cards a student I’d once mentored had given me. An inspiration struck. I pulled one out and wrote, “Dear Sandy, you make the biggest difference in your patients’ lives. I see it everyday. Especially this afternoon with Mr. Lansing. He told me that he watches the clock for 8:00 A.M. when your shift begins. Thank you for caring so much about our veteran patients.”
I gave Sandy the card. “You don’t know how much this means”, she said, grasping my hands tight. Seeing her smile meant a lot to me. Being thankful for a person and letting her know felt so much better than being resentful.
I decided to write “Caught in the Act of Caring” notes whenever I saw someone doing a good job or when someone brightened my day. Every time I wrote a note, it seemed my eyes were opened to new people I could give a kind word to. People I’d overlooked because I was so focused on my misery. Giving kindness was like an antidote to the poison of my resentment toward Mark. I felt energized when I came home. Enough to work on my garden at the Leaning Log, which was looking nicer everyday. I potted some red geraniums and gave them out to co-workers. The day Mark left the hospital for good, I barely took note. He’s moving on with his life. I’m moving on with mine.
“Has your diet changed?” Dr. Brownfield asked at my next appointment. My blood pressure had dropped 20 points. “No, just my attitude”, I said.
One night, home at the Leaning Log, sorting through some boxes, I came across an old anniversary card from Mark. Slowly, I opened it up. It was sweet, funny – the Mark I’d fallen in love with. At least those moments I’d always be thankful for.
Thankful for Mark? A few weeks ago, I probably would have ripped up the card. But I wasn’t in the same place anymore. All my caring notes had moved me to a different place. A place of forgiveness and letting go. I didn’t want resentment to rule my life anymore. “Lord”, I said, “wherever Mark is right now, I forgive him. Forgiveness is how I show my love for you in return for the unending love you give me.” It was strange, but the last bit of weight that seemed to sit on my shoulders lifted away.
I’ve heard from friends that Mark’s doing well in Alaska. He’s enjoying life. And it doesn’t make me unhappy. Anger and resentment did. Mark can’t hurt me anymore. As soon as I stopped counting my grievances, I could see my blessings. I could let go of the pain and embrace the future. My log cabin is paid in full and renovations are progressing well. My health is stable. I love my job more than ever, and my life too, free of the past.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
Do we realize that wrath and anger are hateful things and counterproductive? Do we endeavor to forgive our neighbor’s injustice that we may fully embrace God’s forgiveness?
How does the “seventy times seven” duty of forgiveness impinge on us personally? Are we willing to imitate the frequency, intensity and quality of Christian forgiveness?
Do we belong totally to the compassionate Lord who forgives all our sins? Do we endeavor to communicate his forgiving love to those who have wronged us?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Leader: Almighty God and Father,
you are gracious and kind.
How loving and forgiving are you!
Do not allow anger and wrath to grip our hearts.
Let not resentment and vengeance impel us to death and destruction.
Grant us your forgiveness for we are truly sorry of our sins.
Heal the wounds caused by sins and violence.
Help us to embrace
the “seventy times seven” duty of forgiveness given by Jesus.
Teach us to gaze upon your beloved Son
whose sacrificial love enabled him to suffer passion and death on the cross.
He came to life and is glorified as Lord of both the dead and living.
We belong to him.
As recipients of his saving love,
we too are instruments of his forgiveness
in a fragmented world that needs your healing love.
Let peace reign in us and give us the courage to be always forgiving.
We adore you and praise you;
we love you and serve 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.
“So then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” (cf. Rom 14:8)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
ACTION PLAN: Pray for forgiveness and for the grace of forgiveness. Make an effort to forgive from the heart one who has wronged you.
ACTION PLAN: That we may fully embrace forgiveness and obtain from God the grace to forgive, 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, # 42).
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