A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 9, n. 52)
Christ the King, Year A – November 20, 2011 *
“That God May Be All in All”
BIBLE READINGS
Ez 34:11-12, 15-17 // I Cor 15:20-26, 28 // Mt 25:31-46
(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 solemn feast of Christ the King, which concludes the liturgical year, celebrates the universal and cosmic dimension of his kingship. Against the backdrop of today’s Old Testament reading (Ez 34:11-12, 15-17) in which the Lord God vows to take personal responsibility for tending his sheep, Jesus Christ is to be seen as the fulfillment of the divine promise to shepherd his own people.
The Gospel reading (Mt 25:31-46) makes us appreciate the ever-expanding expanse of his kingship. The sole criterion for judging our worthiness to inherit the glorious kingdom is our exercise of love, especially on behalf of the poor and needy. Our compassionate hearts are our badge of belonging to God’s kingdom. Our corporal works of mercy indicate the divine power of love at work within us.
The Second Reading (I Cor 15:20-26, 28) is very important because it underlines the cosmic character of Christ’s kingship. Saint Paul speaks of the all-encompassing authority of Jesus the King as a result of his resurrection: “For Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” The resurrection of Christ, the “first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” is the beginning of an entire harvest of risen people. This phenomenon of destruction of death and of being raised to new life is geared towards this cosmic goal: that God may be all in all.
Mary Ehle comments: “Because death (sin) came through Adam and we are linked to Adam because of our human nature, it was necessary that the resurrection of the dead also come through a man, through Christ. This new life can only come through him, who through his own death and resurrection erased the stain of sin and triumphed over death. As a result of his resurrection, he now reigns as king. At the end of time, Christ, having brought all things under him, will himself be subjected to the one who drew all things to him. As it occurs in this passage, subjected does not carry a negative connotation. Rather, it simply implies that everything is ordered to Christ first, and then to the Father. In the end, all will be one in God through Christ. Christ rose. Christ reigns. Christ will come again in glory. We will rise. The Lord is fully and completely God forever. This we celebrate on the solemnity that draws the Sundays of the liturgical year to a close.”
The following article circulated through the Internet illustrates the total participation of Christ’s apostles/disciples in the mystery of his death and rising to eternal life. They have the heart of Christ-Shepherd and, having laid down their life for the sheep, they now participate in the glory of his kingdom. Their life of pastoral sacrifice promoted the cosmic goal that God may be all in all.
Do you know how they died?
1. Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
2. Mark died in Alexandria, Egypt after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
3. Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
4. John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death, John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic book of Revelation on Patmos. The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.
5. Peter was crucified upside down on an X-shaped cross. According to church tradition, it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ died.
6. James the Just, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller’s club. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the temptation.
7. James the Great, Son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the Church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.
8. Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel, was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.
9. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers, they tied his body to the cross to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: “I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.” He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.
10. Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent.
11. Jude was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
12. Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO
How does the assurance that the Lord God himself will pasture his sheep impinge on you?
How did you care for the needy? Did you try to manifest to them the compassionate heart of the Shepherd-King?
Do you look forward to the integration of all creation and the ultimate triumph of Christ the King at the end time? In what way do you promote the cosmic goal that God may be all in all?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO
Leader: O loving God,
we thank you for your compassionate care
and for your Son Jesus Christ, our Shepherd-King.
He laid down his life for the sheep,
but you raised him to life.
As the “firstfruits” of those who have fallen asleep,
the Risen Jesus is the guarantee
that those who sleep in death will also be raised.
You have placed all things under Christ’s rule.
At the end, he would hand over to you
the Kingdom he has won by his paschal sacrifice
and by his self-giving life as a shepherd.
Give us the grace to experience more deeply
the caring heart of the Shepherd-King
and to follow him more intimately
into his kingdom of love, justice and peace.
Through him, with him and in him,
may you be all and in all.
We praise and bless you.
We extol you and adore you.
Together with the community of the redeemed
and the entire renewed creation,
we cry out with joy:
“For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
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.
“That God may be all in all.” (cf. I Cor 15:28c)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO
ACTION PLAN: Pray that, at the end of the liturgical year, our hearts may be filled with thanksgiving for the many graces and benefits we have received through the Church year. By your corporal works of mercy and other acts of compassion on behalf of our needy brothers and sisters, allow the kingdom of God to triumph more decisively so that we may attain our goal: “That God may be all in all.”
ACTION PLAN: That we may direct more intently our words and actions to God’s kingdom and his ultimate triumph, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM website (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR: A Weekly Pastoral Tool (Year A, vol. 7, # 52).
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