A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 7, n. 23)
4th Sunday of Easter, Year B – May 3, 2009 *
“He Shepherds God’s Children”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 4:8-12 // I Jn 3:1-2 // Jn 10:11-18
(N.B. Series 7 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 B from the perspective of the Second Reading. For other reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year B, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US and open Series 1 & 4.)
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
The image of the Good Shepherd is poignantly appropriate during the Easter Season, the extensive span of great joy. The Risen Lord Jesus who is the font of our healing and salvation is the Good Shepherd. He lays down his life for the sheep. He manifested fully the Father’s supreme love when he laid down his life to save and heal us. By his life-giving offering on the cross, he gathered all peoples into himself and incorporated us into the divine life. Indeed, by the paschal mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, we became God’s beloved children. We are destined to share his ineffable glory in eternal life.
This Sunday’s Second Reading (I Jn 3:1-2) intensifies the beautiful message of Christ’s efficacious Easter sacrifice by proclaiming the astounding paternal love of God. In God’s supreme gift of his Son Jesus Christ – the love of God made flesh – we become the sons and daughters of the eternal Father. We can thus avow that we are “the children of God” by the power of Christ’s resurrection. The Holy Spirit, the astounding gift of the Risen Lord, is present in our midst and enables us to feel the power of the Easter event. The Holy Spirit assures us that we are indeed united with Jesus in his loving and intimate filial relationship with God the Father.
Jesus Christ continues his life-giving role as Good Shepherd who cares for his flock with tenderness, compassion and provident care. We need the love and care of the benevolent Shepherd to overcome the many hardships and challenges we meet in our effort to be faithful to our dignity as God’s beloved children. In our life of discipleship, we need to be compassionate and Christ-like. We need to care for each other and be “Good Shepherd” for those around us, especially the lost, the needy and the erring.
The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent comments: “Christ is the Shepherd of those who know God and have become his children. This relationship – being a child of God – is what God’s love for us has given us … When the Son of God appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is … We know what we really are, and we must live lives befitting men and women who are God’s adopted children. But the world does not see or understand what we know to be true. In fact, we ourselves, though knowing that we are God’s children, do not know in any clear way what we shall one day be; that will become clear to us only when Christ returns. In the interim, we must live our lives both apart from the world and in the world, since we have already been bidden to live for the things above.”
The following excerpt from Joseph Cardinal Bernardin’s excellent book, “The Gift of Peace” (New York: Image Books, 1997, p. 34-39) is deeply moving. It illustrates his Christ-like stance and his ministry as a Good Shepherd on behalf of the man who had accused him falsely of sexual abuse and brought him intense suffering.
Indeed, after the case was dropped and my final press conference on the matter was covered by the same CNN that had played such a prominent part in publicizing the initial accusation, I plunged back into my crowded schedule. Nonetheless, I thought often of Steven in his lonely, illness-ridden exile from both his paternal home and the Church. By mid-December I felt deeply that this entire episode would not be complete until I followed my shepherd’s calling to seek him out. I only prayed that he would receive me. The experience of the false accusation would not be complete until I met and reconciled with Steven. Even though I had never heard from him, I sensed he also wanted to see me.
Not knowing his address or phone number and not wanting to take him by surprise, I made contact with Steven’s mother, Mary, through Father Phil Seher, her pastor in Cincinnati and a friend of mine. She sent back word that Steven was not only willing but also had a real desire to meet with me. I flew to Philadelphia with Father Scott Donahue on December 30, 1994. Monsignor James Malloy, the rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, where the meeting was to be held, picked us up and drove us to its campus in suburban Overbrook.
I was a bit anxious as we entered the snow-patched seminary grounds. The campus, with its traditional granite structures, was quiet – the seminarians were on Christmas vacation. In the large, tall-windowed room on the second floor of the main building, we waited patiently for Steven and his companion. It was hard to refrain from asking myself an unwelcome question: Would Steven be able to keep the appointment or not?
Within a few minutes he arrived with his friend, Kevin. We shook hands, and I sat with Steven on a couch as Father Donahue and Kevin sat in the wing chairs at either end of it. Steven looked only slightly gaunt despite his grave illness. I explained to him that the only reason for requesting the meeting was to bring closure to the traumatic events of last winter by personally letting him know that I harbored no ill feelings toward him. I told him I wanted to pray with him for his physical and spiritual well-being. Steven replied that he had decided to meet with me so he could apologize for the embarrassment and hurt he had caused. In other words, we both sought reconciliation. However, Steven said he wanted to tell me about his life before we continued.
With a tone and gestures that indicated Steven had bottled up his story for a long time, he told me that as a young seminarian he had been sexually abused by a priest he thought was his friend. He claimed that the authorities did not take his report of the priest’s misconduct seriously. He became embittered and left the Church. Much later, he came into contact with a New Jersey-based lawyer with a reputation for bringing legal actions against priests accused of sexual abuse. This lawyer, Steven said, put him in touch with a priest in another state to advise him spiritually.
Although Steven was pursuing a case only against his seminary teacher, his priest adviser began mentioning me, Cardinal Bernardin, suggesting that, if I were included in the case, Steven would surely get back what he wanted from the Church. This “spiritual guide” pushed my name, urging him to name me along with the other priest in the legal action. He also urged Steven’s mother to cooperate in this plan, sending her flowers as part of his effort to persuade her to support Steven’s action. This was the very same priest who expressed his opinion during a Chicago radio talk on November 12, 1993, that I was guilty. (…)
I looked directly at Steven, seated a few inches away from me. “You know,” I said, “that I never abused you.” “I know,” he answered softly. “Can you tell me that again?” I looked directly into his eyes. “I have never abused you. You know that, don’t you?” Steven nodded. “Yes,” he replied, “I know that, and I want to apologize for saying that you did.” Steven’s apology was simple, direct, deeply moving. I accepted his apology. I told him that I had prayed for him every day and would continue to pray for his health and peace of mind. It became increasingly clear that he was in precarious health.
I then asked whether he wanted me to celebrate Mass for him. At first, he hesitated. “I’m not sure I want to have Mass,” he said haltingly; “I’ve felt very alienated from God and the Church a long time.” He said that on several occasions while in a hotel he threw a Gideon Bible against the wall in anger and frustration. “Perhaps,” he said, “just a simple prayer would be more appropriate.” I hesitated for a moment after that, unsure of how he would react to the gift I removed from my briefcase. I told him that I would not press the issue but did want to show him two items I had brought with me. “Steven,” I said, “I have brought you something, a Bible that I have inscribed to you. But I do understand, and I won’t be offended if you don’t want to accept it.” Steven took the Bible in quivering hands, pressed it to his heart as tears welled up in his eyes.
I then took a hundred-year-old chalice out of my case. “Steven, this is a gift from a man I don’t even know. He asked me to use it to say Mass for you some day.” “Please,” Steven responded tearfully, “let’s celebrate Mass now.” Never in my entire priesthood have I witnessed a more profound reconciliation. The words I am using to tell you this story cannot begin to describe the power of God’s grace at work that afternoon. It was a manifestation of God’s love, forgiveness, and healing that I will never forget.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Do we believe that there is no salvation except in the name of Jesus Christ? Do we have recourse to him for love, forgiveness and healing?
How do we respond to the life-giving love and sacrifice of the Good Shepherd? Do we allow him to guide us on the path that leads to eternal life?
Do we trust that Christ is the Shepherd of those who know God and have become his children? Do we imitate Christ the Good Shepherd and bring his compassion and continual care to those in need?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for the gift of your beloved Son Jesus Christ,
the paschal lamb and the Good Shepherd of our souls.
By his Easter sacrifice, he united us to himself.
By his resurrection, he enabled us to become your beloved children.
He is the font of healing, comfort and salvation.
He continues to care for us.
He shepherds us and leads us to eternal life.
Help us to have the heart of the Good Shepherd.
We give you praise and offer you our filial love,
now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.” (I Jn 3:1)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray that the compassionate heart of Jesus the Good Shepherd may continue to live on and guide “the children of God” wandering in today’s “valley of darkness”
ACTION PLAN: To help us contemplate and be thankful for the gift of Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, 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 B, vol. 5, # 23).
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