A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 4, n. 24)
4th Sunday of Easter, Year B – May 7, 2006
“The Shepherd Who Saves”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 4:8-12 // I Jn 3:1-2 // Jn 10:11-18
N.B. This new series of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY presents a biblico-liturgical study of the First Reading of each Sunday Mass to serve as background for a better understanding of the Gospel proclaimed in the liturgy. For a biblico-liturgical study of the Gospel for each Sunday, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US.
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
In November 2005 I was transferred from Fresno to our community in Monrovia to take care of our ninety-year old Sr. Mary Connie, who had cancer surgery. The normally vibrant and energetic little Sister was somber and in a low spirit on account of her illness. What impressed me was the continuing intense prayer offered for her by the parish of Immaculate Conception where we belong. The kindly pastor would visit Sr. Connie to pray over her. The thoughtfulness and compassion he showed revealed that he has the heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. In the early morning of November 28, 2005, after the Pauline celebration of the death anniversary of our Founder Blessed James Alberione, Sr. Mary Connie declared: “Basta! Enough is enough! I don’t want to die!” Later in the morning, when I was getting things ready to give her a sponge bath, the doorbell rang. It was our pastor, Fr. Charles, who came to visit Sr. Mary Connie. She was not in her room and so I went looking for her. I was surprised to find her sitting in the sunlit workshop where Jubilee, our canary, was singing. Sr. Mary Connie greeted our pastor with a radiant smile. Then in a trice she stood up. With two arms dangling like those of a soldier in a military drill, she started to walk with resolute steps and proudly said: “Look, Father! No walker!” My eyes nearly popped out for I always had to assist her when she went from one place to other, and always with a walker. The equally astonished Fr. Charles threw his hands up in jubilation, exclaiming: “My God, my God! She can walk! She can walk!” His lips were filled with praise and thanksgiving. For sheer joy he could not stop praising and thanking the Lord for his healing power and for the wondrous work wrought in the life of Sr. Mary Connie, who recovered completely from her illness.
The pastoral quality of Fr. Charles and his readiness to avow the merciful work of God strongly contrast with the obdurate hearts of the Temple priests, elders and scribes in Jerusalem who did not welcome the grace of healing that God had carried out in the name of Jesus through Peter and John. Instead, they became hostile to the apostles. They resisted their act of proclamation of the paschal event of Christ’s death and resurrection. As false leaders of God’s flock, they were inimical to the Easter message that the apostles Peter and John were proclaiming to the people. Abusing their authority, they attempted to silence the apostles, hoping to obliterate the miraculous sign of the cure of the crippled beggar near the Temple entrance called the Beautiful Gate.
The First Reading (Acts 4:8-12) of this Sunday’s liturgy reports Peter’s first Easter address to the Sanhedrin. This episode comes after the healing of the lame beggar (cf. Acts 3:1-10) at the Beautiful Gate and the discourse made by Peter to the people in the Temple (cf. Acts 3:11-26), explaining to the astonished crowd the true origin of the cure: It is faith in the name of Jesus that has restored the crippled man to health. By catechizing the people on the meaning of the paschal event and its relationship to the cure, Peter was inviting them to repentance and to a response of faith in Jesus the Risen Lord.
The Acts of the Apostles (4:1-4) tell us that while Peter and John were still talking to the people, the priests came up to them, accompanied by the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees, the priestly aristocratic faction who did not believe in the resurrection. They were extremely annoyed at their teaching the people the doctrine of resurrection from the dead by proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. They arrested Peter and John, but as it was already late, they held them until the next day. The following day, these valiant witnesses of Christ’s resurrection were arraigned and stood before the Great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, Israel’s Supreme Court. In the trial before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:5-22), Peter was empowered by the Holy Spirit to make a renewed Easter witnessing on behalf of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, who was unjustly crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. Peter asserted once again that it was in the name of Jesus that the lame man was completely healed. He proclaimed, moreover, that salvation is now given in Jesus’ name alone – for he is the stone rejected by the builders, but which has become the cornerstone.
Harold Buetow comments on this Easter episode: “As shown by today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus’ willingness to lay down his life was communicated to the apostles. It is a sermon on Jesus by St. Peter. Peter was initially a blustering, imprudent, spontaneous, but generous human being, who was willing to make all kinds of promises that he was unable to keep. This same Peter, after the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, grew in faith and courage. Just as Jesus’ sermon on the Good Shepherd had taken place after a miracle of healing, Peter’s sermon followed upon Peter and John’s cure of a crippled beggar in Jesus’ name. In today’s reading those unpretentious fishermen were able to stand up to the wealthiest and most powerful body in the land: the dreaded Sanhedrin. In the face of that powerful opposition, Peter – and the other apostles – showed not only courage, but also greatness. They had grown into men of principle. Their overriding thought was that God must come first. And they had a clear idea of their duty: to be witnesses for Christ.”
Indeed, the apostles who were anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit were able to experience the glorified Jesus as the font of healing and the sole source of salvation. In the name of Jesus and as Easter witnesses, they were able to effect miraculous cures among the people and to communicate to the distressed flock of Israel the abounding love and compassionate care of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
Today’s modern apostles and Easter witnesses are called to follow intimately and effectively the Good Shepherd who saves. Harold Buetow remarks. “As sheep of the noble shepherd, we should follow him trustingly all the way. As having been made children of God in a special sense through our baptism, we should recognize our new dignity by growing, as did Peter and the apostles, into being willing to lay down our lives – meaning, in our case, to empty ourselves – in order to cultivate a meaningful, loving, personal relationship with Jesus.”
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Jn 10:11-18
By Gabby Grescheck
Parish of Immaculate Conception, Monrovia, CA – U.S.A.
Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd.” The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man is not the shepherd who owns the sheep.
We know Jesus is the good shepherd. But, who is the hired hand? Who hires me? I do. My Ego tells me I have to have more. I have to have a bigger T.V., a newer car, more clothes, a bigger house. The constant wanting and craving … I am not good enough until I fulfill these emotions. Emotion means disturbance – from the Latin word, emovere – to disturb.
The man runs away from the present moment, for he cares for his Boss – the Ego and he leaves his friends.
Jesus said, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”
We know that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus said “I am”. Jesus left us with the Holy Spirit who guides us into the present moment of the “I am”.
Love, joy, and peace are deep states of being. “My sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”
We know that our mind is noisy. But if we become still – not thinking of the past or the future or of what we crave – we can lay down our false sense of self and take up our true spiritual being. We too will listen to Jesus’ voice and respond to the invitation: “Be still and know that I am God.” Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. Do we truly recognize and acknowledge the compassionate heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and his saving action at work in our lives? How do we respond to the sacrificial and ultimate act of love of the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep?
B. The apostles confessed and gave witness to the salvation in Jesus, the source of healing, and they healed in his name. Are we ready to communicate and share his healing love to a distressed flock in need of the care of the Good Shepherd? Do we believe in faith that we too are called to heal “in the name of Jesus”? Are we willing to take up the pastoral ministry of Jesus and be the life-giving and self-sacrificing shepherds of his people today?
C. How do we testify in today’s world and modern society concerning the absolute character of Christ’s salvation: that there is no salvation through anyone else, but in the name of Jesus who was crucified and raised from the dead? Are we zealous and efficacious witnesses of the Good Shepherd who saves?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
the Shepherd who saves is your Son Jesus Christ,
who was crucified and raised from the dead.
He freely laid down his life for his sheep.
In dying for his flock he became the source of healing,
freeing them from their misery and brokenness.
We pray you give us the compassionate heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
Grant us the courage to comfort the sick,
to assist the wounded,
to heal the broken hearted
and to lead into freedom
those crippled by the violence of sin, misery and injustice.
Help us to touch the suffering
with the healing power of Jesus, the saving Lord
and enable us cure in his holy name.
Like the apostles Peter and John,
fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit,
the astounding gift of the Risen Lord-Eternal Shepherd.
Renew our strength as Easter witnesses
and make us efficacious channels of the abounding love
of the Good Shepherd who saves.
May we be transformed into worthy new leaders
and faithfully shepherd the anguished people of today
who need your love and care.
In Jesus alone is our salvation
and in participating in his pastoral care,
may we eternally relish the fresh green pasture in our heavenly homeland,
where he lives and reigns forever and ever.
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.
“In the name of Jesus Christ this man stands before you healed … There is no salvation through anyone else.” (Acts 4:10, 12)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. Pray that today’s Christian disciples may truly have the compassion, insight, care, fidelity and love of the Good Shepherd who saves. In this Easter week endeavor to incarnate the self-sacrificing love of Jesus who laid down his life for his sheep.
B. ACTION PLAN: To deepen our participation in the pastoral ministry of the Good Shepherd who saves and to help us participate more deeply in his service of leading people to the pastures of eternal life, 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. 2, n. 24): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
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