A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 4, n. 27)
7th Sunday of Easter, Year B – May 28, 2006
“Jesus Prayed … They Prayed”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26 // I Jn 4:11-16 // Jn 17:11b-19
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
Eucharistic Adoration is an essential element of our vocation and mission as Sister Disciples of the Divine Master (Piae Discipulae Divini Magistri), a contemplative-apostolic Congregation founded on February 10, 1924 by Blessed James Alberione, which is dedicated to the Eucharistic-priestly-liturgical ministry. When I entered our religious Congregation in 1970, we used to take our turns for Eucharistic Adoration, two by two, wearing a blue mantle – symbol of the ministry of mediation and intercession that we carry out on behalf of the Church and the world. A part of our Eucharistic Adoration is the prayerful proclamation of the Prologue of St. John (Jn 1:1-18) and the Priestly Prayer (Jn 17:1-26). I had always wanted to memorize these two beautiful prayers. With much effort, I finally managed to memorize St. John’s Prologue, but not the Priestly Prayer. It seemed an impossible endeavor to memorize such a long text. One day, however, a Scripture professor gave us a class on the Priestly Prayer. By showing us its main structure and by patiently explaining the meaning of this prayer, the task of memorization seemed less formidable. Two weeks after the class, I could pray the Priestly Prayer of Christ by heart. Indeed, when I pray this prayer I am deeply united with our Lord Jesus in his prayer for his disciples and all those who believe in him through their word. Moreover, in praying the Priestly Prayer of Christ I am encouraged and deeply motivated to work for the glorification of his name, in all that I do and in the daily ordinariness of my life as a Christian disciple. Furthermore, this wonderful prayer helps Christian followers to be receptive to the grace of God, enabling them to be kept from evil, to be sanctified in truth and be glorified with Christ.
Harold Buetow comments: “Today’s Gospel, which is from Jesus’ farewell discourse, presents part of his sublime priestly prayer, in which he consecrates all who will carry on his work. His prayer parallels the Lord’s Prayer. In addressing God, Father is the title in both, and both put a strong emphasis on the priority of God’s will … Taken all together, it is hard to imagine a more forthright statement than this Last Supper prayer of Jesus. Based on the experience of the Church, St. John wrote it at the end of the first century – when there was a need for unity in the Church, for preaching, for teaching truth, for realizing the identity of churches with each other and with Jesus’ total Church, and for the comprehension that Jesus really sent the Church and empowered it to continue doing what he had done.”
This Sunday’s First Reading (Acts 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26) presents an episode in the early life of the Church after the Lord’s Ascension (Acts 1:6-11) and before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13). The election of Judas’ replacement to fill up the college of apostles was prepared by the ministry of prayer of the apostles, of Mary and other women, and of Jesus’ relatives (cf. Acts 2:12-14). They were gathered in the upper room in continuous prayer.
The rules for Judas’ replacement required choosing “someone” who had been with the apostles during Jesus’ public ministry, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which Jesus was taken up to heaven. Above all, this “someone” was one who had been a witness to Christ’s resurrection. Only someone who knew Jesus before his death could witness that the risen Jesus is the same one who died. The group of apostles, reduced to eleven by the betrayal and death of Judas, felt it necessary to restore its full complement of twelve. Guided by the scriptural directive, May another take his office (Ps 109:8), the early Christian community of “about one hundred and twenty persons”, a symbolic allusion to the restored twelve tribes of Israel (12 “tribes” multiplied by ten – the perfect number), gathered in one place to select a successor to Judas Iscariot. The symbolism of “twelve” apostles is vital for it indicates the new representatives of the house of Israel (cf. Lk 22:30) and evokes the twelve foundation stones of the “new Jerusalem” (cf. Rev 21:14). The “twelve” would lead the community of about “120” disciples (“12” x “10”), a symbolic number representing the core of the Spirit-filled Israel at Pentecost.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 3, explain: “The testimony of the Twelve is and remains a foundation of the Church’s faith. Nothing can replace it … Those who will later be called successors of the apostles – the bishops – together assure the continuity of the Twelve’s authority in the Church’s mission and pastoral government. Thus their number has no limit. However, the Twelve are still the privileged and official witnesses to the resurrection.” Indeed, the Church – the community of Christian believers and the new redeemed Israel – is built on the foundation of the apostolic witnessing.
As Jesus prayed to the Father for guidance in his messianic ministry and as he especially prayed for his disciples when the time of sacrifice was drawing near, the early Christian community prayed for guidance in selecting Judas’ successor in the apostolic ministry. They proposed two candidates, Joseph called “Barsabbas”, also known as “Justus”, and Matthias. The community agreed that these two men fulfilled the requirements for joining the Twelve, but the final choice among the two was left to God. The discernment for the person chosen by God for the apostolic ministry was made in prayer and in great trust of God’s omnipotent wisdom. After praying, they drew lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias who was listed as one of the twelve apostles. The appointment of Matthias to the apostolic college underlines that one does not arrogate the ministry to oneself: God and the Church call one to it.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 3, conclude: “Before leaving us, Jesus laid the foundations of his Church: the apostles who accompanied him throughout his ministry and who became witnesses of his resurrection. Through them, the gospel has been preached to all nations and faithfully passed on to us. Their ministry is perpetuated in the college of bishops, with the pope as its head … The Lord’s promise never ceases to be realized: he watches over his own (Lk 12:32).” Indeed, united with Christ in his Priestly Prayer and trusting in the grandiose wisdom of God who knows the hearts of all, the apostolic Church through all ages continues to pray that all Christian disciples be one in the love of God and be consecrated in truth. They endeavor humbly and faithfully to make this a reality.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Jn 17:11-19
By Sr. Mary Joanne Mendez PDDM
PDDM Community, Fresno, CA-U.S.A.
The tender love of Jesus for humanity keeps me in touch with my Dad’s death. I knew my Dad was terminally ill. For the last three days my mother, my brother and six of my sisters were keeping vigil at my Dad’s side. My Dad, in a very feeble voice, was constantly telling my Mom that she would never be alone and that he would always be with us in his love and prayers. My father’s love for us made his departure very painful! It was hard for me to understand what he was saying. My mother’s broken heart gave me the message that something sad was happening. Together we recited the Lord’s Prayer. Yes, my father loves us very much. His concern in leaving behind my mother and ten children was indescribable! “Keep them in your name that they may be one just as we are.” Yes, my parents’ great desire for us was unity, a loving care for each other.
Pope John Paul II constantly spoke about family values. Values rooted in faith and truth; values that give vitality in our time of suffering. God’s love for humanity is everlasting. He wants us to be saved. To be happy! He knows our human weaknesses and places us into his Father’s care. Jesus begs the Father to consecrate his true believers. To consecrate is to make holy, to make whole. Truth is real. Truth sets us free. To be made holy in the truth is to be made one with God! He teaches us how to pray and how to trust God in our needs. “Our Father who are in heaven … your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Yes, our family values rooted in faith give new vitality in the preaching of the Gospel as our Way, Truth and Life even in time of suffering. In conclusion I think that God’s love calls us to listen to his words and be “consecrated in truth”, so we can share in the joy of Jesus, our Truth.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. Do we allow ourselves to be strengthened by Christ’s Priestly Prayer? How do we contribute to making Christ’s intercession: “That they be one as we are one” a reality? Do we cherish Christ’s religious consecration so that we also may be consecrated in truth?
B. Do we endeavor to make Christ’s Priestly Prayer our very own? Do we make an effort to use it to strengthen our spiritual and apostolic life? How do we contribute toward enhancing the apostolic character of our Christian vocation?
C. Do we fully trust in the Lord God who knows the hearts of all? Do we allow God to work freely in the acts of discernment that we make day by day? Do we ask his guiding help in making decisions that will have an impact on our community and the people around us?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us.
Assembly: Father, may they be one in us.
Leader: I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world.
Assembly: Father, protect them from the evil one.
Leader: Your word is truth. For their sake I consecrate myself so that they too may be consecrated in truth,
Assembly: Father, consecrate them in truth.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Lord, who knows the hearts of all, show which one …” (Acts 1:24)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. Pray that the Christian discipleship of today may take our divine election for apostleship seriously and may truly cherish the apostolic character of the Church. Pray the Priestly Prayer of Christ slowly and meditatively, even making an effort to pray it aloud. Pray for those preparing for their priestly ordination. Assist in any way a priest who is in moral, spiritual or material need.
B. ACTION PLAN: To help us experience more deeply the beauty of Christ’s Priestly Prayer, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration, using it as your topic for meditation and the content of your prayer. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 2, n. 27): 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