A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 4, n. 3)
Third Sunday of Advent, Year B – December 11, 2005
“I Rejoice Heartily in the Lord!”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 61:1-2a, 10-11 // I Thes 5:16-24 // Jn 1:6-8, 19-28
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 Old Testament 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
On this Third Sunday of Advent, called “Gaudete Sunday” for it is deeply marked with a spirit of joyful expectation, we consider with great interest John the Baptist, an important Advent figure presented to us in the Gospel reading (Jn 1:6-8, 19-28). He is the Lord’s precursor and his essential mission is to bear witness to the true light, Jesus Christ, and pave the way for his coming. The French scholar, Jean Danielou comments: “A witness is someone who has first been granted an inner vision; God has introduced him to the divine viewpoint so that he can pass on what he has seen to others. So it was with John the Baptist. God first admitted him to his own counsel, revealing to him the mystery of the divine plan, drawing him into the desert to share with him his own joy. Then came the essential part of his vocation: he was a witness to Christ, that is to say he was the one who pointed out Christ to the people.”
The Gospel of “Gaudete Sunday” becomes more meaningful if seen against the backdrop of the Isaiah reading. The first part of the Old Testament passage of this Sunday’s liturgy (Is 61:1-2a) prefigures the saving mission of the One for whom John the Baptist was preparing the way: Jesus Christ – the messianic One whom the expectant people do not recognize in their midst. Taken from what is called the “Third Isaiah”, which consists of the last chapters of the book of Isaiah, this beautiful passage depicts the ministry of the Servant of Yahweh on behalf of the poor, the captives and the brokenhearted: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God” (verses 1-2a). Rich in biblical tradition, this poem announces that the messianic era has come and assures the dispirited people in Exile that despite their hardships, trials and anguish, the time of jubilation and liberation is upon them. The prophetic voice of the Servant of Yahweh, a figure of Jesus Christ, asserts personally that the Spirit of the Lord God is upon him to bring about creatively and marvelously the total salvation of God’s people: in body and spirit, individual and social. Jesus, in his first sermon in the synagogue in his hometown at Nazareth, cited this passage, with minor variations, to indicate the fulfillment of the messianic era ushered in by him (cf. Lk 4:18-19).
In the second part of the Old Testament passage we hear the joyful voice of Israel as recipient of the messianic acts of the Servant of Yahweh: “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels” (Is 61:10). Adorned and anointed as God’s chosen people, Israel rejoices in the favors shown by God. In the marvelous work that he has wrought in them, all the nations will recognize the Lord God’s justice and righteousness. The people of Yahweh celebrate the fulfillment of love and their nuptial relationship with their God. They sing a song of joy for salvation – a joy so intense that it could be likened to the ecstatic joy of the bride, bedecked with her jewels, at the approach of the bridegroom, adorned with a diadem. Moreover, Israel sings of the messianic glory that springs up from the verdant and fruitful earth so that the praise and justice of God may be proclaimed through all the nations: “As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations” (Is 61:11).
Indeed, the experience of the messianic saving acts and the presence of God’s miraculous intervention in the history of salvation makes the season of Advent a season of grace and abounding joy for those who truly await the definitive coming of the Lord Jesus and his renewed coming at the celebration of his birth. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 1, assert: “The season of Advent is a parable of the life of the Church and of each believer, hoping in joy and humility for the hour of the great rendezvous. It is the time when eyes are uplifted to the One who dispenses all gifts in unpredictable ways; the time of spiritual joy for those who do not obstruct the Spirit and misunderstand the prophets; the time when one looks ahead to the coming God. It is also the time for praying that God himself, by the coming of his Son, may inaugurate his reign and help us to reduce the distance that always exists between the little that we are and all that God has in store and prepared for us.”
PERSONAL REFLECTION
By Sr. Mary Irene Quadra PDDM
“He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.” (Jn 1:7-8)
Once a friend of mine shared a story entitled, “The Bodyguard”, but it was not the kind of film that the famous Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner would have done. The story is about a young, attractive woman, Susan, who was thrown into a world of darkness, anger, frustration, and self-pity because of blindness and all she had to cling to was her husband, Mark. When she lost her sight, Mark was determined to help her gain the strength and confidence she needed to become independent again. When she felt ready to return to her job, Mark volunteered to drive her to work each day. But later, Mark realized that the arrangement was not working and it is time for Susan to regain her independence and start taking the bus again. Though Mark promised to look after her, the idea of taking the bus alone horrified Susan, but she submitted herself to it until she was finally going to work all by herself. Then one day, as she was paying the fare to exit the bus, the driver said to her, “Oh, I sure envy you. It must feel good to be taken care of and protected like you.” Curious, Susan wondered what made him envy her, a blind woman who struggled just to find the courage to live. So, having no idea what the driver was talking about, she asked, “What do you mean?” The driver answered, “You know, every morning, a fine-looking man has been standing across the street watching you as you get off the bus. He makes sure you cross safely and watches until you enter your office. Then, he blows you a kiss, gives you a little salute and walks away.” Tears of happiness poured down her cheeks. Though she could not see him, she could always feel his presence. He had given her a gift more powerful than sight, a gift she needed not to see to believe.
Today’s liturgy is yet another reminder that we have to bring Christ into the mainstream of our society. Like Mark in the story, God wants us to make him manifest through our conduct and words, our examples and our conversations in family life, in hospitals, in shops, in the university, in our work place. Simple acts of kindness, yet true expressions of goodness, like smiling, blowing a kiss, a simple greeting using our accessible means of communication, or embracing not only those whom we love, but especially those to whom we seldom pay attention.
As we contemplate the great figure of John the Baptist, he who fulfilled his mission so faithfully, we can ask ourselves whether we too are forerunners of Christ in today’s world. Whether we too give testimony to the truth through our lives and our words so that Jesus may enter into the lives of others, those who are still far from him, so that those already close to him may give themselves to him more fully.
While waiting the coming of our Savior’s birth, it is not too late to let others experience that they need not see in order to believe. The Lord uses us as torches to make the light shine. We ask the Lord to help us to be the light that not only illuminates but also gives warmth, by our presence and by our words and deeds. If only we extend more goodness to one another, then on the Eve of Christmas what we will find surprising would not be the stars shimmering up there, but the radiant fire of shared love that comes from within. That is the greatest gift of love that can bring light where there is darkness, a gift we need not see in order to believe.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. Are we the precursors and witnesses of Christ in today’s world, a prophetic voice “crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord”?
B. Do we allow ourselves to be the recipients of the compassionate saving acts of Jesus, the Servant of Yahweh, whose mission is thus delineated in the “Third Isaiah”: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God” (Is 61:1-2a)?
C. Are we open to the grace of God and the gift of his joy? What do we do to make this Sunday truly a “Gaudete Sunday”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(Adapted from Cl. Bernard, Chant E 193; cf. Days of the Lord, vol. 1, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991, p. 115)
Assembly: You are the Other for whom we wait,
Jesus, Word and response,
you are our only song,
Emmanuel in our silences.
Leader: Are you the one who is to come
to make our deserts bloom,
to free our hearts,
to bring our seeds to life
by the waters of the Jordan?
Assembly: You are the Other for whom we wait,
Jesus, Source of living water,
you are the springtime for the grain,
Emmanuel in our deserts.
Leader: Are you the one who is to come
and who comes each day
to free our lives,
to stir up our breath
by the movement of your own?
Assembly: You are the Other for whom we wait,
Jesus, the world’s strength,
you are the Living One who returns,
Emmanuel, God-with-us.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God” (Is 61:1-2a).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray that the messianic mission of the Servant of Yahweh and the Church may be carried out efficaciously in our society today. Personally, endeavor the bring about the advent of God’s kingdom on earth through acts of justice and charity on behalf of the world’s poor and the needy in our local community.
B. ACTION PLAN: To deepen the spirit of Advent joy and in order to give homage to Jesus Christ, the redeeming Lord who came, who comes and will come gloriously at the end-time, 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. 3): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
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Website: WWW.PDDM.US