A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy

 

 

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 7, n. 32)

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – July 5, 2009

 

“Strength in Weakness”

 

BIBLE READINGS

Ez 2:2-5 // I Cor 12:7-10 // Mk 6:1-6

 

 

 

(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

 

This Sunday’s Old Testament reading (Ez 2:2-5) as well the Gospel reading (Mk 6:1-6) speaks of the trials and travails of God’s prophet. Sent to a hardheaded and rebellious people, Ezekiel was rejected. But his presence as a prophet – a spokesman of God’s word – revealed and testified to God’s unflagging solicitude for his people Israel, called constantly to conversion.

 

The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 5, comment: “God is not naïve, but knows that through hearing his unceasing calls, every sinner can finally experience a movement of wisdom, abandon bad ways, and be converted. All sinners will always find near at hand a prophet ready to help them and welcome them in the Lord’s name. God places harsh words in his prophet’s mouth in order to lead the most obdurate sinners to an awareness of grave consequences should they remain blind. Acting in such a way, God manifests his mercy.”

 

In his difficult prophetic mission to an impudent crowd, Ezekiel was not alone. He was filled with the Spirit of the Lord. The spirit or ruah – the life force or “breath” that impelled Ezekiel on his way as a prophet – gave him the strength and the courage to face the obstinate Israelites. The Spirit of God helped the beleaguered Ezekiel to be faithful to the life-giving mission received from the one who sent him.

 

The circumstances in which Ezekiel carried out his saving mission were the very ones Jesus later met as the ultimate prophet. Like Ezekiel, Jesus suffered rejection. His mission in his native Nazareth was a virtual failure. Tinged with jealousy, his kinsmen could not get beyond the outward, human facts about him and were prejudiced by his humble beginning. His newly revealed authority and great wisdom scandalized his countrymen. Jesus was astounded by their lack of faith and resigned himself to preach the Good News elsewhere. Aelred Rosser remarks: “Rejection disheartened Jesus so much that it limited his ability to do good. Our lack of faith limits his ability to do good to us. But rest assured that he does not force good on those who reject it. This would not be love, for it would deprive us of one of his greatest gifts to us: free will.”

 

The rejection of Jesus by his own relatives and friends in Nazareth foreshadowed his experience of utter rejection on the cross. Paradoxically, however, his painful passion was a means to glory. By his death on the cross Jesus Christ brought about our salvation and led us to everlasting life.

 

The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent asserts: “The humiliated, crucified Jesus had the full power of the Spirit within him, and at the very moment when he was suffering and seemed powerless, he was lifting the world from its sins into the life of God. A life marked by persecution, coercion and suffering of every kind is not regarded by the Christian as a reason for discouragement or despair; rather, it is a life that draws strength from the indwelling Lord. Weakness and suffering enable the Christians to clear a space within himself where the power of God can dwell.”

 

This was truly the experience of the New Testament prophet Paul, who was afflicted with a “thorn in the flesh”, according to the Second Reading of this Sunday’s Mass (II Cor 12:7-10). Like Ezekiel and his beloved Lord Jesus Christ, the great apostle Paul was rejected, challenged, contested and criticized by the people he was meant to serve. Some vicious critics in the Corinthian community doubted his credentials and rated him as not on par with the “super apostles” who had received visions and revelations. Compelled to deal with his critics on their own terms, the indignant Paul confessed that he too was a recipient of a special vision. This unique “revelation” transported him to paradise. His ecstatic, mystical experience definitely surpassed those being vaunted for the “super apostles”. Paul spoke of this “revelation” in the third person to emphasize that it was an undeserved gift received from God. Indeed, until driven to this extreme by his Corinthian critics who looked down on him, he had refrained from speaking about this and kept it a secret. However, in order that he may not become conceited on account of this extraordinary revelation, the mystic Saint Paul was gifted too with a “thorn in the flesh”, most likely, an embarrassing, chronic physical malady. The purpose of this affliction was clearly to help Paul assume a humble stance and allow the grace of God to work more freely and efficaciously in him.

 

The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 5, explicate: “Paul entreated the Lord three times to take away this thorn that tormented him to the limit of the tolerable … The Lord did not reject Paul’s prayer. He did not lift the burden of the cross bearing down on Paul, but he assured him of his effective help. Paul’s prayer, as well as the Lord’s answer, are to be seen in the perspective of the mystery of the cross of Christ, who has revealed God’s power … But we must not forget that the strength given by this faith does not prevent us from feeling, to our innermost depths, the anguish of fear … Paul boasts of his weakness in order that the power of Christ may dwell with him … here is why he is content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ. And he concludes, For when I am weak, then I am strong. Paul often experienced the truth of this in the course of his life and ministry. He recalls this for the benefit of those who, faced with grave difficulties, could be threatened with discouragement because of their own weakness. His experience should be heartening to them and give them new reason for hoping against all hope. At the bottom, this is the faith that Christians profess. Their assurance in weakness rests on the certitude of sharing in the pasch of Christ, who through the humiliation and annihilation of the cross, has passed into the Father’s glory.”

 

The experience of Saint Paul, as well as that of the prophet Ezekiel and the ultimate prophet Jesus Christ, testifies to the presence of divine grace in all our afflictions. Though his “thorn in the flesh” continued to afflict him, the certainty of God’s favor and assistance was enough for Paul. The Christians of today are called to the same trust, surrender and faith that in weakness, there is strength, if only we are united with Christ. The following story of the cancer victim Kevin Barry, a former chief of legislation for the U.S. Coast Guard and a director of the National Institute of Military Justice, is a modern day testimony of how a physical affliction – a “thorn in the flesh” can be a “gift” to manifest the love and power of God (cf. “Pain and the Power of Prayer” in SAINT ANTHONY MESSENGER, February 2009, p. 35-37).

 

It is said that cancer changes everything. That goes also for prayer. I was diagnosed with colon cancer on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1997. When the diagnosis first came in, prayer suddenly took on a much more prominent role in my wife’s life, as well as my own. Each time the cancer returned, and with each new crisis, prayer again rose up to be a more constant companion. But it is not just the proximity or amount of time we came to spend in prayer. What is more important is that, since cancer, our prayer habits have changed. Our prayers have become more present, more intense, more frequent, more together. (…)

 

My cancer has also resulted, at various times in the past years, in me experiencing pain. At such times I tend to pray with more intensity than is my norm when I am not in any pain and life is proceeding smoothly. That intensity can vary from a little more prayer than normal to an almost constant plea for strength to endure when the pain is particularly severe … Obviously, the pain is part of the whole deal. It is a result of cancer. Thus, it has to be part of what Roslyn and I have come to accept as “the gift of cancer”. (…)

 

To a certain degree, my experience of pain changed in 2007, after I had to stop chemotherapy in February because it wasn’t working well – its toxicity became too great. My white blood cell and platelet counts were being suppressed and were taking longer and longer to bounce back. Soon thereafter, I began to experience cancer pain that was chronic and quite severe, and I learned just how much a part of my life pain and pain medications could become. I spent more time praying, not just for the grace to endure the pain, but especially for the grace to accept better both my cancer and its pain as part of the gift (some would call it a cross), which was fashioned just for me by my loving God. I was extraordinarily blessed when the next round of chemotherapy miraculously terminated the pain just two days after the first treatment. I believe this sudden relief from all pain was a reminder of God’s mercy. (…)

 

The serious pain I have experienced has led me to consider pain and suffering on another level. Paul the Apostle has two extraordinary sentences in his letters. One is: I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20). The other is: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ (Colossians 1:24). What could possibly be lacking in the sufferings of Christ? His passion and death were part of his perfect sacrifice. The only thing I know that is lacking is for his suffering to be made present today – in this place and in this time. But if Christ lives in me, then my suffering becomes Christ’s suffering. Suddenly, it is much easier to endure pain knowing that, by doing so with the right intention; I bring the mystery of Christ’s own suffering into my life, for my benefit and for the benefit of all who are “one with me” in my struggle. It is like a variation on the Mass, through which Christ’s sacrifice is made present today in our world. In my suffering here and now, if I can truly live Paul’s words, Christ lives and suffers in me. And I live and suffer in him. What an awesome mystery. What a profound faith to share.

 

 

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

 

  1. What is our reaction when we are rejected, criticized, opposed and contested? Do we take inspiration from the experience of the prophet Ezekiel, the ultimate prophet Jesus Christ, and the prophet to the Gentile world Saint Paul?

 

  1. In the personal experiences of Ezekiel, Jesus Christ and Saint Paul, do you verify the theological principle: “strength in weakness”?

 

  1. What are your own experiences of grace? Can you truly avow that there is “strength in weakness”?

 

 

 

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD

 

Leader: Loving Father,

your prophets experienced rejections and various afflictions.

We too have our own share of sufferings, travails and humiliations

Be present to us in our afflictions

through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

and the power of the Holy Spirit.

We trust in your saving help

and we allow ourselves to be grasped by your guiding hand.

Gracious God,

in our human weakness, debility and vulnerability,

allow us to believe that there is “strength in weakness”.

You are our provident Father,

and together with your beloved Son Jesus Christ our Savior

and the Holy Spirit, the breath of life and love,

we adore you and give you praise,

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.

 

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (II Cor 12:9)

 

 

 

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION

 

  1. ACTION PLAN: Pray for weakest and most vulnerable members of the society and by your works of charity on their behalf allow them to experience that there is “strength in weakness”.

 

  1. ACTION PLAN: To help us contemplate deeply the “gracious act” of Christ who in his paschal mystery taught us the beautiful spiritual lesson of “strength in weakness”, 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, n. 32).

 

 

 

Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang  PDDM

 

 

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