A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy

 

 

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 7, n. 39)

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – August 23, 2009

 

“The Bread of the Covenant”

 

BIBLE READINGS

Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b // Eph 5:21-32 // Jn 6:60-69

 

 

 

(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 readings from the Old Testament (Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b) and the Gospel (Jn 6:60-69) are unusually complementary. Both underline in a dramatic way the reality of human freedom to accept and reject God. Under the leadership of Joshua, the twelve tribes of Israel affirmed their choice to serve the Lord God, who rescued them from slavery in Egypt and performed marvelous deeds on their behalf, guiding them with his word and nourishing them with food and drink as they journeyed to the promised land. Israel’s covenant renewal with God at Shechem is thus a fitting backdrop for the climactic exchange between Jesus and his disciples after his discourse on the bread of life, in which Peter – speaking for the Twelve – professed their faith in the Holy One of God and expressed their resolve to remain with him who has “the words of eternal life”.

 

The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent comments: “Joshua delivers a lengthy discourse in which he recalls all that God has done for his people, beginning with the call of Abraham. His kindness to the people has been great indeed, and he has bestowed on them blessings they did not earn. Now they must choose. The people’s answer is clear: to die rather than abandon the Lord. The people in their turn recall what the Lord has done, and they come to the conclusion that they wish to serve the Lord because he is their God. All this is prefatory to the renewal of the covenant. In his address (which should be read in its entirety), Joshua does not gloss over the difficulties the people must face and the many temptations to infidelity that they must overcome. His predictions were in fact to be realized and the soft life in Canaan would corrupt the people.”

 

The liturgy of the Word in the past four Sundays gave us an opportunity to contemplate the Eucharist as the bread of unity, the bread of spiritual renewal, the bread of wisdom and the bread of the strong. This Sunday we are being invited to consider the Eucharist as the bread of the covenant. The Eucharist makes present, in the here and now, the saving event of Christ’s life-giving sacrifice on the cross and the New Covenant sealed by his blood. Nourished by the bread of the Word and united with Christ’s priestly sacrifice on the cross, we are given the grace to live out the New Covenant in today’s world. In the celebration of the Eucharist, we renew our commitment to incarnate God’s life-giving Word. Moreover, we resolve as Church to share intimately in the stupendous mystery of Christ’s body broken and blood poured out for the life of the world. The Eucharist – the sacrament of the New Covenant - is thus a marvelous manifestation of our decision to belong to the Lord and to serve him with unconditional love. This celebration of covenant love bears witness to the humble desire of a Spirit-filled Church to remain faithful to the Lord.

 

Adrian Nocent asserts: “When we celebrate the Eucharist, which is the sacrament of the New Covenant, we are forced to choose and to say, with the faithful disciples, To whom shall we go? Or, with the Israelites, Far be it for us that we shall forsake the Lord? Every sharing in the Eucharist implies such a decision, for each time that the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she renews her covenant with the Lord, protests her faith in him, and draws the faithful with her in her act of unconditional fidelity.”

 

The Second Reading (Eph 5:21-32) underlines that the personal relationship between wife and husband is based on Christ’s self-sacrificing love for others. Marriage between a man and a woman draws its strength and meaning from the covenantal love of Christ and his Body, the Church. The mutual submission and sacrificial aspect that animates the love relationship of spouses testify to the presence and fullness of the Spirit in their lives. Their marriage covenant is thus modeled on the “great mystery” of union between Christ, the Head, and his Body, the Church. The New Covenant ratified in Christ’s blood enhances the love relationship and nuptial bond of a man and a woman with beauty, fidelity and grace.

 

Moreover, the marriage of man and woman, when nurtured at the Eucharist and nourished by “the bread of the covenant”, can serve as a reflection, however imperfect, of the union between Christ, the Bridegroom, and his Bride, the Church. Such a marriage can be a model of self-giving love in today’s world and a sacrament of God’s covenant love and intimate relationship with his people on earth.

 

The following article in the Irish newspaper, ALIVE! (July/August 2009 issue, p. 6) extols the decision of a young Catholic couple to trust in God and accept the divine will. The moral commitment of Austin and Nuala Conway gives us an insight into Christian marriage as sacrament-covenant and inspired by God’s fidelity.

 

The parents of Ireland’s first ever set of sextuplets decided to put their trust in God rather than follow doctors’ immoral advice during their pregnancy. “These babies are a wonderful gift from God. Whatever God laid out for our lives we were taking it”, said 26-year-old Nuala Conway of Dunamore Co Tyrone. Doctors warned the married couple about the risks of a multiple pregnancy, and “more or less” advised them to have several of their unborn babies aborted. But the young Catholic couple rejected such a heartless solution and opted to trust in God and accept his will. “Doctors gave us a couple of days to think about it, but we knew without discussion what we both wanted”, said Nuala. “Whatever God laid out for our lives, we were taking it.”

 

The four girls and two boys, weighing between 1 lb 7 oz and 2 lb 7 oz, were delivered by Caesarian section 14 weeks early at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital, with the aid of 30 medical staff. In an interview with the Sunday Express, Mrs. Conway said, “I prayed as much as I could for a child. I would have been happy with one, but God blessed us with six, which is amazing.” It wasn’t until just three months before the birth that a scan showed she was carrying six babies. “I’m in love with every single one of them. I fell in love when they were in the womb. When one moved they would all move and I could definitely feel 24 limbs kicking”, she said.

 

 

 

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

 

1.      In the covenant renewal at Shechem, what was the meaning and implication of Israel’s decision, “We will serve the Lord, for he is our God”? Do we also make the same fundamental option and decision for the Lord?

 

2.      How does the faith confession of Peter inspire us? How does the choice of Peter and the Twelve to remain with the Lord, who alone has the words of eternal life, impinge on us? Do we believe that the Eucharist is the sacrament of the New Covenant in the blood of Christ? Do we allow the Eucharist to be truly the “bread of the covenant” for us?

 

3.      Are we submissive to one another out of reverence for Christ? Is our submission a sign of the presence and fullness of the Spirit in our lives? What is the relationship of the sacrament of marriage with the New Covenant in Christ’s blood? How is the sacrament of marriage a reflection of the union between Christ and his Body, the Church? Do we allow the nuptial covenant between Christ-Bridegroom and his Bride-Church to inspire and shape our daily reality as Christians in the modern world?

 

 

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD

 

Leader: Loving Father,

we thank you for the gift of the Eucharist,

which is the bread of unity,

the bread of spiritual renewal,

the bread of wisdom

and the bread of the strong.

It is also the bread of the covenant

that gives us strength and grace

to live out the New Covenant sealed in the blood of Christ.

By the bread of your word

and by nourishing us at the altar-table

of the Eucharistic body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ,

may we be true to our destiny as your covenant people.

We also pray for married couples

that their love-covenant may draw strength and meaning

from the sacrificial love of Christ Spouse for his Bride, the Church.

Today, we renew our covenant relationship with you

in the sacrament of the Eucharist

and in the Mass that we celebrate at the altar of the world.

We adore your saving design and benevolence.

We serve you with the whole strength of our mind, body and soul,

especially in the poor and suffering,

in the needy and marginalized.

We love and praise you

for you are our compassionate God and our saving Lord,

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.

 

“Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her.” (Eph 5:25b)

 

 

 

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION

 

A.     ACTION PLAN: Pray that our covenant relationship with God may grow and bear abundant fruit of service and fidelity. Endeavor to bring people closer to the Eucharist, the bread of the covenant, by your daily witness of truth and charity. Pray for a deeper covenant love between husband and wife and help people have a deeper understanding of the sacrament of marriage, which is a sign of Christ’s paschal covenant.

 

B.     ACTION PLAN: To help us contemplate the goodness and fidelity of God who gives us Jesus Christ, the “bread of the covenant”, 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. 39).

 

 

Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang  PDDM

 

 

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