A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy

 

 

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 7, n. 43)

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – September 20, 2009 *

 

“The Wisdom From Above”

 

BIBLE READINGS

Wis 2:12, 17-20 // Jas 3:16-4:3 // Mk 9:30-37

 

 

(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 reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year B based on the Gospel reading, please scroll up to the “ARCHIVES” above and open Series 1. For reflections based on the Old Testament reading, open Series 4.)

 

 

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS

 

This Sunday’s liturgy invites us to follow the way of servitude and obedience to the divine saving plan of Jesus Christ, who personifies “the wisdom from above” (cf. James 3:17). The powerful depiction of the “Just One” in the First Reading (Wis 2:12, 17-20) tells us that the good fruits of wisdom are obnoxious to the wicked. Those who do evil are intolerant of contradiction. The life of just persons in their midst is for them a living reproach. The evil ones are therefore determined to beset and destroy the just who are filled with the wisdom of God.

 

Christian tradition sees in the condemnation and the suffering of the Just One in the Book of Wisdom a parallel to the passion of Jesus, the Just One par excellence (Mk 9:30-37). It also foretells the passion of the world. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 5, comment: “This passage from the Book of Wisdom applies to a multitude of men and women of all times, persecuted, tortured, put to death because they stood, by their mere presence, unshakable witnesses to right and justice. It applies literally to the Just One par excellence. Jesus declared that he was God’s Son. He never stopped denouncing impiety and injustice by his teaching and his conduct; he was defending the little ones and the poor; he never ceased to trust and proclaim God. He suffered the sarcasm and the insults of those who, putting him to death, thought they were through with him … The cross of the Righteous One, which from now on stands on the earth as God’s answer to all the challenges of the powerful of the world, is God’s testimony to the invincible strength of those whom brutal force will never cause to falter.”

 

The Christian disciples, immersed through baptism into the paschal mystery of the Servant-Son of God, are called to be “first” in the Kingdom of God by following the way of obedience and loving servitude. In reality, however, there are lapses and failures in their response to their grace-filled, but exigent vocation. This was the experience of the early Christian community animated and served by Saint James (Jas 3:16-4:3). There were jealousy and selfish ambition, as well as disorder and every foul practice. There were fights and quarrels. There were members even ready to kill on account of their evil desires and passions. James rightly assessed that their life was not what it was meant to be. Even their “prayer” was not properly motivated. The Jesuit biblical scholar Jerome Neyrey remarks: “James keeps on insisting that the roots of evil and sin are within us … Despite conversion and baptism, Christians are not perfect yet and must strive to let God’s grace rule their hearts progressively in every way.”

 

St. James thus exhorts the community to live by “the wisdom from above”. True wisdom is community building and bears fruits of goodness and peace. Without faith in God and the wisdom from him, true goodness is not possible. Indeed, a world without God is a cruelly violent world. It is therefore expedient for Christians to be receptive to the grace of God – to be open to the transforming divine love - as a slave is to the master’s bidding and as a child to a brand new world.

 

Harold Buetow explains: “James joins all those Jewish writings like the Book of Wisdom which were always of one mind that true wisdom is “from above”, from God. People imbued with God’s wisdom are pure enough to approach God. Such people are peaceable, maintaining a right relationship between person and person and between people and God. They are gentle, knowing how to forgive even when strict justice may give them the right to condemn. They are compliant, allowing themselves to be persuaded, knowing when to yield. They are full of mercy and good fruits, giving sympathy to people who are in trouble, even though they have brought these troubles on themselves. They are constant, not hesitating to make decisions. And they are sincere, having no trace whatsoever of hypocrisy.”

 

The following story impressed me deeply for it depicts the unfortunate situation of those who are not animated with “the wisdom from above” (cf. “The Window”, Author Unknown, in A 2nd Helping of CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL, ed. Jack Canfiled and Mark Victor Hansen, Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, Inc., p. 178-179). It illustrates the wise saying of St. James: “You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy, but you cannot obtain” (Jas 4:3). It makes us feel sorry for our sins and our frailties and helps us feel the need to turn back to God.

 

There were once two men, both seriously ill, in the same small room of a great hospital. Quite a small room, it had one window looking out on the world. One of the men, as part of his treatment, was allowed to sit up in bed for an hour in the afternoon (something to do with draining the fluid from his lungs). His bed was next to the window. But the other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

 

Every afternoon when the man next to the window was propped up for his hour, he would pass the time by describing what he could see outside. The window apparently overlooked a park where there was a lake. There were ducks and swans in the lake, and children came to throw them bread and sail model boats. Young lovers walked hand in hand beneath the trees, and there were flowers and stretches of grass, games of softball. And at the back, behind the fringe of trees, was a fine view of the city skyline.

 

The man on his back would listen to the other man describe all of this, enjoying every minute. He heard how a child nearly fell into the lake and how beautiful the girls were in their summer dresses. His friend’s descriptions eventually made him feel he could almost see what was happening outside.

 

Then one afternoon, the thought struck him: Why should the man next to the window have all the pleasure of seeing what was going on? Why shouldn’t he get the chance? He felt ashamed, but the more he tried not to think like that, the worse he wanted a change. He’d do anything! One night as he stared at the ceiling, the other man suddenly woke up, coughing and choking, his hands groping for the button that would bring the nurse running. But the man watched without moving – even when the sound of breathing stopped. In the morning, the nurse found the other man dead, and quietly took his body away.

 

As soon as it seemed decent, the man asked if he could switch to the bed next to the window. So they moved him, tucked him in, and made him quite comfortable. The minute they left, he propped himself up on one elbow, painfully and laboriously, and looked out of the window.

 

It faced a blank wall.

 

 

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

 

1.      Have we ever plotted wicked things against the just ones and carried them out? What were the effects on the “victims” and our own selves? Did we turn to God to seek forgiveness for the wrong we have done? How did we cooperate with God in rectifying and healing the “sinful” situation?

 

2.      Do we see the intimate connection between the passion of Christ and the meaning of discipleship? Are we ready to be “first” in the kingdom of God by following Jesus in his way of servitude and by reproducing in our life the pattern of his passion and death that leads to glorification?

 

3.      Do we allow ourselves to be imbued by “the wisdom from above”? Are we guilty of some of the sinful deeds mentioned by St. James and are we suffering from the sinful tendencies that lead to disorder and every foul practice? Do we seek grace and healing? How?

 

 

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD

 

Leader: Loving Father

help us to yearn and seek for “the wisdom from above”.

Fill us with great love for your Servant-Son Jesus Christ,

the “Wisdom of God” in person and the gift par excellence.

Imbued with divine wisdom and the love of Christ,

may we sow the seeds of peace in a world of violence

that we may reap the copious fruits of goodness and peace.

Drawing from the font of wisdom,

may we give witness to what is pure, peaceable, gentle,

to all that is docile, merciful and faithful.

Let our prayers be motivated by your divine will,

and never by greed or evil passion.

With the trusting heart and the limpid spirit of a child,

we cry out with our Lord Jesus:

“Thy kingdom and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

We love you, dear Father,

and praise and glorify you.

We adore and serve you,

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.

 

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.” (Jas 3:17)

 

 

 

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION

 

A.     ACTION PLAN: Pray that “the wisdom of God” may imbue all Christian disciples today that they may give a true witness of goodness and peace in a world racked with disorder and violence. By your thoughts, words and actions on behalf of the poor and suffering in your midst, allow the healing power of the wisdom of God to touch their hearts and mend their lives.

B.     ACTION PLAN: To enable us to be receptive to grace and “the wisdom from above”, 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. 43).

 

Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang  PDDM

 

 

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