A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 4, n. 52)
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – November 19, 2006
“Your People Shall Escape”
BIBLE READINGS
Dan 12:1-3 // Heb 10:11-14, 18 // Mk 13:24-32
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
JULY 16, 1990: It was a beautiful and quiet afternoon during our annual retreat. I was in my room preparing for the evening Mass when the earth quaked violently. The tremors convulsed every beam of the house and shook me out of my wits. The sound of objects falling to the ground hit me with frightening intensity. I cried to the Lord for help and with great terror pleaded with him to save us from that calamity. After some more horrendous moments, the earth ceased to convulse. I breathed a sigh of relief and tried to collect my wits. After a few minutes, however, the earth’s foundation started to shake again with greater violence and fury. I left my room in panic. I saw two grim faced Sisters who had been making their Eucharistic adoration solemnly carrying the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. They were processing out of the chapel and heading outdoors. Finally, after an eternity of terror and distress, the earth became still. The Philippines had suffered one of the strongest earthquakes ever. Later in the afternoon and throughout the week, news reports of demolished buildings, trapped and injured people, and those who had died reached us. As we prayed intensely for the dead and the other victims, especially those trapped in the rubble, we also thanked the Lord that we were among those whose lives had been spared. By the grace of God, we had escaped unharmed from a natural disaster. That experience of salvation helped me perceive the meaning of the following astounding words in the book of Daniel: “It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress … At that time your people shall escape” (Dan 12:1).
This is the second to the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The Old Testament reading (Dan 12:1-3) proclaimed today is an “apocalypse” – a revelation of ultimate salvation. The revelation of this truth is carried out by recounting past events as prophecies. This Sunday’s passage is taken from the Book of Daniel, which was addressed to a people experiencing terrible socio-political and spiritual upheaval under the duress of the Syrian pagan king, Antiochus IV Epiphanus.
The Book of Daniel’s apocalyptic narratives were composed to console God’s people who were suffering persecution for their religion 165 years before Christ. According to the authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 5: “They aim at encouraging the readers to remain steadfast in their faith and assiduous in their observance of the Lord’s laws in spite of external pressures, persecutions, and the bad example of those who have faltered. They want to show that God always has the last word and that faithfulness to his laws is always rewarded. Finally, the author envisions the end of salvation history, which he calls the end-time. On this Sunday, we read a few verses of this apocalypse (Dan 12:1-3). History appears as an unceasing and always to be renewed struggle between good and evil, a sort of hydra – or dragon (Rev 12:3) – with seven heads, that rises with more vigor than ever each time one thinks one has mastered it. This experience threatens with discouragement those who heroically undertake this battle. Memory of past victories can give them heart for a moment. But how can one forget that today’s or tomorrow’s successes will be certainly challenged, like all the others, by new and increasingly aggressive assaults of evil? At this point, we see the apocalyptic writers revealing to us that at the end of history we shall see, after a last and especially violent confrontation, the dazzling and definitive victory of good. Although set at the horizon of history, the denouement is not far away. In order for it to happen, the decisive intervention of an up to then hidden force will be necessary.”
Against the backdrop of the Old Testament apocalyptic reading, the Gospel passage of this Sunday acquires greater depth and perspective. The intense and energizing words of the Gospel underline the radical and decisive saving intervention of God in the course of history. The Son of Man, greater than Michael, the great prince and guardian of God’s people mentioned in the Old Testament reading, will come after the days of utter tribulation with great power and glory and he will gather his elect from the four winds.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 5, comment: “On this Sunday, we read the excerpt from Mark’s Gospel dealing with the appearance of the Son of Man at the end of a period of undetermined duration, and especially troubled (Mk 13:24-32). But in those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in heaven will be shaken. This is the classical language of apocalypse. We must not yield to the temptation of imagining the cosmic upheavals alluded to and still less of picturing them. On the other hand, it is instructive to bring this description side by side with the story of creation … The image evokes a new creation, where the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its light, and the stars will fall before the splendor of the Son of Man … Then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. Mark fixes his readers’ attention not so much on the ‘tribulation’ that precedes the end as on the luminous and glorious manifestation of the Son of Man who comes to gather the elect. What is presented here is an encouraging perspective, the good news, or rather the ultimate fulfilling of the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Towards the end of the liturgical year, the apocalyptic elements of this Sunday’s Old Testament reading and Gospel reading reinforce the saving truth that God’s love and care will prevail notwithstanding continuing confrontations and threats of disasters. Our attention should not be distracted by the frightening biblical imagery of the end time, of which no one knows the day or the hour. This Sunday’s liturgy invites us rather to focus on the great saving event that will be accomplished at the definitive coming of the Son of Man. The ongoing reality of the paschal struggle against the forces of evil should not daunt us and the panoramic vision of the glorious victory of the elect at the end time should bolster our faith with strength and hope. In the context of God’s saving love, the thought of our own death and the inevitable event of the Lord’s final coming to recapitulate all creation should evoke in us a sense of joyful expectation and a greater commitment to the Christian task of building God’s kingdom of justice, peace and love.
Adrian Nocent concludes: “The last judgment is also God’s great act of reconstruction. We can be sure that God will produce something unimaginably new and great. The Christian expectation of final redemption should take the form of a lively, joyous hope of that great act of reconstruction. The Eucharistic celebration is a pledge that Christ is coming again and that then the new and lasting world will begin. It is also the efficacious power that causes the world to reach its maturity and thus hastens the coming end. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we await Christ’s coming.”
PERSONAL REFLECTION
By Andy Ruperto
Fresno, CA-U.S.A.
The good news for this week shook me up a little bit. Our Divine Master alluded to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, which also relates to the book of Revelation in the New Testament. Both books reveal visions of the mysterious figure – “Son of Man”. Both accounts were awesome and terrifying. They can be found in Dan 7 (especially verses 13-14), Rev 1:12 ff and Rev 6:12-7:3.
The passage in St. Mark’s account has the theme of Christ’s second coming and the end times. Our Divine Master identifies Himself as the Son of Man described in Daniel who will receive dominion, glory and kingship. This will take place in the end when “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light …” (Mk 13:24). The end of the world! For those who cling to this world it is the end, but for believers it is salvation and the coming of a new heaven and earth.
It puts a kind of urgency and alertness on us to look about the world and to persevere in bringing about God’s kingdom. Our Divine Master tells us plainly of the sufferings and hardships that will take place. But afterwards, he tells us of “the Son of Man coming with great power and glory” (Mk 13:26) and that “He will send out the angels, and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (Mk 13:27).
This is a message of hope for those who labor and suffer in the world. The image can still be terrifying though. Daniel states that, “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me” (Dan 7:15). Yet, the Son of Man was more mysterious for Daniel. In our times, the Son of Man has been revealed and lived among us. Our Divine Master – Jesus, the Son of Man – has shown Himself to be our good shepherd (Jn 10:11) and our Way, Truth and Life (Jn 14:6). He tells us often through the Gospels, “Do not be afraid.” So we must be alert and persevere in working for our Master so that in the spirit of our Liturgy we can “wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.”
The words of a song come to mind: “Do not be afraid. I am with you. I have called you each by name. Come and follow me; I will lead you home. I love you and you are mine.” We have nothing to fear if we follow and stay close to our Savior. We must continue to persevere in the task God has given to us – where God has placed us to be Christ’s light in the world. We must work for our King “that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him” (Dan 7:14). Then on that day, that final day, Christ will raise us up and bring us home. This is good news.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What are the distressing events that we are experiencing personally and as a community of faith in our world today? How do the bitterly aggressive assaults of evil in today’s society impact us? Do we lose hope and despair? Or do we believe in the decisive intervention of God to lead his people into a victorious struggle against the power of sin and evil at work in today’s society? Do we trust that God cares for us especially in times of trial?
B. Do we give time and attention to the consideration of the “last things”? Do we contemplate the paschal character of the hour of our death? Do we think about the parousia or the second coming of Christ? Do we allow ourselves to be strengthened and impacted by Jesus’ assurance that after the days of great tribulation the Son of Man will gather his elect from the four winds - from the end of the earth to the end of the sky? Do we long for the intimate coming of Christ at the hour of our death and do we look forward with joyful expectation to his definitive coming at the end time to recapitulate all creation?
C. Do we believe that the Eucharist is a pledge that Christ is coming again and that the new and lasting world will begin? When we celebrate the Eucharist, do we proclaim effectively that “Christ has come; Christ is risen; Christ will come again”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(Adapted from P. de La Tour Du Pin, Psaumes, Paris: Gallimard, 1970, 315 // Days of the Lord, vol. 5, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1993, p. 308)
Leader: How many more centuries of pain before the full daylight, Lord?
You are patiently molding us; we are going toward the end,
but your body of humanity is slow to complete.
Not enough nights to welcome you,
not enough heads to bow before you!
We announce you in the sufferings of the world.
We speak before being born.
In the shadow that covers us and where we are waiting for you,
we already sing your light.
How many more centuries before it may dazzle us?
How many remembrances of Christmas?
The Father of all love has entrusted his hope to us.
We stretch our hopes toward him.
In you, our hopes are all one.
Your hope quivers; it overcomes our pain.
Assembly: At that time your people shall escape …
The Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory
will gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.
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 Son of Man will gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.” (Mk 13:27)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray for those undergoing intense trials, deep distress and bitter persecutions that they may trust faithfully in God’s protection. Pray also that all Christians may learn to perceive their lives against the backdrop of God’s ultimate realities. Endeavor to be an efficacious element in God’s plan of ongoing creation by bringing his justice, love and mercy especially to the needy and suffering people around you.
B. ACTION PLAN: To help us contemplate more deeply the person of our self-giving Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man who will come again at the end time to gather his elect from the four winds, 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. 52): 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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