A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 13)
1st Sunday of Lent, Year C – February 21, 2010 *
“The Confession of Faith”
BIBLE READINGS
Dt 26:4-10 // Rom 10:8-13 // Lk 4:1-13
(N.B. Series 8 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 C from the perspective of the Second Reading. For reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C based on the Gospel reading, please scroll up to the “ARCHIVES” above and open Series 2. For reflections based on the Old Testament reading, open Series 5.)
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
The season of Lent is a dynamic experience that orients our life to God. It summons and leads us to radical conversion. As a salutary preparation for the Easter celebration, Lent facilitates personal and communal renewal. Through a more attentive listening to the Word of God and through the threefold Lenten program of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we embark on a spiritual journey – a journey to a deeper and more zealous faith. Every Lent is a grace-filled beginning and a wonderful milestone in our ongoing journey of life and pilgrimage of faith.
The Gospel of this Sunday (Lk 4:1-13) presents Jesus as the exemplar of faith. Led into the desert by the Spirit who anointed and strengthened him in his role as the Servant-Messiah, Jesus did not succumb to the devil’s relentless temptations, but remained faithful to God and his saving will. Graziano Marcheschi remarks: “After his long fast, Jesus is obviously hungry, but he hungers for more than food. It is for the word and the ways of God that Jesus hungers (…) Jesus rejects all the compromises Satan proffers: easily winning the crowd with magic, an earthly kingdom instead of the kingdom of God, and forcing God’s hand to prove Jesus’ identity (…) Jesus makes a confession of faith about how we are to live and whom we are to worship and serve. His faith statements set the course for a life of obedience to God’s will that culminates, as the portentous last line suggests, in the garden of last temptation.”
In the Old Testament reading (Dt 26:4-10), we come in contact with Israel’s confession of faith made during the offering of the first fruits of the harvest. After setting forth the first fruits in front of the altar of the Lord, the history of God’s intervention on behalf of the chosen people was recounted. Humble, grateful worship was the people’s fitting response to God’s benevolent deeds. Aelred Rosser comments: “In a broad way, we imitate during the Lenten season all that is described in this reading. We offer the very best of our praise together with penance – knowing that we have fallen short. We hear again the history of God’s plan of salvation for us and the fidelity of God’s intervention on behalf of our ancestors in the faith. In Jesus we see the fulfillment of God’s promises of deliverance through a suffering Messiah who ultimately conquers death and opens an eternal kingdom for us … Lent is a time for getting back to basics. We return to the earliest events in our history as God’s people and remind ourselves of the constancy of God’s loving plan to save us. Our exodus, our deliverance, our land of milk and honey, are achieved through the Easter mystery.”
The Second Reading (Rom 10:8-13) deals with the confession of faith of Christian believers. Our faith in Jesus Christ must be expressed fully in our words and actions, indeed, by our very lives. Our inner conviction must be confessed and our faith in the Risen Lord must be witnessed to all. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 2, explain: “Paul is speaking of the word of faith, the object of apostolic preaching that announces Jesus dead and risen. To profess on the lips and from the heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead brings righteousness and gives access to salvation: none of those who have this faith will regret it at a time of judgment … To call on the name of Jesus is, therefore, a total act of faith in the Risen Lord who saves. It is an unconditional welcome to his power of resurrection, his strength for salvation … Such a path to salvation is open to all.”
The season of Lent invites us to share our faith in the love of God and to proclaim the saving work of his beloved Son Jesus Christ, who for our sake endured and overcame temptations. The following experience of Jeff Cavins illustrates what it means to confess and share our faith in today’s world (cf. Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart, ed. Jeff Cavins, et. al., West Chester: Ascension Press, 2004, p. 159-1610).
Because I fly often, I have been able to meet many interesting people on planes. I usually look for opportunities to get to know people and, if possible, to share my faith in Christ with them. Evangelists often refer to this as “planting seeds of faith”.
One early morning as I was sitting in my seat waiting for the plane to take off, I noticed a young woman walk through the door of the aircraft. I’m sure everyone else in first class must have noticed her as well because she was a very striking lady. She took her seat next to mine and reached into her carry-on bag for her daily newspaper. As she opened her newspaper I greeted her with a cheerful, “Hello. Is Minneapolis your home or are you traveling?” Before she could answer, several huge men of monster proportions stepped onto the plane. Like the striking young lady, you could not help but notice these men, as they were all close to seven feet tall and three hundred or more pounds. “I’m here on business”, Jane (not her real name) answered. “I work for the WWF, the World Wrestling Federation.” “Really?” I asked, now making sense out of the cast of characters boarding the plane. “So what kind of business are you in?” “I’m one of the blonde bimbo managers that stand in the corner in a bikini”, she replied, somewhat sarcastically. Since I was not a regular fan of WWF, I had no way of placing her on that wrestling show, but I had an idea of what she was talking about.
After some small talk about the wrestling event the night before, there was a pause. So I asked her a point blank question and got to the heart of the matter. “So are you happy doing that?” I asked. My question took her by surprise. Her expression changed from aloof to serious. “What do you mean?” she asked. “I mean are you happy doing what you do?” I reiterated. “Is that what you’ve always wanted to do? I’m a Christian and I’ve always been curious if people involved in that sort of entertainment are truly happy?” Staring straight ahead, she paused for a long time, reflecting on the question. “No, I’m not”, she finally answered. She proceeded to tell me that while working as a make-up artist for CNN, she was offered the WWF job. Recently divorced with a child, the opportunity to make money was tempting. She related that what she had really wanted to do was to finish her education and pursue her relationship with Christ.
I expressed to her that she was part of an entertainment industry that is changing our culture negatively, and that it teaches our young men that women should be looked upon as sex objects. With a look of sadness, Jane told me she was not proud of what she was doing. “I was raised a Baptist and loved the Lord”, she explained. “I have not been living for Him the way I used to. This is not what I planned to do with my life.” “God has a plan for your life”, I told her. “He has a way for you to walk with Him. You don’t have to do this.” We talked from the time we left Minneapolis until we landed in Atlanta. I suggested that perhaps God was using WWF’s coming to Minneapolis as an opportunity for us to have this conversation. I could tell by her expression that she was deeply moved by what I had said.
I wish I could say she made a decision that day about her future, but I cannot. Since Scripture tells us that one man plants, another man waters, and God causes the increase, all I could do was plant a seed or water a previously planted seed. Perhaps I was watering that day. People often ask me, “Why do these kinds of things always happen to you?” I tell them things like this happen to everyone who asks God to use them. I am totally convinced that God is involved in our daily lives and that he desires to use us as His instruments of hope, healing, and good news, if we will only allow Him.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Do I offer to God the “first fruits” and the best of my life, knowing that he deserves my very best? Do I “confess my faith” in the liturgy and in the daily events of my life?
Do I experience temptations and what do I do to overcome them? Do I look to Jesus for strength and imitate his indomitable stance of faithfulness to the Father’s will when assailed with temptations? Do I treasure Christ’s personal confession of faith, especially on the cross?
Do we trust that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved? Do we confess our faith in the Risen Lord and give witness to it by our entire life?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
your beloved Son Jesus is the exemplar of faith.
He showed his filial obedience and confident trust
by overcoming the various temptations
in the desert and his public ministry
and by rejecting the ultimate temptation at the Garden of Olives.
Jesus Christ brought to perfection
the confession of faith of Israel,
your chosen people.
Immersed into the paschal mystery of Christ,
we too confess our faith in him, our Risen Lord.
In this Lenten journey,
let your Holy Spirit lead us more deeply
into the mystery of your saving love.
Bless us with your abundant grace.
Renew us in your love.
Help us as we travel through the way of the cross,
the path of renewal that leads to eternal life.
We give you honor and thanks;
we bless 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.
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom 10:13)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Through gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise of justice, revision of life, acceptance of suffering, etc., let this year’s Lenten journey bring you closer to God. Endeavor to help the intensely afflicted people of Haiti with the fruits of your Lenten sacrifice.
ACTION PLAN: That we may confess or faith more efficaciously in today’s world, 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 C, vol. 6, # 13).
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US