A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 20)
2nd Sunday of Easter, Year C – April 11, 2010 *
(Divine Mercy Sunday)
“I Am Alive Forever and Ever”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 5:12-16 // Rv 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 // Jn 20:19-31
(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 Lord’s resurrection is the summit of salvation history. As we celebrate as Easter people on this “Divine Mercy Sunday”, we recognize more than ever that the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead is the stupendous event that brought about the flow of divine mercy and forgiveness. It opened the door to the flood of healing love and saving grace. The Risen Lord gave new life through the recreating Spirit that he breathed upon his disciples on “the first day of the week” as his Easter gift. Moreover, he pursued with loving patience those who, like the doubting Thomas, need to be strengthened in their faith (cf. Jn 20:19-31). The Lord’s rising from death and his gift of the Holy Spirit powered the life and growth of the early Christian community (cf. Acts 5:12-16).
The scholar Aelred Rosser remarks: “In the brilliance of the resurrection, the apostles’ missionary effort bears fruit in thrilling ways. They enjoy the esteem of the people and their leadership is recognized. More dramatically, their faith enables them to minister the Lord’s healing love in the very signs and wonders he had promised would accompany their work. The Church is growing as the Lord adds more and more to its number.”
But the early Christian community – in all its glory and vitality - likewise endured persecution just like its Savior Jesus Christ. The vibrant, ever-growing Easter community was a suffering Church, as can be gleaned from today’s Second Reading from the Book of Revelation (cf. Rv 1:9-11a, 12-13). To the early Christians enduring intense difficulties and trials, John’s fascinating vision of a “son of man” was an encouragement in their distress. The vision of Christ who lives for eternity and has authority over death assured them of their own triumph within the tormented history of humanity. The decisive triumph of Jesus over sin and death is the ultimate Easter consolation. The Lord of life is paradoxically the one who once was dead. Now he lives! The conqueror of sin and death is alive for us, forever and ever!
Fr. Harold Buetow comments: “Jesus went on to give John the sublime revelation: Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever (v. 18). This is the core of the Christian creed. It is the claim of one who has risen from the dead, is alive forever, and has conquered death so that he is death’s master. Because Jesus lives, we too shall live.”
Our Easter encounter with Jesus, just like Thomas and the other disciples, confronts us to the core of our being. We are called to make a leap of faith into the arms of the Risen Lord who summons us to live with him forever. Today, the living Lord – who still bears the scars of his sacrificial wounds - calls us anew to make a deep faith response, especially in the face of the well-founded charges of sexual abuse perpetrated by some clergy and religious on minors. Pope Benedict XVI’s Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, issued on March 19, 2010, addresses this issue openly and courageously so as to redress past wrongs according to justice and the Gospel … so that the wounds inflicted may be healed and the betrayed trust of the victims and of all be renewed. The following excerpt from the Pope’s Pastoral Letter illustrates the need to trust in the ever-living Lord Jesus Christ, who is full of mercy and compassion (cf. L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO, March 24, 2010, p. 3-5).
With this Letter, I wish to exhort all of you, as God’s people in Ireland, to reflect on the wounds inflicted on Christ’s body, the sometimes painful remedies needed to bind and heal them, and the need for unity, charity and mutual support in the long-term process of restoration and ecclesial renewal. I now turn to you, with words that come from my heart, and I wish to speak to each of you individually and to all of you as brothers and sisters in the Lord.
To the victims of abuse and their families: You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen. Those of you who were abused in residential institutions must have felt that there was no escape from your sufferings. It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel. At the same time, I ask you not to lose hope. It is in the communion of the Church that we encounter the person of Jesus Christ, who was himself a victim of injustice and sin. Like you, he still bears the wounds of his own unjust suffering. He understands the depths of your pain and its enduring effect upon your lives and your relationships, including your relationship with the Church. I know some of you find it difficult again to enter the doors of a church after all that has occurred. Yet Christ’s own wounds, transformed by his redemptive sufferings, are the very means by which the power of evil is broken and we are reborn to life and hope. I believe deeply in the healing power of his self-sacrificing love – even in the darkest and most hopeless situations – to bring liberation and the promise of a new beginning.
Speaking to you as a pastor concerned for the good of all God’s children, I humbly ask you to consider what I have said. I pray that, by drawing nearer to Christ and by participating in the life of his Church – a Church purified by penance and renewed in pastoral charity – you will come to rediscover Christ’s infinite love for each one of you. I am confident that in this way you will be able to find reconciliation, deep inner healing and peace.
To priests and religious who have abused children: You betrayed the trust that was placed in you by innocent young people and their parents, and you must answer for it before Almighty God and before properly constituted tribunals. You have forfeited the esteem of the people of Ireland and brought shame and dishonor upon your confreres. Those of you who are priests violated the sanctity of the sacrament of Holy Orders in which Christ makes himself present in us and in our actions. Together with the immense harm done to victims, great damage has been done to the Church and to the public perception of the priesthood and religious life.
I urge you to examine your conscience, take responsibility for the sins you have committed and humbly express your sorrow. Sincere repentance opens the door to God’s forgiveness and the grace of true amendment. By offering prayers and penances for those you have wronged, you should seek to atone personally for your actions. Christ’s redeeming sacrifice has the power to forgive even the gravest of sins, and to bring forth good from even the most terrible evil. At the same time, God’s justice summons us to give an account of our actions and to conceal nothing. Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God’s mercy. (…)
To the priests and religious of Ireland: All of us are suffering as a result of the sins of our confreres who betrayed a sacred trust or failed to deal justly and responsibly with allegations of abuse. In view of the outrage and indignation which this has provoked, not only among the lay faithful but among yourselves and your religious communities, many of you feel personally discouraged, even abandoned. I am also aware that in some people’s eyes you are tainted by association, and viewed as if you were somehow responsible for the misdeeds of others. At this painful time, I want to acknowledge the dedication of your priestly and religious lives and apostolates, and I invite you to reaffirm your faith in Christ, your love of his Church and your confidence in the Gospel’s promise of redemption, forgiveness and interior renewal. In this way, you will demonstrate for all to see that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more (cf. Rom 5:20).
I know that many of you are disappointed, bewildered and angered by the way these matters have been handled by some of your superiors. Yet, it is essential that you cooperate closely with those in authority and help to ensure that the measures adopted to respond to the crisis will be more evangelical, just and effective. Above all, I urge you to become ever more clearly men and women of prayer, courageously following the path of conversion, purification and reconciliation. In this way, the Church in Ireland will draw new life and vitality from your witness to the Lord’s redeeming power made visible in your lives.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Do we truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through him we shall have eternal life? Do we believe even without seeing?
Has our life been touched by the Easter event? Do we minister God’s healing love to the people around us?
In the midst of painful, distressing situations do we allow ourselves to be comforted and strengthened by the vision of Christ’s decisive victory over sin and evil? Do we trust in the love and power of him who “once was dead, but is now truly living”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Almighty and merciful God,
your Son Jesus Christ is in our midst.
He who once was dead
is now truly living.
He lives forever and ever
and through him, we too live forever.
By the Easter mystery of the ever-living Lord,
give us the grace to minister your healing love
to our suffering brothers and sisters.
Make us true messengers of the Gospel.
Help us to be joyful witnesses of the Easter event.
We extol you with sweet “Alleluias”,
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.
“Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.” (Rv 1:18a)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray that the Easter mystery of the Risen Lord’s decisive victory may strengthen the Church of today in healing the wounds inflicted by sin and in renewing betrayed trust. Endeavor to help those who have been victimized by sinful clergy and religious. By your acts of justice and charity to the world’s poor, enable them to feel the presence of the ever-living Lord in their midst.
ACTION PLAN: That we may experience more fully the presence of the ever-living Lord who “once was dead”, 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, # 20).
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