A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 24)
6th Sunday of Easter, Year C – May 9, 2010 *
“The Heavenly Jerusalem”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 // Rv 21:10-14, 22-23 // Jn 14:23-29
(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 Easter season continues to hearten us with the presence and glory of the Risen Lord. Today’s Gospel reading (Jn 14:23-29), which is part of the Farewell Discourse of Jesus, prepares us for the celebration of his ascension. As the Risen Lord returns to the Father from whom he was sent, the Holy Spirit now becomes God’s way of dwelling with us. The news of his departure was devastating, but Jesus assured his disciples of his special presence through the indwelling Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the advocate and consoler from the Risen Lord, represents his continual presence on earth.
The apostles and disciples continued to carry on Christ’s work with confidence and peace, accompanied and guided by divine presence (cf. Acts 15:1-2, 22-29). The Holy Spirit enables them to keep in mind the teachings and deeds of Jesus. The Church is an assembly of believers – a faith community - under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 3, remark: “Under the Spirit’s impulse, the Church is working definitively toward the inculturation of the Gospel. Truly, the one whom the Father has sent in the name of the Lord is, as in the early days, at work in the world and in the Church.”
The activity of the indwelling Spirit in the “here and now” is in view of the new city of Jerusalem (cf. Rv 21:10-14, 22-23), which represents the ultimate bliss and divine presence, to which we are journeying. Saint John’s end-time vision of the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God inspires us to strive for that heavenly home and experience the fullness of light and life because of God’s presence.
The scholars Eduardo Arens Kuckerlhorn, et. al. comment: “The seer, guided by an angel, describes for us the beauty of the city-bride, having the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel (21:11). It is not a question of reconstruction of the historical city of Jerusalem. Instead we have a symbol that transcends it, a symbol of the sharing of life among peoples … The city symbolism speaks of its roots in Israel and of a new relationship with God and among peoples. It is a question of a city with open doors where there are neither outcasts nor marginalized people; all its inhabitants have citizen status … In this city there is no temple because God’s very self has come to dwell with God’s people and the entire city is a temple, which is to say, a divine presence … It is a city of light inasmuch as in it the day reigns forever and there is no need for sun or moon, because God and the Lamb are its perfect luminaries. There is no night, which is a symbol of death, shadows, and insecurity. Light and life spring forth eternally from God.”
As I write this reflection, I think of those who are at the threshold of death and are journeying to the heavenly Jerusalem. I especially keep in mind our dear Sr. Mary Adele Tozzi, one of the pioneers of our religious communities in San Jose and Fresno. A woman of courage and strength and blessed with a limpid faith, she will be 94 years old on May 10. Three years ago, Sr. Mary Adele prepared an outline of her funeral liturgy whenever it would be. Last Easter Sunday she slipped and fell. Her health deteriorated and she was admitted to a hospital. Two weeks ago she was brought back to our convent in Fresno for hospice care. We are expecting her imminent departure, but we do not know when. As she continues to participate supremely in the paschal mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ, I remember the following words from the hymn, “Jerusalem, My Happy Home”, which she had chosen as the recessional song for her Funeral Mass: “Jerusalem, my happy home, when shall I come to thee? When shall my sorrows have an end? Your joys when shall I see?” I pray the Lord for the completion of her paschal sacrifice and that she may finally enter the heavenly Jerusalem, her true home.
The following story about the passing into the heavenly Jerusalem of another remarkable lady illustrates that spiritual realities are mysterious but true (cf. “Mother’s Effort” by Margaret Sitte in Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart, Jeff Cavins, et. al., West Chester: Ascension Press, 2004, p. 72-72). This is also a fitting story for Mother’s Day, which we are celebrating this Sunday.
Although Mother raised two children during the fifties and sixties, there was another child she could never forget. Mark was a beautiful red-headed baby who entered the world prematurely. He struggled to breathe from the beginning. Six hours after his birth, he gasped his last breathe.
One of Mother’s greatest regrets was never having held her baby son while he was alive. She was still in the hospital on the day of Mark’s funeral, so my dad carried the little coffin into her hospital room for her to say goodbye. A mother can never forget the love for her child, and so it was with my mother. She got on with her life, but when people asked her how many children she had, she usually answered “three”. So as teenagers, when my brother and I bought her a mother’s ring, we made sure there were three stones surrounding her ruby birthstone; two “diamonds” to represent the April birthdays of her living children and the “aquamarine” for Mark’s March birthday.
When my mother was ninety-four, she broke her hip. She stayed in the hospital three weeks, but then returned home, living independently by late April. In early May, she called me one day, her voice full of joy.
“Margaret, when I woke up this morning, there was a tall, handsome, red-haired man standing beside my bed”, she said. “I was immediately flooded with peace and joy. I knew instantly it was Mark. He told me, ‘It won’t be long. I will be coming for you.’” She repeated the story to my brother a few weeks later while they visited Mark’s grave at the cemetery on Memorial Day.
Mother steadily improved, and I forgot about Mark’s visit. Mother, however, started putting her affairs in order, wanting to sell her rental property, emptying closets, and repeatedly saying she wanted to clean out her house and have a rummage sale.
In mid-August, Mother fell and needed hospitalization; in early September she experienced a stroke. When she could not speak, she would often gaze upon the mother’s ring we had given her. On December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, she was humming “Joy to the World” with some carolers as she sat eating supper at 6 p.m. Within the hour, she had passed away.
The next day at the funeral home, the funeral director handed me a small black bag containing Mother’s jewelry. As I opened the bag and her mother’s ring fell into my hand, all at once I remembered Mother’s visitor. I realized Mark had come for her. It was a comfort to know she did not leave this world alone.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Do we trust in the Lord’s promise that he would never leave us alone? Do we respond fully to his “new presence” through the indwelling Spirit?
Do we allow the Holy Spirit, the gift of Easter, to impel us and the entire Church in the task of inculturating the Gospel?
Do we long to dwell in the new city Jerusalem, “coming down out of heaven from God”? Do we endeavor to orient our life in the here and now towards that heavenly destiny? Do we allow our life to be shaped and inspired by the end-time vision of eternal bliss with God, who is the fullness of light and life?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Lord Jesus,
we thank you for your continual presence
through the indwelling Spirit.
He is your Easter gift to us.
He teaches us everything about you
and enables us to keep in mind
your life-giving words and deeds.
Thank you, Jesus, for your gift of peace
that helps us to live positively,
to withstand the blows of life’s trials,
to be courageous in the face of fears and sorrows,
and to be docile to your Father’s saving will.
Teach us to work with the Holy Spirit
in the task and challenge of inculturating the Gospel.
Above all, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
direct our entire life towards our glorious destiny
– the heavenly city Jerusalem.
There we will experience
the ultimate presence and infinite glory of God.
Give us the grace of a happy death.
Gather us together in the new city Jerusalem
that needs no light from sun or moon to shine on it.
It has the fullness of light and life
for the glory of God gives it light
through you, the victorious Lamb-Lamp.
We adore you and we love 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.
“The angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.” (Rv 21:10)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray that Christian disciples may have a deep awareness of the ultimate realities and be directed in their words and actions toward the new city Jerusalem. By acts of charity and justice, especially to the poor, the suffering and the needy, enable the people of today to have a glimpse of the heavenly Jerusalem and long for it.
ACTION PLAN: That we may have a vision and yearn more deeply for the heavenly Jerusalem, 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, # 24).
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