A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 27)
Most Holy Trinity, Year C – May 30, 2010 *
“The One and Triune God Is for Us!”
BIBLE READINGS
Prv 8:22-31 // Rom 5:1-5 // Jn 16:12-15
(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
Now that the fifty-day Eastertide is over - in which we have contemplated deeply the saving plan of the Father, accomplished by the Son through his paschal mystery and in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Easter gift – it is opportune to gaze comprehensively on these wonderful saving events in order to give glory, praise and thanks to our loving God. He manifested himself as one and triune in salvation history. The most Holy Trinity acted on our behalf as the origin of creation, the cause of our redemption and the font of sanctification. The one and triune God is totally for us … irrevocably on our side! On this Most Holy Trinity Sunday we delve into this reality and rejoice in it.
In the Old Testament reading (Prv 8:22-31), the “Wisdom of God” is described as a “person” who does the bidding of God in all creation. A figure of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the “Wisdom of God” existed before the world began and was intimately involved in creation as God’s “craftsman”. The “Wisdom of God” who relishes the entire creation reveals that her greatest delight is the human race. The “Wisdom of God” truly cares for us. The mystery of love is etched deeply in the divine works of creation and would later be manifested in the incarnation of the Son and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
In the Gospel reading (Jn 16:12-15) we encounter another Trinitarian dimension of God’s saving activity: the Spirit will speak what he hears from the Son, who is the Word of the Father. God the Father reveals himself in the Son and the Spirit of truth. The truth that the Spirit enkindles in us leads to the fullness of life. The Spirit of truth enables us to see the profound meaning of Christ’s Paschal Mystery and to glimpse our glorious end-destiny, while experiencing already in the here and now the rudimenta gloriae or the “beginnings of our future glory”. Indeed, the Father’s gift of Christ, the incarnate Truth, and the Spirit of truth testifies that the one and triune God is on our side.
The Trinitarian activity on our behalf can be gleaned more easily in the Second Reading (Rom 5:1-5). The great mystic-apostle Paul declares that we have access to the grace of God through his Son Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit of love upon us. Our intimate relationship with the one and triune God deeply impacts our life.
The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent remarks: “We already live with the Trinity in the love that has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. We are already justified by faith and have obtained access to the grace in which we stand. In other words, we are experiencing God’s love for us. This does not mean that all problems are solved; no, we are still in the stage of struggle and testing. But because we have faith and the assurance that we are united to the triune God, the trials and struggles take on a meaning they can have only for some who has received the Spirit … Life in the Spirit thus brings us peace with God through Christ in the Spirit, who pours out the love of God in our hearts.”
The Christian believer must therefore be an icon of the Trinity. We must be a limpid sign of the saving and life-giving love of the one and triune God. The writer Harold Buetow exhorts us: “Our whole Christian life is caught up in the life of the Trinity. Liturgically, we pray to the Father through Jesus in the unity of the Holy Spirit. And we are taught to imitate the Trinity, which means entering more and more fully into the life of God, a life which is never static or selfish … Just as the three Persons in God are intensely active and separate but at the same time one, so should we be with other persons. God calls us to be united in a community of active love, even as the three Persons in Himself. We should make our faith in God a matter of reality that will, through our largeness of Spirit and oneness in love, bring others to a meaningful faith in our triune God.”
On this Trinity Sunday we celebrate not only the marvelous actions of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit on our behalf, but our consecration and intimate union with the one and triune God. Immersed into the life of the Blessed Trinity, we delight in the solidarity of faith, the fervor of Christian love and the bright outlook of hope. For we know that we are the children of God the Father, the brothers and sisters of his beloved Son Jesus Christ, and the temples of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
The following story illustrates the laudable efforts of a missionary to bring the marvelous love of God to the poor and needy (cf. Patrick Atkinson, “Francisco the Shoeless” in Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart, ed. Jeff Cavins, et. al. West Chester: The Ascension Press, 2004, p. 191-193). Animated by the spirit of love, Patrick Atkinson through his Christian charitable work for the “children of God”, becomes a powerful witness that the one and triune God is for us … and is on our side.
I stopped and watched a familiar Guatemalan beggar boy as he carefully searched through the garbage-filled gutter that ran along the outside of my home. I knew he had to be scrounging for food so I called out to get his attention. For a second I thought he might have glanced up at me, but then I realized I just happened to be standing where he looked. I felt the same disappointment I had felt with him many times before. Even though he was filthy, shoeless, dressed in rags, and obviously hungry, my shouted offers of help were repeatedly ignored.
“Why”, I wondered, “doesn’t he want my help?” As the founder and director of The God’s Child Project, it is my job to feed, clothe, and educate the poorest of the poor. During my twenty-plus years as a Catholic missionary, I have seen hundreds of thousands of poor children and homeless families. But this particular boy puzzled me. It was obvious he needed help, yet he seemingly would have none of it.
Leaving him alone, I walked back to the orphanage and began to pore over the financial books. Frustrated at the realization that we were going to end the fiscal year two thousand dollars in debt, I had to make a difficult decision. “We will not accept any more children into the program this year”, I told our staff and volunteers in a strong, clear voice. “We simply can’t do it. How can we take in any more children when we can’t even feed those we already have?” Even though I hated the thought of turning needy children away, this time I was determined to stick to my decision.
Two days later, a surprise visitor knocked at my door. It was my shoeless friend! Covered with lice and foul smelling, he held up his hand and made a strange guttural sound from his throat. At first I was confused, but then it hit me that he was deaf and could not speak. The poor child had ignored me all the time because he had never heard me call him.
My confused smile broke into a very loud laughter. God had sent me the one boy in all of Guatemala who could get me to break my commitment not to accept another child. God was letting me know it was He and not I who was ultimately in charge of such things.
Francisco joined our mission that very same day. Abandoned by his father at birth, he was raised in the streets by an indifferent, alcoholic mother. When he was six-months old, a severe illness robbed him of his hearing. He had been begging on the streets for food since the age of four. The streets became his home. His bed was wherever he lay down to sleep at night.
Francisco came into our very large family that day bringing with him bad habits, lice, fleas and rotted teeth. He also came with a very sharp mind, survival instincts, and keen emotions. Violence on TV could bring forth an anguished cry just as quickly as watching a mother kiss her son good night would bring tears to his eyes. I can only guess at the nightmares that often disrupted his sleep.
Over the years, Francisco was taught to communicate and he was able to receive an education. When his grade-school education came to an end at the mainstream public school, the teachers pooled their examinations scores to determine the valedictorian. On the day of grade school graduation, it was Francisco who was asked to come up and receive the honor – much to his surprise, but not to that of his wildly cheering classmates.
In times of desperation and when the hard work seems too much, I am sometimes tempted to give up. It is at those times, however, that I think of Francisco. He is on his own now, working full-time and still studying on weekends. Because of his physical limitations, his salary is low. Still, he smiles a lot and works hard. He visits his mother who abandoned him to the streets so many years ago, and he goes to Mass often. I regularly ask our Blessed Mother to watch over this special child of God. I believe that she already has.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Do we find comfort that the “Wisdom of God” takes full delight in the human race and is truly at our side?
Are we docile and receptive to the promptings of the Spirit of truth who enables us to see the deep meaning of the Son’s Paschal Mystery and perceive our glorious destiny as God’s children?
Do we take delight that in the beloved Son Jesus Christ we have access to the grace of God and that the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: O Divine Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
we adore you and thank you;
we love you and serve you. We give you thanks, Father,
for the beauty and grandeur of creation
and for your immense love.
We adore you, “Wisdom of God”.
You were later revealed
as the redeeming Son and the sanctifying Spirit.
Before the beginning of time,
you were the “craftsman” who participated deeply
in the divine work of creation.
Among all creation,
your utmost delight is the human race.
We give you praise, O triune God!
You are ever for us … always at our side.
Your plans for us are kind and compassionate.
We share in your inmost life as the Blessed Trinity
through your own benevolence and initiative.
We have access to your saving grace, O heavenly Father,
through your Son’s paschal sacrifice.
Your love has been poured into our hearts
through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
We joyfully celebrate your presence in our life and in salvation history
as the one and triune God.
Help us to be icons
of your creative grandeur, sacrificial love and radiant glory.
We renew our consecration to you, O most Holy Trinity.
Enable us to give you glory and praise
by a life marked with the solidarity of faith,
the fervor of love,
and the bright outlook of hope.
We worship you, O loving Father,
through your Son,
in the love of the Holy Spirit,
in unity with the Church and the entire creation,
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.
“We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ … The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Rom 5:1, 5)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray that we may delve deeply into the meaning and significance of the Blessed Trinity for our personal life, as Church and as part of God’s beloved creation. Through a life of faith, hope and active charity, especially for the poor and needy, enable the people in today’s society to experience that the one and triune God is indeed for us and acts on our behalf.
ACTION PLAN: That we may experience more deeply the presence and benevolence of the one and triune God, 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, # 27).
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