A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 27)
Pentecost Sunday, Year C - May 30, 2004
“The Holy Spirit, the Advocate”
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 2:1-11 // I Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Rom 8:8-17 // Jn 14:15-16, 23b-26
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
The Fresno Bee newspaper, dated May 19, 2004, contains a remarkable account about an American soldier who stood for what is right and just. According to the Associated Press story: “Hugh C. Thompson was a 24-year-old pilot flying over the Vietnamese jungle on March 16, 1968. The crew’s objective: draw Viet Cong fire from My Lai, so helicopter gunships could swoop in and take out the enemy gunners. Thompson saw gunfire but found no enemy fighters. He saw only American troops, who were forcing Vietnamese civilians into a ditch, then opening fire. Thompson landed his helicopter to block the Americans, then instructed his gunner to open fire on the soldiers if they tried to harm any more villagers. Thompson and two other chopper pilots airlifted villagers to safety, and he reported the slaughter to superiors. ‘We saw something going wrong, so we did the right thing and we reported it right then,’ Thompson said. The Vietnamese government estimated that more than 500 were killed. Army Lt. William Calley Jr. was convicted in a 1971 court-martial and received a life sentence for the My Lai massacre. Thompson received the prestigious Soldier’s Medal – 30 years after the fact. His acts are now considered heroic. But for years, Thompson suffered snubs and worse from those inside and outside the military who considered his actions unpatriotic.”
This courageous pilot is an example of a person who has opened himself to the dictates of his moral conscience. He can be considered a paradigm of those who have opened up themselves to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate of the poor and the defenseless. Today’s disheartening local and world events can make us angry, despondent, and cynical. However, if we put them against the backdrop of the Pentecostal scene, which inaugurates the new age of the coming of the consoling and recreating Holy Spirit, we realize that even a devastated world such as ours can experience inner healing if only we open up ourselves to his action as the glorified Christ’s Easter gift.
Today’s feast of Pentecost is a celebration of God’s new and astounding presence in the world through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God and the Risen Christ. According to the German theologian, Jurgen Moltmann: “The gift and presence of the Holy Spirit is the most magnificent and wonderful thing that can happen to us, the human community, all living things and this earth. For present in the Holy Spirit is God himself, the God who creates and gives life, who redeems and blesses. In the presence of the Holy Spirit the end of the history of guilt, suffering and death has begun.” Thus, “Pentecost” is not an appendix or an addition to “Good Friday” and “Easter”, but the goal of Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection by God into the glory to come. J. Moltmann asserts: “Where the Holy Spirit is, God is present in a special way and we experience God in our lives that are thus quickened by a source out of the depths of our being. We experience life, healed and redeemed, complete and in its entirety, with all of our senses. We feel and taste, we touch and see our life in God and God in our life.”
The Holy Spirit, the principle of life and the missionary expansion of the Church, is the promised Advocate announced by Jesus at the Last Supper. Before the completion of his Passover, Jesus told his disciples: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have told you” (Jn 14:26). The Spirit of Jesus at work in the world and in the Church will be Christ’s way of dwelling among us in the “here and now” – a very “personal” way of keeping alive the power and meaning of his saving paschal mystery. As their “Advocate”, the Holy Spirit comes to the aid of the disciples called to witness in all times to Christian values. He is their intercessor - the “paraclete” or comforter. The Holy Spirit is the strength-giving presence of God who will animate and empower them in their vital choices in the midst of death-dealing cultures, wherever and whenever they are found.
In the aftermath of Pentecost, the disciples of Christ are called to be courageous and heroic witnesses, individually and as a faith community. The authors of the book, Days of the Lord: The Liturgical Year, vol. 3, remark: “Even today, some people will be witnesses of Christ at the cost of their lives: imprisoned, tortured physically or morally, and put to death. Countless others will witness by conforming their lives to the gospel and the rule of the kingdom – the Beatitudes – or by fighting for justice, rights, and respect for all peoples. The force of this witness, as great as it is when given individually, is all the stronger when it is given collectively, by the Church community.”
The Holy Spirit, outpoured on the day of Pentecost for the healing of nations, is the inner master who makes the living word of Jesus, the Divine Master, grow in our hearts and in the Church, that it may bear abundant fruit for all seasons. According to the authors of Days of the Lord, vol. 3: “Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus teaches in plain words everything that concerns the Father and the coming of the kingdom. Authoritative interpreter of the Scriptures who reveals the mystery of God and of salvation, the Spirit guides Christians and the Church to a knowledge of the signs of the times, enabling them in every age to penetrate the meaning of history. When he left his disciples, Jesus did not leave them to themselves with the mission of continuing his work and remembering what he had done, and what he had taught. He sent them from the Father, the Spirit who would act in them and in his Church with the power and authority of an Advocate, a Witness, and a Guide.” The Christian disciples, who abide in the love Jesus and keep his commands, can thus rest assured that the Holy Spirit – their Advocate – is with them always until the end of time.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. Do we open ourselves to the presence and action of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, in our lives? Do we trust that in the presence of the Holy Spirit, the end of the history of guilt, suffering and death has begun?
B. Do we thank God that we belong to a Pentecostal, faith-filled community in which the Holy Spirit acts as our advocate, witness and guide?
C. Are we willing to be guided and led by the Holy Spirit to witness more radically on behalf of Christ, incarnated in the poor and suffering of this world?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
(Adapted from a prayer composed by Pope John Paul II)
Leader: Spirit of holiness, divine breath which moves the universe, come and renew the face of the earth. Awaken in Christians a desire for full unity, that they may be for the world an effective sign and instrument of intimate union with God and the unity of the whole human race.
Assembly: Come, Spirit of love and peace, our Advocate!
Leader: Spirit of consolation, unfailing source of joy and peace, inspire solidarity with the poor; grant the sick the strength they need; pour out trust and hope upon those experiencing trials; awaken in all hearts a commitment to a better future.
Assembly: Come, Spirit of love and peace, our Advocate!
Leader: Spirit of wisdom, inspiration of minds and hearts, direct science and technology to the service of life, justice and peace. Render fruitful our dialogues with the followers of other religions, lead the different cultures to appreciate the values of the Gospel.
Assembly: Come, Spirit of love and peace, our Advocate!
Leader: Spirit of life, by whose power the Word was made flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the woman of attentive silence, make us docile to the promptings of your love and ever ready to accept the signs of the times which you place along the paths of history.
Assembly: Come, Spirit of love and peace, our Advocate!
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.” (Jn 14:16)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Create an arena of silence deep within you. And in this silence, which is replete with the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, beg him to recreate your life anew. Pray that he will continue to be your Advocate in the task and challenge of Christian witnessing in today’s world.
B. ACTION PLAN: Pray for those who are especially involved in the charismatic movement of the Church. Above all, pray for today’s Christian witnesses fighting for justice, human rights, and the total liberation of the human person and society.
Prepared by: Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang, PDDM
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
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Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
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