A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 30)
12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – June 20, 2010 *
“Put On Christ”
BIBLE READINGS
Zec 12:10-11 // Gal 3:26-29 // Lk 9:18-24
(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
We continue our journey through the verdant and grace-laden Sundays in Ordinary Time, delving into the various aspects of Christ’s paschal mystery and its implications for his disciples. The saving event of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection is so essential to our identity as “Easter people” that its prayerful reflection cannot be limited to a particular liturgical season or two. The paschal mystery permeates our life through and through. It is the foundation of our Christian life. We must strive to deepen our understanding of this divine mystery day by day.
Hence, on this Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we consider anew the sacrificial elements of Christ’s saving deeds. He is the one who was terribly rejected and pierced for our sins. But the atrocious sufferings he went through became a means of healing and salvation for us all. In the Old Testament reading (Zec 12:10-11), Zechariah’s prophecy about the great mourning of “the house of David” for “the one who was pierced” prefigures the repentance and redemptive cleansing from sin that Christ’s sufferings would bring. According to Zechariah’s vision, “they shall look on him whom they have pierced”.
Graziano Marcheschi and Nancy Seitz Marcheschi comment: “Zechariah sees the just one of God, the Suffering Servant in the words of Isaiah, rejected and thrust through. But God intervenes by pouring out a new spirit on the evil doers who have committed the crime, a spirit of repentance for what they have done to God’s chosen one. The very suffering they have inflicted on God’s servant will be the source of purification and forgiveness. One has only to repent and look on him whom they have pierced. The looking is not intended to cause guilt, but to arouse in the one looking an overwhelming awareness of God’s unlimited love. Recalling the forgiveness we have received makes even sin a sign of victory and hope. It can make us supple, more gentle and humble – and perhaps, even willing to suffer for others, as Jesus did.”
Against the backdrop of Zechariah’s vision of “the pierced one”, the paschal destiny of Jesus that is predicted in this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Lk 9:18-24) takes on greater meaning. Enlightened by the Easter event, the Christian believers finally perceived that “the pierced one” is Jesus Christ. Indeed, the Christ of God – the Son of Man – must suffer greatly to bring about the salvation of all, Jews and non-Jews alike. In his role as the suffering one, Jesus accomplished redemption and became “a fountain to purify from sin and uncleanness”.
Graziano and Nancy Marcheschi remark: “How Jesus will become the source of salvation is bluntly stated in Jesus’ own prediction of the Passover and will substantiate Jesus’ claim that his suffering will lead to exaltation. But the disciples know none of that now. What they must somehow swallow is the promise that Jesus will suffer, and that anyone who wants to save his life must be willing to do the same.”
The Pauline passage proclaimed this Sunday (Gal 3:26-29) underlines the deep implications of being immersed into the paschal destiny of the Suffering Messiah. In entering the baptismal water, we divest ourselves of all false apparel. On leaving the baptismal bath, we clothed ourselves with the true apparel. We put on Christ resulting in the obliteration of false differences such as those based on race, social status and gender. Baptismal incorporation favors deep solidarity based on being infused with the life of Christ and our vocation to participate in his paschal mystery.
The liturgical scholar Adrian Nocent explicates: “In this second reading Paul reminds us of our baptism and of the fact that we share deeply in the life of Christ, so much so that we can be said to be clothed in Christ. So fully are we transformed into Christ that there is no longer slave and freeman, male and female among us, for we are all now all one in Christ Jesus … Baptism is an act of faith in the suffering and rising Messiah. It is an act of faith that clothes us in Christ to the point that we are closely associated with all he did. His paschal mystery of death and resurrection becomes ours. Since we are clothed in Christ, we must accept our daily cross in order to rise up with him. Baptism thus presents us with a whole program of life. Each Christian is baptized into the suffering Messiah. His sufferings take on their full meaning only when seen as a dying with Christ in order also to rise with him. If we truly believe in the Messiah or Christ, then that is what we believe. Take this faith seriously and you have the answers to so many otherwise unintelligible things that happen.”
An exemplar of what it means “to put on Christ” is the young Polish priest, Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko (1947-1984) who was beatified as a martyr on June 6, 2010, the feast of Corpus Christi (cf. Thomas Rosica, “The Sacrament of Nonviolence at the Heart of the Church’s Newest Martyr” in L’OSSERVATOR ROMANO, June 2, 2010, p. 8). He lived radically the way of Jesus who conquered evil and violence through the way of nonviolence, of sacrificial love and forgiveness, of solidarity. Totally “christified” in his daily acts of self-giving and in the supreme act of martyrdom, Fr. Jerzy is truly an inspiration for us today.
Jerzy Popieluszko was born on September 14, 1947 in the village of Okopy in Eastern Poland. He was from a strong Roman Catholic family. After secondary school, Jerzy entered the seminary in Warsaw, rather than the local seminary in Bialystok. His training was interrupted by two years of military service, during which he was beaten several times for living his Christian faith. After ordination, the young priest, who never enjoyed good health, held several appointments before his final appointment to the parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka in Warsaw. He worked part-time in the parish, which enabled him to work as well with medical personnel. As a result of his close work with health care personnel, he was asked to organize the medical teams during Pope John Paul II’s visits in Poland in 1979 and Warsaw in 1983.
August 1980 saw the beginning of the Solidarity trade union in Poland. Workers from the Warsaw steel plant, who were on strike in support of the shipyards on the Baltic Sea, requested a priest to say Mass for them. The lot fell to Fr. Jerzy. He stayed with the workers night and day. Solidarity represented for him a vision that he had first learnt from St. Maximillian Kolbe: that of spiritual freedom amidst physical enslavement. It was this vision of the truth about the vocation of every man and woman, which Fr. Jerzy promoted amongst the workers by his presence.
On December 13, 1981, the communist authorities imposed martial law, arresting many Solidarity activists and launching a program of harassment and retaliation against others. Many who had been on strike lost their jobs, and also their ability to support their families; others were beaten up on the streets and left for dead. Fr. Popieluszko became an important focus in a welfare program to support families affected by martial law. He regularly attended the trials of Solidarity activists, sitting prominently in court with their families so that the prisoners could see that they were not forgotten. It was in the courtroom that he had the idea for a monthly Mass for the country, to be celebrated for all the imprisoned and their families. It was not a political demonstration – Fr. Popieluszko specifically asked his congregation not to display banners or chant slogans. His Masses for the Fatherland became well known not only in Warsaw but throughout Poland, often attracting 15,000 to 20,000 people. Fr. Popieluszko insisted that change should be brought out peacefully; the sign of peace was one of the most poignant moments of each Mass for the Country.
Fr. Popieluszko was neither a social nor a political activist, but a Catholic priest faithful to the Gospel. He wasn’t a forceful speaker, but someone of deep conviction and integrity. His sanctity lay in fundamental righteousness that gave people hope even in horrendous situations. He knew that all totalitarian systems are based on terror and intimidation. The Communists saw him as an enemy because he freed people from fear of the system. He exposed the hypocrisy of the Communist regime and he taught believers how to confront totalitarianism. How often Jerzy made St. Paul’s words his own in his preaching: “Fight evil with good.”
On October 19, 1984, the young priest was kidnapped by security agents on his way back to Warsaw after a visit to a parish in the neighboring town of Bydgoszcz. He was savagely beaten until he lost consciousness, and his body was tied up in such a way that he would strangle himself by moving. His weighted body was then thrown into a deep reservoir. His killers carried out their task with unprecedented brutality, which shows their hatred of the faith that the priest embodied. Jerzy’s driver, who managed to escape, told what had happened to the press. On October 30, Popieluszko’s bound and gagged body was found in the freezing waters of a reservoir near Wloclawek. Fr. Jerzy’s brutal murder was widely believed to have hastened the collapse of the communist rule in Poland.
Fr. Jerzy’s funeral was a massive public demonstration with over 400,000 people in attendance. Official delegations of Solidarity appeared from throughout the whole country for the first time since the imposition of martial law. He was buried in the front yard of his parish church of St. Stanislaus Kostka, and since that day, 17 million have visited his tomb.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Do we trust in the spirit of repentance and forgiveness poured forth by the one who has been pierced for our sins so that we may be redeemed? How do we value and live this spirit of repentance and forgiveness?
Do we truly believe in Jesus as “the Christ of God” who redeems us through the way of nonviolence and suffering? Are we willing to come after Christ, ready to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him through the suffering that leads to glory?
Do we truly live the effects of our baptismal consecration? Do we put on Christ and allow ourselves to be immersed in his paschal destiny day by day? Do we promote the true solidarity based on the reality that we all belong to Christ and that we have clothed ourselves with Christ?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we are called to share intimately
in the paschal destiny of your Son Jesus Christ,
the Suffering Servant.
Pierced for our offense,
he is the wellspring of salvation.
He is a “fountain to purify from sin and uncleanness”.
Together with Simon Peter,
we avow him as “the Christ of God”.
As the non-violent Messiah,
he must suffer greatly through the way of the cross
toward redemptive glory.
By his wounds we were healed,
by his stripes we were redeemed,
by his death we partake in his gift of eternal life and salvation.
Through baptism,
we were immersed into the bloodbath of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rising from the baptismal water,
we have put on Christ.
We belong to him totally and forever.
We are all one in Christ Jesus.
There is neither Jew nor Greek;
there is neither slave nor free person;
there is not male or female.
Incorporated into Christ,
we all share in the glorious inheritance
you have promised to Abraham,
our father in faith.
In Jesus your Son,
we are all heirs according to the heavenly promise.
Father, give us the grace to be faithful
and to be grateful for all the blessings you have given us in your Son
through the power of your Holy Spirit.
We love you and serve you;
we thank you and glorify 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.
“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.” (Gal 3:27)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray that Christian disciples may put on Christ and be dedicated to promoting solidarity. This requires that we pursue justice, eliminate racism, end human trafficking, protect human rights, seek peace, and avoid the use of force except as a necessary last resort.
ACTION PLAN: That we may have the grace to put on Christ day by day, 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, # 30).
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