A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 33)
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – July 11, 2010 *
“Jesus, the Icon of Love”
BIBLE READINGS
Dt 30:10-14 // Col 1:15-20 // Lk 10:25-37
(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 formative journey through the liturgical year. Last Sunday we meditated on our vocation to be missionaries of peace. This Sunday we are invited to gaze upon our Divine Master Jesus, the icon of love, so that we too may become images of God’s compassionate love for all. The faith of our fathers in the Old Testament is centered on the love of God and neighbor. Jesus, who is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, brought that covenant love to perfection by his sacrificial death on the cross. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, he illustrates that love is all-inclusive, generous and self-giving. The Divine Master exhorts us today to follow the way of love. He challenges us to be a compassionate brother or sister to everyone in need.
The Christian love imperative takes on a deeper meaning and broader perspective when seen against the backdrop of this Sunday’s Second Reading (Col 1:15-20), which is an early hymn of the Church extolling Christ as Creator and Redeemer. As the first-born of all creation and the first-born from the dead, he is the head of the body, the Church, and has primacy in everything. It is astounding that this highly exalted Jesus Christ fulfilled the divine saving plan “to reconcile everything” both on earth and in the heavens through “the blood of his cross”. Christ is the image of the invisible God. By his paschal mystery, he revealed the fullness of the God’s love for us and became the perfect icon of the Father’s compassionate love. Through his sacrificial death that brought redemption and peace to all creation, Christ manifested radically the absolute and uncompromising love of God for all and thus became the utmost sacrament of salvation.
The biblical scholar Ivan Havener comments on Col 1:15-20: “Christ is praised as the icon or image of the invisible God, that is, he manifests God’s presence in his person. He is called the first-born of all creation because everything else was created through his mediation. Therefore, he existed before all creation and is preeminent among all creatures … Everything is subject to him, and it is through his continuing creative power that creation itself continues on. Nothing is left to chance; all is in Christ’s control … The second major portion of this hymnic material speaks of Christ as the beginning – he is the starting point of redemption. He is the first to experience the resurrected life and is, therefore, the first-born from among the dead. Once again, he is preeminent in all things even as all the fullness of God’s presence was pleased to dwell in him, to reconcile all things through him and for him … The reconciliation which he brings about is the peace-making accomplished by the shedding of his blood on the cross, and this, too, has cosmic proportions, for this reconciliation applies to everything, whether on earth or in heaven.”
As Christian disciples, we are urgently called to be deeply involved in the work of creation and redemption. We do this by following the demands of covenant love: “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” We too need to be icons or living images of God’s compassionate love for all. One efficacious way to reflect the goodness of God is to treat with sensitivity and preferential concern the poor and needy, the weak and vulnerable among us.
The following story is lovely and very inspiring. It illustrates how we can be “icons of love” in today’s world. We need more inspiring and heart warming testimonies like this (cf. “The Life Cycle of the Egg Salad Sandwich” by Colby Thiele and Roger Williams in THE WAY OF ST. FRANCIS, March-April 2010, p. 11-15).
It all began in December 2008. The U.S. economy was continuing its decline, foreclosures were mounting, unemployment rates were steadily rising, and newspaper articles were being written about how the growing homeless population had increased the strain on the local food banks. That was when we – Roger and Colby – decided we wanted to give back to the community by volunteering our time. The two of us shared an employer and rode the bus to work each day. As luck would have it, our route passed right by St. Mary’s Basilica, a Franciscan parish in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Each morning we observed a congregation of homeless men and women in the church’s parking lot, waiting in line for something. Our curiosity aroused, we called to inquire about volunteering our services – and to find out what was really going on.
Our journey began in earnest the first week of February 2009 when we met Linda and Tom, the couple in charge of the St. Mary’s Food Program. What we had been witnessing from the bus was a church-sponsored effort that provided a sack lunch to some 200 to 300 people a day. We were immediately welcomed into the volunteer family of the morning food program. Initially, we thought we could give a little of our time to help those less fortunate. After our first day, however, we found that we had committed to volunteering three days a week: every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. Little did we know that we would benefit more from our efforts that those who received food from us.
On occasion, the two of us had discussed just how fortunate we both were in life. Life, after all, can take many different paths. Depending on your philosophy, you can attribute your path to luck, choice or divine intervention. After our first few weeks of volunteer work with the food program, we were both overwhelmed with questions. We wondered, if we had made different decisions, or if our circumstances been slightly different during periods in our life, would we be on the other side of the receiving line? We came to the conclusion that this could have easily been the case.
Our first day consisted of placing sandwiches in brown paper bags that already contained round tortilla corn chips and candy. After that, we were escorted by Linda and Tom to the street level with the bagged meals and a cart full of juice boxes. We began the distribution process by joining hands and reciting The Lord’s Prayer. Twelve months later, it is safe to say that the two of us have recited The Lord’s Prayer more often in the back parking lot of St. Mary’s than in all our other days combined!
We handed out the sack lunches and the drinks, and offered simple greetings such as “Good morning” or “How are you?” Each of our guests replied with a pleasant “thank-you” or “God bless you”. It felt good to receive such a warm response and see the appreciation in the eyes of the men and women. Then came the first ripple in the pond that provided the moment of change – we asked a person for his name. He said his name was Clyde, and we, in return, introduced ourselves. The look in Clyde’s eyes and his demeanor immediately changed. The idea that someone would ask his name and take more of an interest than just handing out food surprised him.
As each day went by, we made a point to introduce ourselves and find out the name of at least one additional person per day. Before long we knew Clyde, Chet, Adam, Tony, David, Guy, Anna, Pat, Adrian, Meagan, Blake, Ed, Floyd and many more. We became familiar with some of their likes and dislikes. Guy, for example, likes Costal Cooler juice boxes, so we would save one for him each day and slip him two sandwiches so that he could keep one for dinner. Blake prefers bologna sandwiches with a crunch, so he would take his chips and add them to the middle of his sandwich. Forearmed with this knowledge, we were able to make Blake feel that his preferences were known and important: when he showed up, we’d have his sandwich ready, chips already inserted in the middle.
It didn’t take long before we had our first uncomfortable encounter. One of the homeless men began shouting at others in line. We didn’t know what to do or how to handle it. Fortunately for us, the situation resolved itself. The shouting ended and the man left. The next day the man was back, and we were worried about another confrontation. Instead, the man took his place in line, and we asked his name. He told us his name, Michael, and we introduced ourselves, thus beginning a dialogue that lasted nearly a year. Then we had Sam get upset over a candy bar. He threw it on the ground in front of us and stepped on it. The next day we greeted Sam and went out of our way to be nice and befriend him. We found out very quickly that the way to change people was through kindness and understanding.
As the days and weeks past, we realized we were receiving more from the program than the homeless were. We looked forward to our Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. We found that beginning our day at St. Mary’s was not only good for our souls but actually energized us. We work in an office building with more than 300 coworkers, yet we noticed we were saying hello to more people on the streets than to coworkers in the office. Over the course of the last year, we have become involved in the lives of the people we serve. We have raised funds for cross-country bus tickets; donated watches, hats and clothing; purchased brakes for bicycles; and made hundreds of brownies to add to the food bags. We do these things because we feel we are making a difference. And each time we give, we receive.
Our week begins before 6:30 each Monday morning at St. Mary’s. Immediately upon our arrival in the church’s downstairs social hall, we add 180 to 216 ham and cheese sandwiches to bags already packed with other items. While we are getting the meals ready, Linda is hard at work, running up and down the stairs to the friary kitchen to boil 15 dozen eggs. At 7 a.m., we move the ham and cheese sandwich lunches to the street level, recite The Lord’s Prayer and spend the next sixty minutes handing out food and greeting the people we have come to know over the last year. During this sixty-minute period, other volunteers are peeling the hard-boiled eggs (yes, all 180 of them) and crushing them into sizes small enough for egg salad. The crushed eggs are wrapped and refrigerated.
On Wednesday morning we arrive – again, before 6:30 a.m. – and once more place the day’s sandwiches (this time tuna salad) in the pre-packed bags. Once we have completed this task, it’s time to mix the crushed eggs with mayonnaise into a mixture with the proper consistency to spread on bread. We then proceed to make 180 to 216 egg salad sandwiches. These sandwiches are bagged, boxed and refrigerated for the following day.
On Thursday morning we arrive and transfer the egg salad sandwiches from the refrigerator to the pre-made bags for distribution to the homeless that morning. We have come to know our week as The Life Cycle of the Egg Salad Sandwich. Our journey begins on Monday with the raw eggs and ends on Thursday with very tasty sandwich.
As an aside, since we became involved with the St. Mary’s Food Program, our professional careers have flourished and our personal lives have improved in ways that are indescribable. Coincidence? Some may think so, but we know better.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Do we trust that God is very near to us and that by his grace we are able to love?
Are we “neighbor” to those in need and treat them with love and compassion?
Do we truly honor Jesus Christ – highly exalted in creation and salvation history – by allowing ourselves to be molded by him into “icons of divine love”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
your word of life is very near to us
and transforms us from within.
Help us to welcome the demands of covenant love:
“You shall love the Lord your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
Teach us to be caring neighbors to those in need.
Jesus Christ is the image of your compassionate goodness.
Your Servant-Son Jesus is the primordial sacrament of your saving love.
He is the first-born of all creation and the first-born from the dead.
He is the Lord of all creation and our Savior-Redeemer.
Grant us the grace to be transformed,
through our intimate participation in Christ’s paschal sacrifice,
into living “icons of love”.
May we reflect the radiance of your life-giving love
in today’s fragmented and suffering world.
Bless us, loving Father.
We love and serve you;
we give you praise and glorify you as the font of love,
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.
“Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.” (Col 1:15a)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray that peoples of the earth may understand more and more the vital role of Jesus Christ in creation and salvation history. By your active works of charity to the poor and vulnerable, strive to be “icons of love” in today’s world.
ACTION PLAN: That we may have the grace to be transformed into “living icons” of God’s compassionate love, 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, # 33).
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