A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 51)
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – November 14, 2004
“By Your Perseverance …”
BIBLE READINGS
Mal 3:19-20a // 2 Thes 3:7-12 // Lk 21:5-19
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
The article, “A Tree Grows in Kenya” in GUIDEPOSTS magazine (January 2004) deals with the inspiring effort of Wangari Maathai to fight off ecological destruction in her native land, Kenya. The author, Christopher Davis narrates the gargantuan feat of this enterprising woman whose perseverance epitomizes this Sunday’s Gospel exhortation: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Lk 21:19).
In 1960 Wangari won a Kennedy scholarship to study in America. She earned a master’s in biology from University of Pittsburgh, then became the first woman from Kenya ever to earn a Ph.D. Wangari returned to her county in 1966 and was shocked by what she found. The forests had been cut down for lumber. Heavy rains washed most of the good soil away, since there was no longer vegetation to protect it. Rivers were silt-choked, the soil leached of nutrients. Nothing grew and nothing bloomed anymore … Worst was what had happened to Kenya’s most precious resource – people. Men abandoned farms for jobs in overcrowded cities, leaving wives and children behind. Trees in the countryside were so scarce that women walked miles to gather a few sticks for a fire – the center of village life. “There were so many problems,” Wangari says. “I did not know where to start, except to pray.” Then she remembered what the missionaries said: Every forest begins with a single seed. She planted a tree. Then another. Then hundreds. In 1977 she founded a group called the Green Belt Movement, which promotes tree planting in rural areas and trains farmers in eco-friendly farming methods. Since the group started, it has planted some 20 million trees in Kenya and has changed the way Kenyans look at their environment.
On October 8, 2004, Wangari Maathai was announced the winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. The patient perseverance of the tree planter, Wangari, who did not allow herself to be overwhelmed by a disastrous situation, but exhibited creative and life-giving attitudes under duress, anticipates the victorious quality of God’s coming at the end time. Indeed, by living out the spirit of stewardship and care of God’s creation, she presents to the world of today the patient endurance that leads to life.
The setting of this Sunday’s Gospel episode (Lk 21:5-19) is in the Jerusalem Temple where Jesus was teaching the people and proclaiming the Good News (Lk 20:1). A beautiful refurbishing of the Temple had begun about forty-six years before Jesus by Herod the Great. The Temple, though not yet complete, was already one of the wonders of the ancient world. Some of the granite stones in the Temple walls, as big as modern freight cars, were so expertly linked together without mortar that it was hard to see the joints. The magnificence of the Temple with its brilliant white marble and gold ornament awed the people. Today’s Gospel passage describes how some people were commenting on the Temple adorned with costly stones and votive offerings. In the midst of this enthused admiration, Jesus grimly uttered a prophecy on the destruction of the Temple: “All that you see here – the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down” (Lk 21:6).
At his last appearance at the Temple, Jesus made a final statement on its destruction. According to the authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 6: “Jesus certainly shared this admiration for the holy place of his people, since he, more than anyone else, understood its significance, and he could not speak of destruction without emotion. Luke tells us that when Jesus came near Jerusalem, he wept over it at the thought that it would be destroyed and that its enemies would not leave one stone upon another (Lk 19:41-44). Imagine what he must have felt when he spoke of the destruction of the Temple, the jewel of the city, heart of Jerusalem and unique center of worship for the people of the covenant, the sanctuary of the presence of God among his people … The destruction of the Temple is tantamount to the end of the world; it is the signal of the apocalypse!”
Indeed, there is an intimate connection between the destruction of Jerusalem and the events of the end of the world. The crisis that Jerusalem faced in Jesus’ ministry is a harbinger of the crisis that Jesus and his message, and above all, his coming as the Son of Man, will bring to all who dwell upon the entire face of the earth (Lk 21:35). Jesus did not give a definite date for the destruction of the Temple; neither did he give a specific time for the parousia or his second coming. At the brink of his paschal sacrifice, Jesus was asserting the faith reality that in the course of world history and at the end time, God will triumph over all the forces of evil. By predicting the destruction of the Temple and by giving warning signs of cosmic destruction, Jesus was preparing his disciples spiritually for what was ahead. Reflecting on this Gospel passage, the biblical scholar, Carroll Stuhlmueller remarks: “Christians must adjust to a long period of waiting and persecution. In doing so, they are following the sorrowful way of the cross, taken by Jesus to arrive at glory.” Indeed, the basic tone that permeates the Gospel passage concerning the Temple destruction and the end time is the absolute assurance of the Lord’s control of history and his ultimate victory. Despite all the evil that can be imagined, the hand of God that guides our personal and cosmic destiny will emerge victorious.
This Sunday’s Gospel passage concludes beautifully with Jesus’ reassuring words: “Not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your life” (Lk 21:18-19). The promise that no harm will come to even one hair of a Christian disciple is simply a graphic statement depicting the ultimate spiritual protection of those who endure persecution for the sake of Jesus. After giving this heartwarming assurance, Christ then exhorted his disciples to manifest the sterling quality of perseverance – the courageous attitude that will help us participate in the ultimate victory of God.
The German theologian, Jurgen Moltmann concludes: “Whoever perseveres in hope remains in love. Because we hope in Christ, we do not let ourselves be embittered by all disappointments. We persevere in the love of Christ for the degraded and the wronged … Perseverance until the end; that means going on ahead with the message of freedom and of the kingdom, penetrating to all places and circumstances with the conviction that the end is the kingdom of Christ. The only person who will remain until the end will be the one who, on God’s account, does not stay where he is but goes on ahead; who goes to meet the coming God in the world … Christian hope is no frightful expectation of catastrophes. Christ is not coming as the great destroyer of all things, but here, where, in the dark history of hunger and war and earthquake, friendliness is disseminated, where the gospel of the kingdom is brought to all people for the witness of their hope. Here for the first time it is certain and definitive: And then the end will come.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What message do the tumultuous events in the world today and the threats of ecological destruction bring to us?
B. What is our attitude towards the last things?
C. How do we respond to Jesus’ comforting words and vigorous challenge: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives”?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
your Son Jesus predicted the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple,
the jewel of the city
and the unique center of worship
for the people of the first covenant.
He also gave some cosmic signs of the end time.
In his prophecy and revelation,
Jesus assured us
that your victorious saving hand is at work.
You mighty hand controls the course of our destiny.
Through the paschal mystery of your Son,
your saving hand will be victorious
over all the evil that can be imagined in today’s world.
We are attentive
to the ongoing coming of Jesus in the events of our life.
Although we do not know the hour
and the circumstances of the end time,
nor the specific moment
of the ultimate coming of Jesus in his glory,
we wish to work perseveringly in the final realization of his Kingdom.
Help us to be peaceful and life-giving
when confronted with the tumultuous events of today’s history.
May we respond creatively and efficaciously
to the threats of ecological destruction
that horrify us day by day.
Let us not be embittered by disappointments or discouraging results.
May we persevere in the love of Christ
for the degraded and the wronged.
In all our efforts
to serve your Kingdom of love, justice and truth,
may we humbly and boldly trust in Jesus’ exhortation:
“By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Lk 21:19).
In the great assembly of Christian believers
and by our life of service,
we now proclaim …
Assembly: Christ has died!
Christ has risen!
Christ will come again!
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Lk 21:19).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray for the Jewish people and today’s city of Jerusalem in the Holy Land.
B. ACTION PLAN: In the Eucharistic celebration, proclaim the memorial acclamation with devotion and conviction. Allow the assurance of Christ’s coming to brighten your life and encourage you to labor mightily for the Kingdom of God.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
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