A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 8)
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – January 17, 2010 *
“The Epiphany of God’s Glory”
BIBLE READINGS
Is 62:1-5 // I Cor 12:4-11 // Jn 2:1-11
(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
The liturgy of the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time continues to relive the Christmas-Epiphany mystery. It also underlines the special manifestation of God’s glory at the wedding of Cana. At the feast of Epiphany, we have contemplated Jesus Savior manifested to the nations, represented by the magi led by the guiding star. At the feast of the Lord’s Baptism, we have focused on Jesus as the Servant-Son of Yahweh, manifested at the River Jordan through the voice of the Father and the appearance of the dove, symbol of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Today we consider the manifestation of the saving power of Jesus at the wedding of Cana and the ongoing epiphany of God’s glory in the Church and in salvation history.
Aelred Rosser comments: “The point of the story of the wedding at Cana … that this Jesus truly is the Son of God and the bringer of God’s redeeming love … But there is more. Specifically, the Cana event foretells the way in which Jesus will accomplish his mission, namely by shedding his blood on the cross … The miracle itself, the changing of water into wine means (for John and for us) that the old covenant between heaven and earth will be changed into something entirely new.”
The Cana event as narrated by the evangelist John captures the beauty of the inaugural event of the public ministry of Jesus as well as the “glory” of his whole life, death and exaltation on the cross. Indeed, the miracle of Cana, which is the first of the “signs” that manifest Jesus’ glory, foreshadows the greatest sign that manifests divine glory: Christ’s death and glorification on the cross. At Cana, Jesus proved that he was the real “master” of the feast – the Bridegroom of the messianic feast that celebrate the nuptial of God and his people. On the cross of sacrifice, the nuptial union between Christ and his Bride the Church was consummated or brought to completion.
The Second Reading of today’s Sunday liturgy (I Cor 12:4-11) contains Saint Paul’s classic statement of “unity in diversity”. Aelred Rosser comments: “Paul did not write these words as a general instruction; they arise out of genuine need. The Christians in Corinth were engaged in an energetic competition with one another, some convinced that their gift was worthier than the gifts of others. The gift of tongues particularly was held to be a gift of greater value. Paul sets out to teach what every Christian community throughout the ages needs to learn: that the gift itself is less important than the giver and the recipient – and the purpose for which the Holy Spirit imbues us with grace. That is, all gifts are given for the good of the community. To rank and rate them according to importance misses the point. All are important; none is unimportant. All are needed for a thriving community. None can be dismissed as insignificant. Remembering that gifts are given in order to be shared will make for more peaceful and loving communities.”
Spirit-laden and serving Christian communities, composed of loving and peaceful members, are an “epiphany” or manifestation of God’s glory in the “here and now”. In order to live in accord with our vocation to be the radiance of divine glory, we must not pervert the purpose of the gifts given us by God and his Holy Spirit. Moreover, we must avoid competition and divisions within our faith community.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 6, assert: “In his Church, as among those gathered in his name, thanks to the diversity of spiritual gifts, forms of service, and workings, believers cease to be a group of individuals. They are, and must ceaselessly become, a community gathered in living unity, upon which comes the one Spirit. When this happens, the glory of God is revealed: believers – for whom Mary is the model – express it, so that all others may see it.”
The following story about Chad and Angel illustrates how the lay mission couple has used their spiritual gifts for the good of the Church (cf. Jospeh Fedora, “Love Grows in the Time of Mission” in MARYKNOLL, March 2009, p. 18-23). Chad and Angel have brought love, family and commitment to Brazil and manifested the saving power and the compassion of God on behalf of the needy and the poor.
Love of adventure drew them to Guam; love for each other drew them together; and love for God drew them to Maryknoll. Maryknoll Lay Missioner Angel Mortel was looking for a “radical change” in her life in 1990, when, at age 21, she applied for a teaching position at the Academy of Our Lady of Guam. “I guess I was eager to go into the unknown and see where the Holy Spirit would lead me”, she says. “It led me to Chad.” Chad is Maryknoll Lay Missioner Chad Ribordy who arrived in Guam from Wichita, Kansas, a couple of year earlier. He was teaching a course on peace and justice at the Academy when Mortel arrived. It wasn’t long before they became more than just colleagues.
“Island life is pretty conducive to romance. The sensual tropical breezes, long hot days and nowhere to go”, Mortel says, recalling her courtship with Ribordy. “Come on! Who wouldn’t fall in love in such a setting?”
Their attraction for each other, insists Mortel, was as spiritual as it was physical. “My mission vocation really began when I met Chad. In building my relationship with him, I learned a lot about opening my heart in love”, says the missioner from San Francisco. Ribordy was thinking about mission even before meeting Mortel. Prior to going to Guam, he considered serving in Liberia with another mission group, but just as he was about to ship out, civil war broke out in that African nation. “I, being only 24 and a presumed full life ahead of me, decided that the situation was too messy”, he says.
The couple returned to the United States and, in 1994, married. They moved to Washington, D.C., where Ribordy continued teaching at a high school while Mortel did graduate work in international development at American University. After her studies, she worked at Bread for the World. After living a couple of years in a community with other lay Catholics called Assisi Community, Ribordy and Mortel sent applications in 1997 to Maryknoll to become lay missionaries.
“I think mission is about moving out of your comfort zone, of feeling vulnerable, because it is in that sense of vulnerability that we are forced to let go and let God”, says Mortel. “I felt the need – and luckily Chad felt this too – to move even farther out of my comfort zone and that’s when we decided to join Maryknoll and go to Brazil.”
Moving to Sao Paulo entailed more for the couple than just letting go of the familiar – family, country, culture and language – it called for a radical trust in God and in each other. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it if Angel hadn’t been my partner”, says Ribordy. “She has always challenged me to become more the person God intended me to be.” Two years after arriving in Brazil, Mortel gave birth to Cecilia, and two years after that, to another daughter, Elisa.
As their children grew, so did their comfort with the language, culture and the city of Sao Paulo. So it was time to move out, once again, to unfamiliar terrain. They migrated from the city to the countryside, to a small farming community two hours southwest of Sao Paulo called Ibiuna. There Mortel participates in the diocese’s outreach program to pregnant women and mothers with children up to age 6. Ribordy gets his hands dirty with organic farming. (…)
“We go out in mission to spread the Good News that God is love”, says Mortel. “Missioners have such an important role in moving people to open themselves up to the love that is God.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
Do I trust in God’s intimate love for me and believe that he is like “the bridegroom that rejoices in his bride”?
Do I see in the imagery of the water changed into wine at the wedding of Cana the call and promise of abundance, newness and interior renewal?
Do I fully welcome the gifts of the Father and the Holy Spirit in their abundance and diversity? Do I endeavor to manifest in the “unity in diversity” of the Church the saving power of God and his radiant, infinite glory?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for the messianic “sign” shown by your Son Jesus
at the wedding of Cana
when he changed water into wine.
The new wine at Cana
- so lavish, rich and delightful –
is a promise of the messianic kingdom
and a pledge of heavenly glory.
The “good wine” at Cana’s wedding feast
also evokes the “Eucharistic wine”
of Christ’s blood poured on the cross,
the throne of his glory.
Truly, Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church.
Through him, with him and in him,
we wish to be a living “epiphany” of your divine glory.
We love you, Father,
and we wish to live our nuptial union with your beloved Son-Servant,
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.
“To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” (I Cor 12:7)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Endeavor to recognize more consciously the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work in our faith community today and be thankful for them. By exercising fully the gifts you have received, be a living “epiphany” of God’s glory in the Church and in the world today.
ACTION PLAN: That we may truly experience the beauty of divine glory; 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, # 8).
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