…The Transfiguration of Christ is the culminating point of His public life, as His Baptism is its starting point, and His Ascension its end. Moreover, this glorious event has been related in detail by St. Matthew (17:1-6), St. Mark (9:1-8), and St. Luke (9:28-36), while St. Peter (2 Peter 1:16-18) and St. John (1:14), two of the privileged witnesses, make allusion to it.

About a week after His sojourn in Cæsarea Philippi, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them to a high mountain apart, where He was transfigured before their ravished eyes. St. Matthew and St. Mark express this phenomenon by the word metemorphothe, which the Vulgate renders transfiguratus est. The Synoptics explain the true meaning of the word by adding “his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow,” according to the Vulgate, or “as light,” according to the Greek text.

This dazzling brightness which emanated from His whole Body was produced by an interior shining of His Divinity. False Judaism had rejected the Messias, and now true Judaism, represented by Moses and Elias, the Law and the Prophets, recognized and adored Him, while for the second time God the Father proclaimed Him His only-begotten and well-loved Son. By this glorious manifestation the Divine Master, who had just foretold His Passion to the Apostles (Matthew 16:21), and who spoke with Moses and Elias of the trials which awaited Him at Jerusalem, strengthened the faith of his three friends and prepared them for the terrible struggle of which they were to be witnesses in Gethsemani, by giving them a foretaste of the glory and heavenly delights to which we attain by suffering.

Lectio:

Sunday, February 24, 2013 – 10

The Transfiguration of Jesus
A new way of fulfilling the prophecies
Luke 9:28-36

1. Opening prayer

Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.

2. Reading

a) A key to the reading:

A few days earlier, Jesus had said that he, the Son of Man, had to be tried and crucified by the authorities (Lk 9:22; Mk 8:31). According to the information in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, the disciples, especially Peter, did not understand what Jesus had said and were scandalised by the news (Mt 16:22; Mk 8:32). Jesus reacted strongly and turned to Peter calling him Satan (Mt 16:23; Mk 8:33). This was because Jesus’ words did not correspond with the ideal of the glorious Messiah whom they imagined. Luke does not mention Peter’s reaction and Jesus’ strong reply, but he does describe, as do the other Evangelists, the episode of the Transfiguration. Luke sees the Transfiguration as an aid to the disciples so that they may be able to overcome the scandal and change their idea of the Messiah (Lk 9:28-36). Taking with him the three disciples, Jesus goes up the mountain to pray and, while he is praying, is transfigured. As we read the text, it is good to note what follows: “Who appears with Jesus on the mountain to converse with him? What is the theme of their conversation? What is the disciples’ attitude?”

b) A division of the text as an aid to the reading:

i) Luke 9:28: The moment of crisis
ii) Luke 9:29: The change that takes place during the prayer
iii) Luke 9:30-31: The appearance of the two men and their conversation with Jesus
iv) Luke 9:32-34: The disciples’ reaction
v) Luke 9:35-36: The Father’s voice

c) The text:

28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he said. 34 As he said this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silence and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

3. A moment of prayerful silence

so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.

4. Some questions

to help us in our personal reflection.

a) What pleased you most in this episode of the Transfiguration? Why?
b) Who are those who go to the mountain with Jesus? Why do they go?
c) Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain next to Jesus. What is the significance of these two persons from the Old Testament for Jesus, for the disciples for the community in the 80s? And for us today?
d) Which prophecy from the Old Testament is fulfilled in the words of the Father concerning Jesus?
e) What is the attitude of the disciples during this episode?
f) Has there been a transfiguration in your life? How have such experiences of transfiguration helped you to fulfil your mission better?
g) Compare Luke’s description of the Transfiguration of Jesus (Lk 9:28-36) with his description of the agony of Jesus in the Garden (Lk 22:39-46). Try to see whether there are any similarities. What is the significance of these similarities?

5. A key to the reading

for those who wish to go deeper into the theme.

a) The context of Jesus’ discourse:

In the two previous chapters of Luke’s Gospel, the innovation brought by Jesus stands out and tensions between the New and the Old grow. In the end, Jesus realised that no one had understood his meaning and much less his person. People thought that he was like John the Baptist, Elijah or some old prophet (Lk 9:18-19). The disciples accepted him as the Messiah, but a glorious Messiah, according to the propaganda issued by the government and the official religion of the Temple (Lk 9:20-21). Jesus tried to explain to his disciples that the journey foreseen by the prophets was one of suffering because of its commitment to the excluded and that a disciple could only be a disciple if he/she took up his/her cross (Lk 9:22-26). But he did not meet with much success. It is in such a context of crisis that the Transfiguration takes place.
In the 30s, the experience of the Transfiguration had a very important significance in the life of Jesus and of the disciples. It helped them overcome the crisis of faith and to change their ideals concerning the Messiah. In the 80s, when Luke was writing for the Christian communities in Greece, the meaning of the Transfiguration had already been deepened and broadened. In the light of Jesus’ resurrection and of the spread of the Good News among the pagans in almost every country, from Palestine to Italy, the experience of the Transfiguration began to be seen as a confirmation of the faith of the Christian communities in Jesus, Son of God. The two meanings are present in the description and interpretation of the Transfiguration in Luke’s Gospel.

b) A commentary on the text:

Luke 9:28: The moment of crisis
On several occasions Jesus entered into conflict with the people and the religious and civil authorities of his time (Lk 4:28-29; 5:21-20; 6:2-11; 7:30.39; 8:37; 9,9). He knew they would not allow him to do the things he did. Sooner or later they would catch him. Besides, in that society, the proclamation of the Kingdom, as Jesus did, was not to be tolerated. He either had to withdraw or face death! There were no other alternatives. Jesus did not withdraw. Hence the cross appears on the horizon, not just as a possibility but as a certainty (Lk 9:22). Together with the cross there appears also the temptation to go on with the idea of the Glorious Messiah and not of the Crucified, suffering servant, announced by the Prophet Isaiah (Mk 8:32-33). At this difficult moment Jesus goes up the mountain to pray, taking with him Peter, James and John. Through his prayer, Jesus seeks strength not to lose sense of direction in his mission (cf. Mk 1:35).

Luke 9:29: The change that takes place during the prayer
As soon as Jesus starts praying, his appearance changes and he appears glorious. His face changes and his clothes become white and shining. It is the glory that the disciples imagined for the Messiah. This transformation told them clearly that Jesus was indeed the Messiah expected by all. But what follows the episode of the Transfiguration will point out that the way to glory is quite different from what they imagined. The transfiguration will be a call to conversion.

Luke 9:30-31: Two men appear speaking with Jesus
Together with Jesus and in the same glorious state there appear Moses and Elijah, the two major exponents of the Old Testament, representing the Law and the Prophets. They speak with Jesus about “the Exodus brought to fulfilment in Jerusalem”. Thus, in front of the disciples, the Law and the Prophets confirm that Jesus is truly the glorious Messiah, promised in the Old Testament and awaited by the whole people. They further confirm that the way to Glory is through the painful way of the exodus. Jesus’ exodus is his passion, death and resurrection. Through his “exodus” Jesus breaks the dominion of the false idea concerning the Messiah spread by the government and by the official religion and that held all ensnared in the vision of a glorious, nationalistic messiah. The experience of the Transfiguration confirmed that Jesus as Messiah Servant constituted an aid to free them from their wrong ideas concerning the Messiah and to discover the real meaning of the Kingdom of God.

Luke 9:32-34: The disciples’ reaction
The disciples were in deep sleep. When they woke up, the saw Jesus in his glory and the two men with him. But Peter’s reaction shows that they were not aware of the real meaning of the glory in which Jesus appeared to them. As often happens with us, they were only aware of what concerned them. The rest escapes their attention. “Master, it is good for us to be here!” And they do not want to get off the mountain any more! When it is question of the cross, whether on the Mount of the Transfiguration or on the Mount of Olives (Lk 22:45), they sleep! They prefer the Glory to the Cross! They do not like to speak or hear of the cross. They want to make sure of the moment of glory on the mountain, and they offer to build three tents. Peter did not know what he was saying.
While Peter was speaking, a cloud descended from on high and covered them with its shadow. Luke says that the disciples became afraid when the cloud enfolded them. The cloud is the symbol of the presence of God. The cloud accompanied the multitude on their journey through the desert (Ex 40: 34-38; Nm 10:11-12). When Jesus ascended into heaven, he was covered by a cloud and they no longer saw him (Acts 1:9). This was a sign that Jesus had entered forever into God’s world.

Luke 9:35-36: The Father’s voice
A voice is heard from the cloud that says: “This is my Son, the Chosen, listen to him”. With this same sentence the prophet Isaiah had proclaimed the Messiah-Servant (Is 42:1). First Moses and Elijah, now God himself presents Jesus as the Messiah-Servant who will come to glory through the cross. The voice ends with a final admonition: “Listen to him!” As the heavenly voice speaks, Moses and Elijah disappear and only Jesus is left. This signifies that from now on only He will interpret the Scriptures and the will of God. He is the Word of God for the disciples: “Listen to him!”
The proclamation “This is my Son, the Chosen; listen to him” was very important for the community of the late 80s. Through this assertion God the Father confirmed the faith of Christians in Jesus as Son of God. In Jesus’ time, that is, in the 30s, the expression Son of Man pointed to a very high dignity and mission. Jesus himself gave a relative meaning to the term by saying that all were children of God (cf. John 10:33-35). But for some the title Son of God became a resume of all titles, over one hundred that the first Christians gave Jesus in the second half of the first century. In succeeding centuries, it was the title of Son of God that the Church concentrated all its faith in the person of Jesus.

c) A deepening:

i) The Transfiguration is told in three of the Gospels: Matthew (Mt 17:1-9), Mark (Mk 9:2-8) and Luke (Lk 9:28-36). This is a sign that this episode contained a very important message. As we said, it was a matter of great help to Jesus, to his disciples and to the first communities. It confirmed Jesus in his mission as Messiah-Servant. It helped the disciples to overcome the crisis that the cross and suffering caused them. It led the communities to deepen their faith in Jesus, Son of God, the One who revealed the Father and who became the new key to the interpretation of the Law and the Prophets. The Transfiguration continues to be of help in overcoming the crisis that the cross and suffering provoke today. The three sleeping disciples are a reflection of all of us. The voice of the Father is directed to us as it was to them: “This is my Son, the Chosen; listen to him!”

ii) In Luke’s Gospel there is a great similarity between the scene of the Transfiguration (Lk 9:28-36) and the scene of the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives (Lk 22:39-46). We may note the following: in both scenes Jesus goes up the mountain to pray and takes with him three disciples, Peter, James and John. On both occasions, Jesus’ appearance is transformed and he is transfigured before them; glorious at the Transfiguration, perspiring blood in the Garden of Olives. Both times heavenly figures appear to comfort him, Moses and Elijah and an angel from heaven. Both in the Transfiguration and in the Agony, the disciples sleep, they seem to be outside the event and they seem not to understand anything. At the end of both episodes, Jesus is reunited with his disciples. Doubtless, Luke intended to emphasise the resemblance between these two episodes. What would that be? It is in meditating and praying that we shall succeed in understanding the meaning that goes beyond words, and to perceive the intention of the author. The Holy Spirit will guide us.

iii) Luke describes the Transfiguration. There are times in our life when suffering is such that we might think: “God has abandoned me! He is no longer with me!” And then suddenly we realise that He has never deserted us, but that we had our eyes bandaged and were not aware of the presence of God. Then everything is changed and transfigured. It is the transfiguration! This happens every day in our lives.

6. Psalm 42 (41)

“My soul thirsts for the living God!”

As a hart longs for flowing streams,
so longs my soul for thee, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?

My tears have been my food day and night,
while men say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.
My soul is cast down within me,
therefore I remember thee from the land of Jordan
and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at the thunder of thy cataracts;
all thy waves and thy billows have gone over me.

By day the Lord commands his steadfast love;
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock:
“Why hast thou forgotten me?
Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a deadly wound in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.

7. Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practise the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Lectio:

The temptations of Jesus.
Victory by means of prayer and the Bible
Luke 4, 1-13

1. LECTIO

a) Initial Prayer

Oh Lord, at the beginning of this Lenten time you invite me to meditate, once more, on the account of the temptations, so that I may discover the heart of the spiritual struggle and, above all, so that I may experience the victory over evil.
Holy Spirit, “visit our minds” because frequently, many thoughts proliferate in our mind which make us feel that we are in the power of the uproar of many voices. The fire of love also purifies our senses and the heart so that they may be docile and available to the voice of your Word. Enlighten us (accende lumen sensibus, infunde amorem cordibus) so that our senses, purified by you, may be ready to dialogue with you. If the fire of your love blazes up in our heart, over and above our aridity, it can flood the true life, which is fullness of joy.

b) Reading of the Gospel:

1 Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, 2 for forty days being put to the test by the devil. During that time he ate nothing and at the end he was hungry. 3 Then the devil said to him, ‘If you are Son of God, tell this stone to turn into a loaf.’ 4 But Jesus replied, ‘Scripture says: Human beings live not on bread alone.’ 5 Then leading him to a height, the devil showed him in a moment of time all the kingdoms of the world 6 and said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and their splendour, for it has been handed over to me, for me to give it to anyone I choose. 7 Do homage, then, to me, and it shall all be yours.’ 8 But Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture says: You must do homage to the Lord your God, him alone you must serve.’ 9 Then he led him to Jerusalem and set him on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you are Son of God,’ he said to him, ‘throw yourself down from here, 10 for scripture says: He has given his angels orders about you, to guard you, and again: 11 They will carry you in their arms in case you trip over a stone.’ 12 But Jesus answered him, ‘Scripture says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ 13 Having exhausted every way of putting him to the test, the devil left him, until the opportune moment.

c) Moment of prayerful silence:

To listen silence is necessary: of the soul, of the spirit, of the sensibility and also exterior silence, with the tension to listen to what the Word of God intends to communicate.

2. MEDITATIO

a) Key for the reading:

Luke with the refinement of a narrator mentions in 4, 1-44 some aspects of the ministry of Jesus after His Baptism, among which the temptations of the devil. In fact, he says that Jesus “Filled with the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, for forty days” (Lk 4, 1-2). Such an episode of the life of Jesus is something preliminary to his ministry, but it can also be understood as the moment of transition of the ministry of John the Baptist to that of Jesus. In Mark such an account of the temptations is more generic. In Matthew, it is said that Jesus “was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (Mt 4, 1), these last words attribute the experience of the temptations to an influence which is at the same time heavenly and diabolical. The account of Luke modifies the text of Matthew in such a way as to show that Jesus “filled with the Holy Spirit” , leaves the Jordan on his own initiative and is led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where “he is tempted by the devil” (4, 2). The sense which Luke wants to give to the temptations of Jesus is that those were an initiative of the devil and not a programmed experience of the Holy Spirit (S. Brown). It is as if Luke wanted to keep clearly distinct the person of the devil from the person of the Holy Spirit.

Another element to be kept in mind is the order with which Luke disposes the order of the temptations: desert – sight of the kingdoms of the world – pinnacle of Jerusalem. In Matthew, instead, the order varies: desert – pinnacle – high mountain. Exegetes discuss as to which is the original disposition, but they do not succeed in finding a unanimous solution. The difference could be explained beginning with the third temptation (the culminating one): for Matthew the “mountain” is the summit of the temptation because in his Gospel he places all his interest on the theme of the mountain (we just have to remember the sermon on the mountain, the presentation of Jesus as “the new Moses”); for Luke, instead, the last temptation takes place on the pinnacle of the temple of Jerusalem because one of the greatest interests of his Gospel is the city of Jerusalem (Jesus in the account of Luke is on the way toward Jerusalem where salvation is definitively fulfilled) (Fitzmyer).

The reader can legitimately ask himself the question: In Luke, just as in Matthew, were there possible witnesses to the temptations of Jesus? The answer is certainly negative. From the account of Luke it appears clearly that Jesus and the devil are one in front of the other, completely alone. The answers of Jesus to the devil are taken from Sacred Scripture, they are quotations from the Old Testament. Jesus faces the temptations, and particularly that of the worship which the devil intends from Jesus himself, having recourse to the Word of God as bread of life, as protection from God. The recourse to the Word of God contained in the Book of Deuteronomy, considered by exegetes as a long meditation on the Law, shows Luke’s intention to recall this episode of the life of Jesus with the project of God who wishes to save mankind.

Did these temptations take place historically? Why do some, among believers and non believers, hold that such temptations are only some fantasy on Jesus, some invention of a story? Such questions are extremely important in a context such as ours which seeks to empty the accounts in the Gospel, from its historical and faith content. Certainly, it is not possible to give a literary and ingenuous explanation, nor to think that these could have happened in an external way. That of Dupont seems to us to be sufficiently acceptable: “Jesus speaks about an experience which He has lived, but translated into a figurative language, adapted to strike the minds of his listeners” (Les tentationes, 128). More than considering them as an external fact, the temptations are considered as a concrete experience in the life of Jesus. It seems to me that this is the principal reason which has guided Luke and the other Evangelists in transmitting those scenes. The opinions of those who hold that the temptations of Jesus are fictitious or invented are deprived of foundation, neither is it possible to share the opinion of Dupont himself, when he says that these were “a purely spiritual dialogue that Jesus had with the devil” (Dupont, 125). Looking within the New Testament (Jn 6, 26-34; 7, 1-4; Hb 4, 15; 5, 2; 2, 17a) it is clear that the temptations were an evident truth in the life of Jesus. The explanation of R.E. Brown is interesting and can be shared: “Matthew and Luke would have done no injustice to historical reality by dramatizing such temptations within a scene, and by masking the true tempter by placing this provocation on his lips” (the Gospel According to John, 308). In synthesis we could say that the historicity of the temptations of Jesus or the taking root of these in the experience of Jesus have been described with a “figurative language” (Dupont) or “dramatized” (R.E. Brown). It is necessary to distinguish the content (the temptations in the experience of Jesus) from its container (the figurative or dramatized language). It is certain that these two interpretations are much more correct from those who interpret them in a an ingenious literary sense.

Besides Luke, with these scenes intends to remind us that the temptations were addressed to Jesus by an external agent. They are not the result of a psychological crisis or because He finds himself in a personal conflict with someone. The temptations, rather, lead back to the “temptations” which Jesus experienced in His ministry: hostility, opposition, rejection. Such “temptations” were real and concrete in his life. He had no recourse to His divine power to solve them. These trials were a form of “diabolical seducing” (Fitsmyer), a provocation to use His divine power to change the stones into bread and to manifest himself in eccentric ways.

The temptations end with this expression: “Having exhausted every way of putting him to the test, the devil left Jesus (4, 13). therefore, the three scenes which contain the temptations are to be considered as the expression of all temptations or trials” which Jesus had to face. But the fundamental point is that Jesus, in so far that He is the Son, faced and overcame the “temptation”. and, even more: He was tested and tried in His fidelity to the Father and was found to be faithful.

A last consideration regarding the third temptation. In the first two temptations the devil provoked Jesus to use His divine Filiation to deny the human finiteness: to avoid providing for himself bread like all men; requiring then from Him, an illusory omnipotence. In both of these, Jesus does not respond saying: I do not want to! But appeals to the Law of God, His Father: “It is written… it has been said…” A wonderful lesson. But the devil does not give in and presents a third provocation, the strongest of all: to save Himself from death. In one word, to throw himself down from the pinnacle meant a sure death. The Devil quotes Scripture, Psalm 91, to invite Jesus to the magic and spectacular use of divine protection, and in last instance, to the denial of death. The passage of the Gospel of Luke launches a strong warning: the erroneous use of the Word of God, can be the occasion of temptations. In what sense? My way of relating myself to the Bible is placed in crisis especially when I use it only to give moral teachings to others who are in difficulty or in a state of crisis. We refer to certain pseudo spiritual discourses which are addressed to those who are in difficulty: “Are you anguished? There is nothing else you can do but pray and everything will be solved”. This means to ignore the consistency of the anguish which a person has and which frequently depends on a biochemical fact or of a psycho-social difficulty, or of a mistaken way of placing oneself before God. It would be more coherent to say: Pray and ask the Lord to guide you in having recourse to the human mediations of the doctor or of a wise and knowledgeable friend so that they can help you in lessening or curing you of your anguish. One cannot propose Biblical phrases, in a magic way, to others, neglecting to use the human mediations. “The frequent temptation is that of making a Bible of one’s own moral, instead of listening to the moral teachings of the Bible” (X. Thévenot).

In this time of Lent I am invited to get close to the Word of God with the following attitude: a tireless and prayerful assiduity to the Word of God, reading it with a constant bond of union with the great traditions of the Church, and in dialogue with the problems of humanity today.

3. ORATIO

a) Psalm 119:

How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the Law of Yahweh!
Blessed are those who observe his instructions,
who seek him with all their hearts,

Let us renew ourselves in the Spirit
And put on the new man
Jesus Christ, our Lord,
in justice and in true sanctity. (St. Paul).

and, doing no evil,
who walk in his ways.
You lay down your precepts
to be carefully kept.

Let us follow Jesus Christ
and serve Him
with a pure heart and good conscience. (Rule of Carmel)

May my ways be steady
in doing your will.
Then I shall not be shamed,
if my gaze is fixed on your commandments.

Let us follow Jesus Christ
and serve Him
with a pure heart and good conscience. (Rule of Carmel)

I thank you with a sincere heart
for teaching me your upright judgements.
I shall do your will;
do not ever abandon me wholly.

Let us renew ourselves in the Spirit
And put on the new man
Christ Jesus, our Lord,
created according to God the Father
in justice and in true sanctity. Amen (S. Paul).

b) Final Prayer:

Lord, we look for you and we desire to see your face, grant us that one day, removing the veil, we may be able to contemplate it.
We seek you in Scripture which speaks to us of you and under the veil of wisdom, the fruit of the search of people.
We look for you in the radiant faces of our brothers and sisters, in the marks of your Passion in the bodies of the suffering.
Every creature is signed by your mark, every thing reveals a ray of Your invisible beauty.
You are revealed in the service of the brother, you revealed yourself to the brother by the faithful love which never diminishes.
Not the eyes but the heart has a vision of You, with simplicity and truth we try to speak with You.

4.  CONTEMPLATIO

To prolong our meditation we suggest a reflection of Benedict XVI:
“Lent is the privileged time of an interior pilgrimage toward the One who is the source of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which He himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty, supporting us on the way toward the intense joy of Easter. Even in the “dark valley” of which the Psalmist speaks (Psalm 23, 4), while the tempter suggests that we be dispersed or proposes an illusory hope in the work of our hands, God takes care of us and supports us. […] Lent wants to lead us in view of the victory of Christ over every evil which oppresses man. In turning to the Divine Master, in converting ourselves to Him, in experiencing His mercy, we discover a “look” which penetrates in the depth of ourselves and which can encourage each one of us.”

Lectio: 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

The Christian New Testament frequently cites Jewish scripture to support the claim of the Early Christians that Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah, and faith in Jesus as the Christos and his imminent expected Second Coming. The majority of these quotations and references are taken from the Book of Isaiah, but they range over the entire corpus of Jewish writings.

The following is an example of a list of scriptural requirements in Judaism and Christianity concerning the Messiah: his actions, and his reign. Jewish and Christian sources both believe that the Messiah will fulfill all relevant prophecies.

Jewish Interpretation of Sample Messianic Prophecy	Judaism	Christianity[1]
The Sanhedrin will be re-established[2][3]		The Sanhedrin existed in Jesus‘ time.
Once he is King, leaders of other nations will look to him for guidance.[3][4]
The whole world will worship the One God of Israel[3][5][6]
Jews will return to full Torah observance and practice it.[3]		To be fulfilled. Some in the Hebrew Roots movement and Messianic Jewish movements have already advocated this.
He will be descended from King David[7] via Solomon[8]
The Mashiach will be a man of this world, an observant Jew with “fear of God”[3][9]
Evil and tyranny will not be able to stand before his leadership[3][10]
Knowledge of God will fill the world[3][11]
He will include and attract people from all cultures and nations[3][12]
All Israelites will be returned to their homeland[3][13]
Death will be swallowed up forever[3][14]
There will be no more hunger or illness, and death will cease[3][14]
All of the dead will rise again. According to the Zohar, the resurrection will take place forty years after the arrival of Moshiach[3][15]
The Jewish people will experience eternal joy and gladness[3][16]
He will be a messenger of peace[3][17]
Nations will end up recognizing the wrongs they did to Israel[3][18]		(Fulfilled in recognition that Anti Semitism is recognized as inherently not Christian [19])
The peoples of the world will turn to the Jews for spiritual guidance[3][20]		To be fulfilled.
The ruined cities of Israel will be restored[3][21]		(This was fulfilled beginning in 1948, perhaps even earlier [e.g., in Proto-Zionist Times] according to Messianic Jewish and Christian thought.)
Weapons of war will be destroyed[3][22]
The Temple will be rebuilt[23] resuming many of the suspended 613 mitzvot.[3]		To be fulfilled.
He will rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.[6][24]
He will gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel.[25]
He will bring world peace.[6][26]
He will influence the entire world to acknowledge and serve one God.[27]
He will then perfect the entire world to serve God together[3][28] He will give you all the worthy desires of your heart[3][29]
He will take the barren land and make it abundant and fruitful[3][30]

An essay on what Christmas tells us about God and man: Life to Full: The Gift of Christmas.

Here is a list of the feasts which will stimulate those reflections and prayers between now and my next Insights message:

• Dec. 24: Christmas Eve
• Dec. 25: Solemnity of Christmas
• Dec. 26: St. Stephen, the First Martyr
• Dec. 27: St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
• Dec. 28: The Holy Innocents, Martyrs
• Dec. 29: Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr
• Dec. 30: The Holy Family
• Dec. 31: Sylvester I, Pope
• Jan. 1: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
• Jan. 2: St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, bishops and doctors
• Jan. 3: Most Holy Name of Jesus

God bless you, Mr. O’Reilly

O’Reilly at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, September 30, 2010
Alma mater	Marist College (BA) Boston University (MA) Harvard University (MPA)
Occupation	Columnist, author, television personality, talk radio personality
Years active	1975–present

 

“God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission–I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his–if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve HIm in my calling.

Therefore, I will trust Him. Whatever, whereever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve HIm. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me–still He knows what He is about.”

John Henry Cardinal Newman

Orthodox icon of the Apocalypse of St. John (16th century)

Lectio: 

Sunday, November 18, 2012  

Last Discourse
Mark 13,24-32

1. Opening prayer

Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavour of the holy memory.

2. Lectio

a) The text:

24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
32 “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father

b) A moment of silence:

Let the sound of the Word echo in us.

3. Meditatio

a) A few questions:

- After that tribulation. Life bears the signs of labour, the seal of a death pregnant with new life. Can we count ourselves among the elect gathered from the four winds?
– The Son of man coming in the clouds: Will we be capable of raising our eyes from our miserable things so as to see him coming on the horizon of our story?
– From the fig tree learn: We have so much to learn and we need not look far. Nature is the first book of God. Are we willing to go through its pages or do we tear its pages thinking that we own it?
– All things pass away, only the Word of God remains forever. How many are the vain words, the dreams and pleasures inexorably swallowed by time that carries away everything that has an end! Is the rock on which we have built our lives the rock of the Word of the living God?
– Of that day or that hour no one knows: it is not for us to know. The Father knows. Are we open to put our trust in him?

b) A key to the reading:

The great change of the cosmos described by Mark lies between metaphor and reality and proclaims the imminence of the end of time as an introduction to an immensely new world. The coming of the Son in the clouds opens up for humanity a heavenly dimension. He is not an intransigent judge, but a powerful Saviour who appears in the splendour of divine glory to reunite the elect, to make them share in eternal life in the blessed reign of heaven. Mark does not mention a judgement, threat or sentence…so as to bring hope and increase the expectation, he proclaims the final victory.

v. 24-25. After that tribulation the sun will be darkened… a new reality is contrasted with the great tribulation. The Evangelist thinks that the parousia is near at hand, even though the hour of its coming is uncertain. The confusion of the cosmos is described in terms typical of apocalyptic language, in a stylised and accurate form: the four elements are ranged two by two in a parallel manner. The reference to Is 13:10 is clear when he speaks of the sun and the moon being darkened and to Is 34:4 when he speaks of the shaking of the powers in heaven.

v. 26. Then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. This is the peak of Mark’s eschatological discourse. The time of expectation is over, this is the time for restoring everything in Christ. The end of the world is no more than the promise of the glorious parousia of the Son foreseen by Dn 7:13. The clouds point to the presence of God who in all his self-revelations uses clouds to come down to earth. The attributes of divine sovereignty, power and glory, mentioned by Jesus before the Sanhedrin (14:62), are not a threat to humankind, but the solemn proclamation of the messianic dignity that transcends the humanity of Christ.

v. 27. And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of heaven. By this first act of the Son of man, the meaning of the true parousia is made clear: the eschatological salvation of the people of God spread throughout the world. All the elect will be reunited. No one will be forgotten. There is no mention of punishment of enemies nor of punitive catastrophes, but only of unification. It will be the only place because from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven the angels will gather people around Christ. This, indeed, is a glorious meeting.

v. 28. From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. The parable of the fig tree points to the certainty and nearness of the proclaimed events, especially the coming of the Son of man, prefigured in the imminent passion, death and resurrection. The imperative addressed to the listeners: Learn! reveals the implied meaning of the similitude: it is an invitation to penetrate deeply into the meaning of Jesus’ words in order to understand God’s plan for the world. When fig tree loses it leaves in late autumn, later than other plants, even past springtime, it announces the coming of summer.

v. 29. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Human beings may know God’s plan from the events that take place. What are the things that have to take place? Mark spoke of the abomination of desolation in v. 14. That is the sign, the sign of the end that is the parousia, the coming of the Son of man. Those things that are the beginning of woes will bring humankind to a new birth, because He is near, at the very gates.

v. 30. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before these things take place. Many hypotheses have been put forward concerning the meaning of this generation. It is more a Christological expression than a chronological affirmation. The early Church kept affirming the uncertainty of the precise moment, even though it held on to the hope that the Lord would come soon. Every believer, in any age, who reads this passage, can think of him/herself as being part of this generation.

v. 31. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. The certainty that the words of the Lord will never pass away, add confidence to whoever reflects on the decline of the world and the things of the world. To build on the Word of God means that the abomination of desolation will not last and that the sun, moon and stars will not lose their splendour. The present time of God becomes for human beings the only way to their own being because, if in their speech the present never becomes the past, then they need not fear death.

v. 32. But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. The end is certain, but the knowledge as to when it will come is reserved to the Father. Jesus never made any precise statement on this matter. Thus, anyone who pretends to have some presumed teaching of his own, he is lying. The end is one of the many unfathomable secrets that belong to the Father. The mission of the Son is to establish the kingdom, not the revelation of the fulfilment of human history. Thus Jesus shares deeply in our human condition. Through his voluntary kenosis, he even complies with the possibility of not knowing the day or the hour of the end of the world.

c) Reflections:

Tribulation is like daily bread in human life and it is the sign of the coming of the Son of God. A life pregnant with a new face, cannot not know the pain of childbirth. The children of the Most High, dispersed to the ends of the earth, far from one another, will be gathered from the four winds by the divine breath that breathes over the earth. The Son of man comes in the clouds whereas our eyes are fixed on the ground, on our puny works, lost between the tears of delusion and those of failure. If we could raise our eyes from our miserable things to see him coming on the horizon of our history, then our life will be filled with light and we shall learn to read his writing in the sand of our thoughts and will, of our falls and dreams, of our attitudes and learning. If we have the courage to leaf through the pages of daily life and there gather the seeds fallen into the furrows of our being, then our hearts will find peace. Then vain words, pleasures swallowed by time, will only be a lost memory because the rock on which we would have built will be the rock of the Word of the living God. If no one knows the day or the hour, then it is not for us to go guessing. The Father knows and we trust in him

4. Oratio

Wisdom 9.1-6.9-11

O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy,
who hast made all things by thy word,
and by thy wisdom hast formed man,
to have dominion over the creatures thou hast made,
and rule the world in holiness and righteousness,
and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul,
give me the wisdom that sits by thy throne,
and do not reject me from among thy servants.
For I am thy slave and the son of thy maidservant,
a man who is weak and short-lived,
with little understanding of judgment and laws;
for even if one is perfect among the sons of men,
yet without the wisdom that comes from thee
he will be regarded as nothing.
With thee is wisdom,
who knows thy works and was present when thou didst make the world,
and who understand what is pleasing in thy sight
and what is right according to thy commandments.
Send her forth from the holy heavens,
and from the throne of thy glory send her,
that she may be with me and toil,
and that I may learn what is pleasing to thee.
For she knows and understands all things,
and she will guide me wisely in my actions
and guard me with her glory.

5. Contemplatio

Lord, I gaze upon the tender branch of the fig tree that is my life and I wait. As the shadows of evening lengthen along my path, I think back on your words. What peace floods my heart when my thoughts dwell on you! In your own good time, my waiting for you will be fulfilled. In my time your expectations of me will be fulfilled. What a mystery is time, past, future and the eternal present! Today’s waves break on the burning experience of your Presence and remind me of games in the sand that are always washed away by the sea. And yet, I am happy. Happy that I am nothing, happy with the sand that will not last, because once more your Word goes on writing. We seek to pause in time, writing and talking, achieving excellent works that stand the ravages of centuries. You, however, pause to write on sand to achieve works of love that have the perfume of a caressed gazelle standing still, that have the sound of formless voices that are the basis of daily life, the taste of a doused vendetta of a returned embrace… works that do not last except in the heart of God and in the memory of the living who are sensitive to the flight of a dove in the heaven of their existence. Tender love of my soul, may I, each day, look up to the clouds and be consumed by the nostalgia of your return. Amen.

+++

Thirty Third Sunday In Ordinary Time – Year B

Citations of:

Da 12,1-3:                                                  www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9abr1ql.htm

He 10,11-14.18:                                     www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9arbi0j.htm

Mc 13,24-32:                                           www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/9bfegpm.htm

“In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that He is near, at the gates.” (Mk 13:29)  Today, the Church’s Liturgy seems as it is propelling our hearts and gaze towards the Last Day, towards He who is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End of all things. Today’s Liturgy is leading us towards He who’s Universal Kingship we will celebrate next week:  Jesus Christ, God.  Everything will be recapitulated in Him, the entire cosmos and history are tending towards Him.  All creation is, as St Paul would say, “groaning in labor pains” (Rm 8:22) and we too are also travelling on that same continuum, we are also living that sweet wait!

“When you see these things happening, know that He is near, at the gates.”  Christ loves us so much that His heart burns with love and desire for each one of us.  In the anticipation of what will happen on the Last Days, He offered Himself on the Cross.  It is right that the awaiting anticipation of the return of the beloved is aroused in the one who truly loves.  The lover awaits and desires the beloved’s return and is motivated to prepare for that return with all those acts of love that the heart proposes so that the beloved is welcomed in a way that demonstrates that love.

“When you see these things happening, know that He is near, at the gates.”  When the heart is full of the anticipation of the beloved’s arrival, everything that surrounds us is almost “transfigured” before our eyes and so becomes an occasion or a way of loving. It is even more this way with Christ!  When our hears are enflamed and renewed with love and desire for Him, everything acquires its true sense – everything!  Every meeting, every circumstance, every joy or sorrow, every piece of work is given a new taste because Christ, as our Creator and Redeemer, gives light and consistency to the things that we do and so, in Him, they find their true significance.

“When you see these things happening, know that He is near, at the gates.”  However, in talking about the Last Days, the Lord doesn’t indicate a precise timescale.  In fact, He says, “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mk 13:32)  Therefore, Christ says to us that, “when you see these things happening know that He is near ” in order to call us to observe reality and to invite us to read the certain signs of His return.  In fact, we do not have a somewhat introspective and subjective religiosity in which we can take refuge and that is incapable of withstanding life’s difficulties and of obeying reality to prepare us for the Last Day.  Rather, we must await Him with great security in reality, entrusting ourselves to Him who made and Redeemed us.  We must entrust ourselves to the signs of the Mysteries that will become ever more numerous.  Christ, the Reality, is the true Master of the journey towards heaven because, as the Apostle says: “the reality belongs to Christ.” (Col 2:17)

“When you see these things happening, know that He is near, at the gates.”  However, our awaiting, understood in the Christian sense, isn’t only directed to a certain, but yet distant, future.  The future Day towards which we are travelling, that Last Day in which all will be brought back, is already Present!  It has already come, because this Day is Christ, the Only Son of God who came to visit us from heaven like the “daybreak from on high.” (Lk 1:78) We are living this sorrowful wait.  However, we live this wait in the joy of His Presence that we meet inside the Church and, in a special way, through the Sacraments and the Proclamation of His Word.  It is a Presence that is given to us and so we experience that communion with our brothers which is a gift of the Spirit.  His Presence shines in an eminent way on the Altar where Christ, Himself, our Future enters our present to draw us to Himself, to draw us into His very heart, so that we can go through Him to the Father.

“When you see these things happening, know that He is near, at the gates.”  Let us hold in our hearts that desire for His Presence that will make us able to give Him that attentive love that recognizes Christ in every brother and that will enclose us in that Day that has no end.

May Most Holy Mary, Woman of that silent waiting and unsurpassable Model of love, prepare our hearts for that meeting with Her Son, “now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Jesus as the “Man of Sorrows“ by Pietro Lorenzetti, c. 1330 (Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg).

One of the first claims in the New Testament that Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of Jesus comes from the Book of Acts, in which its author (who is also the author of Luke^[25]), describes a scene in which God commands Philip the Apostle to approach an Ethiopian eunuch who is sitting in a chariot, reading aloud to himself from the Book of Isaiah. The eunuch comments that he does not understand what he is reading (Isaiah 53) and Philip explains to him the teachings of Jesus. “And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” This has been the standard Christian interpretation of the passage since Apostolic times.^[26]

Isaiah 53:4 is also quoted in Matthew 8:17, where it is used in context of Jesus’ healing ministry:

“that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” Matthew 8:17

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.…” Isaiah 53

Lectio: 29th Sunday of ordinary time (B)

Leaders must serve
Mark 10:35-45

1. Opening prayer

God of peace and forgiveness, you have given us Christ as an example of total service, even to giving us his very life; grant us to find favour in your sight that we may share the cup of your will to its dregs and live in the generous and fruitful service of each other.

2. Reading

a) The context:

This episode comes straight after the third prediction of the Passion (Mk 10: 32-34). As on the occasions of the other predictions, the reaction of the disciples is not positive: two of them are worried about who is going to be first in the Kingdom and the others become indignant. This tells us that the disciples had difficulty in accepting the painful destiny of their Master and in understanding the mystery of the Kingdom. The two who come with a request – James and John – are brothers and are part of the group of friends of Jesus (Mk 1: 19-20). Their nickname is boanerges (“sons of thunder” Mk 3:17). They were, then, a little impetuous.

b) The text:

35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

3. A moment of silent prayer

to re-read the text with our heart and to recognise in the words and structure, the presence of the mystery of the living God.

4. Some questions

to see the important points in the text and begin to assimilate them.

a) Why were the disciples so anxious to take the first places?
b) Does Jesus’ reply make sense?
c) What does Jesus mean by the cup to drink and the baptism to be baptised?
d) On what does Jesus base service in the community?

5. Some deepening of the reading

”Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory”
Even though they were careful in the way they phrased their question, it is clear that they were quite ambitious. According to tradition, they may have been cousins of Jesus, and therefore – according to eastern law – they had a special right, as members of the family. In any case, it is clear that they have understood nothing about that which Jesus was about to do. He was on the way to the ignominy of the cross, and they still had not understood him. Jesus’ true power did not consist in distributing places of honour, but in asking them to share his tragic destiny: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?”

“The cup that I drink you will drink”
The dialogue concerning the cup and the baptism (vv. 38-39) is obviously parallel. But it is not easy to understand how the two disciples can drink the cup and be baptised, unless one thinks of the martyrdom both of them suffered later. By these two images, Jesus seems to evoke his violent death, which he foretells as an absolute obligation of fidelity to the Father. The reply to their request to sit next to him is very evasive: but we can understand that it wants to say that their way is not the right way to obtain the request.

“The ten…began to be indignant”
Clearly they too share the same ambition. However, this verse seems to be an editorial addition to connect two episodes, which originally were not placed together. This changes the subject completely. But the fact that their indignation is recorded, is probably based on some other episode where the disciples do not appear in a good light and is therefore authentic.

“Those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them… But it shall not be so among you”
Jesus is referring to political leaders of his time: and really this is also the style of political leadership in all times. On the other hand, the community of disciples must be ruled by service: two terms express this service in a gradual manner. Jesus first speaks of “servant” (diakonos) and then of “slave” (doulos). One cannot choose whom one will serve: one must be a slave of all, thus overturning the worldly order.

“For the Son of man also…”
Here we find the basis of the constitutional law of the community: to follow the Master’s style, by giving, like him, one’s life in the spirit of service; thus becoming truly “lords” through the gift of one’s life, not by just pretending. It is difficult to interpret “ransom” or redemption, as Fr. X. Léon Dufour says: we can understand this well when we reflect on the words that Jesus speaks at the Last Supper. Then, Jesus’ whole life appears in the light of “ransom”, of fidelity to the very end for the freedom of humankind. He deprives himself of freedom so that he can give freedom, to ransom those who have no freedom.
Thus the statutes of the community of disciples is characterised by service, by no ambition, by a life given and bound for the ransom of others.

6. Psalm 33 (32)

A prayer for justice and peace

Sing to him a new song,
play skilfully on the strings,
with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright;
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord,
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood forth.
The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands for ever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
The Lord looks down from heaven,
he sees all the sons of men;
from where he sits enthroned
he looks forth on all the inhabitants of the earth,
he who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds.

7. Closing prayer

Lord our God, keep your Son’s disciples from the easy ways of popularity, of cheap glory, and lead them to the ways of the poor and scourged of the earth, so that they may recognise in their faces the face of the Master and Redeemer. Give them eyes to see possible ways of peace and solidarity; ears to hear the requests of sense and salvation of so many people who seek as by feeling; enrich their hearts with generous fidelity and a sensitiveness and understanding so that they may walk along the way and be true and sincere witnesses to the glory that shines in the crucified resurrected and victorious one. Who lives and reigns gloriously with you, Father, forever and ever. Amen.

In his recently released book, A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver, Mark Shriver offers a deeply moving portrait of the character and faith of his father, Sargent Shriver, explaining how this “good man” found sustenance in faith, hope, and charity in his remarkable and accomplished life. As founder of the Peace Corps, Head Start, Job Corps, and the Legal Services Corporation, architect of President Johnson’s War on Poverty, ambassador to France, and George McGovern’s running mate in 1972, Shriver might have been someone of immense self-regard, yet he advised students at Yale to break the mirror: “Shatter the glass. In our society that is so self-absorbed, begin to look less at yourself and more at each other. Learn more about the face of your neighbor and less about your own.”

The book begins with the son irritated at the phrase offered by so many people after his father’s death: “He was a good man.” These words inaugurated a desire to understand how “a ninety-five year old man who had been crushed in his two national election races … who had been battling Alzheimer’s for ten years, nevertheless inspired countless others to live a good life.” In an age of tell-all memoirs and anti-heroism, Mark Shriver’s regard for his father is immense, and while he expresses pride in his many accomplishments, the book aims more to discuss goodness, kindness, and human dignity, particularly the elder Shriver’s continued, even expanded, nobility when suffering from Alzheimer’s. When the disease revealed the core of the man, it uncovered someone who told strangers, “I love you. God bless you.”

A good man

R.J. Snell | 30 August 2012

It’s far too easy when bickering about this or that policy to miss the values modeled by good men and women when we disagree on the means. Read more.

Lectio: 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

The bread of life
John 6: 41-51

Opening prayer

Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavour of the holy memory.

1. Lectio

a) The text:

41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

b) A key to the reading:

The sixth chapter of John’s Gospel presents a entire picture that develops around the Paschal theme and, analogously with what precedes it, unfolds through the telling of a miracle (5:1-9a 6:1-15) followed by a discourse (5:16-47; 6:22-59). The chapter relates that part of Jesus’ activity in Galilee, precisely at its most sublime moment, when Jesus reveals himself as bread of life to be believed in and eaten in order to be saved. In vv. 1-15 we find the great sign of the multiplication of the loaves whose significance is revealed in the discourse of the following day in vv. 26-59: the gift of bread to satisfy the hunger of the people prepares the way for the words concerning the bread of eternal life. Inserted, vv. 16-21, we find the story of Jesus walking on the water. In vv. 60-71 Jesus, knowing their lack of faith (vv. 60-66) and trying to encourage their faith (vv. 66-71), invites the twelve disciples to make up their minds. The whole discourse on the bread of life (6: 25-71) presents parallels with some Hebrew texts, especially with Philon.

c) A moment of silence:

Let the sound of the Word echo in us.

2. Meditatio

a) A few questions:

– They murmured at him: how many are the voices that murmur against God?
– I am the bread which has come down from heaven: where do we acquire the bread that we eat every day?
– No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him: does the Father draw us or do we drag our feet behind him criticising that which he says to us in our daily life?
– If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever: we nourish ourselves with the Word of God and the broken Bread once a week or even every day… why is it that eternal life is not evident in our words and our human experience?

b) A key to the reading:

To murmur. What better way is there for us not to live in depth that which the Lord asks of us? There are thousands of plausible reasons… thousands of valid justifications… thousands of licit motives… for us not to swallow a Word that defies every reason, every justification, every motivation to allow new echoes to resonate from a not so distant heaven that dwells in our hearts

v. 41. The Jews murmured at him because he had said: “I am the bread which came down from heaven”. Jesus had just said: I am the bread of life (v. 35) and I have come down from heaven (v. 38) and this provokes dissent among the crowd. The term Jews is a theological one in John and may be thought of as synonymous with unbelievers. In truth these were Galileans who were called Jews because they murmured at Christ whose words disturbed their usual categories. The Jews were familiar with the term bread come down from heaven. The children of Israel knew the bread of God, the manna, which had satisfied their hunger in the desert and had given security to a precarious journey whose horizons were uncertain. Christ, manna for humankind who in the desert of an unsatisfied hunger invokes heaven to sustain it on its journey. This is the only bread that satisfies hunger. The words of the Jews are an objection to the person of Jesus and also an occasion to introduce the theme of unbelief. In other passages the people “whisper” about Jesus (7:12, 32), but in this chapter they “murmur” about what he says, about his words. This murmuring puts an emphasis on their unbelief and incomprehension.

v. 42. “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know? How does he now say: I have come down from heaven?”. This is subtle irony. The unbelievers know the earthly origins of the Christ, they know for certain the son of Joseph, but not the son of God. Only those who believe know his transcendental origin by the direct intervention of God in the Virgin. The passage goes from material language, bread made from water and flour, to a spiritual language, bread for the human soul. As once the people in the desert did, the Jews murmur: they do not understand the origin of Jesus’ gift: and as once their forbears refused the manna because it was too light, so now the descendants refuse the Word made flesh, bread come down from heaven, because of its earthly origin. The Jews, from all that Jesus said, only take note that he had said: I have come down from heaven (v. 38). Yet this is that which gives substance to all that was said before about being the bread of life (v. 35). The question: Is not this… is asked in a context of surprise in the Synoptic Gospels. In Matthew and Luke, through the story of Jesus’ childhood, the reader has already been told of the virginal conception of Jesus. In John, the Galileans are confronted with someone who claims to have come down from heaven without any previous discussion as to his human condition. Son of Joseph means that Jesus is a man like all other men (cfr. 1,45).

v. 43-44. Jesus answered them: “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day”. Jesus does not seem to dwell on his divine origin but stresses that only those drawn by the Father can come to him. Faith then is a gift of God and depends on a person’s openness and ability to listen… but what does it mean to say the Father draws? Is not a person free on this journey? The attraction is simply the desire written in the tablets of flesh borne in the heart of every person. Thus complete freedom exists in a spontaneous clinging to the source of one’s being. Life can only attract life, only death cannot attract.

v. 45. It is written in the prophets: “And they shall all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to me”. The rest of the narrative follows a very precise order. These words are not an invitation, but a command. The creative Word of God, who called into existence from nothing light and all other creatures, now calls his own likeness to participate in the new creation. The consequence does not flow from an autonomous and personal decision, but from meeting with the person of Jesus and his call. It is a grace event, not a human choice. Jesus does not wait for a free decision, but calls with divine authority as God called the prophets in the Old Testament. It is not the disciples who choose the Master as was the case with rabbis at the time, but the Master who chooses the disciples as beneficiaries of God’s inheritance, which is much greater than any doctrine or teaching. The call implies the giving up of family, profession, a complete change of one’s way of life in order to cling to a way of life that leaves no space for self-centredness. The disciples are people of the kingdom. The call to become disciples of Jesus is an “eschatological call”. The words of the Babylonian prophet of the exile says: “and all her children (Jerusalem‘s) shall be” – referring to the Jews. The use of: “all shall be” is an expression of the universality of salvation whose fulfilment is Jesus.

v. 46. Not that any one has seen the Father, except him who comes from God, he has seen the Father. Only Jesus, who is from God, has seen the Father and can reveal him definitively. People are called to come from God. Knowledge of the Father is not a conquest, it is an origin. The movement is not external. If I look for an external origin I can say that I have a father and mother, a creature of the created world. If I look for a deeper origin of my essential being I can say that I come from the Father, Creator of all life.

v. 47. Truly, truly, I say to you: He who believes has eternal life. To believe in the words of Jesus, in his revelation, is a condition for obtaining eternal life and to be able to be “taught by the Father”. I believe, I lean on a rock. The strength is not within my creature limitations, nor in the realisation of my creature efforts to attain perfection. All is firm in Him who has no temporal attachments. How can a creature lean on itself when it is not master of one single instant of its life?

v. 48. I am the bread of life. Again the theme of the bread of life is presented together with that of faith and of eternal life. Jesus is the true bread of life. This verse is connected with verse 51 “I am the living bread”. Only he who eats this bread, he who assimilates Jesus’ revelation as vital bread, will be able to live.

vv. 49-50. Your Fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died: this is the bread which comes down from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die. The bread come down from heaven is contrasted with the manna that fed their fathers but not preserved them from death. This bread that gives life without end and comes from on high is the incarnate Word of God. The Eucharistic theme, already implied in some expressions, now becomes central. Earthly death does not contradict this experience of life if one walks along transcendental ways. The limitation is no limitation for those who eat of Him.

vv. 51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”. The “flesh” of Jesus is the vital food for the believer. The word flesh (sàrx), which in the Bible indicates the fragile reality of the human person before the mystery of God, now refers to the body of Christ immolated on the cross and to the human reality of the Word of God. It is no longer a metaphorical bread of life, it is the revelation of Jesus because the bread is the very flesh of the Son. For the life of the world means in favour of and emphasises the sacrificial dimension of Christ because for the world expresses the salvation which flows from that dimension.

c) Reflection:

Murmur. If our murmuring were like a soft breeze, it would act as a harmonious basis for the eternal words that become our flesh: I am the living Bread that has come down from heaven. What a surprise that would be, knowing that this eternal Bread is not a stranger, but Jesus, the son of Joseph, a man whose father and mother we know. We eat and we are assumed, because those who eat of this bread will live for ever. This is a bread that is born of the love of the Father. We are invited to listen and learn from Him on the trajectory of attraction, on that peak of faith that allows us to see. Bread with bread, Flesh with flesh. Only He who comes from God has seen the Father. And when we have made of our flesh the table of the living Bread, then we shall have seen the Father. Desert and death, heaven and life. A sweet marriage fulfilled in every Eucharist… on every altar, on the altar of the heart where the life of the divine Breath consumes the disfigured lineaments of a lost person.

3. Oratio

Psalm 33 (32)

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands for ever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
that he may deliver their soul from death,
and keep them alive in famine.

4. Contemplatio

The experience of the food that satisfies the hunger of the heart reminds me, Lord, that I can pass from imperfection to the fulfilment of being a reflection of yourself, not by doing away with the hunger, but by finding in it no longer a homo dormiens, someone who does not ask questions of himself, who lives without any interest, who does not wish to see or feel, who will not allow himself to be touched, who lives in fear, superficially rather than in depth, and who keeps a horizontal position when confronted by events, sleeping or ignoring whatever he meets… but rather a homo vigilans, he who is always present to himself and others, capable of satisfying himself by his work and service, who responsibly does not stop at that which is immediate, but who knows how to pace himself for the long and patient waiting, who expresses the all that dwells in each fragment of his life, who no longer fears feeling vulnerable, because he knows that the wounds of his humanity can be transformed into scars through which Life joins in the passing of time, a Life that is finally able to realise his End and that sings to Love with his “scarred heart” wrapped in a “flame that consumes but does not hurt” and in order to meet him definitively is prepared to “tear the veil”. Hunger is no longer hunger, because it now becomes the sweet burden of limitation, protected by “the delicious wound” and always open to the “sweet encounter” that will satisfy every desire: “The Beloved is the mountain, the solitary valleys full of shade…He is like the calm night, very close to dawn, a silent music, a resounding silence… Who will heal this my scarred heart?… He is the consuming flame that does not hurt! O my Beloved, tear the veil at the moment of our sweet encounter.”