Oblates

13th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

LECTIO DIVINA: Holy Reading

Sunday, June 28, 2009 is the 13 TH Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. The readings are: Wisdom 1:13-15 and 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8: 7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43.

In the praying of the Divine Office, the Psalter takes Week 1.

In the Liturgy this week:

June 29: Sts. Peter and Paul (Solemnity)

June 30: The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. (Optional Memorial)

July 3 : St. Thomas the Apostle. (Feast)

July 4: St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Optional Memorial).

Our Social Justice Calendar notes:

June 30 : Unemployment Benefits were introduced in Australia – 1945.

July 4: International Day of Cooperatives.

In the Australian Church this week:

June 29: The Diocese of Bathurst celebrates the Anniversary of the Dedication of the Cathedral in 1985.

June 30: the Diocese of Sale remembers the Episcopal Ordination of the Most Rev. Jeremiah Coffey in 1989.

Lectio: Read the first reading from the Book of Wisdom, 1:13-15 and 2:23-24. Read it aloud. Read it slowly. Be aware of the Holy Spirit placing unction on the message of this text. When your heart responds to a word or a line, or a phrase – this is the Holy Spirit touching your heart and calling for a response.

Meditatio: This appears as an amazing text of Wisdom for its time. Amazing spiritual understanding has penetrated the mind and heart of the writer. Yes – but the date of writing takes away such awe. It is a late piece of writing, not included in the Hebrew Bible, and known only in Greek. The author seems to be familiar with contemporary thought on such matters (as were being addressed) in the last half of the First Century B.C. Wisdom is the last of the Old Testament books. With this background, we need not wonder at the advanced understanding of the mystery of Death. God is stronger than death. Hades (the underworld) holds no power over death. God made man imperishable and in His own image and likeness. Life (and God) vs. Death (and the Devil).

Stay with this text as long as you are led to do so.

I share my response to the text in Evangelizatio No. 1.

The responsorial Psalm: I WILL PRAISE YOU LORD, FOR YOU HAVE RESCUED ME. Psalm 29 is a prayer of thanksgiving for recovery from sickness. The commentary in our Choir Psalters is strong and helpful for an understanding of the Psalm and as a fitting response to the First Reading: “Good health has its own unconscious arrogance and is even accompanied by a deceptive feeling of holiness. Sickness opens our eyes: we look back on our lives and are frightened by the selfishness of our motives. The real sickness is of mind and soul, and if we ask God to cure us of this, the dawn will break.” And I pray: “Yes, Lord, I want to be cured.”

Lectio: Read the Second Mass Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7-9 and 13-15.

Meditatio: From the stance of exegesis, this is ONE difficult text. And so I have concentrated on verses 13-15, where Paul explains to the Corinthians that they are not expected to make themselves poor, but to share their surplus wealth, however little it may be. At this time, when Paul is writing, the Jerusalem Church needs financial and material help. One day it could be the Corinthian Church.

I share my response in Evangelizatio No. 2.

The Gospel Verse: OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST HAS DONE AWAY WITH DEATH AND BROUGHT US LIFE THROUGH HIS GOSPEL. This verse takes us back to the Wisdom reading, and leads us directly into the Gospel text. The verse is like a BRIDGE joining two Villages.

Lectio: The Gospel is from Mark 5:21-43. .

Read it slowly and listen to your voice as you read. Be aware of the unction of the Holy Spirit calling you forth to a conversion of heart.

Meditatio: This Gospel is obviously about healing the sick. We are challenged by two healing stories: (1) Jairus’s daughter, and (2) the woman with the haemorrhage. A significant detail about the first story is that Jairus was…a prominent member of the Jewish Synagogue, likely one of the board of elders who exercised oversight for the community’s religious and social affairs. (cf. JBC 41:36). His case is extreme, desperate – otherwise he certainly would not have placed himself in the position of having to ask for help from Jesus. And of course, in the case of the woman, she was “unclean” according to Religious law. That is why she comes in via the back way and touches just the hem of the Lord’s garment. She took a great risk – she was desperate. She was full of faith too! So, both Jairus and the woman stepped out of their approved boundaries. There is a lot more detail we could look at, but for me, I prefer to read these stories – one at a time, and one day at a time.

I share my response with you in Evangelizatio No. 3.

EVANGELIZATIO – my lived response to these sacred texts. THE WORD OF GOD IS IN MY HANDS TO DO IT. BE DOERS OF THE WORD, NOT HEARERS ONLY. (Deuteronomy and James)

1. The Holy Spirit calls me to ponder on the words: “Hades holds no power on earth.” I am deeply aware that Christ my Lord holds the keys of Hades. Hades is associated with death and “lostness”. Christ brings life and finds each one of us, taking us close to His Heart. I believe Christ seeks me, wherever I may be, on whatever deay I may try to avoid being found or rescued. I know that at times, I choose death, not life. I pray that I may have the grace to choose life more and more, as I try to love, forgive, seek out the broken, speak kind words.
2. I am aware that yes, it is a good thing to give. I am challenged on a spiritual level, and I know that I cannot give what I haven’t got to give. If I am a person who can’t say “no” to anyone, then one day I won’t be here to help them. This is a familiar situation in Christian communities across the world. Some people are like edible fruits. Everyone wants their love, time, attention, and advice. The first thing necessary is a strong prayer foundation. Some call it a “prayer life”. I don’t like the term “prayer life”, because it indicates a prayer life and an everyday life. The two are surely one and the same. From my daily reading of the Sacred Scriptures, and time with Jesus, comes the strength I have to be serenely available for others. If prayer is not the foundation, then I leave myself impoverished.
3. Have you ever crept inside a Church, after the Liturgy has begun and after the welcoming committee has retreated to their seats? And then, have you settled in the back seat, and stayed until just before the end, when you leave so that you don’t have to speak to anyone? A friend of mine used to do this because she was divorced and somehow got the message that she was “unclean” among all the other pure and upright people in Church with their families. The only place where she didn’t have to do this was the Salvation Army prayer assemblies. Jairus was a respectable Jew. Desperation led him to Jesus, the “questionable’ Presence – the controversial figure. The woman was ritually unclean. Yes, and even she found an opening to push her arm through the crowd (probably on her knees), and to touch the Lord’s garment. She was desperate. And so, who are the desperate ones in our communities today? Who are those who feel unacceptable? In what ways are they trying to reach for help? Am I one of the desperate ones? Am I one of the ritually “unclean” and unacceptable in respectable circles. It seems to me that Jesus broke through the institutional laws which put the woman in the category of the “unclean”. Power went out from Jesus and the woman was healed. She believed in that Power. She would have encountered ridicule and even physical obstruction, certainly harsh words – from those around her. I place myself in her shoes, so to speak, and I pray that all the obstacles that keep me from touching my Lord, will not prevent me- I will break through such obstacles and continue to touch Him. I pray to be aware of the subtle tactics of the devil, which tell me that I’m far too respectable a person to need the help of Jesus. And yet, negative critical words and negative critical thoughts make me unclean. Their reality isn’t visible or tangible – in the way a haemorrhage would be, but they certainly drain the life out of me, just as a haemorrhage would do. There is much for me to ponder and I am challenged to do so.

Lectio Divina is a way of life, not a method of prayer. It is about reading (and listening), reflecting, praying in tune with the Holy Spirit within me, resting in God, responding in the way I live, and continually pondering on the Scriptures. The traditional Latin words for this way of prayer are: Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, Contemplatio, Evangelizatio and Ruminatio.