16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
LECTIO DIVINA: Holy Reading
Sunday, July 20, 2008 is the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. The readings are: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43.
In the Liturgy this week, we have the Memorial for St. Mary Magdalene: July 22
The Feast of St. James: July 25
The Memorial for Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of the Mother of God: July 26.
Our Social Justice Calendar notes that:
July 20: Neil Armstrong was the first person on the moon – 1969.
July 24: Arbor Week commences .
In the Australian Church this week:
Archdiocese of Brisbane: Monday July 21 is the Anniversary of the death of Archbishop Francis Rush, in 2001.
Lectio: Read the first reading from the Book of Wisdom. Read the text 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 praying within you.
PAUSE NOW AND REST WITH THE TEXTREAD IT A SECOND TIME.
Meditatio: This Sunday, we begin with the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. The text is part of the second of five “antithetical Diptychs” in the Book of Wisdom. These are found in Wisdom 11:6-19:22. This means simply that the author of the Book of Wisdom sets (states) the theme, and almost immediately proposes a contrast. This is not as clear as it needs to be, because the Lectionary has selected 12:13 and 16-19. If you choose to, read 11:6-14 (first Diptych) and 11:15-16:15 (Second Diptych). In the first verse of this reading from the Book of Wisdom, the writer [of the text] assumes that the Egyptians (from whom the Hebrew people have been set free), are being informed of desert events, the journey through the wilderness – and so the text is about the power of God and the quality of God's justice. The text is a digression from the main flow of writing – a digression, where the author reflects on God's power and mercy.
Read the text again, and then rest with it.
See Evangelizatio No. 1 for my shared response with you.
The responsorial Psalm: LORD, YOU ARE GOOD AND FORGIVING. The Psalm is Psalm 65, selected verses. Our Monastic Psalters comment that “this is a gentle psalm, a little muted in tone without cries for help or loud shouts of anguish.” Yes, this is true, but I believe it is anything but muted. It is loud in its praise of a God of love, and in petition: “But you, God of mercy and compassion, turn and take pity on me.” And I find myself praying these words in union with Christ crying out in His suffering people: The people of Zimbabwe, the children of Iraq, the children who are victims of slavery. God of mercy and compassion, turn and take pity on me. I am the child victim of a land mine. I don't have any legs.
I have lost my only child in an earthquake.
I have lost my family and my home in flood waters.
I am in a nursing home and my family doesn't visit me.
I live on the streets.
GOD, TURN AND TAKE PITY ON ME.
Lectio: Read the Second Mass Reading: Romans 8:26-27. “When we cannot pray…” Read it slowly.
PAUSE
Read it again.
Meditatio: The Spirit of God, dwelling within me, transcends my weaknesses. This text is part of a testimony to the new life and glorious destiny of Christians. (cf. JBC 51:89). The Holy Spirit is the sole interpreter of the needs of the human heart. The Holy Spirit makes intercession within us. And inasmuch as prayer is impossible to us apart from the help of the Holy Spirit, still, believers are exhorted to pray at all times in the Spirit (cf. Ephesians 6:18). And, FAITH is essential to prayer.
See Evangelizatio 2, for a spiritual reflection on this text:
The Gospel Verse is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11, verse 25. BLESSED ARE YOU, FATHER, LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, YOU HAVE REVEALED TO LITTLE ONES THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM.
Lectio: Read the Gospel from Matthew 13:24-33.
Read it aloud, slowly and reflectively, being aware of the unction of the Holy Spirit as you read.
REST WITH IT FOR A WHILE. Then read it a second time.
Meditatio : What is this text about? The Gospel consists of two short Parables, and a long Parable. On the whole these parables are not difficult to understand. Fr. Thomas Keating says the “it is one thing to communicate to others conclusions and admonitions based on one's profound spiritual experience…It is quite another thing to try to communicate that experience itself, or better, to assist people to find their own ultimate encounter. This is what the parables of Jesus seek to do: to help others into their own experience of the Reign of God and to draw from that experience their own way of life.” Fr. Keating is quoting from “In Parables” by Crossan. Read the Gospel text a second time and rest with it. See Evangelizatio 3, for my response to this text, and for some suggestions.
EVANGELIZATIO. LET US TAKE TIME TO RESPOND TO THE Sacred texts. THE WORD OF GOD IS IN MY HANDS TO DO IT. BE DOERS OF THE WORD, NOT HEARERS ONLY. (Deuteronomy and James)
- I am touched by the last line of this reading: after sin you will grant repentance. God gives me another chance and another and another. I recall Liturgy classes after the Second Vatican Council, which taught the early history of the Sacrament of Penance, - that by 300 A.D. a system of public Penance was in place. If I, a sinner, asked the Bishop for “Penance”, I was enrolled in the Order of Penitents, excluded from the Eucharistic Table, and made to pray, fast and give alms. At the end of the time allotted to me, I could come back into the community, with a number of severe restrictions upon me. Fortunately this system changed and the opportunity to repent and be forgiven over and over and over. I also came across the following words of a Carthusian Monk: “Every moment is an absolute beginning. I receive myself utterly new…the joy of my gratitude, and my praise for the love and mercy of God which enfold me, are together the song of my creation.”
- Is unceasing prayer possible? Yes. Unceasing prayer means to have the mind always turned to God…holding alive our hope in Him, having confidence in Him whatever we are doing and whatever happens to us. (Maximus the Confessor 580-682). Karl Rahner offers a further insight. He prays: “What shal I do? You Lord, have commanded me to pray, and how can I believe that you have commanded something impossible? I believe that you have given me the order to pray and that I can carry it out with your grace. God of my prayer, give me the grace to continue waiting for you in prayer.” Thomas Merton has written: “The New Testament does not offer us techniques and expedients: it tells us to turn to God, to depend on his grace, to realize that the Spirit is given to us, wholly, in Christ. That the Spirit prays in us when we do not know how to pray.”
- A Parable helps us into our own experience of the Reign of God, and helps us to draw from that experience our own way of life. Which of the three Parables speaks to me at this time in my life? For me, personally, the second Parable expresses my life. The seed of the Kingdom of God was planted in my heart at a very early age. Today, as I journey towards 60 years of age, I know that my vocation to a life of prayer from the heart of humanity is like the branches that are there to provide rest for the birds. I know that my vocation to a life of prayer is “the biggest shrub of all”. And, listening to the sharings of my friends and family, I can see their vocation to motherhood, and grandmotherhood, fatherhood and grandfatherhood is the “biggest shrub of all”. When I was a child I rested often in the arms of my great-grandmother and grand-mother. I was truly blessed. Their arms were large, all-embracing of my troubles. They soaked up my tears, and they rejoiced when I shared my joys. Think about the question just asked: Which of the Parables speaks to you at this point in your life. And – taking it a step further, write a parable, using the “stuff” of nature, or the habits of animals and birds, to illustrate your experience of the Reign of God.
Lectio Divina is Holy Reading, that is, reading of the Sacred Scriptures. It 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. Lectio/meditatio/oratio/contemplatio/evangelizatio/ruminatio (round and round and round – there is no end to it).
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