BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD A LECTIO DIVINA Approach to the Weekday Liturgy PROPER OF SAINTS January 25: Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle (n. 109) January 25: Saints Timothy and Titus (n. 110) February 22: Chair of Saint Peter (n. 111) April 25: Saint Mark Evangelist (n. 112) May 1: Saint Joseph the Worker (n. 113) May 14: Saint Matthias, Apostle (n. 114) June 11: Saint Barnabas, Apostle (n. 115) July 3: Saint Thomas (n. 116) July 22: Saint Mary Magdalene (n. 117) July 25: Saint James, Apostle (n. 118) June 19: Saint Mary Magdalene (n. 119) August 10: Saint Lawrence (n. 120) August 24: Saint Bartholomew, Apostle (n. 121) August 29: Passion of John the Baptist (n. 122) September 8: Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary (n. 123) September 15: Our Lady of Sorrows (n. 124) September 21: Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (n. 125) September 29: Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels (n. 126) October 2: Guardian Angels (n. 127) October 18: Saint Luke Evangelist (n. 128) October 28: Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles (n. 129) November 30: Saint Andrew, Apostle (n. 130) December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe (n. 131) Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang, PDDM *** Text of the Cover Page ends here. *** A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 109) January 25: CONVERSION OF PAUL, APOSTLE “JESUS SAVIOR: He Transforms His Persecutor Saul into an Apostle” BIBLE READINGS Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22 // Mk 16:15-18 I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO The feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul provides wonderful insights into his spiritual journey. Paul’s spiritual journey was a spiritual experience that produced a transformation and impelled him to assume a mission of evangelization. The converted Paul thus became an apostle of Christ to the nations. On the road to Damascus, Saul of Tarsus had a profound, dynamic spiritual experience. It was God’s initiative, grace, and compassion that brought about Paul’s encounter with the Risen Lord. It was an experience of light – of revelation – of who Christ really is for Paul. Christ revealed himself not as an enemy, but as a personal Savior. Moreover, on the road to Damascus, it was revealed that Jesus of Nazareth lives on in his Body, the Church – the suffering Church. It was a knocked-down experience that left Paul vulnerable, defenseless and open to grace. He could not help but welcome the loving initiative of God. Saint Paul is a model for us of total receptivity and openness to grace. The mystical and transforming experience of Saint Paul is replicated in the lives of many people through time and space. Here is a modern-day example (cf. Nathaniel Hurd, “Former Atheist Recounts His Journey to the Catholic Church” in Our Sunday Visitor, December 1, 2013, p. 22). “These crazy Catholics are going to trample me to get to their bread”, I thought as the crowds pressed forward. It was Easter Sunday Mass 1998, outdoors in St. Peter’s Square. I was traveling with my friend Chris. He was a Catholic and a pilgrim. I was an unbaptized atheist and a tourist. Chris saw priests in cassocks and surplices, distributing the Body and Blood of Christ. I saw men in dresses, carrying bread. Fourteen years later, on October 11, 2012, I stood in that same square as a Catholic. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was the celebrant for the Mass starting the Year of Faith. I was preparing to receive Holy Communion, because seven years earlier, I had finally, fully accepted the gift of faith. In my years as an atheist, agnostic and Episcopalian, I surprisingly remembered almost everything from that earlier Easter: Walking into St. Peter’s Square, thinking it was like two hands cupped together, waiting for people to fill it. Standing ahead of hundreds of thousands of people. Seeing flags from so many countries. Kenyans dancing when Pope John Paul II said “Happy Easter” in Swahili. There is only one other sacred experience from my atheist years that I remembered so completely. My parents and I visited a cloistered convent when I was a teenager and heard the nuns sing evening prayer behind a screen. The prayer ended, and I sat transfixed. I thought it was only the beauty that moved me. How did this atheist come to see the supernatural behind and beyond the beauty? First, Catholic friends modeled and shared the Faith. They answered my questions with respect and reason, not simplistic brush-offs. They stressed that they were sharing the teachings that Christ entrusted to his Church, not personal opinion. These friendships moved me to finally open the door to the divine. God also provided moments of Grace. The first was during a run on Dec. 23, 2001. My thoughts were on the snow that covered the cornstalks, the river to my left and road under my feet. Although I had been thinking about faith over the past few years, I had not focused on Christianity. That moment I recognized the reality of one God in three Persons – Father, Holy Spirit and the Son who lived, died and rose for my sins. It was the start of seeing. Easter 2002, I was baptized Episcopalian. However, I was a lazy disciple who took no responsibility for responding to the Lord. I eventually began to wonder if he was calling me to more than what I was receiving from my faith community. I stopped going to church. On Good Friday two years later, a Catholic friend and colleague invited me to a “Way of the Cross” walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was the first Good Friday that the Passion was real and painful for me. The force of Christ’s challenge – “I did this for you. What are you doing daily for me?” – of the faith of the faithful around me, of the whole experience, overwhelmed and lifted me to an Easter Vigil Mass. I sat in back but felt as if I was in front on the altar experiencing Christ’s sacrifice. The power of the liturgy moved me to return for Easter Sunday and reconsider why I had been closed to Catholicism. The more I learned the “what” and “why” of the Church and its teaching, the more it was clear that my original understanding had been based on stereotypes and misinformation. Only the Catholic Church seemed to be the sure way for me to know what Christ taught, how he wanted me to live and where I should go for whatever I needed to do. Only the Church seemed to be preserving and promoting the fullness of the Bible and the teachings of the apostles since Pentecost. I entered a parish Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program … I was received into full communion with the Church and received first Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil 2005. I was struggling to understand some of the teachings of the Church, but my faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Church was strong. God protected me during many trials. My mother threatened to cut off any communication with me. My father objected to the Church’s teaching that there is one Church and one way. For two years, my parents forbade me from visiting during Christmas and later banned me from using their car to go to Mass when I saw them. Other obstacles were internal. I delayed going to daily Mass, thinking that I wanted to avoid “too much, too soon”. When I started going, I discovered what I had missed, what no one had explained to me: it is impossible to encounter God too much and too early. My personal and professional life changed. Daily Mass led to regular confession. When I returned to Rome, I returned as a Catholic. At St. Peter’s tomb, I made sure to pray for Christian unity. II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART: A Pastoral Tool for the MEDITATIO Do we see the mystical experience as an important element in the conversion of Saint Paul and in our own personal conversion? III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the ORATIO (cf. Opening Prayer, Mass of the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul) God our Father, you taught the gospel to all the world through the preaching of Paul your apostle. May we who celebrate his conversion to the faith follow him in bearing witness to your truth. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD: A Pastoral Tool for the CONTEMPLATIO The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the day. Please memorize it. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4) V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION: A Pastoral Tool for the ACTIO As we celebrate today the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, resolve to be more open to the grace of his presence, especially in the Letters of Saint Paul, and to find ways to make people interested in them. *** Text of Conversion of Saint Paul ends here. *** A Lectio Divina Approach to the Weekday Liturgy BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (n. 110) January 26: SAINTS TIMOTHY AND TITUS, bishops “JESUS SAVIOR: He Is the Icon of Pastoral Ministry” BIBLE READINGS First: Reading: II Tm 1:1-8 or Ti 1:1-5 I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS: A Pastoral Tool for the LECTIO In the First Reading (II Tm 1:1-8), Saint Paul underlines the obligations of Christian faith.