Lenten Journey 2011 - April 5, 2011 - Presenter: Fr. Antonio O. Moreno - Week 10: To Believe in Jesus the one who is sent
(Received as email)
Knights of Columbus Bible
Tuesday 7:00 p.m.
K. C. Hall Hwy 90 - Del Rio, Texas
Opening prayer/ Psalm 23
Lenten Journey: Fourth Sunday of Lent (cycle A)
As we recall the main events in salvation history, the biblical authors could not fail to mention the election and anointment of David (1Sam 16:1, 6-7; 10-13). “To sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth,” such is the eternal plan that God has been pursuing forever. He gave the mission of fulfilling this plan to his Son, the new David, over who John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descend and rest at Jesus’ baptism (Jn. 1:34). Those who, in faith, welcome God’s elect and are regenerated in the baptismal bath, become light and must henceforth live as “children of light”. Such is St. Paul’s pressing exhortation that he has us listen to on this Fourth Sunday of Lent in year A (Eph. 5:8-14). Jesus is the light, He cures a man born blind, and Jesus identifies himself as the Son of Man.
As we recall the main events in salvation history, the biblical authors could not fail to mention the election and anointment of David (1Sam 16:1, 6-7; 10-13). “To sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth,” such is the eternal plan that God has been pursuing forever. He gave the mission of fulfilling this plan to his Son, the new David, over who John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descend and rest at Jesus’ baptism (Jn. 1:34). Those who, in faith, welcome God’s elect and are regenerated in the baptismal bath, become light and must henceforth live as “children of light”. Such is St. Paul’s pressing exhortation that he has us listen to on this Fourth Sunday of Lent in year A (Eph. 5:8-14). Jesus is the light, He cures a man born blind, and Jesus identifies himself as the Son of Man.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
CCC 694 Water. The symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit’s action in Baptism, since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sign of new birth; just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As by one Spirit we were all baptized, so we are also “made to drink of one Spirit.” Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified as its source and welling up in us to eternal life.
CCC 695 Anointing. The symbolism of anointing with oil also signifies the Holy Spirit, to the point of becoming a synonym for the Holy Spirit. In Christian initiation, anointing is the sacramental sign of Confirmation, called “chrismation” in the Church of the East. Its full force can be grasped only in relation to the primary anointing accomplished by the Holy Spirit, that of Jesus. Christ (in Hebrew “messiah”) means the one “anointed” by the God’s Spirit. There were several anointed ones of the Lord in the Old Covenant, pre-eminently King David. But Jesus is God’s Anointed in a unique way: The Holy Spirit established him as “Christ.” The Virgin Mary conceived Christ by the Holy Spirit who, through the angel, proclaimed him the Christ at his birth, and prompted Simeon to come to the temple to see the Christ of the Lord. The Spirit filled Christ and the power of the Spirit went out from him in his acts of healing and of saving. Finally, it was the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. Now, fully established as “Christ” in his humanity victorious over death, Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit abundantly until “the saints” constitute – in their union with the humanity of the Son of God – that perfect man “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” “the whole Christ,” in St. Augustine’s expression.
Scripture Meditation
Sam 16:1-13 – Anointing of King David 1st
reading cycle A):
Sam 16:1-13 – Anointing of King David 1st
reading cycle A):
Who is King David? The scriptures tell us a lot about King David; the combat of the young warrior who, armed only with a simple slingshot, conquered the great Goliath. His exploits against the Philistines, which arouse the jealousy of Saul. The passion for Bathsheba and the plot hatched to get rid of Uriah, the husband standing in the way. Other events we find in scripture about King David are; his friendship with Jonathan and the heartrending mourning after the death of this faithful friend. The repentance of the King after his sins and crimes. The Psalms are attributed to King David. David is the founder of the dynasty from which the Messiah will be born. The story of King David is recorded in the books of Samuel, the Book of Kings, and the First Book of Chronicles.
The hope of Israel constantly recalls the promises made to David, promises God cannot go back on (Psalm 89). The prophets, they announced the coming of the new David, whose rising they foresee (Isa 9: 5-6) and (Mic. 5: 1-3). Recalling these promises and prophecies, the New Testament and the early Christian preaching will announce that Jesus is the awaited son of David. See the genealogies of Matthew (1:1-17) and Luke (3:23-38). See also (Matt. 1:20; 22: 42-45); (Mark 12:37); Luke (1:27, 32, 69); 2:4, 11); Acts (2:29, 34); Rom (1:3); Rev. (22:15). To this we must add the text in which Jesus is called “Son of David”: Matt (9:27; 15-22; 20:31; 21:9); Mark (10:47-48); Luke (18:28). Jesus, born in Bethlehem “the city of David” (Luke 2: 4), he was not different from others in human eyes. But God anointed him his chosen one by those who listen to his voice and followed him.
St. John – Blind beggar on Jesus’ path – (9:1-41):
The meditation on the blind beggar is one of Jesus’ “signs”. See what is called the “Book of Signs” (Jn. 2-11) the sign of Cana (2:1-12), the purification of the temple (2:13-22), the cure of the son of the royal official (4:13-22), and of a crippled man at the sheep gate pool (5:1-18), and the raising of Lazarus (11:1-44). The composition of the Gospel of the man born blind is different the other signs. The healing itself is very briefly reported in three verses. But it provokes a whole series of reaction and question that give to this passage the proportions of a discourse. Furthermore, Jesus intervenes very little: in the beginning, for the cure, and at the end, for short addresses to the healed man first, then to the Pharisees. However, he remains in the foreground all the time. For it is he who is subjected to a trial through the vicious questioning imposed on the man and his parent. We must, therefore, read and reread this passage with as much care as St. John used in writing it.
The meditation on the blind beggar is one of Jesus’ “signs”. See what is called the “Book of Signs” (Jn. 2-11) the sign of Cana (2:1-12), the purification of the temple (2:13-22), the cure of the son of the royal official (4:13-22), and of a crippled man at the sheep gate pool (5:1-18), and the raising of Lazarus (11:1-44). The composition of the Gospel of the man born blind is different the other signs. The healing itself is very briefly reported in three verses. But it provokes a whole series of reaction and question that give to this passage the proportions of a discourse. Furthermore, Jesus intervenes very little: in the beginning, for the cure, and at the end, for short addresses to the healed man first, then to the Pharisees. However, he remains in the foreground all the time. For it is he who is subjected to a trial through the vicious questioning imposed on the man and his parent. We must, therefore, read and reread this passage with as much care as St. John used in writing it.
This text lends itself to reading on several levels. The first one is of diverse reactions by the healing. If Jesus is able to open the eyes of the blind man it is because he came from God. More interesting is the reading focusing on the way in which the story plays with opposite words like “knowledge” and “ignorance.” The blind man, who by the way, has not asked for anything, passes from ignorance about Jesus to recognition of his identity. The man’s parents know that their son was blind, that he has been cured; but they do not know what happened. Finally, the Pharisees, assured in their knowledge, find themselves charged with culpable ignorance. In the same way, the text plays with the words blind and sighted. The man born blind becomes capable of sight, not only in the lateral meaning of the term, but also in a spiritual sense: his eyes to discerning spiritual realities. We should be struck by the title attributed to Jesus in the story of the blind man; light, the one sent, prophet, Son of Man, Lord.This Gospel of John is not only interesting but profitable. It spontaneously becomes meditative and leads all of us to question ourselves about our so called knowledge and ignorance of who Jesus is. It challenges us to meditate on the titles attributed to Jesus. To do so, we discern more and more the great theological depth of this text.