Words Made Flesh: The Eyes of the Beloved

Easter Sunday Year A, B, C: John 20:1-9

"On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark..." (NAB Jn 20:1)

Most of us have been where Jesus’ followers find themselves at the beginning of the Easter gospel. We’ve dwelt in deep darkness, felt lost and bewildered by the loss of our beloved—someone or something we’d made the foundation of our lives. That place feels stark and desolate; there, we feel helpless to move forward because we cannot see our way. We are blinded.

Coming to faith, in John’s gospel, is often described as moving from a place where darkness blinds us to a place where we see “differently,” as God sees. We see the same pattern in today’s gospel, which begins “while it is still dark”: a predawn darkness of spirits aching; the disciples plunged into blind confusion; a spiritual darkness of profound loss of love and hope brought on by the execution of Jesus.

What does Mary Magdalene do in the midst of darkness? She goes looking for Jesus. And, as often happens when we are groping for our Beloved, something surprising happens: She stumbles upon a rock shifted. 

"...[she] saw the stone removed from the tomb." (Jn 20:1)

At this point, it’s surprising that the story doesn’t describe Mary looking further, into the tomb. Instead, Mary models for us what the gospel recommends we do when we feel confused: She runs back to the faith community, where she has felt Jesus’ love before.

"So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, 'They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him.'" (Jn 20:2)

Her shocking words echo through the community. At this point, Peter and “the Beloved Disciple” race to the empty tomb, where there is now enough light to see empty cloths laying in place of a broken body. They wonder, “What does this mean?”

"The other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed." (Jn 20:8)

It is no coincidence that it is the disciple who is named “beloved” in this gospel who first “sees and believes” the meaning of the empty tomb. Then, guided by their love of Jesus, the disciples are able to begin to shift a few pebbles from the blinding wall of their fear, stirring among them what eventually becomes an avalanche of faith.

Today it is still intimate love—Jesus’ love for us and our “remaining in love” (Jn 15:9)—that draws us more deeply into faith, hope, and love. This is how we, Christ’s disciples, come to see differently, as God sees.

Summer Reading Assignments 2011

• Classes of 2012 and 2013: Students entering Years Three and Four of the Biblical School in fall 2011 will be reading portions (only) of the important church document, “Interpretation of the Bible in the Church.” It is NOT the entire document, which is rather lengthy and has obscure language.The portions to be assigned will be listed on the assignment sheet, which will be ready by June 1 at the latest. Look for updates in class, in this newsletter, and in this Blog.
• Class of 2014: Students entering Year Two in fall 2011 will be reading Donald Senior’s book, Jesus: A Gospel Portrait. Assignment sheets are available online by clicking here.
• Assignments are due at Scripture Day, which will be held for all three classes on August 20, 2011. SAVE THE DATE!
• Summer reading books can be purchased at the Catholic Bookstore.  Some titles may also be available at St. Thomas Seminary's O'Brien Library.
  
   

Words Made Flesh: The Meaning of Hosanna

We use the Hebrew word "hosanna" as part of our Eucharistic Prayer in every liturgy, evoking Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem which we enter into in a special way every year on Palm Sunday. But what do we really mean when we say, "Hosanna"?


Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, in his commentary on this Sunday's readings for ZENIT*, "fleshes out" the word and its meaning in the context of our Palm Sunday liturgy:

"'Hosanna' was originally a pilgrim blessing that priests addressed in the Temple, but when it was joined to the second part of the acclamation 'who enters in the name of the Lord' it took on Messianic significance. It had become a designation of the one promised by God. It now became praise of Jesus, a greeting to him as the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the one awaited and proclaimed by all the promises.

... "The full translation of 'hosanna' could read,

ATTENTION Second-Year Students in the Biblical School!

DUE MAY 1: Basic Certificate Eligibility Forms

Forms went out to all Year 2 students in their classes. All second-year students need to complete and return these forms to BJ in the Office of Religious Education—even if you do not think you are eligible to receive the Basic Certificate in Biblical Studies this year! If you did not receive this important form, kindly call Jill Costa in the ORE Office right away to get this form and to let us know whether you plan to participate in the Award Ceremony.

Students receiving their Basic Certificate will be honored (and will receive their certificates) at the Office of Religious Education Award Ceremony on Wednesday, May 25, 7:30 pm at St. Mark the Evangelist Church in West Hartford. All are welcome to celebrate your achievement!

Archdiocesan Basic Certificate Eligibility Requirements:

• Attend at least 8 out of 10 classes each unit for CBS Years 1-2
• Pass all six unit "memory exercises" with 60% or better
• Attend all four "Scripture Days"
• Complete both summer reading assignments
• All written work completed

CBS REGISTRATION NEWS

DUE MAY 1, 2011: Enrollment forms for students continuing in the Catholic Biblical School or in the St. Thomas Seminary Certificate in Biblical Studies.

Tuition deposits ($125 for ORE or $175 for St. Thomas Seminary) are due on JUNE 1. Make checks out to ORE.

All students currently enrolled should have already received copies of the Registration Forms to enroll in next year’s classes. If you still need a form, you can download the form for your appropriate year by going to the CBS page of the ORE website. Click here and scroll down until you see the subheader that reads:

Registration Forms 2011-2012

First-year Lenten Scripture Day

Topic: Exodus, Passover and the Paschal Mystery in the Life of the Church 
Date: Saturday, April 16, 2011, 9:00-3:00
Location: St. Thomas Seminary's Red Lounge (next to bookstore)
Presenter: Celia Sirois, MA
From the Faculty of the Archdiocese of Boston's St. John Seminary

Saturday's liturgy will be celebrated with Monsignor Michael J. Motta, Director of the Office of Religious Education for the Archdiocese. Music will be led by members of the Class of 2014.

This day of study and prayerful reflection is required for students in the first year of the Hartford Catholic Biblical School. Other Biblical School students and graduate auditors may attend with the permission of BJ Daly Horell, Coordinator of the Biblical School.

Registration is required by Tuesday, April 12, 2011. Email BJ Daly Horell at cbs@orehartford.org for details.

Words Made Flesh: The Raising of Lazarus

"Lord, if only you had been here...

"How often have we, like Martha and Mary, blurted out those same words of pain and despair: 'Lord, if only you had been here, my brother… or sister or mother or father or friend would not have died.' And yet today's pathos-filled story from John's Gospel tells us what kind of God we have… a God who 'groaned' in spirit and was troubled. The Greek word used to describe Jesus' gut sentiment tells us that he became perturbed. It is a startling Greek phrase that literally means: 'He snorted in spirit,' perhaps in anger at the presence of evil (death). We witness the Lord weeping at the tomb of his friend Lazarus; a Savior deeply moved at the commotion and grief of so many friends of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The shortest line in the whole bible is found in this Gospel story: 'Jesus wept.'

"Jesus reveals to us God who is one with us in suffering, grief and death -- a God who weeps with us. God doesn't intervene to prevent the tragedies and sufferings of life. If we had a god who simply swooped down as some 'deus ex machina' to prevent human tragedy and sinfulness, then religion and faith would simply be reduced to some form of magic or fate, and we would be helpless pawns on the chessboard of some whimsical god.

"Where is God in the midst of human tragedies? God is there in the midst of it all, weeping. This is our God who stands in deep, human solidarity with us, and through the glory of the Incarnation, embracing fully our human condition."

Reprinted from "I Will Open Your Graves and Have You Rise From Them," Biblical Reflection for 5th Sunday of Lent A by Father Thomas Rosica, CSB, President of Canada's Salt and Light Television. To access all Fr. Rosica's reflections in Zenit on this past week's Sunday readings, click here

April News in Faith Formation

What's happening in the Biblical School, adult spirituality, catechist enrichment, youth ministry? It's all here in the April 2011 newsletter, ORE Connections. Click here to explore what's happening this month in faith formation in the Archdiocese of Hartford.

God Blesses Us...But Do WE Bless God? by Dr. Thomas Casey

Even though most Catholics don't often talk about "blessing God," it is a strong prayer tradition from Scripture. Here's what Dr. Thomas Casey, biblical scholar and lecturer for the Biblical School, has to say about this tradition:

"The Old Testament is filled with examples of prayers blessing God....  The best known example is probably Psalm 103:

"Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all my being bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits;
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills."

But blessing God is not like blessing our food or our rosary beads. To bless the Lord means to praise him and extol his greatness, usually by recounting and proclaiming his great deeds, his deeds in creation and redemption. But in praising him for his great deeds, it would be ungrateful not to thank him at the same time.  So blessing God then means to praise him, but also to thank him at the same time for all that he has done for us. The two go hand in hand.

We seem to have lost the notion of what a prayer of blessing is, as well as the distinction between the prayer of praise and thanksgiving and the prayer of petition. For example, our grace before meals is not a prayer of blessing, but a prayer of petition asking God to bless us, instead of our blessing God and thanking him for all his gifts to us."

"And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers." 1 Chr 29