AUGUSTINIAN LECTIO DIVINA

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

June 28, 2020

“Loving Jesus above Family and the Self”

Gospel – Matthew 10:37-42

OPENING PRAYER

“Let your Scriptures be my chaste delights!

Perfect me, O Lord

And open for me the pages of Your Scriptures.
Behold, Your voice is my joy,
A joy that is above every delight.
Give me what I love because I truly love it.
You gave me this love,
Do not forsake this gift of Yours
Nor despise your thirsty grass.
Let me confess to You everything that I shall have found
In Your Books.” (Confessions, II)

A. LECTIO

Invitation to Lectio:
Return to yourself.
I prepare myself to encounter the Lord. I empty my mind of all worries and
anxieties. I focus on God’s gift of air. I focus on my breathing as I inhale
surrender and trust … and exhale doubts and fears. I prepare myself to listen to
the Lord.
“O God, Founder of the Universe, help me, that, first of all, I may pray aright:
and next, that I may act as one worthy to be heard by Thee: and, finally, set me
free.” (Soliloquies, Bk. I.1)

Take and Read:

TEXT: Matthew 10:37-42

37
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and
whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and
whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39
Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake
will find it. 40 "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes
me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the
name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a
righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of
the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these
little ones in the name of a disciple -- truly I tell you, none of these will lose
their reward." (Mt 10:37-42 NRSV)
(Moments for reflection)

B. COMPREHENSIO: Biblical Interpretation

Family relationships are very important. A person would normally first

experience security, affection, and fulfillment in the home with one’s family.
Love binds families together. This gave rise to the expression “blood is thicker
than water”. In our Gospel reading this 13 th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus
brings to the fore the importance that people put in family attachments, i.e.,
the attachment of a child to its parent and that of a parent to his or her child.
Jesus does not deny the existence and importance of such loving relationship.
However, in the Gospel reading, he calls his listeners’ attention to the
limitations of such a relationship and the demands that a relationship with him
would put on a disciple’s relationship with one’s family.

Although Jesus does not prohibit his followers to love their family, he is explicit
in demanding a love that goes beyond the love for one’s parents and family.
This is a very strong demand in a society that puts so much importance to
kinship and family ties. By demanding a love that is higher than one’s love for
one’s family, Jesus reveals to his followers that he is more than just an earthly
teacher or rabbi (L. Morris). He is the beloved Son of God (3:17). Thus, he could
say that “whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (v. 37).
The Son of God is to be loved more than any other human being.

However, aside from putting one’s love for the family second to one’s
allegiance to Jesus, another demand is being made upon the disciple. To follow
Jesus is to take up one’s cross and be willing to give up one’s life for the cause
of Jesus. Self-love is human nature. To be a follower of Jesus demands a
renunciation of such self-love. In other words, to follow Jesus means rising
above human nature and human attachments to the family and the self. One is
called to rise above one’s humanity because the one who called is both human
and divine.
2
And just like Jesus who defeated death by his resurrection, the one who is
faithful to Jesus until the end, even to the point of renouncing one’s family and
life, is able to paradoxically rise above the limits of humanity and enjoy eternal
life.

Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake
will find it. (v. 39)

(Silently read the Gospel again)

C. MEDITATIO

The Gospel reading points to the fate of the one who follows Jesus. Just as
Jesus suffered, so will the faithful disciple undergo trials and persecution.

The one who faithfully follows Jesus will be so conformed to Jesus so that
whatever is done to him or her is also done to Jesus.

D. ORATIO (Personal Prayer with Augustine’s Prayer)

I speak to Jesus about the word or image in the Gospel which has touched
me. I express to him in prayer the thoughts and longings which this word
or image evoked in me.

Oh! that I might repose on Thee! Oh! that Thou would enter into my
heart, and inebriate it, that I may forget my ills, and embrace Thee, my
sole good! What art Thou to me? In Thy pity, teach me to utter it. Or what
am I to Thee that Thou demands my love, and, if I give it not, art wroth
with me, and threatens me with grievous woes? Is it then a slight woe to
love Thee not? Oh! for Thy mercies’ sake, tell me, O Lord my God, what
Thou art unto me. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. So speak, that I
may hear. Behold, Lord, my heart is before Thee; open Thou the ears
thereof, and say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. After this voice let me
haste, and take hold on Thee. Hide not Thy face from me. Let me die—lest
I die—only let me see Thy face. Narrow is the mansion of my soul; enlarge
Thou it, that Thou may enter in. – St. Augustine, Confessions, 1.5

E. CONTEMPLATIO (Personal Prayer)

3
Am I a faithful disciple of Jesus?

Do worldly concerns, family attachments, and personal desires hinder my

following of Jesus?

What is Jesus teaching me through this Gospel?

What areas of my life do I need to work on in order to truly become a faithful

disciple?

F. COMMUNICATIO (Sharing of Prayer Experiences in Community)

[Read the Gospel Again]

I will share with my community

… the word, phrase or image from the Gospel which has touched me the
most
… the invitation of the Gospel for my on-going conversion

CLOSING PRAYER – SPONTANEOUS/Augustinian Prayer

“Lord, have mercy on me, and hear my desire. For it is not, I deem, of the
earth, not of gold and silver, and precious stones, or gorgeous apparel, or
honours and offices, or the pleasures of the flesh, or necessaries for the body
and for this life of our pilgrimage: all which shall be added unto those that seek
Thy kingdom and Thy righteousness. Behold, O Lord my God, wherein is my
desire. The wicked have told me of delights, but not such as Thy law, O Lord.
Behold, wherein is my desire. Behold, Father, behold, and see and approve;
and be it pleasing in the sight of Thy mercy, that I may find grace before Thee,
that the inward parts of Thy words be opened to me knocking […].” Amen.
(Confessions 11.2)

/jbcInfante
25/06/2020