Form 3 Itinerary of prayer on the Acts of the Apostles – Lent 2007

In the Name of Jesus, enter!

With Peter we open the door to welcome the Gospel

Introduction

The strong season of Lent is a special grace to revive in us the gift of Baptism through a journey of purification of the heart. Let us allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit in the desert to enter with Jesus so as to listen to the Father. We ask the grace to open our interior ears to listen to the Word of God and to proclaim it in praise and in the announcement of the Gospel.

Let us welcome the invitation that the apostle Peter, teacher of baptismal life1, address to the cripple of the temple: Enter! And we learn from Peter to open with courage and firm decision the doors of our lives to the works of God. Also to us Pastorelle was given the petrine charism to open the doors, both those of our spiritual senses, to grow and to develop the grace of baptism and those of the Christian life of many persons who are prevented from it. We have so many brothers and sisters to whom we offer the precious gold of the Word and the Eucharist until they can pass the Door 2 that leads to the Springs of the Life.

Many of our brothers and sisters are burdened by the habit of living as if God didn't exist and alone by themselves, they don't succeed in entering through the threshold that leads to the presence of God. Let us take care of them and especially of those who are in difficulty in faith and in love 3 , they struggle to participate in the ecclesial journey, they put aside the logic of the Paschal mystery, and they deprive themselves of the extraordinary fecundity of the mystery of the death and resurrection of the Lord.

1. The First letter of Peter, as we know, is a long baptismal homily, in which the apostle illustrates the characteristics of the new life in Christ. 2 Cf Jn 10:1-10. 3 It deals with ’agape love which St Paul speaks of in 1Cor 13:1-13.

Form 3 Itinerary of prayer on the Acts of the Apostles – Lent 2007

& Biblical Texts: Mk 7:31-37, Acts 3:1-10

From the Gospel of St. Mark

“Again he left the district of Tyre and went by the way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphata!” that is, “Be opened!” And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke clearly”.

From the Acts of Acts of the Apostles

When the crippled man saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give you: in the Name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk.” Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong. He leaped up, stood, and walked around, and went into the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God.

¤ Commentary of Fr.Pino Stancari:

“Peter is characterized by an “expertise”, some would say a charism, (…). Peter has an expertise: opening doors. He opens doors. He is a doorkeeper! It is the Petrine charism; it is the charism of the door. The man, who is cripple from birth, is in that position not so much so that he can beg; but for another reason, because he is barred from entering the Temple, he is prevented from entering the Temple. The crippled, the blind and those who are marked by other forms of disabilities, deformities, impairment, are not allowed in the Temple. These are states of impurity and for this reason they cannot enter, the door is barred for them.(…). And the man, cripple from birth, is certainly in a state of impurity that prevents him from entering. In fact, he doesn’t enter and cannot enter. Peter and John arrive and the cripple sees them while they are entering the Temple. (…).He turned towards them; the verb used in Greek means a whole contortion. He turned towards them expecting to receive something, but Peter said to him: “I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk” (3:6). In the name of Jesus, enter! Enter the Temple with us! Peter isn’t simply doing a marvelous act, but he is

Form 3 Itinerary of prayer on the Acts of the Apostles – Lent 2007

evangelizing Israel in the name of Jesus. You who are cripple, you who have been excluded, enter the Temple in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus the Temple door is opened for you”.

(continue the reading of the commentary in the pamphlet on pp. 23-26)

@ Patristic commentary:

From the hymns of St. Efrem, the Syrian:

“The Shepherd of all descended, he stooped down to search for Adam, the sheep who was lost; he carried him on his shoulders lifting him up: (…) Blessed be his descent!”4. Gather together and may you be like searchers through fasting, the Scriptures in fact have in their possession the treasure of divinity. With that holy voice5, as with a key, the Scriptures are opened before one who listens. Blessed is the King who has opened his treasures to people in need”6.

From the homily of Pope Benedict XVI

“The words “He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak” constitute a good news, which announces the coming of the Reign of God and the healing of the inability to communicate and of division. Jesus took the deaf-mute apart from the multitude, and performed gestures that infer a salvific contact– put his finger in his ears, touched with his own saliva the tongue of the sick man–, and after, looking up to heaven, He commanded: “Be opened!”. The ears of the deaf were opened, his speech impediment was removed: “and he spoke clearly” (Mk 7:37). (…)

The first lesson we draw from this biblical episode, also recalled in the rite of baptism, is that in the Christian perspective, listening is a priority . In this regard, Jesus affirmed explicitly: “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it” (Lk 11:28).Indeed, He said that “one thing is needful” (Lk 10:42). And from this context it becomes evident that this one thing is the obedient listening to the Word. (…) To listen to the Word of God together; to practice Lectio divina in the Bible, that is, reading linked with prayer; letting ourselves be amazed by the newness of the Word of God, (…) overcoming our deafness to those words that do not correspond to our prejudices and our opinions; to listen and also to study even to those who have listened the Word of God ahead of us, so as to learn from them, in this way to read the Bible in this long and rich tradition of listening”7.

4 St. Efrem, the Syrian, “Inni sulla Risurrezione” n. 1, in “L’arpa dello Spirito Santo”, 1999, p. 37. 5 The reference is to the voice of the Shepherd (cf Gv 10, 3-4). 6 St. Efrem, the Syrian, “Inni sul digiuno” n. 6, in “L’arpa dello Spirito Santo”, 1999, p. 94. 7 Benedict XVI, Homily at the Conclusion of Prayer for Christian Unity, Basilica of St. Paul, 25 January 2007.

Form 3 Itinerary of prayer on the Acts of the Apostles – Lent 2007

. Commentary of Alberione:

“And the use of the hearing. That ears are not opened to listen to gossips, or also murmuring or criticisms, or vain and useless talks that bring only to dissipation. To open the ear to school, to meditation and everything that is of learning. And we have to use the ear to listen to the needs that are in others. (…) The tongue is used well and in proper time. And it may not offend the neighbor; it may be used well to accuse the sins done. To express our necessities, to open the heart, the sentiments when it is necessary to be directed spiritually, etc.” (AAP 1965, 393. 395). “In the Eucharistic visit our heart has to be opened to confidence and love toward Jesus Good Shepherd, who has loved us much and who loves us. Our intimate life with Jesus here before the Tabernacle has to be reflected in every action of our day, especially in the pastoral activities, that must aim solely to bring souls to the Eucharist”. (So, 1948, p. 75).

ù Suggestions

For personal and comunitarian life

v In this season of Lent I celebrate more frequently the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to take away the obstacles which hinder my availability to God so that He can act freely in me and through me.

v We help the community to treasure the Word that the Lord tells us every morning, so that our mind may be purified from vain thoughts and our words may express the care of the Lord toward all.

For the ministry of pastoral care

v We approach those persons whom we feel needy to return to the Lord and we strive to offer them a space for sharing.

v In our encounter with every person we put ourselves in the attitude of listening “in the Spirit”, to understand her profound questions.

FORM 3 - Lent 2007