The Practice of Divine
Reading- Lectio Divina
“Yeshua Christ, the Word which came out of
Silence.” - St. Ignatius of Antioch
“God spoke one Word in silence from all eternity and
He spoke it in
silence, and it is in silence that we hear It."
–John of the Cross
Lectio Divina and Prayer
of the Heart- The
transformation of one’s life may be seen as the transition from living life
from the mind, the thoughts, the emotions and the instincts to living life
fully from the Heart, the Center of our being, the place of the Indwelling God.
In the Heart Christ can come fully alive in us, so that “I live, no longer I,
but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20) Lectio Divina is the formalized movement
from the mind and conceptual reflection on scripture to listening and experiencing
the Presence of Christ in the Heart.
There
are four interior movements of Lectio Divina or Divine Reading:
1. Reading-(Lectio)-
We begin by choosing a
scriptural text. The choice is an intuitive one, or it may be the lectionary
readings for the day or week. We read the text slowly to ourselves, listening
carefully to each work. At this level we listen deeply to the written word of
God, listening to those words or phrases in the reading that seem to speak to
us in a special way. This is a receptive way of reading and listening, open to
receive, as the parable of the seed falling on fertile ground.
2. Reflecting
(meditatio)- We read
the scriptural text again a second time. In this movement we are listening to
an interior reflection to the word or phrase which speaks to us. How is it
touching us within? We are listening receptively rather than analyzing or
interpreting, asking the question, in what way God touching us, speaking to us
about our own life. It is important to remember that this is not Bible study or
objective interpretation, or a theological study, but a personal reflection to
the Living Word of God speaking to us through the written word. It is a deeper movement toward
listening and pondering in our interior life.
3. Responding
(oratio)- We listen
again a third time to the scriptural text as it speaks to us. This time in the third movement of
Lectio we allow a spontaneous prayer to arise in response to the listening and
reflecting. How do we open in our desire in response God’s word? How do we open
in our longing for the Living Word of God, Christ, to flame up within us? In
what way do we respond to the call to be transformed in God’s Love? What are
the inner responses of praise, gratitude, contrition, or new commitment? We may express this response in words
and in human emotion and verbal prayer.
