lectio divina – Communio

Santiago meet Portsmouth 2024

For nearly two decades plus some years the Manquehue Apostolic Movement (MAM) has been active ministering at Portsmouth Abbey and School and the Priory School at St. Louis Abbey. The lay men and women of the MAM some of the best people I’ve met over the years who are part of a group at the service of the Gospel and the Benedictine charism.

For those who don’t know the Manquehue Apostolic Movement it was founded in 1977 first as an Association of Lay Faithful according to the Code of Canon Law (1983) in the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile. By 1994 the Movement was granted a firmer position in the Church by becoming a juridic personality in Law.

The Movement is composed of laity. There are no clerics who are members of the Movement. Yet they have had a strong and influential presences of Benedictine monks who have given good witness to the Benedictine way of proceeding. In many ways one can say that members of the Manquehue Apostolic Movement are lay Benedictines, similar but not the same as an Oblate’s call to relate to a monastery.

I have met over then years several members of the MAM at both noted abbeys but have been in touch with them mostly at Portsmouth in years. This year I had the privilege of meeting the men seen in the above picture: Martín, Mattias, Nico and Vicente. All four these guys inspire me. All graduates of the MAM school in Santiago and currently doing university studies having just finished two months of missionary work among the students at Portsmouth Abbey school. They are great young men who made an impact on many of us.

The work of the of the Movement is the prayerful reading of sacred Scripture – also called Lectio Divina. This is closely linked to the teaching and witnessing to the spirituality of St Benedict and 1500 years of life of monks, nuns, sisters and laity. In Santiago de Chile, Manquehue runs three schools and guides more that 100 weekly Lectio Divina groups. And probably one of the most impressive charitable works is a hostel for homeless women. You can find the Movement also at the end of the world –or near the end of the world– in Patagonia, in the south of Chile where there’s a retreat house. I am scheming to have a Manquehue community in the Providence, Rhode Island Diocese and close to Portsmouth Abbey.

Some members of the Manquehue Movement make an oblation to live the charism of the movement more intensely. Some are married couples, some are single, all centered on the Lord. Many of the graduates of the Manquehue schools do missionary work to deepen our love for Scripture.

May God abundantly bless the Manquehue Apostolic Movement and Martín, Mattías, Nico and Vicénte. May Our Lady and St Benedict intercede. AMEN.

St Ambrose

Today is the liturgical memorial of the great St. Ambrose of Milan (c. A.D. 340–397).

You know the narrative: born in what is now France, a successful lawyer and politician in Milan, Italy; following the death of the bishop of Milan, the people demanded that the catechumen Ambrose and not yet a Christian, become the successor. (Ambrose hid in an attempt to escape the nomination; even the emperor forbade giving him shelter, forcing him to give himself up and submit.)

Ambrose was a holy leader: author of hymns, theology, correct teaching, serving the poor and donating his patrimonial land to the Church, and being available to all. Bishop Ambrose defended orthodox doctrine against the pervasive Arian heresy which denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. As a beekeeper and as one who appreciates and loves liturgical theology, I have an appreciation for Ambrose’s nickname: “honey-tongued doctor.” In fact, one of hives is named for St Ambrose.

Bishop Ambrose introduced lectio divina to his local church: the practice of prayerfully meditating on the Sacred Scriptures. This method of prayer spread all over the Church. You will recall that it was Ambrose as the bishop who converted and baptized St. Augustine of Hippo. He is one of the four original Doctors of the Church, and his statue is one of four that upholds the Chair of St. Peter inside St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Today, prayers for the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation meeting in NYC’s Mother Cabrini Shrine for the Advent Day of Recollection. 40+ are gathering. A fitting day for us since Communion and Liberation was founded in the Diocese of Milan.

Familiarity with God’s Word

Are you familiar (at the deepest possible level as able) with sacred Scripture? Daily, it is recommended, to spend time doing lectio divina.

While John Paul is addressing members in consecrated life, the teaching is fitting and prudent for the laity, too.

“As the church’s spiritual tradition teaches, meditation on God’s word, and on the mysteries of Christ in particular, gives rise to fervor in contemplation and the ardor of apostolic activity. Both in contemplative and active religious life, it has always been men and women of prayer, those who truly interpret and put into practice the will of God, who do great works.

“From familiarity with God’s word they draw the light needed for that individual and communal discernment which helps them to seek the ways of the Lord in the signs of the times. In this way they acquire a kind of supernatural intuition which allows them to avoid being conformed to the mentality of this world, but rather to be renewed in their own mind, in order to discern God’s will about what is good, perfect, and pleasing to him (see Romans 12:2).

Saint John Paul II, The Consecrated Life

Lectio divina –being familiar with Christ

The following is something I curated and posted on the Benedictine Oblate Facebook group today.

In a recent newsletter from Fr. James Flint, OSB of St Procopius Abbey (Lisle, IL) he writes about his abbot asking the monks to say something about lectio and what was gleaned is “Give me a word” —some thoughts on lectio divina. See https://www.procopius.org/lectio-divina

As you know, the practice of prayerfully reading sacred Scripture is a key part of being a Christian, indeed, a Benedictine Oblate. Some Oblate formation programs stress lectio divina more than others. From experience, this is true for the Oblates of St Meinrad Archabbey. Whatever the case may be, lectio is rather crucial if you are truly seeking God —having familiarity with Jesus Christ.

Give me a word

~Words about the time and place for lectio divina. Most importantly, find the time to do it. Find a time of day that works for you. It can help to use the same time each day. Keep the amount of time short at first – you can build up to longer times eventually. Have a quiet place, away from normal affairs, to pray lectio divina. Don’t allow distractions. Find a sacred place.

~Words about picking a passage to do lectio divina with. At first, take just a few verses of Scripture. Use the readings for Mass, since you’ll hear them again when you go to Mass.

~Words about the “method” of praying lectio divina. Don’t get caught up with following a “method” or “technique,” but rather the important thing is to spend time with God through Scripture. Don’t over-think or over-analyze – eventually the Scripture takes the lead in the dance. Do lectio divina regularly, in a way that works best for you. Work on being quiet and do not focus on what you are doing. Don’t get discouraged and give up, if you don’t seem to be getting something out of it – keep to it! Lectio divina is a prayerful, patient pondering of a biblical text. Steps for lectio divina give your prayer purpose and direction.

~Words about how to read the biblical passage. Read over the passage repeatedly and slowly. Remember that through Scripture God is speaking to you. Be mindful of God’s presence. It can help to use a printed text, rather than a digital one on your phone or computer.

~Words about how to meditate on the passage. Meditate on the text in order to understand it. Think about how the words apply to you and to others. Ponder yourself in the biblical story or in the original audience of the text.

~Words about how to offer prayer in lectio divina. See your prayer as a relationship. Transitioning from meditation to prayer is important, for it helps to apply the text and opens you to what God wants to give you in this prayertime. The reading of Scripture must be applied to my life.

Lectio requires an altogether different approach, one that opens us to God’s agenda. The purpose is not to read a chapter of Scripture a day, to “get through” the Bible in a year, or anything of the sort. The purpose is to listen to God’s message to me, here and now, today. The quantity of material “covered” is irrelevant, and it could be counter-productive even to think in such terms. The material it should be that sets the agenda. Once we understand and apply that, we are engaged in lectio divina.

St. Procopius, pray for us.

Pushing to know Jesus

In a treasure trove books on Christology (secondary theological reflection) we have densely packed pages reflection on the of Jesus and what it means to say He is the Christ. It seems to me that the theological and spiritual questions and research have to be re-oriented. What if we reflect on what Jesus says in the Gospels, and how he acts? Jesus asks Peter, “Who do you say I am?” AND NOT “Who do the theologians say that I am?” Jesus does not ask us what Fr. John Meyendorff or Fr. Alexander Schmemann, or Sr. Vassa Larin or NT Wright, or Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar thought.

Knowing about Jesus is different than knowing Jesus. As to Peter so to us: “Who do you say that I am?”, a question that demands our own personal response based on our own personal experience of Jesus in prayer, divine Liturgy, Lectio Divina, and his subtle yet very real, mysterious presence in everyday life.

Theological reflection, first and second levels, are critical in having a comprehensive view of who Jesus Christ is. The personal encounter is a aided and challenged by theological reflection so as to keep us honest and correct. In today’s world we are tempted to think that any experience and any book is orthodox, that is, without error. We know by reason, however, this is incorrect. Knowing Jesus and not merely about Jesus is experienced with several contexts: worship (adoration), personal conversion, a communal life and works of charity; you can think of these points as pillars: prayer, study, community, and service. Truth is symphonic and verifiable. Book knowledge is useful but it is useless unless we are led us into a deeper relationship, a deeper engagement with Jesus. Otherwise, valuable space in the brain is wasted.

Listening with the ear of the heart – Lectio Divina

I am firm believer, based on experience AND the witness of Tradition of the Church, and that of Benedict XVI, that Lectio Divina is the prime method of my daily spiritual renewal. It is the daily re-birth of my life in Jesus Christ. My hope is that I can be faithful to the practice. Here is a fine thought on value of Lectio:

The monastic art of the reading (lectio) which is really a kind of listening (“with the ear of the heart”, cf. Rule of Benedict) to what the Word of God is saying to us in the Scriptures. They were also given time and space to immerse themselves in the practice of this art and to share their experience with one another and some of the monks. And all, of course, took place within the daily round of prayer and work which make up the life of the monastery ( or, in the home and workplace, among friends).

Sacred Scripture as historical texts reveals Christ Jesus

The 20th and 21st centuries have seen Catholics draw closer to the Bible, the revealed Word of God. During the pontificate of Benedict XVI there was almost an explosion of emphasis on Scripture study, a resurgence of biblical preaching, a serious consideration of what it means to be an evangelical Catholic and lectio divina. In my opinion, it was Benedict XVI who gave critical attention to the sacred Scriptures in the calling of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God coupled with the concretizing the Church’s programatic direction with the publication of Verbum Domini (2010).

Rome Reports gives a spotlight on a recent initiative of the American Bible Society‘s “The Bible and the World.”

This initiative of the ABS is yet another great example of the place we Catholics need to have for the daily praying with God’s word, and the study of the historical text. As the preparatory commission for the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God stated about the complexity and beauty of the sacred text viz. our salvation in Christ Jesus,

Pastorally speaking, this truth requires an understanding on how to gather, in an analogous way, the various meanings of the Word of God in the faith of the Church, as seen in the Bible. In the Scriptures, Jesus Christ is shown to be the Eternal Word of God, which shines forth in creation, is given a historical character in the message of the prophets, is fully manifested in the Person of Jesus, is echoed in the voice of the apostles and is proclaimed in the Church today. In a general sense, the Word of God is Christ-the-Word, who, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the key to all interpretation. “The Word of God, who was in the beginning with God, is not, in his fullness, much talk or a multiplicity of words; but a single Word, which embraces a great number of ideas (theoremata), each of which is a part of the Word in its entirety… and if Christ refers us to the Scriptures in testifying to himself, it is not to one book that he sends us to the exclusion of another, but to all, because all speak of him.”Thus, continuity can be seen in diversity.

Lectio Divina likened to a mirror

I was reading something the other day and came across an author’s quote of an old spiritual classic in which he said fittingly describes lectio divina. From the fourteenth century Cloud of Unknowing we read:

“God’s word…can be likened to a mirror. Spiritually, the ‘eye’ of your soul is your reason: your conscience is your spiritual ‘face’. Just as you cannot see or know that there is a dirty mark on your actual face without the aid of a mirror, or somebody telling you, so spiritually, it is impossible for a soul blinded by his frequent sins to see the dirty mark in his conscience, without reading or hearing God’s word.” (Penguin edition, p. 102)

Bible study resources

Bible study Catholics is no longer optional. Everything, and I mean everything in the Church, must be dependent on sacred Scripture, even the Magisterium. I came across this quote from Bishop Christopher Butler, OSB, which may be a bit cheeky, but to my mind it shows the degree of seriousness that we ought to think in biblical terms, “It is all very well for us to say and believe that the Magisterium is subject to holy Scripture. But is there anybody who is in a position to tell the Magisterium: ‘Look, you are not practicing your subjection to Scripture in your teaching’?” (in JJ Miller, ed., Vatican II: An Interfaith Appraisal, 1966). Indeed, we all need to be subject to Revelation.

We need to keep on top of our study and love of God’s revealed word: the study of Scripture is a non-negotiable for Catholics if they think they are going to be saved on the Last Day. Pope Benedict spoke of lectio divina as the springtime of the Church and organizations like the American Bible Society have spent lots of time and money trying to help Christians, including Catholics, to the biblical narrative of redemption.

Here are some bible resources:

Pope Pius XII, Divino Afflante Spiritu

Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum)

The Letter of Saint Athanasius on the Interpretation of the Psalms

Scott Hahn, Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI (Baker Brazos Press, 2009).

Scott Hahn, Consuming the Word: The New Testament and The Eucharist in the Early Church (Image, 2013)

Richard John Neuhaus, ed., Biblical Interpretation in Crisis: The Ratzinger Conference on Bible and the Church, (Eerdmans, 1989).

Some other things to have on your shelf, virtual or otherwise:

Understanding the the readings of the Liturgy (scroll down on the calendar to the month and day and click on the link)

Scott Hahn’s website, the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology

Scott Hahn also has a great short summary of the Sunday readings that you can get sent free via e-mail once a week

Blessed Guerric of Igny

I am reminded by my own heart that the the early morning is a particularly good time of the day to be clothed in a special silence, but there are time at dusk that the discipline of silence is helpful. This is an essential part of spiritual maturity, an adult faith in Divine Providence. Listening and speaking to the Trinity is done when the heart and mind are slowed, even word-less. Knowing and following God’s will is only possible if we give a certain amount of day to quiet, that is, silence. Not a punishing silence, not a hopeless silence, but a manner of being that helps us to see ourselves in action: the manifestation of the virtues of faith, hope, charity, justice, peace, perseverance, etc.

Blessed Guerric in his 28th sermon says,

“As the Christ-child in the womb advanced toward birth in a long, deep silence, so does the discipline of silence nourish, form and strengthen a person’s spirit, and produce growth which is the safer and more wholesome for being the more hidden.”

Silence, therefore, is a gift that allows us to enter more deeply into the revealed Word of God, the biblical narrative through the practice of lectio divina, the practice of prayerfully reading the sacred Scripture. It is, I am convinced, the new springtime of the Church as Benedict XVI said, proposing once again the ancient Christian practice. Most often we when we hear the words lectio divina we think of monastic reading where the person is immersed in God’s holy word with the distinct desire to seek the face of God, thus making a home for that Word in his heart.

The famous Cistercian father Blessed Guerric of Igny (c. 1070/80-1157) was influenced by Origen and whose formation was under Saint Bernard was quite insightful on many things when it came to liturgical theology and the monasteric life.

If you are inclined to read more about what this Cistercian father taught, you may want to pick up a copy of John Morson’s Christ the Way: the Christology of Guerric of Igny (Liturgical Press). But his liturgical sermons are worth every effort; they are published by Liturgical Press, too.

Blessed Guerric taught the following to his brothers lectio divina:

Search the Scripture. For you are not mistaken in thinking that you find life in them, you who seek nothing else in them but Christ, to whom the Scriptures bear witness. Blessed indeed are they who search his testimonies, seek them out with all their heart. Therefore you who walk about in the gardens of the Scriptures do not pass by heedlessly and idly, but searching each and every word like busy bees gathering homey from flowers, reap the Spirit from the words. (Sermon 54)