{"id":25938,"date":"2010-11-11T14:16:56","date_gmt":"2010-11-11T18:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/11\/lectio-divina-in-verbum-domini\/"},"modified":"2013-10-17T09:54:36","modified_gmt":"2013-10-17T13:54:36","slug":"lectio-divina-in-verbum-domini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/11\/lectio-divina-in-verbum-domini\/","title":{"rendered":"Lectio Divina in Verbum Domini"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Apostolic\u00a0Exhortation\u00a0Verbum Domini<\/i>\u00a0released today, I immediately started reading the\u00a0document for what the Pope had to say about lectio divina. You may recall\u00a0the Pope’s remarks<\/a>\u00a0for the 40th anniversary of\u00a0Dei Verbum<\/i>\u00a0in 2005, he said lectio divina will bring about a spiritual springtime in Church. His words were:<\/p>\n

“the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart (cf.\u00a0Dei Verbum<\/i>, 25). If it is effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church –I am convinced of it–\u00a0a new spiritual springtime<\/b>.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No less than 16 times<\/strong> does His Holiness\u00a0use the words\u00a0lectio divina<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Here are some points of interest in\u00a0Verbum Domini<\/i>\u00a0regarding lectio:<\/p>\n

\"St<\/a><\/p>\n

46. Listening together to the word of God, engaging in\u00a0biblical\u00a0lectio divina<\/i>, letting ourselves be struck by the\u00a0inexhaustible freshness of God’s word which never grows old, overcoming our\u00a0deafness to those words that do not \ufb01t our own opinions or prejudices,\u00a0listening and studying within the communion of the believers of every age: all\u00a0these things represent a way of coming to unity in faith as a response to\u00a0hearing the word of God.<\/p>\n

48. The interpretation of sacred Scripture would\u00a0remain incomplete were it not to include listening to\u00a0those who have truly\u00a0lived the word of God: namely, the saints.\u00a0<\/i>Indeed, “viva\u00a0lectio est vita bonorum<\/i>.” The most profound interpretation\u00a0of Scripture comes precisely from those who let themselves be shaped by the\u00a0word of God through listening, reading and assiduous meditation. It is\u00a0certainly not by chance that the great currents of spirituality in the Church’s\u00a0history originated with an explicit reference to Scripture.<\/p>\n

82. Those aspiring\u00a0to the ministerial priesthood are called to a profound personal relationship\u00a0with God’s word, particularly in\u00a0lectio divina<\/i>,\u00a0so that this relationship will in turn nurture their vocation: it is in the\u00a0light and strength of God’s word that one’s speci\ufb01c vocation can be discerned\u00a0and appreciated, loved and followed, and one’s proper mission carried out, by\u00a0nourishing the heart with thoughts of God, so that faith, as our response to\u00a0the word, may become a new criterion for judging and evaluating persons and\u00a0things, events and issues. Such attention to the prayerful reading of Scripture\u00a0must not in any way lead to a dichotomy with regard to the exegetical studies which\u00a0are a part of formation. The Synod recommended that seminarians be concretely\u00a0helped to see\u00a0the relationship between biblical studies and scriptural\u00a0prayer<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"student<\/a><\/p>\n

86. The Synod frequently insisted on the need for a\u00a0prayerful approach to the sacred text as a fundamental element in the spiritual\u00a0life of every believer, in the various ministries and states in life, with\u00a0particular reference to\u00a0lectio divina<\/i>.<\/div>\n

Devote yourself to the\u00a0lectio<\/i>\u00a0of the divine Scriptures; apply yourself to this with\u00a0perseverance. Do your reading with the intent of believing in and pleasing God.\u00a0If during the\u00a0lectio<\/i>\u00a0you encounter a closed door, knock\u00a0and it will be opened to you by that guardian of whom Jesus said, ‘The gatekeeper will open it for him.’ By applying yourself in this way to\u00a0lectio divina<\/i>,\u00a0search diligently and with unshakable trust in God for the meaning of the\u00a0divine Scriptures, which is hidden in great fullness within.<\/p>\n

For this reason,\u00a0the\u00a0privileged place\u00a0<\/i>for the prayerful reading of sacred Scripture\u00a0is the\u00a0liturgy<\/i>, and particularly\u00a0the Eucharist<\/i>,\u00a0in which, as we celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ in the sacrament, the\u00a0word itself is present and at work in our midst. In some sense the prayerful\u00a0reading of the Bible, personal and communal, must always be related to the\u00a0Eucharistic celebration. Just as the adoration of the Eucharist prepares for,\u00a0accompanies and follows the liturgy of the Eucharist, so too prayerful reading,\u00a0personal and communal, prepares for, accompanies and deepens what the Church\u00a0celebrates when she proclaims the word in a liturgical setting. By so closely\u00a0relating\u00a0lectio<\/i>\u00a0and liturgy, we can better grasp the criteria which should\u00a0guide this practice in the area of pastoral care and in the spiritual life of\u00a0the People of God.<\/p>\n

87. The documents produced before and during the Synod\u00a0mentioned a number of methods for a faith-\ufb01lled and fruitful approach to sacred\u00a0Scripture. Yet the greatest attention was paid to\u00a0lectio divina<\/i>,\u00a0which is truly “capable of opening up to the faithful the treasures of God’s\u00a0word, but also of bringing about an encounter with Christ, the living word of\u00a0God.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Apostolic\u00a0Exhortation\u00a0Verbum Domini\u00a0released today, I immediately started reading the\u00a0document for what the Pope had to say about lectio divina. You may recall\u00a0the Pope’s remarks\u00a0for the 40th anniversary of\u00a0Dei Verbum\u00a0in 2005, he said lectio divina will bring about a spiritual springtime in Church. His words were: “the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer … Continue reading Lectio Divina in Verbum Domini<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,21],"tags":[1790,32081,2509],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25938"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25938"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28831,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25938\/revisions\/28831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}