{"id":35357,"date":"2019-01-31T16:11:10","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T20:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/?p=35357"},"modified":"2019-01-31T16:11:10","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T20:11:10","slug":"lectio-divina-being-familiar-with-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2019\/01\/lectio-divina-being-familiar-with-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Lectio divina –being familiar with Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The following is something I curated and posted on the Benedictine Oblate Facebook group today.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cGive me a word\u201d\u00a0\u2014some thoughts on lectio divina. See https:\/\/www.procopius.org\/lectio-divina<\/p>\n

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 \u2014having familiarity with Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Give me a word<\/strong><\/p>\n

~Words about the time and place for lectio divina<\/strong>. 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 \u2013 you can build up to longer times eventually.\u00a0Have a quiet place, away from normal affairs, to pray lectio divina. Don\u2019t allow distractions. Find a sacred place.<\/p>\n

~Words about picking a passage to do lectio divina with<\/strong>.\u00a0At first, take just a few verses of Scripture. Use the readings for Mass, since you\u2019ll hear them again when you go to Mass.<\/p>\n

~Words about the \u201cmethod\u201d of praying lectio divina<\/strong>.\u00a0Don\u2019t get caught up with following a \u201cmethod\u201d or \u201ctechnique,\u201d but rather the important thing is to spend time with God through Scripture. Don\u2019t over-think or over-analyze \u2013 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.\u00a0Don\u2019t get discouraged and give up, if you don\u2019t seem to be getting something out of it \u2013 keep to it! Lectio divina is a prayerful, patient pondering of a biblical text. Steps for lectio divina give your prayer purpose and direction.<\/p>\n

~Words about how to read the biblical passage<\/strong>. Read over the passage repeatedly and slowly. Remember that through Scripture God is speaking to you.\u00a0Be mindful of God\u2019s presence. It can help to use a printed text, rather than a digital one on your phone or computer.<\/p>\n

~Words about how to meditate on the passage<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n

~Words about how to offer prayer in lectio divina<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n

Lectio requires an altogether different approach, one that opens us to God\u2019s agenda. The purpose is not to read a chapter of Scripture a day, to \u201cget through\u201d the Bible in a year, or anything of the sort. The purpose is to listen to God\u2019s message to me, here and now, today. The quantity of material \u201ccovered\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

St. Procopius, pray for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cGive me a word\u201d\u00a0\u2014some thoughts on lectio … Continue reading Lectio divina –being familiar with Christ<\/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":[36,50],"tags":[32091,1790],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35357"}],"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=35357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35359,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35357\/revisions\/35359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}