Lectio Divina

" When you pray, go to your in your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."  [ Matthew 6:1-8].

During Lent, we are supposed to pray, pray, pray. But, sometimes, prayer goes stale and dry.

I like to think of prayer as a practice or a discipline. Any athlete will tell you that "cross-training" makes you stronger and more capable of meeting challenges. If you switch out your types of prayer, you will find that your life with God and Jesus stays fruitful and rewarding.

I have spoken before about how, as we grow and learn, our prayer life matures and transforms. We begin, as children, learning to say the Our Father or Hail Mary, by rote.

A higher level of prayer is simply talking to God. A good way to practice this form of prayer is to remember the acronym A.C.T.S. -- Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, Supplication ( asking God for what we need).

Contemplative Prayer is considered the highest form of prayer. You sit in contemplation, neither reciting words by rote, nor talking to God. You simply rest in God's presence.

Lectio Divina is a contemplative kind of prayer. It is a way of " Praying the Scriptures". Lectio Divina is Latin for " divine reading"; reading Scripture is reading Divine Words.

Lectio Divina is an ancient form of prayer.  According to Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. [www.contemplativeoutreach.org],  "This tradition of prayer flows out of a Hebrew method of studying Scriptures called Haggadah." Our Judaic brothers and sisters have passed this form of prayer down to us, as a beautiful way to hear what God is saying to us in the Scriptures.

To practice Lectio Divina, first you begin with Lectio, or reading. Consider using that day's Scripture or the Readings from Sunday's Mass. Ask yourself what word or phrase stands out to you from the text? Repeat that word or phrase to yourself, over and over.

Then, comes Meditatio or reflection. Pay attention to what God may be trying to say to you. Bring that phrase into your heart.

Then, comes Oratorio or response. Offer a prayer of praise or thanksgiving. Then, keep repeating the word or phrase to yourself.

Finally, comes Contemplatio or contemplation. Rest in God's presence. This is the place of healing and transformation.

A few weeks ago, I tried Lectio Divina, in a small group at my church. The Scripture we read was Matthew 6: 1-8 [ excerpted above].

As we read these verses together, I found myself focusing on, " Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him."  I said these words to myself over and over.

I thought back to how, when I was 14, my parents began to refuse to take me to church. I didn't understand; I though that by going to church each Sunday for my first 14 years, that we were               " Believers"?  Then, when they said to me, " Church? We don't do that any longer." -- I said to myself, ' You mean all those years, we were faking it? Then who is right: my parents or God?'

It is a terrible thing for a child to be so confused about faith that she feels that she has to choose between her parents and God. Maybe, all these years later, despite marrying a Christian and  joining a church again, I still harbored that conflict, deep inside me?

But, during Lectio Divina, God's voice came through loud and clear to me: " Do NOT be like them. Your Father knows what you need, before you [even] ask Him."

How loving of  God to reassure me, as His child. I WAS right all along, to marry a Christian and join a church! My Heavenly Father DID know what I needed, before I - - a mere child -- even knew. In contemplative prayer, God can speak to us, and call to us. I now know the true meaning of this Scripture. I don't need to worry about others' beliefs or forms of prayer. God, the Father, knows what I need.

In Lectio Divina, we have only to sit in the presence of God, and ask Him. Ask God, what do You say to me? He will answer.

For more details on Lectio Divina, go to www.contemplativeoutreach.org.

[ Related Posting, " The Progression of Prayer", July 29, 2013.]

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