Lectio Divina (C)

Let us keep all these questions (B), and others, in our mind , until we have the courage to face the TRUTH and answer them.

This is LECTIO DIVINA, certainly, questions change according to the Text read. Once we start on this voyage, we feel so close to Him … though we will still be far away, but HE makes us feel that we are getting closer, day by day.

1.      Pray

The next step would be ‘Praying’, either personal prayers based on the Message of the Text or what you feel inspired at the moment. I can suggest something like this:

“Dear Lord, I sincerely want to follow you, to walk in the path You are showing me through your Bride, the Church. I wish so much to meet You, face to face, someday, when it is Your Holy Will, when the veil is removed.

I look for You, I search for You, in the teachings of Your Beloved Bride, the Church, in Your Love letters, in the Holy Scripture, in the daily toils and crosses that come my way, I understand that every burden, pain or cross is a step in Your direction …  if I accept it, resign to it and offer its merits.

I look for You, Lord, in the sweet smile and laughter of the innocent children, in the breaking of morn, in the beautiful sunset … BUT…You are present, and I can see Your face in the dying, in the sick at hospital,  in the elderly abandoned by their children. I can see Your face in their pain and agony. Help me Lord, to appreciate You, and Love You not just as the Babe of Betlehem , but also, and more, as the Victim of my sins on the Cross.

Lord, You know everything. Amen.

4.    Contemplate.

The meaning of ‘contemplate’ is to consider or have in view, in reference to a future act or event’. So that means; any action we take, any behavior towards someone, our frame of mind … following the Lectio Divina, should be tempered, influenced, polished, changed by what we have learned in our contact with God. If this is done on regular basis, out life-style will change radically, we feel more resigned to crosses, problems, sickness and unpleasant situations, and feel happier in our daily tasks.

For the next day or two, we try to keep in mind all that we have read, thought and prayed about in the Lectio Divina, and let the Holy Spirit suggest, or prompt to us, how we should change our behavior towards others, to that extent that we may be in a position to answer the Lord and tell Him: “Lord, You know I love You, You know everything.”  

Let’s be sure that whatever He knows about us would be what He has planned for us, and not what we planned.  Let’s not forget what Jesus once said: “My ways are not your ways.” So, it follows, that His plans are not our plans … which means that we have to surrender to His plans if we want eternal salvation.