March 1, 2024

What is "Lectio Divina" and what does it have to offer us that differs from "Bible Study"?

(For an overview, read this entry).

Today's Gospel Reading (The "Lesson of the Lamp"):

"And he said to them: Doth a candle come in to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be made manifest: neither was it made secret, but that it may come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said to them: Take heed what you hear. In what measure you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again, and more shall be given to you. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, that also which he hath shall be taken away from him."(Mark 4: 21-34)

Today's Reflection:

Ok, let us begin with the chronicle of my experience on "Hallo":

At first, I was prompted by the voice "Abby" to reflect on "what stood out to me" after she read this passage several times in her characteristically calm and deliberate manner.

I was struggling at first for many reasons.  For starters, the pauses were long.  More importantly, I have heard this part of the Gospel many times in Mass, and I have heard many homilies on the same subject.  

Through the explanation of many priests, I came to understand what Jesus is trying to say.   He is preaching, I was told, that one should not hide what is good from the world (Reminiscent of the song "This Little Light of Mine.").  More Dogmatically (and less amenable to modern man's understanding), He is also stating that all of our deeds will be brought before us on the Day of Our Private Judgement.  Terrifying, yes ---  but, then again, I already knew that.

Yes, this, I already knew, so for a while I was just waiting during those ever long pauses for Abby to move on to the next segment.

Then, about half-way through the process, I reflected upon something when Abby prompted me to "share" something with God.

"Share?", I thought, "Share what?"  What didn't God already know that I could offer to Him myself?

I began to think of my day-to-day motivations--- ultimately, about being a good father and husband--- but also being respected by other people in the interim.  At my surprise at my own honesty, I reflected on how foolish it is to care about the opinions of others in my daily tasks more than what God thinks of me (And foolish, for as Roy Orbison once quipped from beyond the grave in "End of the Line", "every day is Judgement Day." Why do we care about the opinions of men, but think not about how God will judge us?  How is that rational?).

Now, it came as proof that the opinion I have cared most about is my father's, so my thoughts eventually wandered into that image.   I won't get into the private specifics but suffice it to say that one day I got a scholarly award for something or other years ago, and he began to cry about how proud he was.  That should have been deeply satisfying for myself, who yearned for such words, but what surprised me most of all is how this acknowledgement did not mean as much to me as it did to him.  Now, this came as a surprise to me because my motivations were always to make my father proud of me.  Weren't they?

When I look back at that experience, I realized something new.  My main motivation in life is not to make my earthly father proud, but it had to be something else: primarily to deserve something, to earn true merit, and to come to see the value in my sacrifice (for whenever a game is too easy to play, do we not grow bored?  Do we feel all that pleased with ourselves when we beat a child in basketball?  Hardly.  We yearn for a challenge and it is not a Christian sentiment alone to appreciate what that means.). 

Reflecting upon the necessity of challenges, you recognize that what lies behind the drive to overcome them is the idea of a sacrifice--- we offer up our comfort and sense of security for something greater--- and who made the biggest sacrifice of all?  Is it not how Christ taught us through the sum of His life (i.e. the Gospel) what that would entail: to love and serve the Father in Heaven through the example and the ways of His only Begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ as passed down through the Church (see Matthew 16:13-20)?  Without this goal of goals, all else will prove unfulfilling as if it were unrealized to begin with.

How did I get to this thought from talk of a candle and a bushel basket?  Truth be told, I have no idea.

What I can confess is this much: Lectio Divina whereby private prayer and meditation are wedded to Holy Writ has an interesting way of making the known unknown to us and then suddenly revealing what we haven't yet confronted in our heart of hearts.

For that reason, I strongly recommend the practice and will elaborate the details and resources in this section of the blog about how the most serious Christians in the past, i.e. the Saints, practiced this ancient devotion.

Have a nice day, dear reader!  Thank you for reading my words.