Spiritual Corner - Lectio Divina

I was recently invited to attend our Parish Spiritual Group’s bi-monthly spiritual gathering and to explain to them the ways and spirit of Lectio Divina. This time, I chose the contents of number 87 in Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation “Verbum Domini” published in 2010. I believe that this valuable spiritual message is worth sharing with you all so that more people can be benefitted in their spiritual cultivation.

There are four steps in Lectio Divina:-

Step One: Reading the Text (Lectio)
It opens with the reading (Lectio) of a text, which leads to a desire to understand its true content: what does the biblical text say in itself? Without this, there is always a risk that the text will become a pretext for never moving beyond our own ideas.

Step Two: Meditation (Meditatio)
This step asks: what does the biblical text say to us? Here, each person, individually but also as a member of the community, must let himself or herself be moved and challenged.

Step Three: Prayer (Oratio)
By Prayer, we ask the question: what do we say to the Lord in response to His Word? Prayer, as petition, intercession, thanksgiving or praise, is the primary way by which the Word transforms us. 

Step Four: Contemplation (Contemplatio)
During this step, we take up, as a gift from God, His own way of seeing and judging reality, and ask ourselves what conversion of mind, heart and life is the Lord asking of us.

From the above four steps, we can easily find that “Lectio Divina” in itself is a prayer of encounters with the Holy Word. The Pope particularly reminded us that “Lectio Divina” should culminate in action, which leads the faithful to offer themselves as a gift for others in charity. We find in the Mother of God the supreme synthesis and summation of “Lectio Divina”. To every faithful, Maria is the model of docile acceptance of God’s Holy Word, for “she kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Luke 2:19; 51). She was able to find the connections between all the events, actions and matters that were seemingly disconnected in the magnificent plan of God.

Your Pastor,
Fr. Francis Chong