For today's busy Christians, finding time for formal prayer and Scripture study can be difficult, and the plethora of Bible studies available can be downright overwhelming. Happily, many are rediscovering the ancient practice of lectio divina, or "divine reading," to help them cultivate an enriching prayer life in the midst of the chaos of the modern world.
A monastic tradition first introduced by St. Benedict, and later formalized by Carthusian monk Gugio II, lectio divina is a slow, contemplative reading of Scripture. It's a form of Bible study that's easily adaptable to nearly any lifestyle; maybe you'd love to study Scripture, but don't have the time for a formal Bible study; or perhaps you're a convert and you're unsure exactly how
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As your spiritual practice grows, you may naturally find yourself expanding on one or more of the steps and delving deeper into God's Word. However, don't worry if your first few attempts at lectio divina are awkward and not as fruitful as you'd hoped, particularly if you struggle with meditative prayer in general. Focus on staying open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and simply familiarizing yourself with the underlying rhythm of lectio divina.
Lectio
To begin, select a passage from the Bible. It can be a selection from the Gospels, the Mass readings for the day, or a familiar passage you feel particularly drawn to. If nothing jumps out at you, you could also choose at random. Having chosen a passage, say a short pray for receptivity to the Word of God. A simple "come, Holy Spirit" will suffice, but feel free to say the full prayer if you'd like.
Read the selected passage, slowly and deliberately, listening for that "still, small voice" of God. In this initial step, you're just looking to understand the words themselves, in the context of the specific book of the Bible or overall
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As you meditate, ask God if He has something to reveal to you in this passage. What is God trying to say to you, at this moment, with this piece of Scripture?
Oratio
After meditating on the passage, speak to God. Thank Him for His revelation to you, if one came; if not, simply thank Him for the opportunity to read His Word. Ask Him for the grace to be changed by what you've read and to fulfill what's been revealed.
Contemplatio
Finally, practice silence. Let go of your words and rest in His presence and His transforming embrace.
These steps can take as little or as much time as you have. When you're deep in communion with God, you may feel as though only minutes have gone by, but find it's been hours. Or, you feel you spent an eternity in His presence, when truly it was only minutes. Neither is right or wrong. You won't always have a deeply moving experience, but by persevering in your practice of lectio divina, you will surely find your prayer life and relationship with God
Wilson, Barbara S., Arlene Flancher, and Susan T. Erdey. The Episcopal Handbook. New York, NY: Morehouse Pub., 2008. Print.
· Listen – this is when we listen to the Homily and the Gospel which
listen and respond to the call of Jesus today. Through church. prayer, priests, and by fulfilling the sacraments we can be at one. with God at any time. To get a call would be to have such a strong faith that you want to drop everything to follow it.
... its mysteries. References to time and transience fill these verses. Intervening with the many allusions to nature we see constant movement and change; “since there is no more to taste… Father we pick our last / fruits of the temporal.” But this time the approach is less seeking, more slow and uncommitted, reflecting the calmness and control acquired by experience.
To complete a meditative atmosphere, I had scented candles and incense; some days the pace was following the rhythm of the Ave Maria of Schubert or Gregorian Music. This is now my peace island for about two hours every day. This environment gives me rest, and the repetitive prayer meditating on Jesus’s life slows down my heartbeats and mind flowing in a deep awareness of the Story of Salvation, almost like living the Biblical Story and feeling Jesus closer and God’s presence, in charge of my life with His
The service continues as more people enter the room and everyone sits in silence gathering their thoughts. When someone feels moved by the spirit they may speak, dance, sing or read the Bible to express their worship. They believe you only get out of the service what you put in. The service is very relaxed and informal it is between God and yourself as
The Blessing and Invocation of God over Baptismal Water evokes the history of baptism. The sacred scripture of the Bible is the etymology of the prayer, as it accentuates the purpose; it illustrates the new birth and death the newly baptized are involved in. The prayer is structured in stanzas of four sections. The first section makes reference to God’s power and amplifies the faithful’s gratitude to God’s grace that is received, the second section relates to the Old Testament and portrays the power and role of water that baptised and immersed the evil to reveal the virtuous
These steps have helped me begin to find the divinity within myself, or find success. I have not fully found myself because I have not been able to use or understand these laws completely. They have been very difficult for me to follow because they are asking me to change my life completely. I have started to slowly implement them and take a good amount of time on each law, hoping that putting forth a great deal of effort will make them easier to accomplish. Through practice and meditation, I think that I will become more comfortable with these laws to the point where I do not even notice that I am following them.
As defined by Migliore, Revelation means an “unveiling,” uncovering,” or “disclosure” of something previously hidden. Today, Community of Christ affirms the Living God is ever self-revealing to the world through the testimony of Israel and Jesus Christ. Revelation provides important decisions about who God is and how we are to understand the world and ourselves. In seeking to understand, as a member of Community of Christ, we must explore the historical and contextual response of the leaderships to revelation within the setting of the Restoration and the Reorganization era.
The Bible student, laymen, or pastor will find the principles presented by Fee and Stuart helpful despite the weaknesses presented. The author’s contribution on how to interpret each of the different genres is especially beneficial. The Bible Student will have more knowledge of how to interpret God’s Word when finished with the work. Fee and Stuart achieve their goal helping the reader not only with interpretation, but with application.
Spiritual formation is a process that morphs as we grow and change. There is no one singular correct path this type of journey takes because each journey is as individual as the person who is experiencing it. Most obvious, the journey will be different from those who identify as religious and those who do not and will diversify with in each category. For example, the spiritual journey a Buddhist takes will be different from that of a believer in Judaism or Christianity. In fact, the journey will continue to diversify between Christians, male and female, age groups, even by demographic location. Consequently, the spiritual formation process is as diverse as it is intricate and we may never be able to discover all the journey options. Although individuals may not actively recognize they are experiencing spiritual formation it is a process that affects all. Because it is in human nature to question, learn, grow, and act, everyone to a certain extent is exposed to a unique spiritual formation journey.
The Spiritual Exercises: not only speak to the Jesuits but also to the religious of other congregations; not only to the religious but also to the laity; not only to Catholics but also to the Protestants. In other words, the Spiritual Exercises speak to all who believe in God and base their spirituality on the gospel message. First I will define what a spirituality of vocation is. Second I will explain what the Spiritual Exercises mean. Third I will try to show how the Spiritual Exercises are a representation of a universal call to the Christian gospel. Then I will conclude by stating my stand.
As we search the word of God with passion and earnestly, the Holy Spirit will illuminate us, so we can grasp his will in our life “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:13).
It is important for me to remember when preparing a sermon, that it is not about the preacher, but through preaching, God the Holy Spirit does the work of giving God’s
I read Helps to Holiness by Samuel Logan Brengle (pages 1-145). This was a wonderful book. It helped me a lot. I also read five pages from.