March 2021: Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina

It is wonderful for us to be here (Mark 9:5)

Lectio: What the Word says in itself…

In the Collect for the Mass of the Second Sunday of Lent, we ask God ‘to nourish us inwardly by your word.’ This is the aim of Lectio Divina. Reading, praying, contemplating and pondering God’s Word is a time of grace when ‘we are be filled with the utter fullness of God’ (Eph 3:18). With St Peter, we are able to say, ‘it is good for us to be here.’ Lent is a time to encounter the transfigured presence of Jesus by listening to God’s Word.

Meditatio: What the Word says to me/us…

‘He did not know what to say, they were so frightened’ describes Peter, James and John as they saw ‘Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus.’ Tom has suffered a stroke that has robbed him of independence, mobility and speech. Family and visitors to his room say that they are sometimes conscious of a quality of light that radiates on Tom’s face. A stroke is an oppressive condition. Yet for a family that has been darkened by Tom’s illness, a light that is unexpected shines for them. Peter, James and John were dazzled on the mountain by a light that exhilarated and frightened them.

Oratio: what the Word leads us/me to say…

Praying God’s Word will let the light of God’s radiance shine in our lives. Pondering God’s Word opens our eyes to see and recognise the surprising gifts, the unexpected glories and the unique beauty of one another. The Church is not good at acknowledging the surprising and the unexpected gifts in people. We might start saying to one another, ‘I think you are capable of doing this’ or ‘I think from what I have seen of you and from what I’ve seen you do – you could do that.’ Transfiguration times are always unexpected and surprising. Transfiguration is gospel hallmark of God’s people. A Church in crisis is one of opportunity.

Contemplatio: being transformed by the Word…

St Paul who himself was dazzled on the road to Damascus tells us ‘we may be certain that God will not refuse anything he can give’ (Rom 8:31). Let us pray that we will keep the eyes on the light that is God’s Word especially in this Covid time of worry, fear, anxiety and uncertainty – where literally, the aspect of our faces have changed due to the required wearing of masks. We ‘walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living’ (Ps 119:9).

Actio: putting God’s Word into practice…

St Mark doesn’t tell us what Moses, Elijah and Jesus were talking about. St Luke tells us that they were ‘speaking about his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:31). The Church has known dark, shameful and threatening times. The world has been shaken by the consequences of Covid and the catastrophe of Climate Change. Do we panic? T.S. Eliot writes, ‘we see the light but see not whence it comes.’ The light is Christ who accompanies us through all darkness and fear with the promise of his abiding presence.

Lumen Christi – Deo Gratias.

John Cullen

Editor