A few weeks ago, my sister sent me a Facebook message asking me if I wanted to take a look at a new Advent devotional that some of her friends had put together. Now, I’m not usually one for women’s devotionals (or devotionals of any sort, for that matter). But my sister knows this, so when she suggested Rooted in Hope, I thought it was worth a look.
Ladies, this Scripture study is an actual Scripture study! It trains the reader in lectio divina, an ancient practice of prayerfully reading Scripture, then leads you through that practice with different Scripture passages each day of Advent. But more than that, it gives you background and context for each Scriptural passage, followed by a reflection on each passage. The reflections deal with all different kinds of life experiences, with different women reflecting on the different ways they’ve learned to love God.
But the heart of the devotional is God’s Word–both excerpts in the book and additional passages that the authors point you to. It’s impossible to use this devotional well without having your Bible open alongside it, which is exactly how devotionals ought to work. Reading through Rooted in Hope, I found myself flipping to different passages, wanting to chew through the Word of God and enter more deeply into it. And on days when you might not want to take time to ruminate on the Scriptures, the text holds you accountable by inviting you to take notes on your lectio each day. It’s a gentle invitation (the editor explicitly tells you to be gentle with yourself, not to make this yet another task to accomplish, another reason to become discouraged when we fail), but one that beckons, if for no other reason than that it’s supremely unsatisfying to leave these pages blank.
Each week of the study has a different memory verse, urging us to make the Scripture a part of our daily lives. I can’t tell you how pleased I was to see Catholics being encouraged to memorize Scripture–as you know, this is something I find incredibly important. Each memory verse is written out in part in a beautiful font and the editor invites you to continue meditating on this verse throughout the week, even as you’re praying with different Scriptures each day.
I have to tell you, though, the thing that most struck me was how this devotional is written for every Catholic woman–not every married Catholic mom of little ones, as often seems the case, but every Catholic woman, whatever her vocation or stage of life. Different days focus on different issues, but the authors are so deliberate about including childless women that they even use the phrase “if there is a child in your life” rather than assuming that their readers all have children. The first time I read that, I gasped–it was such a gentle affirmation of my existence, something that often seems missing in ministries directed to Catholic women. But Take Up & Read (the ministry behind this devotional) seems particularly aware of the many ways women are told they aren’t enough, and the gentle tone that pervades this devotional is so encouraging that I would expect nothing less.
For the many Catholic women who do have children, there’s also a children’s study to go along with the adult study. There are questions for children to ponder, children’s lectio sheets, reflections to help them prepare for Mass, and even puzzles to keep them interested. And all that for free!
The study starts November 30 to help you prepare for Advent, then kicks into gear on the first Sunday of Advent. It’s got monthly and weekly planning calendars to help you plan around the liturgical celebrations. Honestly, it’s just a lovely book that I think will really help you enter into Advent and prepare for the coming of Christ–and with how short Advent is this year, we need all the help we can get!
I’m so convinced that this devotional will be a blessing to you that I’m going to give away a copy–it’s my first ever giveaway!1 So comment and share and all that and one lucky winner will get a free copy of this beautiful devotional. Enter by midnight Eastern this Sunday night and see if you win! For those who don’t, you can buy your copy here. Good luck!
Happy Easter, friends! We are an Easter people over here–all 50 days of it. So along with my feasting (and there has been plenty of feasting) all during the Easter season I’ve been trying to use the stories from Acts as much as I can. After all, Acts is our Easter book, right? We read from it every day of Easter. So let’s be all about the Apostles and the amazing work they did, especially during this Easter season!
Until last week when I realized: almost none of the Acts of the Apostles takes place during Easter.1 Because during Easter, the Apostles weren’t out doing anything. For forty days they were being taught by Jesus, learning to forgive sins and feeling their hearts burn within them as he opened the Scriptures to them. And then he ascended. And maybe they felt empowered by the great commission or maybe they felt afraid and alone or maybe they wondered if this wasn’t another 3-day psych-out. But whatever they were feeling, here’s what they did:
They kept to themselves.
“They were continually in the temple praising God,”2 which is great. They “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”3 They were in fellowship and in prayer amongst themselves, but they weren’t going out. They weren’t preaching Christ crucified or offering his mercy to the nations.
They had an excuse: they hadn’t yet received the Holy Spirit.
What’s our excuse?
We received the Holy Spirit at baptism and his presence was strengthened in confirmation. We claim his name over our lives every time we cross ourselves. We’ve been called and filled and sent out.
But most of us are still locked in the upper room.
We’ve met the risen Christ and many of us have been transformed. Like Peter our sins have been forgiven, like Mary Magdalene our broken hearts healed, like Thomas our doubts satisfied. We’ve been made new. And now we’re sitting around doing nothing about it.
Oh, we might be in the temple day in and day out. We might be meeting in fellowship and even praying together. But we’re not reaching out to the world.
I wonder what happens when the Spirit comes down as tongues of fire and we refuse even to open the windows, let alone go out into the streets. My hunch is that it doesn’t look pretty and doesn’t end well.
That’s where we’ve been as a Church for far too long. In the West, at least, we’ve been focusing inward, trying (halfheartedly, in most cases) to take care of our own. But when a missionary Church locks itself in an upper room, nobody gets fed.
This year on the Vigil of Pentecost, people all over the world are praying in a special way for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They’re praying that the power of God will be released in their lives, that they’ll live in the freedom of the Spirit. I think one of the most powerful ways that we’ll experience this is by giving God permission to touch hearts through us. If we decide that we’re going to unlock the door and walk out into the streets, proclaiming Christ and living the book of Acts, we’ll be transformed just as much as those we meet. We’ll move past Easter (still filled with Alleluias) and live in Pentecost as though it were Ordinary.
This Pentecost, the Spirit is coming down. Let’s open our lives to him and go out to set the world ablaze.
That we know of anyway. Certainly not during the first Easter season. [↩]
Throughout this year, I’m sharing reflections on powerful Scripture passages over at Aleteia. But I’m also hoping that you’ll be memorizing them along with me, and a few paragraphs on what they mean isn’t going to help with that. Cue multiple intelligences training! I don’t just read things and remember, I use songs and images to help. In fact, almost every passage of Scripture that I have memorized has a tune that I sing in my head while I recite it aloud. And derivative as they might be, they work! So I’m sharing those with you, images to set as your phone’s wallpaper and mp3s of verses that will get stuck in your head for days. Enjoy!
In honor of St. Paul’s feast day, I thought I’d share some of my favorite Pauline verses. Paul’s one of my best friends–we basically have the same life, after all–so it only makes sense to give him a little feast day love.
He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I would rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with hardships, persecutions, and constraints for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
More or less a list of the Scriptures I’ve got memorized, though I didn’t list most of the apologetics type ones.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)
Who confers distinction on you? What do you possess that you have not received? And if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it? (1 Corinthians 4:7)
No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength, but with the trial he will also provide a way out so that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
I have great confidence in you. I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement. I am overflowing with joy all the more because of our afflictions. (2 Corinthians 7:4)
I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12-13)
I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourself to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12-17)
We hold these treasures in earthen vessels that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way but not constrained, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying about int he body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:7-11)
Therefore we are not discouraged, rather though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen, for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. (Romans 12:12)
We know that all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, so that he might be the firstborn of many brothers. and those he predestined, he also called, and those he called he also justified, and those he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? he who did not spare his own son, but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him? Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who acquits us–who will condemn? It is Christ Jesus who died, also was raised who also sits at the right of the throne of God who indeed intercedes for us. What will separate us and the love of Christ? Will anguish, distress, persecution or famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword? As it is written, for your sake, we are being slain all the day. We are looked upon as seep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to come between us and the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:28-39)
But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider as a loss because of Christ. More than this: I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things, and I consider them so much rubbish that I may may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:7-8)
Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called, Jew and Greek alike, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:22-25)
If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed upon me, and woe to me if I do not preach it. (1 Corinthians 9:16)
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God and that you are not your own? For you were purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
But God showed us his love: that while we were still in sin, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
For this reason I kneel before the Father,15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)
For to me, life is Christ and death is gain. (Philippians 1:21)
For to you has been granted for the sake of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him. (Philippians 1:29)
What about you? What are your favorites from Saint Paul?
Every time I read the Bible, I see more and more passages I wish I had memorized. This year, I’m doing something about it, and I want you to join me. I was going to pick 50 (short) passages for the 50 weeks left this year…but then I counted up how many I had picked from the Old Testament alone and realized it was going to have to be 50 from each Testament. Then I thought I should invite y’all to join me, so I’d need pretty graphics for them. Then I figured I might was well tell you why I picked each pair.
And before you know it, I found myself writing a weekly column over at Aleteia like I was a real grown-up writer or something! Mostly I’m excited because their reach is far greater than mine and I really think that this year God’s asking me to help Catholics fall in love with his word. So many of y’all are doing it by reading the Bible daily with me–now we’re going to memorize it too! Are you in? Please say you’re in, I really want you to do this with me!
Sneak preview–subject to change.
I’ve always been rather slow when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions. Ask me on January 1st about my “new year new you” plan and you’ll get a blank stare. But a few weeks later something may just have developed. This year, all I’m feeling is a need to have my heart filled with God’s word. I’ve been thrilled to see how many of you are getting on board with the One Year Bible plan, but it’s not enough for us to skim the surface, reading for consumption rather than letting ourselves be consumed. We need to commit Scripture to memory so it ends up running through our veins, coloring our perspective, correcting and forming us.
In a world where all information seems to be a few swipes away, the idea of learning anything by heart is rather foreign. Why bother memorizing Scripture when I can just Google it? For one thing, because Googling “Bible verses when you’re sad” might not help much. For another, because it might not occur to you that you need a Bible verse, but if they’re already swirling about in your subconscious, they might surface just when you need them.
I was leading a high school girls’ retreat the other day and was given the task of putting together some different prayer experiences for the girls. These had to be self-guided, which ruled out my usual Ignatian Meditation and Lectio options. I was stumped, but the Holy Spirit got to working and I wanted to share some of the results with y’all. So carve out 20 minutes, grab a piece of paper to write your answers down (if you want) and a Bible, and get to praying.1
God’s Love in Scripture
How would you describe yourself?
How do you think God sees you?
Look up Isaiah 43:4, Song of Songs 4:7, Isaiah 44:2, and Song of Songs 2:2. How does God describe you in these verses?
How would you describe your relationship with God?
How do you imagine God? What image best describes your relationship? (Father, judge, friend, etc….)
Read Isaiah 49:13-16, Hosea 2:21-22, Isaiah 54:10, and Isaiah 62:4-5. How does God describe his relationship with you?
How has God shown his love for his people? (Deuteronomy 10:14-15, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Luke 15, John 14:18)
How have you seen God’s love in specific ways in your life?
Gentlemen, this exercise might not resonate as much with you–or maybe it will. Give it a shot, but don’t be too discouraged if it’s not your thing. [↩]
I answer a lot of the same questions when I speak: Where do you shower? How do you get money? How did you decide to do this? And I don’t mind answering them, but sometimes I get really good questions that make me stop and think. A recent one was my favorite parable.1 So I got to thinking about some of my other favorites and thought I’d share them with y’all.
Now, I’m a rather indecisive person, so these are all subject to change. And some of them really might only be my favorite today and never again. But as of right now, here are my favorites:
Parable: The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7). He never stops searching for you, no matter what you’ve done. What a God, to love us so desperately and rejoice so passionately at our return.
Gospel: John. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”2 “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”3 “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, do not sin any more.”4 “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage: I have conquered the world.”5 “And Jesus wept.”6 “For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.”7
Psalm: 20 (Grail translation)
May the Lord answer in time of trial;
may the name of Jacob’s God protect you.
May he send you help from his shrine
and give you support from Sion.
May he remember all your offerings
and receive your sacrifice with favor.
May he give you your heart’s desire
and fulfill every one of your plans.
May he ring out our joy at your victory
and rejoice in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your prayers.
I am sure now that the Lord
will give victory to his anointed,
will reply from his holy heaven
with the mighty victory of his hand.
Some trust in chariots or horses,
but we in the name of the Lord.
They will collapse and fall,
but we shall stand and hold firm.
Give victory to the king, O Lord,
give answer on the day we call
Sometimes, to memorize Bible passages, I set them to music. This one happens to be recorded on my computer, so if you promise not to be annoyed by the metronome in the background, you can listen in:
Book of the Bible: Isaiah. “The virgin shall be with child and bear a son and call his name Emmanuel.”8 “You are precious in my sight, you are beautiful, and I love you.”9 “Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken my love will never leave you.”10 “Can a mother forget her children? Be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name.”11 “You shall be called ‘my delight’ and your land ‘espoused,’ for the Lord delights in you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your builder shall marry you. And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you.”12
And yes, those are all set to music in my head.
Bible Story: Jonah. I love what a drama queen he is. I love how he runs from God. I love how grudgingly he does God’s will. I love the fit he pitches after God works miracles through his reluctant obedience. I just really identify with him, I guess. Also, Moses and the buts, Elijah’s still small voice,13 and the sacrifice of Isaac.14
Gospel Story: The Anointing at Bethany (Mt 26:6-13). Scholars think that the oil she used on Jesus was her dowry. She kept nothing back, offering her past, her present, and her future in her desperate longing to be close to Christ. If only.
Place on Earth: Assisi. Have you been? Go! It can get crowded around feast days, but when it’s quiet, there’s a spirit of prayer that permeates the place. I love Rome, too, but Assisi makes it more possible to submerge yourself in the sacred without being dragged out by Vespas and lingerie ads. Do make sure you get to pray before the relics of St. Clare. She can be easy to miss in the hype surrounding Francis, but that spot before her body has been one of the most important places in my life.
Place in the Holy Land: the synagogue at Capernaum. You wouldn’t think it, given that I’m pretty much a professional Catholic, but I’m quite a skeptic. So visiting the Holy Land was hard for me–there’s just not a lot of evidence for the claims that this is the exact spot where Jesus died or this is the spot where Mary met Elizabeth. Since it doesn’t really matter, I didn’t much mind, but it did get frustrating, waiting in line for half an hour to see a place where Jesus maybe was 2000 years ago when I could walk right in to the chapel where he is right now. But Capernaum is definitely the Capernaum. It’s in the right spot and it’s even labeled. And while they like to tell you “This is Simon Peter’s house” or “This is where Jesus healed whoever,” eventually you get to the synagogue, which is the ruins of a first century synagogue. The only synagogue in the village, it’s pretty clear that it’s the synagogue from John 6. And the synagogue in John 6 is where Jesus gave the Bread of Life Discourse. Intense.
Saint: Josephine Bakhita. Okay, this is really hard. St. Damien and St. Catherine of Alexandria are my standard answers. I also love Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila, Edmund Campion, Margaret of Castello, John the Beloved, and about a hundred others. But yesterday was Josephine’s feast day and she wanted to be a Sister so bad that she fought her “owners” all the way to the Italian courts for her freedom and then said that she thanked God that she had been sold into slavery because that’s how she came to know Christ. And then she lived the rest of her life in mundane religious obscurity. Yeah.
Hymn: Come Thou Fount.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Yes.
Praise Song: How He Loves.
The lyrics are just exactly what my heart needs to be reminded of: how he loves me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7CQ96uohcM
The Annunciation by Carl Bloch
Feast Day: The Annunciation (March 25th) This is where it all began. Mary’s yes brought about God made man. In being incarnate at the Annunciation, God the Son consented to 33 years of poverty, ignominy, and rejection, culminating in betrayal, torture, shame and death. The Annunciation holds the promise of Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter, and all because one girl was willing to do God’s will. What a day.
Book: On Being Catholic by Thomas Howard. It’s an intellectual’s love letter to the Church. Howard has an impressive vocabulary–so much so that I read it with a dictionary–but he’s not showing off. There’s a richness in here that you don’t encounter in a lot of modern writing. Just go read it.
Liturgical Season: the Triduum. I kind of feel like it’s cheating to pick such a short and hardcore season, but it’s technically a season and it’s awesome. Tenebrae and the silence at the end of Holy Thursday and the empty tabernacle and the Seven Last Words and stations and priests prostrating and the darkened church and the seven first readings and the Gloria and the lilies and the Alleluia and the bells and the lights and the feasting! I always end the Triduum exhausted, even when I’ve been on retreat. It just makes my heart so tired–and so full.
Sacrament: the Eucharist. I feel as though I ought to pick Baptism since Baptism saves you and is necessary15 for salvation. And then I feel as though I should pick Confession since everything good in my life is the direct result of one good confession in 1997. But, oh, friends, the Eucharist! Jesus Christ in the flesh, holding nothing back, stopping at nothing to be close to you, desperate for you. Source and summit, “the center of existence” (Flannery O’Connor), “the one great thing to love on earth” (Tolkien).
Thing about being Catholic: Ditto. Also, the fullness of truth. Obviously, it’s the Eucharist. But a very close second is the confidence I have in the truth of Catholic doctrine, the knowledge that there is an answer to every question I have. It’s a truth steeped in theology, inviting questions and searching and hours of meditation, but the truth is there for the embracing. What a gift this Church is!
Okay, it’s on you. Tell me some of your favorites! Answer them all or just pick out the ones you can decide on. And feel free to throw a few new categories in there–I may even get around to adding them!
Yeah, he was a Protestant. Catholics don’t generally ask about the Bible. Sigh. [↩]
I tend to babble about how much I love the Bible. Then I take out my Bible and introduce people to it like it’s a friend. Once we get past the weird looks I get for introducing them to an inanimate object, I often have to deal with this question:
“Don’t you think the Bible’s kind of boring?”
That’s me dressed as Captain of Team Catholic. I even have a gold cape with Bible verses puffy painted on it! You totally wish you were my friend.1
To which I’m obviously supposed to respond, “Ohmigosh no it’s like so interesting and fun and beautiful all the time!!” like the Jesus cheerleader that I am. But I’m too honest for that.
“Absolutely,” I say. I wait for them to look scandalized, then I go on. “It’s hard and it’s weird and parts of it are quite dull. But when I can’t find the beauty in Scripture, it’s not because it’s not there. It’s because I’m not looking hard enough. I’m not open and I’m not ready. So I don’t move on to another book; I sit with this one and immerse myself in it until I do find the beauty.”
Scripture can be very daunting and if you just fly through it trying to find something to stitch on a sampler, you’ll come out the other side with a whole lot of clichés and an unchanged heart. But if you really take time with a passage, trying to enter in, you may find that those platitudes you’ve heard your whole life are rather revolutionary.
One approach to Scripture that calls us to work through the text in a very intentional way is lectio divina (divine reading), an ancient form of prayer in which we ruminate on the text in order to encounter God. Cows are ruminant animals–they chew the cud, working through it again and again to get every ounce of nourishment out of it. When we ruminate on a text, we work through it over and over again in order to get everything the Lord has for us out of his Word. Rather than churning through a passage so we can move on with our day, a fast food approach, we treat it like the feast that it is. We soak in the Word, reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating.
Sometimes you’ll sit down with a passage in mind to meditate on; other times you’ll want to do lectio and you’ll flip through your Bible for a highlighted passage (another reason to get a beat-up Bible); my favorite experiences of lectio come when I’m just reading and the Spirit calls my attention to a particular passage, when I was just trying to get through my daily reading and God stopped me in my tracks to speak to me.
The more you pray through lectio divina, the more you’ll find that the steps don’t necessarily have to come in order. You’ll read a passage and suddenly find yourself speaking to the Lord in response or be transported to a wordless prayer, an encounter with Christ.
To begin with, though, it’s good to work through the steps in order, to start experiencing Scripture in an intimate way. I thought I’d take a few minutes to walk you through lectio divina, especially as it can be done in a group or with a journal. This form of prayer works really well in a group, with reflections being spoken aloud. That way, you hear different translations of Scripture and are exposed to the many different meanings God’s Word can have in people’s lives. If you don’t have a group to do this with, try journaling instead. Write the passage you’re using, then write your reflection on each step.
To give you a feel for it, I’ll explain the steps and then give examples. We’ll use Ephesians 3:19-21 (part of Thursday’s first reading):
Know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Before each step, you’ll take turns reading the passage slowly, then pausing for a bit to digest. I find that reading 3 or 4 times with 20 to 30 seconds in between is thoughtful but not painfully slow.
Lectio–Reading
The first step of Lectio Divina involves prayerful reading. You’ll chew through a few verses over and over, allowing the text to speak to you. You may find that certain phrases jump out at you, that you want to sit with those phrases and repeat them. That’s the idea of this first step–to allow yourself to be drawn to a particular line.
If you’re doing this in a group, each person will go around (after the group has read the text aloud a few times) and say a phrase from the text that strikes him. For example:
“Know the love of Christ.”
“Far more than all we ask or imagine.”
“The fullness of God.”
“Know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.”
“Who is able.”
These can be two words or a whole sentence, and you’re not committing to focusing on this phrase for your whole meditation. I find that I often meditate on one section during the first step, then hear someone point out a part I hadn’t noticed and switch to that portion for the rest of my meditation.
Meditatio–Meditation
During this second step, you’re interpreting the text. You’re looking for the meaning in the passage or the phrase you’ve been drawn to. This isn’t always going to be the meaning that’s obvious and universal; instead, it’s often connected more immediately to your life.
Your reflection here will be one or two sentences in the first or third person–talking about God and yourself, not yet to God. For example:
I keep trying to prove Christ and to be certain of my love for him, but there’s something beyond the intellectual when it comes to my relationship with him. I have to be at peace with that element of faith.
I don’t know how to trust God.
God’s miracles don’t just come in calmed storms and corpses raised. Sometimes his power works through our weakness to do greater things than we could ever have expected.
I’m empty without God.
Don’t worry if you’re not poetic. The idea here is not to sound impressive but to be real.
Oratio–Prayer
This third step is our response to God’s Word. We speak to him in prayer (now using the second person as well) and respond to what we’ve learned from the text.
If you’re praying with a group, this will be a sentence or two addressed to God. Something like:
Lord, help me to see that all the good I do is a gift of your grace. May I always praise you and live in humble acceptance of your gifts.
Father, I want to know your love.
Jesus, empty me of myself and work in me, through me, for the sake of the kingdom. Free me from everything that is not of you so that I can be a vessel of your grace, bringing your light into the world.
God, you are so good.
Some people are really uncomfortable praying out loud. Remember that beautiful prayer can be really simple. Besides, anyone who’s judging you for not being clever when you’re praying isn’t someone whose good opinion should matter. So pray away and don’t worry about other people–if they’re doing this with you, I’m pretty sure they weren’t judging you anyway.
Contemplatio–Contemplation
This final step is contemplation, often described as wordless prayer. The idea is that you reach a depth of reflection on God’s Word that surpasses anything you can really put into words. it’s more of a feeling or a conviction than it is a thought. Ironically, for the purpose of this exercise, we now have to put it into words.
So in this final step, you’ll use just one word to describe what your lectio has left you with, This isn’t necessarily a word from the text and it can be any part of speech.2 Here are some possibilities:
Humbled.
Glory.
Full.
Challenge.
Your word doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. You’re doing this in a group because it can help keep you accountable or give you different insights, not because you’re trying to look awesome.
After you’ve gone through the four steps, close in prayer. If you’re in a group, discuss your experience of the text and how it changed as you meditated on it, If you’re alone, try journaling about your prayer time.
As you work through a passage, you’ll notice that it has layers and layers of meaning. What seemed to be a straightforward commentary on wealth can become a passage on discernment or devotion or pornography or trust, depending on what the Spirit has in mind for you. This is particularly clear when you pray with a group and hear two people with opposite interpretations who are really both right. This is why Scripture has been enough to satisfy the Church for two thousand years, why I still read with a highlighter on my eleventh time through. The more you plumb the depths of Scripture, the more you begin to realize how right Pope Gregory the Great was:
“Scripture is like a river, broad and deep, shallow enough here for the lamb to go wading, but deep enough there for the elephant to swim.”
Your challenge this week is to try this form of prayer and report back. I’d love to hear about it!
I think I’m standing between Superman and…a Jonas brother? It was a spirit day at school, but in retrospect, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. [↩]
Is my grammar nerdiness coming out enough here? All this talk of first person verbs and parts of speech. Sorry. [↩]
Six years later, it may be time to rebind again. When the binding breaks apart completely, it’s the beginning of the end.
When I was a first year teacher, years of use (and abuse at the bottom of my backpack) caught up with my Bible. The first part to fall out was James.1 Over the next few months, it reached the point where I was keeping my Bible in a Ziploc bag. So I bit the bullet and sent it away to be rebound. I was seriously lost without it.
When it came back, I was so excited, I ran into class and shouted, “Guys! Guess what!!!”
“You got engaged!” one of them guessed. Yup, I was so excited to have my Bible back, I looked like a radiant bride. That might be nerdier than it is holy….
But I think it says something that literally the only thing I’d be devastated to lose in a fire would be my Bible.
This page in Luke was only mostly detached before I went to take the picture. The things I do for you people!
I mean, not to be weird or anything, but I love my Bible. Okay, yeah, I love the Bible, but I really particularly love my Bible. It has all my highlighting and notes (even the really embarrassing stuff like, “Worms, I hate worms” and highlighting 3 straight pages in puke green from when I was 13). I might not remember exactly what a verse says, but I know it’s highlighted on the right-hand page in the left column towards the top in an epistle that has a lot of footnotes on the page. Give me 5 minutes and I can find it–usually faster than I can google it because I often can’t remember more than the feeling it gives me.
I started reading the Bible when I was 13. The weekend I was converted (praise God!), I decided that if I was going to do this Jesus thing, I was really going to do it. I was going to read the whole Bible.
There’s my tally down at the bottom. Do you love my second grade magic marker handwriting on the dedication page?
It took me five and a half years.
It was tough going, largely because I read straight through and got stuck in Leviticus for maybe a year and a half. But during that time I developed a relationship with my Bible. I began to find meaning in what had seemed irrelevant or dull. I “discovered” connections between the Old and New Testaments that seemed to make sense of everything. I started taking my Bible with me everywhere–just in case. I bought (okay, fine, buy) purses only if they’re big enough to fit my Bible. Eventually, I started reading it through once a year.
I’m a 28-year-old Catholic and I’ve read the Bible ten times.
Maybe I don’t love books as much as John Paul does. Nobody loves books as much as this kid.
Now, this is not due to some great virtue of mine. I just really love books. So much so that it’s currently past midnight and I have to be up at 8, but I know I’ll still read for at least an hour after I put the computer away. So I realize that I’ve definitely got an advantage when it comes to loving the Bible. But I think Catholics especially forget how important this book is. Because we’ve got so much richness to our faith outside the Bible, we often (as individuals, not as a Church) ignore the Word of God.
We can’t do this! Forget the fact that you’ll never get anywhere with a Protestant if you don’t know the Bible, this is the WORD of GOD!! It’s meant to be studied and memorized and loved and lived. After the Sacraments, there is nothing more important to the life of a Christian. So here are some tips for those of you whose Bibles are in mint condition:
Read the whole thing–eventually. I think every Christian should read the Bible at least once.I really recommend the one year option above if you’ve got the dedication and the time (almost always less than 20 minutes a day). It breaks up the boring parts (and there are a lot of boring parts, especially when you’re a Bible beginner) with Psalms and Gospel passages. Plus, I’ve known very few people who manage to push through if they’re just going Genesis to Revelation.
Start with the fun stuff. Most people really aren’t up for 2 Chronicles or Ezekiel when they’re newbies. So ease into it. Try reading a chapter a day from the Gospels. Or get a broader view by reading in this order: Luke, 1 John, John, Philippians, Matthew, Isaiah (maybe starting at chapter 40–that’s where it gets good), Mark, Genesis, 1 Corinthians, 1+2 Samuel, Romans, Deuteronomy, and go from there. It’s not a logical order by any means, but I think those books are interesting enough to get you acclimated before you dive into Ezekiel and the like.
Study the liturgical readings. Take some time with the readings before Mass every day or spend the whole week looking at Sunday’s. Try to figure out how they connect or imagine what you’d preach on. It’ll transform the liturgy for you, too.
Memorize. My life has been absolutely transformed by the memorization of Scripture. When I find a passage that speaks to me, I generally make up a tune for it and sing it over and over until it sticks. Then when I need it, the song pops into my head. This has the further benefits of making the Mass come alive when I hear a passage I’ve memorized and really impressing people when I can quote a whole chapter from memory.
Mark it up. Don’t be afraid to write in a holy book! I spent a few years reading but not highlighting or taking notes, and while that means I have fewer embarrassing things in there, I also have less to show how God has blessed me through his Word. Marking up your Bible doesn’t just help you find stuff later, it also reminds you how you’ve grown and draws you deeper. I add quotations from Saints, point to other passages, or pencil in my own observations–in a lot of ways, my Bible is almost a journal for me. I’ve read the Gospels more than 20 times, but I still read with a pen in hand. As St. Gregory the Great said, “Scripture is like a river . . . broad and deep, shallow enough here for the lamb to go wading, but deep enough there for the elephant to swim.” I will never exhaust the depths of Scripture and marking it keeps me mindful of that.
Just read it!! Play Bible Roulette (flip and point), read a Psalm every day, find a Scriptural devotional, follow a daily verse on Twitter, pick a verse to meditate on throughout the day, check out Pinterest Bible boards, or walk down the beach reading people’s tattoos.2 But do something to make sure you’re in Scripture every day and let it transform you. As St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”
At the end of my life, I want to take a lot of laugh lines, a heart broken and remade over and over again, and a beat up Bible before the throne of God. Join me?
PS Anybody know a good book rebinder? I’m not sure how many times you can rebind a book, but I think I need it to last longer than 6 years if I’m going to hang on to this Bible for a lifetime.
I actually discerned whether I ought to be Protestant, James being a book Luther particularly disliked. I tend to read too much into things. [↩]
I once had a student who was a Chinese national who had a Bible verse (part of 1 Pt 4:8) tattooed on his back. I commented on how much I liked it and he told me–in very broken English–that he didn’t know what it said and didn’t realize it was form the Bible. I guess it’s like when Americans think they’re getting “loyalty” or “family” tattooed on their shoulders when really it says “pork fried rice.” [↩]
Catholics go to Notre Dame (the university) the way they go to Rome: it’s like a pilgrimage. When friends are going to Rome, they ask me where I want them to pray for me. When friends visit Notre Dame, especially for the first time, they ask if there’s any place I want them to visit for me.
The correct answers, of course, would be the Grotto, the Stadium, and maybe the Basilica. Or quarter dogs at LaFun. Lovely places, all. But I give very specific directions to my favorite spot.
“Okay, so go to God Quad–that’s the one with the dome on it. Get really close to the Main Building and look up at Mary. Then turn around and walk back to the statue of Jesus with his arms open wide, facing Our Lady at the top of the dome. The one that says ‘Venite ad me omnes.’ That’s my favorite place. Pray for me there.
Students call it “Jump, Mom, I’ll Catch You!”
I’ve been drawn to this statue since I first set foot on campus more than ten years ago. I’ve sat in front of it praying at all hours. Once, in a time of desperation, I actually hopped up on the wall that encircles the statue and paced around it for the duration of at least one rosary. When I’m in Northern Indiana and need comfort, this is my spot. I’ll gladly skip the grotto and I haven’t been to the stadium in years but I always take the time to run to the open arms of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and hear him say, “Venite ad me omnes.”
Am I a bad person if I find this kind of creepy?
I’ve never had much of a devotion to the Sacred Heart per se. See, when I picture the Sacred Heart, I picture a rosy-cheeked Jesus performing feats of anatomical impossibility, exposing his heart without even breaking open his ribcage. Or maybe some saccharine, jaundiced guy with an oddly heart-shaped heart that glows and shows through his transparent chest and shirt. Or maybe it’s just a sticker. In any event, the traditional images have never really done it for me.
But devotion to the Sacred Heart has nothing to do with all those pictures, or even with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, although she was a pretty big deal. Loving the Sacred Heart of Jesus means loving being loved. That’s why I’m so drawn to that statue: because it’s Jesus begging to love me. His heart is ablaze with love for us and crowned with thorns because he has suffered so much out of love for us. That’s what the devotion is really about: being caught up in the love of Jesus, whose arms are open and whose heart is crying out:
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light. -Mt 11:28-30
I’m loving this song by Jamie Grace, inspired by this passage (which is one of my very favorites):
I’ll save further discussion of how being a Christian is not all sweetness and light for another day. Suffice it to say that it seems to me that the promise of this verse is that your heart will be at rest when you learn to be meek and humble. Because the less awful you are, the more you find rest from guilt and shame and anxiety and fear and all the other nonsense that was attached to that stinking apple.
Today, though, as we celebrate Christ’s heart bleeding for love of you, can we just let him love us? Just revel in the promise of love in that bleeding heart? Because the heart of Jesus is calling to you, begging you to know that, in the words of my incredible friend Jamie, you are a “totally accepted, deeply loved child of God…created, chosen, adopted by [your] Father.”1
One day in class, I was going on and on about how much Jesus loves us. I’m kind of a broken record on that topic. I’m sure it gets annoying. Anyway, a kid piped up with a skeptical look on her face. “Ms. H-K,” she said. “How do you know Jesus loves you?” It was funny, because that question’s usually earnest and coming from a place of brokenness and a desire for deep relationship with Christ. This time it just sounded belligerent.
“Oh, honey!” I stuttered, rather taken aback. “Well, it’s all over Scripture!” Whether or not you believe in the Bible is an issue for another day (although if you want an answer NOW, you can watch the first video on this page for an explanation2), but the love of God is everywhere in that book. From Genesis, where the whole universe is created for the joy of man and woman, to Revelation, a description of Christ’s wedding to his radiant bride, the Bible is a love letter to all of humanity and to each person.
I spent this whole day trying and trying and trying to write something beautiful about how much God loves you but it all just sounded like a cliché. Because what’s I’ve got in my head is the Word of God and nothing I say matches up. Turns out the Holy Spirit is way better at everything than I am, most especially writing. So here’s what I’ve got for you:
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start. I actually put it together for the girl who asked how I knew God loved me and I keep a copy in my Bible for inspiration in prayer.
So basically this post is a long introduction to somebody else’s words. Accuse me of plagiarism if you want, but it’s all I’ve got. Maybe after I get some good time with Jesus I’ll have something profound to say, but so far today, my deepest theological moment went like this:
Cecilia: Biwd!
Me: Yes, Cecilia, that’s the Holy Spirit.
Cecilia: (angrily) Biwd!
Me: Yes, sweetheart, it’s a bird and it’s an image of the Holy Spirit.
Cecilia: (more angrily) BIWD! TWEET TWEET!
Me: Can you say Holy Spirit?
Cecilia: (defiant) NO.
Me: Well, okay. But that’s the Holy Spirit.
Cecilia: Biwd. Eagow (eagle). Biwd.
So I might not be in the right place to reflect on the love pouring from the bleeding heart of Christ, but I didn’t want to miss the Solemnity. Consider this an IOU.
P.S. Take some time in prayer today to read this, a letter composed of Bible verses about God’s love for you. You’ll be glad you did.
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If you want to listen to the song–and you do–click here and scroll down to find the song “I Am.” [↩]
Please spend some time first admiring the really pretty face that somehow is the image for the video. I look like I’m about to vomit. [↩]
I have to tell you, though, the thing that most struck me was how this devotional is written for every Catholic woman–not every married Catholic mom of little ones, as often seems the case, but every Catholic woman, whatever her vocation or stage of life. Different days focus on different issues, but the authors are so deliberate about including childless women that they even use the phrase “if there is a child in your life” rather than assuming that their readers all have children. The first time I read that, I gasped–it was such a gentle affirmation of my existence, something that often seems missing in ministries directed to Catholic women. But Take Up & Read (the ministry behind this devotional) seems particularly aware of the many ways women are told they aren’t enough, and the gentle tone that pervades this devotional is so encouraging that I would expect nothing less.
