In his Lenten message for this year, Pope Francis aptly writes: “The word of God is alive and powerful, capable of converting hearts and leading them back to God.” (No. 3).
The Word of God is a powerful catalyst for our conversion in the way we think, speak and act. Hence, when we neglect to read it prayerfully, how can we then presume to grow spiritually? Without the Word of God as the basis of our life in the Holy Spirit, how can our Christian life bear “much fruit”? (John 12:24).
How divinely inspired is the advice given by Pope St Gregory the Great to his friend Theodore, physician to the Emperor, inserted in a letter dated June 595. This timeless advice by St Gregory is the following:
“See, my most noble and beloved son, how we are distant from one another in body, yet intimately present to each other in love. To prove that, I have your letter before me, and the testimony of all your good works. Now I must presume on this mutual love of ours to say something to you which I think you need to hear. God the Holy Trinity has given you so many gifts: intelligence, wealth, compassion, and charity. Because of them, you find yourself incessantly occupied with multiple duties and cares; and with that excuse you neglect your daily reading of the words of your Redeemer. But what is holy Scripture other than a letter sent by Almighty God to those he has created? Imagine if the Emperor had sent you a personal letter! No matter where you were or what you were doing, you would make it a priority to find out what he wanted to say to you. Well: the Emperor of heaven, the Lord of angels and of men has sent you these letters in order that you might draw life from them: yet you fail to make the effort even to read them! Study and meditate on your Creator’s words every day, I beg you! Learn the heart of God from the words of God, so that you may long more ardently for eternity; so that you may be ever more inflamed with desire for the joys of Heaven. Your rest there will be all the greater, the more you have refused to rest from loving your Creator here and now”.
Lectio divina, literally meaning ‘divine reading’, is a way of reading the Bible in order to abandon our life’s agenda and humbly open our hearts to what the Lord wants to communicate to us. The four traditionally familiar steps of lectio divina are the subsequent: (1) lectio, when we read the text attentively; (2) meditatio, when we chew over the given text again and again until we start savouring it; (3) oratio, spontaneously putting into prayers the inner stirrings of the Spirit as we meditate on theWord; (4) contemplatio, when we let the same life-giving Spirit carry us into God’s peace, wisdom, mercy and love; and (5) actio, when we live the Word in our lives. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation concerning the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church, Verbum Domini: “We do well also to remember that the process of lectio divina is not concluded until it arrives at action (actio), which moves the believer to make his or her life a gift for others in charity” (No. 87).
In order to help you and me make our lives a gift for others through charity, thanks to the powerful guidance of God’s Word,the Franciscan Capuchins are organising five Lectio Divina Lenten celebrations at their Holy Cross Church in Floriana. The celebrations will be on every Thursday from 2 to 30 March, from 4 pm to 5 pm. The lectio divina meditation is being led by the eminent local biblical scholar Fr Martin Micallef OFM Cap.
The Franciscan Capuchins have also had the inspiration of inviting some parish churches to be directly involved in the lectio divina celebrations. These are St Helen’s, Birkirkara; St Joseph’s, Birkirkara; St Sebastian’s, Qormi; St Publius, Floriana and Christ the King, Paola.
Most of all, the Franciscan Capuchins are joyously inviting you to come and “taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps 34:8), through the lectio divina. Have a go at it!
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap