{"id":10432,"date":"2011-08-23T11:48:30","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T15:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thebloggingmonk\/?p=10432"},"modified":"2012-03-05T18:45:21","modified_gmt":"2012-03-05T23:45:21","slug":"lectio-divina-entering-into-loving-encounter-with-our-living-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/2011\/08\/lectio-divina-entering-into-loving-encounter-with-our-living-lord.html","title":{"rendered":"Lectio divina: Entering into Loving Encounter with Our Living Lord"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Idleness is the enemy of the soul; and therefore the brethren ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times, at others, in devout reading \u2026 On Sunday also let all devote themselves to reading, except those who are appointed to the various functions. But if anyone should be so careless and slothful that he will not or cannot meditate or read, let some work be given him to do, that he may not be idle.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 48)<\/p>\n

In the Rule of Saint Benedict, the beloved Father of Western Monasticism emphasizes the importance of daily lectio divina<\/em>, or sacred reading, as a primary means of growing in deeper intimacy with the Lord of Sacred Scripture.\u00a0 Sunday is a day even more particularly devoted to such a practice, for Sunday is the great holy day when we as Christian faithful should seek to encounter the face of God most of all in our Sabbath rest.\u00a0 God calls us to preserve the Sabbath as holy, a time when we seek to grow closer to God in communion with the Christian faithful, especially with our families and other loved ones whom we hold dear to our hearts.<\/p>\n

Lectio divina<\/em> is a slow, prayerfully meditative reading of the Bible, in a relaxed manner over a significant period of time (at least 30 minutes), in a place that is free from any distractions with the goal of growing more intimately close to our Lord through his Word.\u00a0 Praying through lectio divina is especially powerful in front of the Blessed Sacrament, where also we may encounter our Lord Jesus in his inestimable Love.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It is worth examining a selection of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s statements concerning this ancient monastic practice, which is said to have originated with Saint Benedict in the 5th century and Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the late 6th century, founded upon earlier Hebrew and Greek practices.\u00a0 Pope Benedict XVI has spent considerable time over the course of his pontificate catechizing the Christian faithful on the practice of lectio divina, even leading the people of God in such practice in select audiences over the past few years.<\/p>\n

In his message to the youth of the world \u201cOn the Occasion of the 21st World Youth Day\u201d (9 April 2006), our Holy Father urges the young to \u201cbecome familiar with the Bible, and to have it at hand so that it can be your compass pointing out the road to follow.\u00a0 By reading it, you will know Christ.\u00a0 Note what Saint Jerome said in this regard: \u2018Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Benedict XVI highlights that lectio divina<\/em> embraces a spiritual journey composed of four stages:\u00a0 Lectio<\/em>, which is \u201creading and rereading a passage from Sacred Scripture and taking in the main elements\u201d; Meditatio<\/em>, a \u201cmoment of interior reflection in which the soul turns to God and tried to understand what his Word is saying to us today\u201d; Oratio<\/em>, when we \u201clinger to talk with God directly\u201d in direct dialogue with God; and finally Contemplatio<\/em>, which \u201chelps us to keep our hearts attentive to the presence of Christ\u201d in silent contemplation.\u00a0 In this manner, our Holy Father emphasizes, \u201creading, study and meditation of the Word should then flow into a life of consistent fidelity to Christ and his teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In his address to participants of\u00a0 the international congress organized to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation \u2018Dei Verbum\u2019<\/em> (16 September 2005), Pope Benedict shares that such \u201cdiligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart (cf. Dei Verbum 25).\u00a0 The beloved Pontiff then enunciates with great enthusiasm, \u201cIf it is effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church \u2013 I am convinced of it \u2013 a new spiritual springtime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone who has read Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s first two volumes of Jesus of Nazareth notices immediately that our Holy Father \u201cdoes not only talk the talk, but he walks the walk\u201d when it comes to practicing lectio divina.\u00a0 Both books are evidence of the immense fruit that transpires when meditating carefully on God\u2019s divine Word.\u00a0 These volumes comprise profound meditations on the Jesus of Sacred Scripture, in a living encounter where Pope Benedict succeeds in helping us to accompany him as he makes his personal search \u201cfor the face of the Lord\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the first volume of Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy Father introduces to us to the use of canonical exegesis that, working hand in hand with the historical-critical method of examining Scripture, allows the words of the Bible open up to us as relevant in our modern day.\u00a0 We see that Jesus Christ is the \u201ckey to the whole\u201d and learn from him \u201chow to understand the Bible as a unity, presuppos[ing] a prior act of faith\u201d.\u00a0 In canonical exegesis, we \u201cread \u2026 the individual texts of the Bible in the context of the whole\u201d, carrying forth historical-critical interpretation in an organic manner \u201ctoward becoming theology in the proper sense\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In historical-critical interpretation, what is sought concerns the \u201cprecise sense the words were intended to convey at their time and place of origin\u201d, but certainly the Word has deeper value than simply for that time and place through the course of our faith history.\u00a0 Benedict XVI elaborates: \u201cThe Scripture emerged from within the heart of a living subject \u2013 the pilgrim people of God \u2013 and lives within this same subject\u201d (xix-xx).\u00a0 It is such methodology that guides our Holy Father in his interpretation of Jesus in the New Testament, a form of examination that trusts the Gospels that \u201cthe Jesus of the Gospels \u2026 is a historically plausible and convincing figure\u201d (xxii).<\/p>\n

Pope Benedict\u2019s approach finds deeper root in his earlier role as President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission when it released its landmark document in 1993 guiding the Christian faithful in its understanding Sacred Scripture, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church<\/a>.\u00a0 Then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger highlighted in his introduction to the document that \u201ceach age must in its own way newly seek to understand the sacred books\u201d, but in light of its being human word and God\u2019s Word together, \u201cin the singularity of historical events and the eternity of the everlasting Word, which is contemporary in every age\u201d.<\/p>\n

Within this same document, the Pontifical Biblical Commission highlights the importance of the canonical exegetical approach, which had originated in the 1970s out of concern that the historical-critical method at times experienced considerable difficulty arriving at truly theological conclusions.\u00a0 Consequently, it was determined that the theological work of interpreting Sacred Scripture would enjoy more success \u201cby beginning from within an explicit framework of faith: the Bible as a whole,\u201d interpreting each Biblical text in light of the entire Scriptural canon \u201cas received as the norm of faith by a community of believers\u201d in order \u201cto arrive at a presentation of Scripture truly valid for our time\u201d, thus compensating for the weaknesses discovered in the historical-critical method.<\/p>\n

The Pontifical Biblical Commission underscores a particularly important point for all Christians to keep in mind when seeking to interpret the meaning of Sacred Scripture: \u201cIt is the believing community that provides a truly adequate context for interpreting canonical texts.\u00a0 In this context, faith and the Holy Spirit enrich exegesis; Church authority, exercised as a service of the community, must see to it that this interpretation remains faithful to the great tradition which has produced the texts\u201d (cf. Dei Verbum<\/em> 10).<\/p>\n

In other words, in order to arrive at the most authentic interpretation of God\u2019s Word, we must guard against the error of reading our own personal interpretation into the Biblical text (known as eisegesis) when it clearly is not consistent with the traditional deposit of our Faith.\u00a0 The Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches maintain that the Bible can be understood correctly only through the lens of Holy Tradition as passed down through the centuries.<\/p>\n

May we ever seek to encounter our Lord more intimately through daily meditation upon His sacred Word, following the excellent example of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI as he testifies to his vibrant faith in the Jesus of Nazareth series.\u00a0 His third volume on the infancy narratives on Jesus couldn\u2019t come soon enough!\u00a0 May these precious works of faith lead us ever more intimately in communion with God, giving us many opportunities to encounter the face of the Lord in Christ Jesus many times over!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Idleness is the enemy of the soul; and therefore the brethren ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times, at others, in devout reading \u2026 On Sunday also let all devote themselves to reading, except those who are appointed to the various functions. 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Gregory Gresko is Chaplain of the new Blessed John Paul II Shrine in Washington D.C. In his new responsibilities, Fr. Gresko strives to integrate the charisms of Benedictine spirituality and life, emphasized beautifully in the current pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, with the Magisterial teachings of Blessed John Paul II to help set a firm course for today's Christians in their marriages, families, and religious lives. From 2000-2012, Fr. Gresko was a monk of Mary Mother of the Church Abbey in Richmond, Virginia. He earned his S.T.B. from the Pontificial Athenaeum of Sant'Anselmo (2005) in Rome and his S.T.L. magna cum laude in Marriage and Family Studies (2008) from the Pontifical Lateran University, John Paul II Institute (Vatican City). His S.T.L. dissertation was entitled, \"Educating to Love: Foundational Pedagogy in Light of Karol Wojtyla's Love and Responsibility\". Fr. Gregory is working on his doctoral dissertation for the same Vatican institute, on \"The Consecration of the Family to the Heart of Jesus in Light of the Pastoral Ministry of P\u00e8re Mateo Crawley-Boevey\".","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/author\/ggresko"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/385"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10432"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10507,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10432\/revisions\/10507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thebloggingmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}