Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne
Praying the Word or Lectio Divina
Lectio divina (“holy reading”) is a Latin expression that refers to a method of prayer developed by the Church Fathers, inspired by the Jewish model. It is an exercise in spiritual reading.
The relationship with the Bible, as with the living Word of God given to humankind, is rooted in the most ancient Jewish tradition, as evidenced by the very writing of the Old Testament: the Word of God is given within the history of the people of Israel. Transmitted by the prophets and committed to writing to endure through the ages, it allows the people to reread their history in the light of revelation.
Lectio Divina and the Popes
Saint John Paul II
It is by listening to the word of the Lord that man can live in dignity and justice; it is by observing God's Law that man can bear the fruits of life and happiness: "Whoever keeps it will live, whoever forsakes it will die" (Baruch 4:1). The history of Israel shows that it is difficult to remain faithful to the law of life, which God has inscribed in the heart of man and which he gave on Mount Sinai to the people of
The Covenant. Faced with the search for life projects other than God's plan, the Prophets, in particular, forcefully remind us that only the Lord is the true source of life. Jeremiah writes: “My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (2:13)
The Gospel of Life
Benedict XVI
Dear young people! (…) The theme I propose for your meditation is a verse from Psalm 118 [119]: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (v. 105). The beloved John Paul II commented on these words of the Psalm in this way: “Those who pray pour out praises on the Law of God, which they take as a lamp for their feet on the often dark path of life.” 1
God reveals himself in history; he speaks to humanity, and his Word is creative. Indeed, the Hebrew concept "dabar," usually translated as "word," signifies both word and deed. God says what he does and does what he says. In the Old Testament, he announces to the children of Israel the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of a "new" covenant; in the Word made flesh, he fulfills his promises. The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly emphasizes this: "Christ, the Son of God made man, is the unique, perfect, and unsurpassable Word of the Father. In him he says everything, and there will be no other word than this" (n. 65).
1.(General Audience of November 14, 2001: La Documentation catholique 98 [2001], p.1069).
François
Scripture was given to us to overcome forgetfulness of God. It is so important to remember it when we pray, as a Psalm teaches us: “I remember the deeds of the Lord; I recall your wonders of old” (76:12). This also applies to the wonders and miracles that the Lord has performed in our own lives.
It is essential to remember the good we have received: without remembering it, we become strangers to ourselves, mere passersby in existence; without memory, we uproot ourselves from the soil that nourishes us and let ourselves be carried away like leaves by the wind. Remembering, on the contrary, is to reconnect with stronger bonds, to be part of a history, to breathe with a people. Memory is not a private matter; it is the life that unites us to God and to others. For this reason, in the Bible, the memory of the Lord will be passed down from generation to generation, recounted from father to son, as this beautiful passage says: “Tomorrow, when your son asks you, ‘What are these decrees, laws, and ordinances that the Lord our God commanded you?’ then you shall tell your son, ‘We were slaves—all our days of slavery—and before our very eyes the Lord performed signs and wonders’” (Deuteronomy 6:20-22). You will pass on the memory to your son.