Sharing Lectio Divina
Through the Year

What is Lectio Divina?

Lectio Divina (holy reading) is a traditional way of cultivating friendship with Christ. Fr. Thomas Keating, a noted proponent of Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer, says, "It is a way of listening to the texts of scripture as if we were in conversation with Christ and he were suggesting the topics of conversation. The daily encounter with Christ and reflection on his word leads beyond mere acquaintanceship to an attitude of friendship, trust and love. Conversation simplifies and gives way to communing, or as Gregory the Great (6th century), summarizing the Christian contemplative tradition, put it, 'resting in God.' This was the classical meaning of contemplative prayer for the first sixteen centuries." ("The Method of Centering Prayer", Thomas Keating, Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.)

Thus Lectio Divina is a type of contemplative prayer. Ordinarily Lectio can be prayed alone or in a group with a few simple steps.

1. Read the passage aloud.

2. Maintain a period of silence.

3. Say aloud one or two phrases from the passage that particularly strike you. In a group, you may repeat the same phrase someone else has spoken.

4. Read the passage aloud again.

5. Maintain a period of silence.

6. Speak one or two words from the text that are meaningful to you. Again, you may choose the same word(s) someone else has chosen.

7. Read the passage aloud one last time.

8. Reflect silently. Rest with the text. Let it seep into your being. Don't wrestle with it; accept it.

9. When you are ready, the group may choose to share what they have gleaned from the prayer text and reflection period.

Reflection Questions

· What part of the text is the hardest for you to accept? Why?

· What part of the text is easiest for you to accept? Why?

· How can you apply it to your life?

· What part of your reflection is God leading you to share with the Bridgefolk?

How will this work through e-mail?

So that we are all praying wth the same text, click her to find the current text from the NRSV translation. In your private prayer time or with a Bridgefolk group, if you can gather one, pray the passage according to the method given above. E-mail your (short) reflection to lectio@bridgefolk.net (Do not use "Reply".)

The reflections will be compiled. When several are available, the reflections will be e-mailed to the entire group.

We hope to pray with this passage for the next several weeks with the hope that reading others' reflections will contribute to your next prayer session with the text and that you will continue to share your reflections with the group after additional contemplative sessions with the text. You may, of course, pray and not choose to share your reflections with the group. That's OK. If you do not want to participate in this exercise and want to opt out of this e-mail list, please let us know by e-mailing lectio@bridgefolk.net.

Let us accept all reflections submitted in an attitude of prayer and reverence and not spend time critiquing the reflections of others. Also, please don't limit yourself to the suggested reflection questions.

If you would like to suggest a scripture text for our next Lectio, please do so. Send it to lectio@bridgefolk.net.

Prayer is a great unifier. Let us come together in one Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, to learn what He will teach us, to go where He will lead us.