February 16 – “Meditatio”

The motions we go through in our “Divine Reading” are forward motion, and they are taking us where we want to go. The monastic celebrates the intricacies, even the simple disciplines, that keep her soul focused on Jesus, her Love.

Part two of Lectio Divina is “meditatio,” meditation. Origen may have been the first to introduce this idea, but he certainly wasn’t the last. As we read, we think about what we are reading. For some, reading with pen and paper at hand will help; for others, it will be enough just to slow down and read “relationally.” At this point, we do not gloss over our questions, our gratitude, our shortcomings or the Lord’s goodness. We look at every passage in the light of the love, the life, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This alone is a tremendous help! What is He saying? What does this passage say about Him? How do these Old Testament writings point to His advent or sacrifice?

We read our Bibles as if we were sitting in fellowship with the Lord Himself, as indeed we are. We ask Him our questions; we give our thanks and we pray as we go and as one verse after another speaks to us of the needs around us and of God’s great love and provision. For instance, we read, in John 8:6, that when they brought to Jesus the woman caught in adultery, He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

“What did You write, Lord? Was it their names? Their sins? Did you write a verse from Scripture about the mercies of God? What did You write? Please let me know!”

Sometimes the answer comes immediately; sometimes we “Just know!” the answer. Other times we wait, and maybe years will go by, but our questions, our ponderings, are before Him, and as we continue to read, we will know. (See Jeremiah 17:13.)


Albrect Durer
public domain in the U.S.
by permission