Tuesday, February 21, 2012

February 21 – Walking in the Light



Tomorrow we begin our Lenten fast . . . today we make sure that what we choose to do will help us to prepare our hearts to celebrate the sacrifice and the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of our shame.

We choose humbly, and we choose with joy.

Today, we continue our study of “Lectio Divina,” and in the hope that our time in the Word will be heightened over the next forty days and beyond. Some choose to suspend their daily pattern of reading to concentrate on the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ last days. Some will study the Seven Cries from the cross. Others will do a topical study of sacrifice or of the prophecies that were fulfilled in that last week of Jesus’ time on earth.

Whatever we do, we have learned to meditate on each passage as we read, to look deeply into what is really happening and really being said, in context. We have seen that when we read and meditate on the Word of God, we are then moved to pray, to give thanks or to seek understanding, to ask according to the faith that rises in our hearts.

The last tenent of Lectio Divina is “contemplation” . . . we contemplate our experience in and with the Word of God. Is the Word alive in us? Did our reading evoke faith or fear? Is our fear the healthy fear of the Lord, or is it craven and devilish? How can we walk in faith according to the Word before us? Can our faith help someone else? Do we believe without reservation, or what may we do that we will not be double-minded in any degree? Our reading itself will surface questions; our prayers will answer them, and our contemplation will help us walk in the light, with our paths illuminated, just as the Word has said, here in Cor Unum Abbey, the monastery of the heart.

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