Tag: lectio divina

Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”

Is this the time in my life when the bridegroom Christ is with me, or is it the day when he has been taken away from me? Do I celebrate the presence of Christ in my life, or do I fast because he is absent? At the start of the day, I feel a little bit of both of these. How can I make Christ more present today?

God, help me understand that the scribes and Pharisees scrutinized everything Jesus and his disciples did. As I try to piece together how today will play out with many moving pieces, help me understand that you are with me and will not be taken away unless I allow it. Thank you for your presence, Lord!

In receiving the Eucharist this morning, teach me to let go of the oppressive weight of things I cannot change, things I cannot at the moment get to that are gathering dust. It is enough to turn and face the people who are present today and be with them. Jesus, you are the new wine; stay with me today.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, Peter’s faith in Jesus grows when he experiences a miracle. After Peter and his partners had been fishing all night, working hard, Jesus says to him, ”Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Peter demonstrates his faith in Jesus by saying that at his command, he will lower the nets. After he did this, they caught such a great number of fish that the boat was in danger of sinking. Peter then falls at the knees of Jesus and says, ”Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” In Peter’s initial response to Jesus, there is a trust that lacks faith; in witnessing the miracle, Peter recognizes his shortcoming, loses faith in self-reliance, and comes to put his faith in the Lord.

God, thank you for the example of Peter, who recognized gains made in something other than self-reliance and hard work. He realized the limits of faith in self and would ultimately profess to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” First, however, he listened as Jesus got into his boat and taught the crowds pressing in on him. Every day I try to understand the task you set before me, often in the form of work that I am given to complete. I want to understand, Lord, how to invite you into this, my own boat, to be by my side as I accomplish these tasks and work toward understanding your will for me in relation to my dreams and wishes. I have to say that that is not always clear for me to discern or easy to do. Help me learn how to say, “At your command, I will do this.”

What you say to Peter, Lord, I can hear you say to me: ”Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” I hear what you say, but I don’t know what that means in relation to my own identity. Teach me the meaning of “putting out into the deep.” You know every vain attempt I have ever made, every good thing I have tried to grasp and wouldn’t let go. And I know you smile at me, not in pity but out of love. Let me consider the times I pursued material gain to the point of idolatry. Have I looked for honor instead of you? You know I have. When I seek what puffs me up with pride, that automatically excludes you, and I seek you in vain. Stay with me, Lord; show me in what waters I need to put out into the deep. Let me learn to trust you more and more.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law from her fever, cured sick with various diseases, and expelled demons. At daybreak, Jesus went to a deserted place until crowds found him and tried to prevent him from leaving them. Jesus told them that in order to fulfill his purpose, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God.” Luke’s account of this day in the life of Jesus presents the divine physician, capable of healing any illness and various diseases.

God, help me understand that, as in so many other accounts of Jesus healing people, it takes effort on the part of the people being healed to show themselves to him. Just as doctors diagnose and heal the sick when they present the illness to them, Jesus sees and heals those who come to him for the sake of being healed. In the account of Simon’s mother-in-law, who was sick with a severe fever, Luke says that they interceded with Jesus about her. Intercessory prayer, then, is also a means of bringing others to Jesus for healing. And how does he heal? Jesus, the Son of God, creator of the universe, heals them by laying his hands on them.

The people who knew of Jesus went looking for him, bringing to him all who were sick, so much so that they tried to prevent him from leaving. The crowds found him, and he laid hands on each of them. What a gift we have, then, in the Eucharist, where Jesus is truly present! There, we encounter him face to face and body and soul—not as if he were present but present in flesh and blood. How could I doubt for a minute that the same Jesus Christ who cured the sick with the touch of his hands lives in me through the sacraments and the Eucharist? Divine physician, here I am; heal me of every illness and let me desire to be healed.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

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Tuesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!”

It always strikes me that demons, unclean spirits, recognize the divinity of Jesus, while the scribes and Pharisees don’t. If the Evil One takes pride in his work on earth, surely one of his greatest apparent victories is a person’s failure to recognize what Satan knows without a doubt: Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And if Satan knows this about Jesus, he knows that Jesus came in power and glory to destroy him. With a word, Jesus quiets the demon and expels him from the man.

Thank you, God, for your Son in this account of his work on earth. In saying “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Jesus speaks, and a new reality is created for the man possessed. It takes only a his word to bring forth reality, just as when God spoke at the beginning of creation to bring it into existence: “Let there be light, and there was light.” In my own life, there is great peace and security in knowing that to speak the name Jesus is to bring into reality at that moment the risen and living Word of God that can banish darkness and expel into the light anything that does not belong.

Jesus, if I put myself into your presence and say your name and see behind closed eyes only a blue-black void, I have no doubt in my mind that you are present. If the many voices I hear run ceaselessly all while I stay with you for a moment, I know you hear me as I say your name. Hear me throughout the day as I work and speak with others and try to use your gift of time as best as I am able. Jesus, one more thing I ask, give me peace to silence the many voices and desires that do not lead me to you. Bring me into your presence and show me where to go.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist

John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.

Today’s Gospel reading describes an age-old clash between good and evil: John proclaims what is truthful, and Herod’s wife holds a deadly grudge. It sounds like the beginning of a murder mystery, an archetypal human story. Anybody can harbor this grudge to kill, if not literally, then certainly in spirit. Although Jesus doesn’t appear in this passage, what he said elsewhere in the Gospel applies: “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” The body survives what can devastate the soul, and there are those whose grudges mean to destroy the soul.

God, help me understand that I will encounter in my life people whose aim is to persecute me and other Christians because of you. Because I am Christian, there are people who mean to mistreat me. Against that, there is power that shines through in words and deeds inspired by the Holy Spirit. From the first reading, Saint Paul says, “I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” It’s hard for me to imagine someone as tough and resilient as Saint Paul saying that he was afraid. But although he came in weakness and fear and trembling, he knew his strength was in the crucified and risen Christ and “with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”

Jesus, I know you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. How is it that the body given up to crucifixion is the body that becomes our Eucharistic food, your real presence? Against any doubt I might have in your real presence, it is no trick or deception that you are there before me. Stay with me today and shield all who are persecuted—body and soul—by the work of the Evil One because of your holy name.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

These words of Jesus to the Pharisees and his guest are hard to act on. Where are the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind around me? But what made me do a double take on reading this was these words of Jesus: “For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” From the mouth of Jesus himself comes the word resurrection, or, what will follow life on earth. Those who have invited the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind will be repaid though Christ and in him with eternal life.

God, help me understand the ways I see daily the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. It is not necessarily on a busy street corner in the city. Don’t I encounter all of these every day in my family and the people I interact with, even if that interaction is only through email or over the phone? Thank you for the opportunity, Lord, to see your son in their faces and hear his voice in their voices.

As I receive the Eucharist today, God, quiet my mind so that I know peace in the real presence of your son Jesus, body and blood, soul and divinity. I must ask you also that you stay with me throughout the day—that I remember that presence so I know how to respond to the people you place in front of me. Thank you for your presence, Lord; it is a place of rest and means of replenishing strength for the day.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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Memorial of Saint Monica

His master said to him, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.”

In the parable of the talents, the master calls the servant who buries his talent wicked and lazy. To the servant who received two talents and made two more, the master says, “Well done.” To the servant whom the master gave five talents, on hearing that he made five more, the master says the exact same words: “Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities.” It’s not the amount of talent that the servants give back that matters; it’s the making good of the talents they received that counts. As a result, the first two servants share in the master’s joy.

Lord, help me recognize that everything you give me is a gift. Help me see and use your gifts to the best of my ability so I can share in your joy. Saint Monica, today’s saint, saw the talents in her son Saint Augustine and was relentless in prayer until she saw him use them fully, returning to you through his conversion. In this parable, Jesus, you say, “For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Through your grace, Lord, keep me from growing spiritually destitute. Help me grow rich in inviting you into my daily life and in knowing and doing your will.

Stay with me today, God, in the people yo

u place in front of me. It is easy now to put myself in your presence, but no mean feat as the day wears on. The Psalmist says, “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield, For in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust.” Be my help and my shield, and show me how to use my talents to give glory to your holy name.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

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Friday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

At midnight, there was a cry, “Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!” Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.”

The bridegroom comes late. At midnight, at the hour least expected, there was a cry to come out to meet him. While driving a few days ago, I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Look busy. Jesus is coming.” If I knew when Jesus was coming, I’m sure I’d go all in at looking busy. The five foolish virgins are unprepared for the bridegroom’s arrival; the wise ones are ready. Again, like yesterday’s parable of the faithful and wicked servants, Jesus presents polar opposites: the wise and the foolish; the ones prepared for his coming and the ones unprepared. The bridegroom is long delayed, Jesus says, “for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Jesus, help me understand that I have the choice of being unprepared, looking busy but finding that the door has already been shut, or of being ready at an unexpected hour. Memento mori. Help me see every day what I need to take with me as I wait for your coming: a little flask of oil to light the lamp, the light of faith, keeping enough for myself to let the light burn. Either I am ready or I am not; either I go out to meet you, the light of lights, or I plunge into the dark to make up for lost time. Either/or: Is there no in between?

I know you want me to love you, God, with all my heart and soul and mind. Throughout the day, I think of you little, if at all. Like a child in a playground, I am unaware of time passing as I find new challenges and problems to solve. Give me the grace today, Lord, to keep the lamp burning within me, carrying within me all that I need to come out to meet you, early or late or sometime in between.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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Thursday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

There is no mistaking what Jesus tells his disciples. Stay awake! At an hour you least expect, the Lord will come, and your life on earth will be over. The parable of the faithful and prudent servant and the wicked servant present an either/or scenario: you are ready for the Son of M

.an or unprepared for his coming. What makes the faithful servant faithful in the parable is the care of God’s gifts: the household and people in his household; and what makes the wicked servant wicked is his abuse of those gifts.

I want to understand, Lord, that I have these two options before me every day: to be faithful or to be wicked, to choose good or evil. How often, day after day, do I dismiss the either/or fallacy and believe myself to be somewhere in between in a gray area that is neither good nor evil? And then there are decisions that seem to have no bearing on whether I am prepared for your coming: which path I take for a walk, the way I slice carrots for dinner, how I grasp the steering wheel. But I think you mean, Lord, be watchful for you in my day in everything I do, whether inconsequential or necessary. Do I, will I, long for you during the day as in the Song of Songs? “Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.”

Lord, thank you for the gifts you give to me today. On your return to me throughout the day through my thoughts and prayers and actions, find me doing your will and caring for my household and its abundant gifts and blessings. I will forget you during the day, not deliberately, but in the forgetfulness of daily life. Stay with me then and give me the grace to welcome you when I see as if from a distance that your return is near. Help me prepare for you; help me stay awake!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Today’s Gospel reading from John relates how the first disciples began to follow Jesus. After Philip becomes a disciple, he finds Nathanael and tells him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” The day before, Andrew and John began to follow Jesus and then Andrew’s brother, Simon Peter, also followed him. There is something here that sounds like how a group of friends first forge a friendship or how a rock group is formed around a common identity or aim. Unlike this, though, the disciples have no idea what they are in for in the days ahead as Jesus says to them: “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

God, help me understand what John the Baptist understood as he pointed your son out to the first disciples: he is the Lamb of God. In Nathanael’s response to Philip—“Can anything good come from Nazareth?”—I see a kind of cynicism that is similar to my own. The glory of the holy city of Jerusalem as described in the first reading gleams with splendor and has at the foundation of its walls the “twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.” Here is the glory of God at work in his followers, the first disciples; he takes them to himself and makes them the foundation of his holy kingdom.

Lord, thank you for this new day! Sometimes the anticipation of all that must take place and should take place—its pressures—overshadow that the day itself is a gift. “You will see greater things than this,” Jesus says. Let me see in this day the radiance of your glory outshine the shadow of uncertainty and skepticism and whatever is passing and false. Be with me, Lord, and let me remember the words of the psalmist: “The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

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