Tag: lectio divina

Saturday of the Third Week of Easter

“As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Master, to whom shall we go?’ ”

Some of the disciples turned away from Jesus after he said to them, “It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken are Spirit and life.” They returned to their former way of life in a way that reminds me of a daily choice: Do I turn and go a different way, or do I say like Peter, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life?”

Help me understand, God, the meaning of “the flesh is of no avail.” In the first reading, Peter cures a paralyzed man and raises Tabitha from the dead. The flesh is subject to the spirt; the flesh is of no avail. God, help me believe this and put into practice my belief that Jesus is the Holy One of God. Are these only words, and are words of no avail? Jesus is the Word Incarnate, and the words he has spoken are Spirit and life.

I am impatient to begin the day. There’s so much I dream of doing that won’t get done. I want to invite God to be with me today, remembering him especially in the most ordinary moments. I don’t know that I can do that on my own, but by God’s grace, I can.

Today let me remember that some words, like fruit from a tree, have the power to sustain for a while and then fall into decay. But the words of Jesus are Spirit and life. The risen Jesus, himself the Word, is the way to eternal life.

USCCB Readings

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

“For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink.”

In saying “true food” and “true drink,” Jesus’ words catch my attention. What does that even mean? Every time I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack, isn’t that true food, true drink? What is not true about the food and drink I take daily?

God, help me understand your words more clearly. I can venture to say that true food sustains me spiritually, that it is the bread of life come down from heaven, that taking it will not leave me hungry again soon, as earthly food does. I have heard true food described as the living bread, that which does not die and become assimilated when taking it. Unlike earthly food, the Flesh and Blood of Christ continues to live and transform what is dead in me into life in the spirit. And unlike earthly food, the more that take from it, it is no less diminished or fragmented. An example: in the Multiplication of the Loaves, Jesus takes the loaves and what would ordinarily be divided into fragments he multiplies into superabundance!

The quiet rain and call of the chickadee this morning remind me that silence is never lack of sound but an act of quieting down to know that God is present with me. That’s true for any given moment. I want to turn to him throughout the day and realize I have in that the true food that gives me life.

Today, like Paul in the first reading when scales fall from his eyes, I want to see clearly where God directs me. I want to take from the true food and true drink that will sustain me, and God willing, give me eternal life.

USCCB Readings

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.”

Today’s Gospel continues the Bread of Life Discourse. The claim Jesus makes is out of this world. It reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: the food and drink of immortality. Does Jesus mean this in a symbolic sense as he seeks to speak to the crowd to move them to conversion? Hardly! Instead, he says as clearly as possible, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” He’s speaking of the first Eucharist, the Last Supper: “Take; eat; this is my body which is given for you.”

God, how can I begin to comprehend this? It’s an essential facet of Christian faith that one accepts early on and becomes taken for granted, or taken as an event in human history, it is a staggering reality: the Son of God came down from heaven, gave his body and blood, soul and divinity, so that whoever believes has eternal life. How much am I able to trust Jesus if he himself gives an account of his Father’s plan?

God, I believe; help my unbelief! There is no exaggeration in saying that Jesus is speaking to me and everyone who hears his words just in the same way he speaks to the crowd when he says, “whoever eats this bread will live forever.” He is the bread of life, and in him I have eternal life. That’s Easter joy!

Today, on this Thursday of the Third Week of Easter, let me remember that Christ rose from the dead. Let me remember to pause from time to time, even for a moment, and be “overcome with paschal joy,” knowing Jesus fought and conquered death for everyone.

USCCB Readings

https://anchor.fm/lectio-divina-daily/embed/episodes/Thursday-of-the-Third-Week-of-Easter-e1i453s

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe.”

This Gospel reading continues the Bread of Life Discourse from two days ago. The crowds had come to Capernaum, looking for Jesus, who had fed them in the breaking of the bread. By the end of this reading, Jesus is one hundred percent clear in his Father’s purpose for sending him: “ ‘For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.’ ”

As I read and re-read this reading, I know very well that I see and believe in the Son right now as much as my capacity allows. Yet, as day goes on, that same clarity seems to dissipate in the din and turmoil of the day. God, help me understand, give me the wisdom throughout the day to be able to see your Son and realize—to really believe—that Jesus came so that in his being raised on the cross everyone may have eternal life. I want to remember and praise you and receive your grace throughout the mundane moments of this day.

The intimate way in which Jesus speaks to the crowds sometimes draws my attention to the boundless goodness of his humanity. Yet, this is the Second Person of the Trinity, the Creator of the Universe who sits at the right hand of the Father. Here, present in this backwater town of my mind is the All Powerful God. If I worry that I won’t remember him throughout the day, can I ask him to take care of that, ask him for the grace today to see him and know he is there? Absolutely!

Today, Lord, help me to see past the ordinary flow of things to lock my gaze on you. Help me also to see the face of your Son in others; in turn, to be given the opportunity to put on Christ for the sake of others.

USCCB Readings

Audio

Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles

“The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.”

This echoes yesterday’s Gospel, where the crowd asks Jesus, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” The relationship Jesus describes with God the Father expresses a bond between them that suggests the action of the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit through which Jesus speaks and acts. “The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.”

God, help me understand Jesus’ divine identity, animated by the Holy Spirit. This is the same Holy Spirit who “proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified.” Help me understand how it is the same Holy Spirit that dwells in all who believe that Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him. Just as Philip wanted more proof (“show us the Father and that will be enough”), I want more and more proof so that I can say, “Enough.” God, help me know the peace of believing that you are in the Son and the Son is in you.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus makes his father Our Father, and opens up the love between the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit. In the countless distractions of today, my hopes and plans are like wild animals held captive. Let me realize that today and let the Holy Spirit dwell in me so that I can hear the Father and do his work.

Today, “so that the Father may be glorified in the Son,” let me ask anything boldly in Jesus’ name. Let me accept that I have seen the Father in the Son, and let that be enough for me.

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

“Jesus answered them and said, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.’ ”

The crowd came looking for Jesus after he had fed them in the Multiplication of the Loaves. They expended energy to find him, believing they would again be filled with food he gave them. Like them, I am daily subject to the hunger-satiety-hunger cycle and am satisfied for a short time before the cycle repeats.

God, help me understand what it means to work not for food that perishes but to accomplish your works through belief in your Son. This is your work, God, believing in the one you sent in order to gain the food that endures for eternal life. Through the sacraments, this is participation in the Eucharist; in daily life, it is not looking for signs but participating in the love between the Father and the Son and seeking the Son.

Even in the quietest moments of the day, I feel the intrusion of anxiety and begin to line up all of the tasks I hope to accomplish. Anticipation and fear pull me in different directions. How will I remember to put myself in God’s presence? How do I stop the billiard balls once they scatter on the table? God, be near me and make clear when you present me with an opportunity to acknowledge you and remember.

The people in the crowd ask a question worth considering throughout the day: “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus makes clear in his response that the works of God are belief in him, on whom the Father has set his seal. Today I want to stop amid the sometimes mindless expense of energy and recognize something I can’t see, taste, touch, hear, or sense; unlike the taking of earthly food that satisfies only for a while, only something invisible and out of grasp will last. The Son of God is present here today, and to gain eternal life, he asks only that I believe in him.

Third Sunday of Easter

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
Jesus said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

Having heard this so many times, if I didn’t know this passage almost by heart, I’d say the conversation between Jesus and Peter sounds like a married couple renewing their vows after many years together. To read this is to eavesdrop on an intimate conversation, leaving me feeling a little uncomfortable, both because of the intimacy and because of the repeated question—three times—and with each time a different charge.

God, help me understand that what you ask Peter to do, you also ask of us: we are our brothers’ keepers. Thank you for calling me to intimacy with you in a way that sometimes challenges me and even makes me uncomfortable. You call me to a higher standard—the care of others close to me—whether they behave more like lambs or sheep.

At the end of the Gospel, Jesus simply says, “Follow me.” Easier to say than agree to than to actually do. However, whatever my relationship to others, if I accompany them without first following Christ, where will the relationship tend? I am a sheep among sheep unless I hear his voice and take to heart that penetrating question, “Do you love me more than these?”

Today I want to recognize you throughout the day as the risen Christ. Your disciples had trouble recognizing you even after you had appeared to them several times. I ask you, God, make clear to me when you approach so that I understand fully what it means to be at peace, to be able to say, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Saturday of the Second Week of Easter

USCCB Readings

“When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’ They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.”

Today’s reading takes place in John’s Gospel immediately after the Multiplication of the Loaves, after which Jesus withdraws again to the mountain. It’s no surprise, then, that the disciples are afraid when they see him walking toward them on the water since they probably believe Jesus to be away from them. A strong wind was blowing; fear was in the air. This is one of many times when Jesus appears to the disciples and says, “Do not be afraid.” A quick Internet search reveals that this is said in the Bible 365 times—once for every day of the year.

God, help me understand that you are present even in the ordinary moments of the day when fear and anxiety pervade; you are present in every trial. In the midst of persecution, your words, Jesus, penetrate the depths of our being: “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.” At first, the disciples didn’t recognize Jesus, perhaps thinking he was a ghost. Since they had rowed out about three or four miles, they wanted to take Jesus into the boat but found the boat arrived immediately to shore.

Let me rest in knowing God is with me and that he can quiet whatever the storm that elicits fear. Let me know that God has his hand on my head, guiding me, showing me which way to go to arrive seemingly right away.

Today, a Saturday, will not produce the usual workaday trials, but there will be tasks to complete and timeframes to accommodate. Places to get to and the anxiety of getting there. God willing, today will bring, at worst, light stress. I want to remember, like Brother Lawrence, that God is with me even during mundane tasks like peeling potatoes. I want to recall throughout the day that the very Son of God will be beside me, saying, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

USCCB Readings

“ ‘Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.’ So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.”

Jesus asks Philip where they could buy enough food for the crowd that followed Jesus up the mountain. He does this to test Philip, who gives Jesus a matter-of-fact reply: “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” But it is Andrew, Peter’s brother, who suggests something that Jesus follows up on: a boy in the crowd has five barley loaves and two fish. “Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted.” How many times throughout the Gospel Jesus does this! He takes the little given to him, blesses it, and returns it to us in superabundance.

This miracle, which takes place near the time of Passover, is a kind of Last Supper before the Last Supper. Because of that, in it is a prefiguring of the Mass and the Eucharist, a sharing in life-sustaining food that fully satisfies, a dwelling in the house of the Lord. God, help me understand what it means to seek you as the crowd that followed you were hungry for food but also for so much more. Help me know what it means to be satisfied, as today’s Psalm says, to gaze on your loveliness and contemplate your temple.

To contemplate the Lord, to dwell in his house, I can imagine the risen Jesus asking Thomas to put his hand into his side, putting his finger into the nailmarks. That also, as grotesque as it seems, is to gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and to share in the Paschal meal; it is to take the broken bread and have more than I could eat.

Today when I am caught up in the flow of the day and the tasks I am given, I want to remember it’s not about measuring how much productive labor will yield but instead a trusting in the little given to God to accomplish his work, not mine. I want to remember to be like the boy who gave what he had and found through God’s work more superabundant grace than I could possibly imagine.

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

“The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”

After reading today’s Gospel passage several times, I see John describing the relationship of the Holy Trinity. The one who comes from above is Jesus and is above all in the person of God. The one whom God sent, Jesus, speaks the words of God through the Holy Spirit and “does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”

God, help me understand relationship of the Trinity in light of the Holy Spirit as love between the Father and the Son. The last words of the Gospel are harsh, dealing with disobedience of the son and the consequences of that being the wrath of God. Yikes! Yet, I also have to consider Peter’s experience in the first reading of being brought before the Sanhedrin and accused of wanting to bring blood upon them. They acted out of fear, desolation, and vengeance. Peter’s reply, which is echoed in the Gospel: “We must obey God rather than men.”

I’m tired and distracted. Before I try to accomplish today what I know will only be a fraction of what I hope to do, let me rest my head on Jesus’ chest. In that rest, let me see what the Holy Spirit witnessed during Jesus’ life on earth and also what the Holy Spirit witnesses today as Jesus continues to live in those who believe in him and in the sacraments, where his presence remains.

Peter says in the first reading, “We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” To think that, like the disciples, the Holy Spirit witnessed the death and resurrection of Jesus, “who does not ration his gift of the Spirit,” I have to pause to consider that today and every day, I can call on the Holy Spirit, witness of the life of Christ, to know and obey that same love between the Father and the Son.