Lectio Divina
I have concerns with the Lectio Divina method of prayer that lay people are encouraged to try.
I think a person should have spent some time with Holy Scripture before he is encouraged to
pick short passages from the whole and try to apply it to himself.
Yes, those in the religious life and those people interested in Scripture may have
enough background, and this method could be useful in their prayer life,
but I would caution introducing this method of praying for beginners or specific topic
workshops, especially without a person somewhat schooled in scripture present.
Like any document, lines taken out of context of the whole can be misunderstood and misleading,
thereby not leading someone to the Truth of the Word of God.
An answer offered by Michael Havercamp of the Evangelical Catholic...
"Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path."
Ps 119 [118]:105
One should never be afraid of Sacred Scripture. As the psalmist proclaims,
the word of God is indeed a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.
The sacred books "serve the Church as her support and vigor. . .strength for their faith,
food for the soul, and a pure and lasting font of spiritual life"(DV, 21).
The Roman Catholic Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful",
not just the universal college of bishops, not just biblical scholars and professionals,
"to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures"(DV, 25).
The Council is unequivocal on this point. All of us should read, study, and meditate on the Scriptures regularly.
Furthermore, the Church exhorts all of us, both lay and religious, to "meditate on what we read"
and "to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves"(CCC, 2706). "To the extent that we are humble
and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them.
It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: 'Lord,
what do you want me to do?'" (CCC, 2706).
As noted on Saturday, there are many different ways to approach such meditation.
Certainly it must be conceded that "there are as many and varied methods of meditation as
there are spiritual masters. . .But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance,
with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus"(CCC, 2707).
What the Church is saying is that the minutia of your meditative method are not as important
as the object of our meditation - Jesus Christ.
The Catechism goes on to include the practice of lectio divina in her discussion on meditation,
"Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties
is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart,
and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the
mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary" (CCC, 2708).
While some practitioners have quite rigid parameters for their Scriptural meditations,
lectio divina has an admittedly wide and diverse legacy. Some advocate a form of lectio that
methodically meditates through an entire book (though not necessarily in one sitting).
Others encourage meditation on Scripture segments of any size, be it one pericope, one chapter, or one verse.
Noted Catholic biblical scholar Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., is one of the most respected theologians in his field.
Commenting on the practice of lectio divina, he notes, "The text to be read can be long or short.
And the full process of 'reading' could take 15 minutes or be spread over 15 years."
While it is always important to read the Sacred Scriptures in the context of the Church,
this simply does not mean that only bishops, clerics, or biblical scholars should access the
Bible or practice lectio divina. This point is illustrated beautifully in an address that our
Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI gave to the youth of the world on the occasion of World Youth Day in April of 2006.
Pope Benedict expounded the Scriptures saying:
When God said to him: "Ask what I should give you", the wise king replied: "Give your servant
therefore an understanding heart" (1 Kings 3:5,9). The secret of acquiring "an understanding heart"
is to train your heart to listen. This is obtained by persistently meditating on the word of God and
by remaining firmly rooted in it through the commitment to persevere in getting to know it better.
My dear young friends, I urge you to become familiar with the Bible, and to have it at hand so that it
can be your compass pointing out the road to follow. By reading it, you will learn to know Christ.
Note what Saint Jerome said in this regard: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ"
(PL 24,17; cf Dei Verbum, 25).
A time-honoured way to study and savour the word of God is lectio divina which constitutes a real and
veritable spiritual journey marked out in stages. After the lectio, which consists of reading and
rereading a passage from Sacred Scripture and taking in the main elements, we proceed to meditatio.
This is a moment of interior reflection in which the soul turns to God and tries to understand what
his word is saying to us today. Then comes oratio in which we linger to talk with God directly.
Finally we come to contemplatio. This helps us to keep our hearts attentive to the presence of
Christ whose word is "a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts" (2 Pet 1:19). Reading, study and meditation of the Word should then flow
into a life of consistent fidelity to Christ and his teachings.
Pope Benedict XVI's Feb. 22, 2006 msg to youth
We have been encouraged and specifically exhorted to read and meditate on the Sacred Scriptures.
Let us be blessed by the riches of the divine word. Lay and religious, young and old,
scholar and simpleton - we are all called to spend time in the word and allow it to become "a
lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path"(Ps 119:105). Let us be illumined on our journey to the one God.
We are all deeply blessed to own, to study and to meditate on the sacred books, through which God speaks to us.
Let us heed the words of the Father who "comes lovingly to meet his children and talk to them"
through Sacred Scripture (DV, 21).
Michael A. Havercamp
