Father Robert W. Marshall St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Fall 2015 CHRISTIAN PRAYER: AN INTRODUCTION

Father Robert W. Marshall St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Fall 2015 CHRISTIAN PRAYER: AN INTRODUCTION

PART II: PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

SACRED SCRIPTURE: THE WORD OF GOD The Church forcefully and specially exhorts all the Christian faithful... to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ (Phil 3:8) by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures.... Let them remember, however, that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For we speak to him when we pray; we listen to him when we read the divine oracles. CCC 2653, quoting Dei Verbum 25.

SACRED SCRIPTURE: THE WORD OF GOD The spiritual writers, paraphrasing Matthew 7:7, summarize in this way the dispositions of the heart nourished by the Word of God in prayer: Seek in reading and you will find in meditating; knock in mental prayer and it will be opened to you by contemplation. CCC 2654, quoting Guigo the Carthusian (often attributed to St. John of the Cross)

FOUR NECESSARY DISPOSITIONS In order to effectively pray with Sacred Scripture, one must be properly disposed. Father M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O., a Trappist monk, lists four dispositions or attitudes that are necessary for a pray-er to cultivate in order to make Scriptural prayer effective.

FOUR NECESSARY DISPOSITIONS FAITH is the first such disposition. If one is reading the Word of God, one must firmly believe that it is the Word of God. If we hope to hear God speaking to us through the words of Sacred Scripture, then we must believe that the Word we are reading is divinely inspired.

FOUR NECESSARY DISPOSITIONS HUMILITY is the second necessary disposition. Humility is the full acceptance of reality the reality of our profound ignorance with regard to God as well as to so many other things. We know what we know, and it is not very much. We know what we do not know, and that is a lot more.

FOUR NECESSARY DISPOSITIONS OPENNESS to the presence of the Divine is the third necessary disposition. We are familiar with Scripture we ve heard it all before. It is too easy to dismiss Scripture as too familiar. What we are seeking in Scriptural prayer is not a test grade, but an encounter with the living God and we must be open to that encounter.

FOUR NECESSARY DISPOSITIONS FAITHFULNESS is the final necessary disposition to fruitful Scriptural prayer. An athlete does not make it to the major leagues after only one practice. A pray-er does not become an expert in the process of Scriptural prayer in one sitting. We must be faithful to the process, gradually becoming more sensitive to God s presence.

FOUR NECESSARY DISPOSITIONS For any effective prayer and, especially, for prayer with Scripture, we must have the following dispositions: Faith Humility Openness Faithfulness

PICKING A SCRIPTURE PASSAGE There are many ways to select a Scripture passage for use in prayer: Use the readings of the day or of the up-coming Sunday. Visit www.usccb.org and click on the calendar. Use one of the passages from the Liturgy of the Hours. Download the ibreviary app. Pick a book of the Bible for sequential reading. Concentrate on a genre of literature that suits you a gospel passage, or a psalm, for example.

PICKING A SCRIPTURE PASSAGE Always select a passage before beginning prayer (or your entire prayer time will be taken up with the selection). Be attentive to where you are in your life sometimes you will want to use an index to direct you to Scripture that is focused on a particular topic or issue: forgiveness or healing, for example. Don t just let the wind blow open your Bible.

PICKING A SCRIPTURE PASSAGE If you like to imagine a conversation or an event, then pick a passage from one of the four gospels and place yourself in the scene.

PICKING A SCRIPTURE PASSAGE If you prefer images to events (or poetry to prose), pick a psalm.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING The most prominent method of praying with Scripture is called Lectio Divina or Divine Reading.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING In the third century, Origen first placed emphasis on prayerful reading of Scripture. "[W]hen you devote yourself to the divine reading... seek the meaning of divine words which is hidden from most people".

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING The practice was adopted by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who taught it to his pupil, St. Augustine of Hippo.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING The monastic practice of Lectio Divina can be traced to St. Benedict of Nursia who instructed his monks: Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore the brethren should have specified periods of manual labor as well as for prayerful reading [lectio divina]."

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING In the 15 th Century, St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), placed great emphasis on Lectio Divina, especially the use of imagination within the meditation.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING In the 16 th Century, the Carmelite reformer, St. John of the Cross paraphrased Guigo II: Seek in reading and you will find in meditation; knock in prayer and it will be opened to you in contemplation.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING It is a four part process that seeks to focus our prayer on a particular passage of Scripture, gleaning from the passage an insight into God s plan for us.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING Step One is Lectio or Reading though it could also mean listening. Read a selected passage once for familiarity, once again more slowly for meaning, and once more for words or phrases that touch your mind or heart or imagination. You might re-read the passage one or two more times; you might also read it aloud.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING The goal of the Lectio (Reading) portion of this process is to glean a Word which may be one word or several words (a thought) which will feed our prayer. It may be the most historically significant part of the Scriptural text, or just some detail that has meaning in our lives.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING Once we have gleaned a Word, our next step is Meditatio or meditation. In this step, we consider what this Word means in our life. What events, relationships, difficulties, sinfulness, etc. is present in our lives that this Word sheds light upon?

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING Sometimes this step is easy. A word is clearly meant for me. Sometimes it is more difficult maybe we are called to pray for someone close to us and God is revealing to us how we might be able to help. Sometimes the insight we gather from this might be profound, sometimes very simple.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING 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. CCC 2708

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING The third step in the Lectio Divina process is called Oratio literally translated as prayer. It is our dialogue with God over the Word of our meditation. In meditation, we were seeking what the Word meant for us in our life. In oratio/prayer, we are seeking God s take on it.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING This third step is the heart-to-heart conversation that is at the core of our definition of prayer. The value of praying with Scripture is that the reflection on the Word of God gives us a context in which to have this conversation a topic. The beauty of prayer is that we may go offtopic together, but the Word gives a home to which we can return.

ORATIO: LISTENING FOR GOD It is this Oratio section that might be the most foreign to us. We can read and meditate on Scripture, but we must become accustomed to listening for God. God may speak to us in silence, in a word, in an emotion, in an image, in a song. We may find that these things come into our mind and into our heart.

ORATIO: USE OF IMAGINATION In order for us to listen for God, we need an imagination.

ORATIO: USE OF IMAGINATION This is not a realm of fantasy where we construct a world for ourselves according to our own desires. Imagination means the ability to call to mind sacred images paintings or pieces of music or our own memories to hear God s voice.

ORATIO: FOUR STEPS Within this third stage of Lectio Divina, some teachers identify an additional four steps: Acknowledge Relate Receive Respond

ORATIO: FOUR STEPS When we move from meditation to Oratio or prayer, we begin by acknowledging what we are thinking or feeling. These thoughts and feelings may be specifically about the passage we have been meditating with or it may have a more direct relationship to what is going on in our life. When we acknowledge our feelings, we are being honest with God and with ourselves.

ORATIO: FOUR STEPS The second step in our prayer is to Relate what we are feeling to God. To do this, we need to name our feeling as best we can. Maybe it is joy or gratitude or fear or sadness whatever the strongest feeling, that is where God wishes to touch us.

ORATIO: FOUR STEPS After we have related our feeling to God, we open ourselves to Receive from Him what he wishes to share with us. This is where imagination is particularly necessary not that we imagine God s message, but that we use our imagination to enable us to discern what He is seeking to tell us.

ORATIO: FOUR STEPS Although there are four steps, we might repeat steps two and three over and over. In our dialogue with God, we might Relate and Receive, and then Relate and Receive again. Perhaps it is new ground that we are covering, perhaps it is our seeking further understanding.

ORATIO: FOUR STEPS When we have completed our Relate and Receive cycle once or more times, we are ready to Respond. Our Response is to experience whatever God wishes to bring us e.g., a confirmation of our joy, comfort in our sorrow, a new perspective. Ideally, this process of Oratio would draw us closer into our Scripture text though not always.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING The final stage is Contemplation. In Catholic spirituality, the word contemplation has different meanings: It can be a form of meditative prayer in itself. It is often used to distinguish a more active and imaginative meditation from one that is more peaceful and emptying. It is sometimes said that mediation is centered in the mind, while contemplation is centered in the heart.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING In this context, Contemplation means resting in the presence of God and appreciating the dialogue that has taken place. This final stage allows us to dwell (even briefly) in the holy presence of God. It is that tender, quiet time between family or friends when words are unnecessary.

LECTIO DIVINA: DIVINE READING Lectio: Reading Meditatio: Meditation Oratio: Praying Acknowledge Relate Receive Respond Contemplatio: Contemplation

PRAYING WITH SACRED SCRIPTURE Some DO s and DON T s DO try several different genres of Scriptural literature. Though you may naturally gravitate to one style psalms, for example other genres can feed your prayer.

PRAYING WITH SACRED SCRIPTURE Some DO s and DON T s DON T try to pray with too much Scripture. Remember that Scripture is like a concentrated soup, you need to mix it with water (your life experience) for it to taste right. In other words, don t resolve to read and pray with the Book of Genesis or the Gospel of Luke in one night.

PRAYING WITH SACRED SCRIPTURE Some DO s and DON T s If lost on how to begin, DO use the daily readings (which can be found online at www.usccb.org). Always good to reinforce what you are hearing at Mass. Unless you are expecting, the Christmas story/infancy narratives make less sense in Lent than in Advent/Christmas.

PRAYING WITH SACRED SCRIPTURE Some DO s and DON T s DON T try to pray with a passage of Scripture in a hurry. Lectio Divina (or meditation or contemplation) takes time. Give God enough time to work in your heart. Set aside enough time in each session and be faithful to the process if not successful the first time. (Faithfulness is a necessary disposition.)

MEDITATION WITHOUT SCRIPTURE The same principles of meditation or contemplation can enhance our prayer without using Scripture.

MEDITATION WITHOUT SCRIPTURE The Rosary is a meditative prayer. We might use the meditative process with one of the mysteries of the rosary (recognizing that it will take additional time).

MEDITATION WITHOUT SCRIPTURE An amalgamation of the Passion Narratives (with some additions), the Stations of the Cross could provide great opportunities for meditative prayer.

MEDITATION WITHOUT SCRIPTURE The liturgical texts Eucharistic prayers, prefaces, collects are also rich in imagery and could give us prayer possibilities.

FOUR NECESSARY DISPOSITIONS