Three Minutes of Grace

ON PRAYING THE SCRIPTURES

The thoughtful reading of a Scripture passage–a scene, a sentence, a word–
and it’s challenge to present circumstances and private choices
is the foundation of a faith rooted in the spirit of Jesus.
~Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B.

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CONSIDER

Lectio is the contemplative reading of Scripture where we reflect on what has been said and what it means for us here and now; it is the most effective way to read the Scriptures because we have to face what a passage is beckoning us to. However, Lectio can also be a method for praying (responding to the Lord). The Church teaches that all of Scripture is written for our salvation. It follows that when we pray the Scripture, we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our salvation. Don’t you want that, friend?

When we immerse ourselves in Sacred Scripture, it becomes the backdrop for all our attitudes and actions. Think of it this way: A scrim is a theater backdrop that appears opaque when a scene is front-lit but transparent when it is back-lit. The scene behind the scrim explains the meaning and context of the what, when, and why of the events in the forward scene.

And so it goes with our lives. The meaning and purpose of our lives cannot be understood or even navigated well unless we are mindful of God’s kingdom, which runs parallel to the events of our lives. So, what’s happening behind the scrim? It is the never-ending pattern of God’s story that began before time and will never end. (There’s nothing new under the sun. Israel’s story is our story.) Knowing that would put a bunch of those empty nothings we get so caught up in in their proper order, wouldn’t it?

PRAY

Today, let’s contemplate a teaching of Jesus and respond in prayer for our priests and ourselves:

The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.
~Matthew 6:22-23

PRAY

Light of the World, enlighten my eyes and fix my gaze upon “your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” My little fiefdom is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind, and I am sick and tired of it. I know that you are not the God of disorder but of peace; confusion doesn’t come from you but from my darkened understanding of life. Oh, Father of lights! Please fill me with all the good you want to give me; grant me the perfect gift of wisdom. Your Word declares that in you, there is no alteration or shadow caused by change! I desire that stability; grant it, Lord!
~Amen

(Adapted Matthew 6:22-23; 1 Corinthians 14:33; James 1:6,17)

~I am a freelance writer. This post first appeared in a periodical.