from
'General to 'Particular' Light
________
The
most challenging part in Lectio Divina is 'Listening'
The
practice of Lectio Divina involves three movements: I- Preparation
II- Listening III- Putting into Practice.
The
first part gives us the spirit in which we practise Lectio Divina. It
takes little time but it actually permeates the entire process of
Lectio. The third part is the goal of Lectio: by the Grace of the
Holy Spirit, we put into practice a Word we have heard from Jesus. On
a practical level, experience shows that the most challenging part in
Lectio is the second: "listening", where by the Grace of
the Holy Spirit, we become capable of "hearing" and being
touched by a practical word given to us by Christ.
Experience
shows that the process of Listening is longer and more complex than
we might think at first sight. It involves at least five stages (see the fifteen steps of Lectio Divina):
1-
Listening to Jesus' word by reading in order to understand the text.
2-
Listening to Jesus' word by reading in order to discover Christ’s
will.
3-
Listening to Jesus' word by reading until only one light is seen.
4-
Listening to Jesus' word by reading until the light becomes clear.
5-
Listening to Jesus' word by putting it into writing so we become more
aware of the word received, and to have it ready to be put into
practice (optional but recommended).
The
various progressive phases of listening are normal for every human
being, especially the need to read the text of Holy Scripture many
times in order to compensate for our weak memories. In fact, for many
today memory is very weak. This, however, was not the case a few
decades ago, or even further back when culture was more oral and
transmission was preferred through oral means and memory. Memory
consequently grew stronger. When we read the passage about Mary:
"Mary
kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart"
(Luke 2:19) we are faced with a time where memory was still capable
of retaining information with great ease. In this light "pondered
them" could be translated by: "often
dwelling on them in her mind", which means constantly repeating
them in her mind.
This
initial effort is dependent on a previous phase: to gather everything
that happened and to "keep all" of it in the mind. This is
the role of the memory.
"Listening",
next, is a listening “through”... listening to God who speaks
through the words and facts of an event.
Stages
3 and 4 require great delicacy when listening.
Providing
we listen carefully, with all our heart, the supernatural action of
God, will cause his words to come alive and capable of “talking”
to us. In this case some words in the two or three readings start to
talk to us, all in one and unique light, as if alive. We are touched
by one light, one meaning, for example, mercy, love, forgiveness,
patience,... At this stage, stage 3, we are facing the supernatural
action of God but we do not have a clear practical insight on what to
do exactly. The notion received is two abstract, in the sense that it
is too general.
The
first temptation now is to take this notion and apply it by ourselves
to an area in our life that needs it. This, however, constitutes our
interference in the process of the descent of the Word of God in us.
As
the drawing reveals, we ourselves can create a diversion in the
normal course of the action of God's Light, and we bring it down
applying it to an area different to the area God wants to act upon.
Another
much more common temptation is to first rejoice that the supernatural
action of God has started - the proof is that the two or three texts
are saying one thing - and secondly, at this point, not to progress
toward a clear indication of God's will received at the end of Lectio
Divina. Some would think that this was a complete Lectio Divina,
while others will remain with their hunger unsatisfied by not having
seen anything practical emerging from their lectio, with no change of
will being indicated and nothing practical to perform.
What
has really happened is that Lectio has been brought to a halt in the
middle of the stream of thought, and although a light is being
offered, it is left hanging between heaven and earth. (see the
diagram below)
Apologies
for making the following comparison because it might seem very brutal
and inappropriate, but if we stick to its real meaning it will help:
when Lectio is stopped at this stage, Lectio is 'aborted', which
means it fails to reach our will, where it fails to achieve fruition.
Fruition, therefore, means to allow God's light to descend until it
reaches the point that God desires to touch in our will. This is the
end of stage 4 (see diagram below).
More
significantly this indicates that between where we are and the region
God wants to reach, there is still some work to do in order to
facilitate the way for the Light to descend. See in the diagram below
the part that is left in darker blue:
The
image of the motorcade will clearly illustrate this. When an
important political personality is travelling, sometimes we have two
sets of motorcycles opening the way for him or her. Similarly, we are
not the Light, we do not direct the light. We just open the way for
it, descending closer to our will that needs to be healed. Thus we
humble ourselves, we beg and ask, being more attentive to Jesus'
whispering (remember Elijah's gentle breeze), telling us what He
wants to change in us. This entails another effort to be humble and
beg being made to allow what is now already supernatural but too
general, too abstract, to become precise, clear and practical. Only
when the light has reached our will, indicating, first, a practical
area that needs changing in our heart, may we then consider that
fruition is in sight.
As
a conclusion, therefore, when we practise Lectio Divina, and when we
start to sense that the supernatural light of God is starting to
appear, occurring when the two texts say the same thing, it is
important not only to rejoice with gratitude, but to continue to open
the way, humbling ourselves more and more, asking the Lord to tell us
how He want to incarnate the word or light or indication He is
revealing to us. Only humbling ourselves will open the way for
Jesus' Word to reach us, touch our will, heal us, challenge us,
enflame us. Within reason, therefore, we should not stop Lectio until
the grace of God has touched us.
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