Continuation of 102: Lectio Divina in daily life 3 (please click here)
Beyond this, the Word of Christ has a purifying action. “Already you are clean, because of the word that I have spoken to you” (Jn 15:3). Lectio, which is an encounter with his word, also has this purifying effect.
M.-L. von Franz briefly recalls a parallel between medieval exegesis of the four meanings of Scripture (historical, allegorical, tropological and anagological) and the four basic functions of the human psyche (the senses, thought, sentiment and intuition), and then draws the following conclusion:
3
The soul has access to its own totality – the conscience and the
subconscious – only in so far as it advances to encounter the
totality of what exists. For the faithful, this totality is Christ,
who contains everything within himself.
Note 1: This is an extract from the book: "Lectio divina in daily life" (please click here)
Note 2: A keynote on Lectio Divina
Note 3: Remember to subscribe to this Blog so you can receive the posts directly to your email.
II - Lectio in the course of time
1. Lectio as a “therapy”
a) Lectio and psychology
Lectio
is a
therapeutic method.
In fact, Christ is the Doctor, who knows us perfectly, and who daily
speaks words to us in conformity with our needs as he sees them.
Usually doctors of psychotherapy do not know us well enough and,
ignorant of our true needs, do not know how to determine what should
or should not be done; they cannot see the hidden recesses of our
souls. But here Christ himself is at work… Moreover, the two
dimensions, both the psychological and the spiritual one, are wholly
present. Obviously this pertains to the broadest band of people, who
are healthy; those suffering from pathological illnesses should seek
medical help.
Beyond this, the Word of Christ has a purifying action. “Already you are clean, because of the word that I have spoken to you” (Jn 15:3). Lectio, which is an encounter with his word, also has this purifying effect.
This
section will be of interest to all those who deal with psychology.
Today,
thanks to progress in the field of psychology, we can easily
recognize how Christ’s words bring psychological healing to the
soul, psychological healing to our blindness. He works in the human
soul, and enters deeply into the psyche. In the Sermon on the Mount,
he shows us that not only our acts call for healing but our hearts
also need to be healed. “You
have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall
not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’
But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you
will be liable to judgment”
(Mt 5:21-22). But Christ also deals with the little Pharisee who is
in each of us, and in doing so he unveils the mechanisms of the human
soul. For example, in the St. Matthew’s Gospel, an entire chapter
deals with the mechanisms of hipocrisy which divide the human soul
(Mt 23). Their unveiling leads to the unifying work in the depths of
our being. But in other passages, Christ speaks to the Pharisee in
us, to “the prodigal son”, to “the adulteress who has been
forgiven”, and so on. To the outside world one wants to appear
pure, but the deepest roots of our being are entangled in
contradictions. Instead of imagining a world that is pure, or barren,
or black on one side and white on the other, filled with people who
are either bad or good, Christ wants us to learn to become aware of
our shadows, our undisclosed motivations, which we do not normally
acknowledge or quite simply ignore although very real. When you fast
or do good works (Mt 6) do not seek to blazon it abroad nor attract
approval or praise.
Christ
came to free with his power the depths of the human heart, and this
is precisely what the Sermon on the Mount is all about: “and I say
to you”… I will reveal your depths to you… if you are willing
to see them.
Thus
we come to understand that not only the world is a mix of black and
white, but we too are. This discovery is quite an uncomfortable one;
and yet, without it we would be in danger of throwing the baby out
with the bathwater: the evil and the author of this evil, the wheat
and the chaff!
Entering
into our depths is therefore a healthy thing to do, enabling us
slowly to be freed, as we discover at once our wretchedness – our
“nothingness” as St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus put it – and
the great mercy without which we could not otherwise bear to confront
the depths of our nothingness.
This
therapy leads us to the humility of God and to the charity that comes
from Him. We become like Mary, the poor Virgin who is nonetheless
“full of grace”.
In
fact, neurosis is the result of an opposition between the conscious
soul and the unconscious spirit at the roots of the soul. On one
hand, by our conscious part we build a “persona”, an image of
ourselves, a social image, and on the other hand, the reality deep
down our heart is quite different. The conflict between the inside
and the outside (cf. the “outside and the inside of the cup” in
Mt 23:25) erupts, creating neurosis, a disequilibrium in our
psychological life. Now, through lectio we free ourselves by
listening, so that the Lord may unify our being (“He who of the two
has made one” cf. Eph 2:14).
So
lectio is a very powerful means of psychological healing. It allows
us, through our encounter with Christ, to discover a higher degree of
unity, by the integration of our entire being. Marie-Louise von
Franz, a disciple of C. G. Jung, compared Scripture with the
unconscious self in a judicious and profound way! Let us not forget
that the unconscious, taken as a whole – at least in Jungian
psychology (the collective unconscious) – is mysterious and vast,
and cannot be comprehended (in the sense of being contained) by human
reason.
“Again
and again Holy Scripture as a whole is referred to by the Church
Fathers in images that, taken psychologically, we would today regard
as symbols of the unconscious: as spring, the labyrinth, endless sea,
unfathomable heaven, impenetrable abyss, or as a wild and untamed
stream from which we can draw life eternally but whose final
mysteries remain forever unattainable for us.”1
M.-L. von Franz briefly recalls a parallel between medieval exegesis of the four meanings of Scripture (historical, allegorical, tropological and anagological) and the four basic functions of the human psyche (the senses, thought, sentiment and intuition), and then draws the following conclusion:
“In
the Middle Ages, Holy Scripture was looked upon as unit, as a
mysterium,
which makes clear to us the reality of the Christ. When this mystery,
in itself inconceivable, rotates by means of the four wheels of the
four scriptural exegesis, it draws nearer to our understanding. But
our understanding can never explain Scripture “exhaustively,” for
“the purport of the divine word is of infinite diversity,” as
John
Scotus Erigena
puts it.”2
It
must be remembered that, in psychology, the conscious always remains
the key to “salvation”. Some things may be changed by it or be
allowed to change. Through lectio – which activates the conscious
part in response to the totality3
manifested by Christ who speaks in Scripture – the dark areas are
approached each day, and the conscious and active being is daily
called upon. This is therefore not only a kind of analysis (probably
one of the best kinds since it is perfectly adapted to each person
and to his or her degree of self-revelation) but equally a way of
collaborating in one’s own healing. Here the subject is truly the
co-author of his own cure. When one understands the importance of
taking responsibility for one’s own self, one sees more clearly
lectio’s great contribution to psychological health and its
powerful influence as a means of healing.
Psychology
applies different methods to reach the unconscious, in order to
assist it and allow it to express itself. In this regard, and more
especially when compared to the active imagination method described
by Jung and his disciples, lectio is, at an even more comprehensive
level, a highly efficient means because it leaves the path clear for
the Lord to illumine our depths – in a way similar to Jung’s
method.
Lectio
also strengthens the self and the conscious part in front of the
unconscious, and unifies the person. Having said this, it is to be
noted that lectio is ten times more efficient and easier to put into
practice than the best therapeutic methods. This is so because God is
both present and active here - He who is the best aid and catalyst -
together with the Holy Spirit and Christ. Nevertheless, in the most
severe or marginal cases, lectio cannot replace treatment by a doctor
or at least the help of an experienced guide.
Certainly
these observations would benefit from broader research and even an
in- depth comparative study.
1
M.-L. von Franz, Projection
and Re-collection in Jungian Psychology : Reflections of the
Soul (Open
Courst Publishing, 1985) pp.45-46.
2
Ibid.,
p. 47.
Note 1: This is an extract from the book: "Lectio divina in daily life" (please click here)
Note 2: A keynote on Lectio Divina
Note 3: Remember to subscribe to this Blog so you can receive the posts directly to your email.
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