A short time before Lent, a
note on the bulletin board gave us the opportunity to join a prayer group to
reflect on each Lenten Sunday Gospel if we so desired. Names of sisters who
were willing to lead a group were also provided. I was delighted to put my name
under one of the leaders as my past experience in such groups has been
grace-filled.
On Saturday, March 30, the
group I joined met for our 4thtime to reflect on Luke’s story of the prodigal son. On this particular
Saturday I felt worn out and edgy over how I would meet two other commitments
due soon. God graced me to choose to attend the group—always a blessing.
You may well be familiar with the format that
is frequently used for group“lectio
divina” (“holy” or “sacred reading.”)
A group member reads aloud the gospel, and each one present listens for a
word or phrase that particularly strikes him/her. That word or phrase is then
shared aloud. The phrase that touched me was “The Father was filled with
compassion.”
Someone then reads the gospel
for a second time and each member shares more about the feeling, image or
thoughts she/he experienced regarding his/her chosen word or phrase. I shared
that the phrase, “The Father was filled
with Compassion,” seemed to wash over me and calm my tiredness and
anxieties regarding my other commitments.
After all have shared the
gospel is read a third time and individuals share what the chosen word or
phrase is calling him/her to do during the following week. Each member then prayed
for the sister on her left and it was time to attend the community’s communal
evening prayer at 5 PM. I made sure to remember to let “my” phrase wash over me
and soothe me throughout the coming week.
Every Lent and Easter season
Sr. Mary Tewes leads a weekly evening lectio group here at the monastery and invites
lay people to attend. If you would like to come, just give Sr. Mary a call to
have a seat ready for you.
Sr. Victoria Eisenman, OSB
Dear Sister, this practice of Lectio Divina is truly a good way to go forward. Here is the Clementine Vulgate version of verse 20 vidit illum pater ipsius [his father saw him] et misericordia motus est [and moved with compassion], et accurrens cecidit super collum ejus [running to him fell on his neck], et osculatus est eum [and kissed him]. It is one of the most emotional scenes in the Gospel: a father showing unrestrained affection for his son, with no word of reprimand for the apparent waste of the inheritance. Misericordia must be the best Latin word we have, given to us in the Gospels as the translation of that difficult Greek word. From this word we have the English word, via French, Mercy. What do these words mean? Why should the father be filled with compassion, and not with relief or joy? Does the son look so ill? He looked unspeakably miserable and the father felt sorry for him. Also, it was the Father who secretly had sent him to the red light district to spend his money on those poor ones there and give them his gentle teaching as a relief to them in their hard daily task. The son did not know that however. It was the Father's love to them, to those poor ones, because he knew that his son would bring them hope and relief. Indeed, it was the beginning for them of a better life. A small town in the north. Happy Easter soon, God bless OSB amen.
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