Lectio Divina | Daily Catholic Prayer | Gospel Reflections

Lectio Divina Daily
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Lectio Divina | Daily Catholic Prayer | Gospel Reflections

Welcome to Lectio Divina Reflections. Part of my daily prayer as a Catholic, lectio divina has helped me grow closer to God and to the way that I practice my faith. There are different methods for doing lectio divina that include reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation. Join me as I use lectio divina as I understand it as a way of reading Scripture and praying through God's word, which leads always into a deeper relationship with him. My hope is that your own practice of lectio divina opens wide for you the door to Christ.

  1. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. | Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

    HACE 22 H

    Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. | Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

    From the Gospel acclamation: "Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.” A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (8:27-33, today's readings) He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” By their own profession of faith spoken by Peter, the disciples tell Jesus that he is Christ, the Son of Man. By asking them questions, Jesus hears their answers and takes their exchange a step further. He begins to teach them about his coming passion, death, and resurrection. Peter's image of Christ the Messiah is discordant with the truth of Jesus' mission, so he rebukes him. Jesus is perfectly obedient to the will of the Father, fulfilling his plan for our salvation. What Peter doesn't understand, he makes clear to him even as he turns his gaze to the disciples. That God has a plan for us in Jesus, there is no doubt, as we hear him say in the first reading, "For in the image of God has man been made." God, help me see clearly where my plans end and yours begin. I pray to be free of unwieldy desires to control what I can't control and instead to let you take that from me. In your image, I am made free in order to freely choose to do your will. As Saint John Paul II said, “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” Peter did not desire to see Jesus face his coming persecution and death, but he was powerless to impose his will on a plan Jesus freely chose to fulfill. Give me the grace, Lord, to recognize and name your divinity and think as you do but not as human beings do. Lead me, guide me, for the sake of your name. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

    2 min
  2. “Do you see anything?” | Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

    HACE 2 DÍAS

    “Do you see anything?” | Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

    From the Gospel acclamation: "May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to his call." A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (8:22-26, today's readings) Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked, “Do you see anything?” Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.” Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly. Today's Gospel acclamation points to what Mark tells us about Jesus as he restores sight to the blind man. The eyes of our hearts need enlightenment in order to see the hope that Jesus is as he stands before us. When Jesus first lays hands on the blind man, anointing him with spittle, he sees indistinctly with distorted vision. When Jesus lays hands on him a second time, his sight is restored perfectly. The interaction between Jesus and the blind man demonstrates the need for relationship with Jesus, to hear and respond to him as he teaches us to see distinctly with the eyes of our hearts. God, just as the blind man's vision was clouded and obscured, so is mine in many ways. You alone, Lord, are the just judge who knows the truth of my dependence on you to see you and this present reality with eyes made to behold what is true and good and beautiful. Through your grace, do the continual work necessary to restore my sight as I respond to the love you give in your word and in the sacraments of your Church on earth. You know me and you probe me. In the psalms, what do I have to offer if not gratitude for all your good gifts? "To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise." Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

    2 min
  3. “Do you still not understand?” | Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

    HACE 3 DÍAS

    “Do you still not understand?” | Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

    From the responsorial psalm: "The voice of the LORD is over the waters, the LORD, over vast waters. The voice of the LORD is mighty; the voice of the LORD is majestic.  The Lord will bless his people with peace." A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (8:14-21, today's readings) And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?” They answered him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They answered him, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” On a boat with the disciples, they tell Jesus they have only one loaf of bread with them. Jesus says to them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” Jesus observes that they don't understand him and asks them whether they comprehend what he means. "Are your hearts hardened?" he asks them. "Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?" Because they don't yet understand the identity of Jesus as the Son of God and his mission, he goes on to remind them of his feeding of the crowds and asks again if they still don't understand, spoken not out of questioning their ability to comprehend him but out of love. In this way, he brings us not to a place of self-doubt but one of greater trust in his divinity and goodness as he invites the disciples and all of us to understand him more deeply. God, help me remember today what Jesus calls me to in questioning my understanding of him. This is not to cast a shadow on your gift of intellect but to draw me closer to him. Let me welcome the question "Do you not yet understand or comprehend?" In a million years, I would not yet understand. Yet, Jesus condescends to make a place for me nearer and nearer to him as I grow to greater understanding through childlike faith. Give me the grace, Lord, to trust in your providence for everything and to stay in the boat with you in the midst of adversity. Give to the LORD the glory due his name! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

    2 min
  4. “Why does this generation seek a sign?" | Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

    HACE 4 DÍAS

    “Why does this generation seek a sign?" | Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

    From the responsorial psalm: “'You sit speaking against your brother; against your mother’s son you spread rumors. When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.' Offer to God a sacrifice of praise." A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (6:17, 20-26, today's readings) “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” The Pharisees come to Jesus asking for a sign from heaven. At this, Mark says, Jesus "sighed from the depth of his spirit." After he tells them no sign will be given to them, he gets in the boat again and goes to the other shore, continuing his mission elsewhere. Jesus sighs, seeing as God sees, the blindness of his people. Just as God warned Cain about "a demon lurking at his door" and the psalmist calls out those who "sit speaking against your brother," Jesus sees the evil we are capable of that he brings out into the light. God sees because he is God and we are not. Even in the presence of the Incarnate Word, the sight of faith sometimes fails to function. Jesus is not just a sign but the visible sign of the invisible God who delivers for us his ultimate plan for salvation. God, help me see as you see. Through the truth of the risen Christ, I am set free to know and worship you, to find meaning even as I ponder the mystery of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection. As Saint John Paul II said, "Through this revelation, men and women are offered the ultimate truth about their own life and about the goal of history." I don't see you, Lord, as I ought. In my shortcomings, strengthen my faith that you alone are the Lord, to offer you a sacrifice of praise in making yourself known through the incarnation of your Son. "I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus, I trust in you! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

    2 min
  5. “Blessed are you . . . . Woe to you." | Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    HACE 5 DÍAS

    “Blessed are you . . . . Woe to you." | Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    From the responsorial psalm: "Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord." A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 6:17, 20-26, today's readings) And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours." Jesus speaks to the disciples and great numbers of people. They come, as Luke tells us, from Judea and Jerusalem and the wealthy Phoenician regions of Tyre and Sidon. Jesus shares the Beatitudes with both Gentiles and Jews, rich and poor, the satisfied and the hungry. In speaking to them face to face on a level plain as the Just Judge, he raises the lowly and brings to the level of dust the wealthy. The poor are not satisfied in their hunger, and the rich are not satiated by what has brought them to prosperity. The words of Jesus are not mere observations on the state of humanity; his words level mountains. In the Communion antiphon for today, we hear how his words take root and fulfill us, at whatever level we stand in life: "They ate and had their fill, and what they craved the Lord gave them; they were not disappointed in what they craved." God, help me learn to be satisfied less with the food the world offers and rely more and more on the sustenance you provide. Jeremiah reminds me that to stay rooted in you, I am not to put my trust in human beings, in the strength of flesh. Instead, he says, "Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD." The kingdom of God is here and yet to be. Give me the grace and wisdom not to be filled now, not to pursue consolation as an end in itself, but even in the midst of difficulty and suffering to "be glad and leap for joy" at the true food you give me today. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

    2 min
  6. "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd." | Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

    HACE 6 DÍAS

    "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd." | Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

    From the responsorial psalm: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge." A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 8:1-10, today's readings) His disciples answered him, "Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?" Still he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They replied, "Seven." In this passage known as the Feeding of the Four Thousand, the words Jesus speaks are as profound as the miracle he performs. What was left over after the miracle also speaks of God's abundant mercy—seven basketsful of fragments. Aware of the physical needs of the crowd following him for three days, Jesus feels great compassion for them, and we hear him say, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd." His care for them extends beyond their physical presence with him: "If I send them away hungry to their homes," Jesus says, "they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance." The great distance they have come is an expression of their desire to be with the Lord, to stay with him. All-knowing and ever merciful, Jesus not only supplies them with food to satisfy hunger but with the fulfillment of our deepest longings. God, help me trust that you look to the needs of your people at all times with compassion and mercy. What I tend to think I need during the day turns out to be not a need at all but more the fulfillment of requirements I set for myself. Jesus looks out over the crowd and sees what they need and immediately provides for them. Let me put myself in the sometimes uncomfortable disposition to receive your mercy and be fed by you. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

    2 min
  7. Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop

    13 FEB

    Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop

    From the responsorial psalm: "Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven." A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 7:31-37, today's readings) He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. The ears of the deaf man are opened because of the miracle Jesus performs but also because people bring the man to Jesus. Not in isolation, the man experiences the love of others who believe Jesus can restore his hearing and speech. In the first reading, the serpent finds and isolates Eve, effectively dividing her from the union she has with Adam and God and all of creation. In restoring the deaf man, Jesus doesn't merely undo what the evil one did in the Garden of Eden; he restores the man to wholeness in a foretaste of the new creation, the beatific vision in the life of the world to come. Mark tells us that the man's speech impediment was removed and that he spoke plainly. The plain speech that drives the evil one away is one word: Jesus. God, let me see the peace that results from the work Jesus accomplished while on earth and the hope of eternal life in his passion, death, and resurrection. At creation, Lord, you said you found all that you had made very good. Jesus took the deaf man aside, away from others who loved and cared for him, in order to draw him into more intimate union with you. In opening his ears and lips, Jesus restores him to your plan for creation so that all may say of your glory, "He has done all things well." Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son. Saints Cyril and Methodius, pray for us! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

    2 min
  8. "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps." | Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

    12 FEB

    "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps." | Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

    From the responsorial psalm: "Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. The LORD bless you from Zion: may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Blessed are those who fear the Lord." A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 7:31-37,today's readings) The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She replied and said to him, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps." Then he said to her, "For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter." Wherever he goes, Jesus cannot escape notice, even among the Gentiles. People come to him from all sides, as the woman in today's Gospel does for the sake of her daughter. In responding to the woman, Jesus refers to the claim of the Jews that they first receive his ministry as God's chosen ones. But for the mother who sees the suffering of her daughter, that claim does nothing to hold her back. Jesus gives her the opportunity to demonstrate the depth of her faith expressed in desperate need. Similarly, in the first reading from Genesis, we see the dignity of Adam and Eve standing before God in complete reliance on him, both naked yet feeling no shame. Jesus invites us to come to him with the same dignity, in complete recognition of all he can do for us in his mercy as our Lord and creator. God, just as the woman approached Jesus, aware of her otherness but in great need, I ask for the grace to do the same. In willing to do anything to restore her daughter's health, the mother had heard of Jesus and simply fell at his feet on meeting him. Help me today put to work the exemplary persistent faith of the woman and her holy fear and reverence as she knelt before you. At creation, "The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame." In humility and childlike trust, let me remember to come to you throughout the day, to come with persistence, and to plead that your will—which is love—be done for me and others. Blessed are those who fear the Lord! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

    2 min
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Welcome to Lectio Divina Reflections. Part of my daily prayer as a Catholic, lectio divina has helped me grow closer to God and to the way that I practice my faith. There are different methods for doing lectio divina that include reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation. Join me as I use lectio divina as I understand it as a way of reading Scripture and praying through God's word, which leads always into a deeper relationship with him. My hope is that your own practice of lectio divina opens wide for you the door to Christ.

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