Lectio Divina

by Fr Jean Celestine Ngoma

 

Soul, since you are My room,

My house and dwelling,

If at any time,

Through your distracted ways

I find the door tightly closed,

Outside yourself seek Me not,

To find Me it will be

Enough only to call Me,

Then quickly will I come,

And in yourself seek Me.

(Saint Teresa of Ávila)

 

 

1. Lectio (Read)

 

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?  What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

(St Matthew 4:18-20, ESVUK)

 

Silence

 

What sacred word, concept, or phrase comes to mind after reading the text? I am touched by Saint John the Baptist’s awareness of Jesus while being in prison.

My refrain will be: You are present right here, right now.

 

2. Meditatio (Rejoice and Reflect)

 

Awareness in dreams: I think about the science fiction movie that one of my colleagues once mentioned to me but this time I re-frame it using my creative imagination. I think about a prison movie where prisoners have started to have lucid dreams.

The content of their dreams is affected by their situational limits and anxieties. In their lucid dreams, they dramatize their last day in prison, thinking about the person who would vouch for them and pay for their freedom and what their first day out of prison would feel like.

Prisoners were able to guide and control their dream's narrative to some degree. I also notice that some bad prisoners were dreaming about escape plans until the day when the prison management decides to make use of a CCTV and dream reader device to try to read prisoners' minds. That new CCTV coupled with a dream reader app causes the prisoners to lose their focus, they felt diminished besides losing their privacy.

Using St Teresa of Avila’s words, I hypothesize that:
Dreams were the prisoners’ “rooms”.
“Their house and dwelling”

I creatively add:

 

Dreams were a venue where:

• Prisoners would fly away from their status quo.
• They could contemplate an adequate solution to their problems
• They could individuate the existence of something or someone who is more powerful than the trouble that they are experiencing. Someone ready whatever the cost it may take to jump in one’s status quo and save the day.

 

In their dreams, prisoners have personal contact with their hero: their hero was present right there... in their dreams.  

Jesus fulfills my dreams in real life.
You are present right here, right now.

 

Awareness of Jesus in Prison: I meditate upon St. John the Baptist’s situational limit.  He was in Prison and the awareness of Jesus' presence in the region came at a crucial period of his life. He was a prisoner, stuck in a room of four walls. What were his dreams?  John the Baptist might have seen Jesus as a deliverer who came to usher an adequate solution to his personal situation. Jesus is the person he wanted during that particular period of time.

 

Pause

 

He had to silently disappear when the Saviour appears. He became silent when His master talks... awareness through humility. 

 

You are present right here, right now.

 

Jesus’ Awareness fulfilled his joys.  After hearing Jesus’ word, John the Baptist became complete. From that time Jesus' presence started increasing in him.  His dreams were not shattered like the prisoners in the movie, because somebody else fulfils his dreams and brings them to their full realization.

Jesus fulfils my human joys and dreams.

You are present right here, right now.

 

Pause

 

Awareness through his human sense: The verb "hear" in the text has a nuance of awareness rather than simple hearing for curiosity or utilitarian self-interest.  "Heard" means that John the Baptist examined carefully the situation and was willing to obediently cooperate with God's salvific plan in Jesus.  He resolutely decides to engage with his Saviour Jesus Christ.  It is more than a desire, it is an inward movement of acceptance of one’s reality and contemplation that Jesus is the solution to the world's status quo, including John's own situation.  

Indeed, even John the Baptist was expecting the coming of Jesus who came for the world's rescue.  The religious geopolitical analyses indicates that he also was waiting for Jesus.  He contemplates Jesus' presence in the region as a deliverance for all.   

During baptism, he came across Jesus and he used his hands to baptize and touch the son of God and fulfil his task.

Awareness of Jesus fulfils our expectations.

You are present right here, right now.

 

3. Oratorio (Ask and Respond)

 

Awareness of Jesus fulfils John the Baptist's joys.

• How does the awareness of Jesus fulfil my body, mind, and soul?
• How difficult it is sometimes to put Christ at the centre of my daily activities?

How is it easier to want to be first, to like to be admired and recognized?

How is it easier to be invaded by pride and indulge in anything detrimental to my life as a Christian?

 

You are still present right here, right now.

 

May my prayer today bring the steadiness to face life’s shifts.

And make me always remember that I am essentially a spiritual being destined to meet God face to face.

 

Pause

 

Lead me now into a personal dialogue with you, in my own situation and in my own words:

 

Creator:

Worldly enticements always attempt to disrupt my ascension to You, God.
My human senses and brain also tend to be resisting awareness of You in my life.
But I still need to seek You in my daily life.
Make me continue to develop the awareness of Your presence in my mind because You are present right here, right now. You are in our hardship as much as You are in our bliss (contemplation outreach).

Creator, You are present right here, right now

 

Christ:

Let me not look, seek you, outside Yourself, Christ, and not swim against the river…
Let go of my inner resistance
Cast away from my mind the treadmill of boredom and “self-appreciation”.

Jesus, You are present right here, right now

 

Holy Spirit:

Make me receptive to understanding that there is something greater than myself,
and that my emotions, my present situation, and my sickness are not enough.
Rekindle in me the gift:
to learn to welcome reality, just as it unfolds,
to be open to your divine unknowableness
to find a certain grace and simplicity within even the most difficult situations.

Paraclete, You are present right here, right now.

 

 

4. Contemplatio (Yield and pray)

 

John heard that Jesus was around.  Jesus became closer to his  limit situation and his purpose.

 

Pause

 

Give me now the gift of cultivating this silent awareness of your presence in my brothers and sisters.

 

You are present right here, right now.

 

Silence

 

Let me now experience this silence as the all-embracing love of God.

 

Silence

 

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