Lectio Divina
Reset me, Lord!
by Fr Jean Celestine Ngoma
As I enter prayer, I pause to be still.
I breathe slowly, re-centering my five senses upon your presence, O God.
I want to be completely transformed into your divine mercy and to be your living reflection today.
1. Lectio (Read)
When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralysed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go’, and he goes, and to another, ‘Come’, and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this’, and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marvelled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
(St Matthew 8:1-13, ESVUK)
Silence
2. Meditatio (Reflect)
I am pleased to enjoy the freedom and the inner healing that the Word of Life gives me in my daily life.
And So, I will use Reset me, Lord as a refrain to help me focus on the presence of Christ during this mediation of His sacred words. I creatively imagine as a student in the school the leper: A school of wrestling, discernment, trust, honesty and humility.
Silence
School of Wrestling: the leper suffered physically and spiritually. The leper has to negotiate the whole of his life. His mobility and identity were both fruits of a negotiation. He has to fight to continue to be useful, wrestling was part of his modus vivendi. He was continually tested by the elites and became the object of their religious knowledge. His tormentors wanted to extract something from him.
Reset me, Lord!
Pause
School of Discernment: The leper was considered to be an impure being who had to be removed from the community. This religious belief supports a “culture of the body”, a dear concept to consumerism that I see around me which increasingly focuses on the utilitarianist values of the human body. Body capital has become a standard of taste and those who can no longer produce are less valued in society.
I am here reminded to be led by the Paraclete, the Spirit of discernment when dealing with vulnerable members of our society. The words of the just man in Psalm 119:66 echo in my mind: "Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments."
Reset me, Lord!
3. Oratorio (Ask and Respond)
The Bible has recorded several types of tormentors who extract something from us and consequently divert our attention from what is our true Christian identity. Let me know my tormentors Lord? I need to get rid of most of them. Where do I need cleaning?
Reset me, Lord!
Pause
I identify myself as the leper in the text. He was overloaded with religious information. He was weary, worn out from all sorts of thoughts that had painfully invaded his mind. The Leper begged Jesus to reset his mind.
Pause
In this school of trust, Lord, reset my mind teach me Lord to trust in Your divine love and be optimistic about it every day because you want my good and nothing but my good.
The song Like A Sunflower That Follows Every Movement Of The Sun echoes in my mind: I sing and creatively add the following:
While Westling with the tormentor, I follow
While discerning your will in my life, I follow
In trust, honesty and humility, I follow (personalised)
4. Contemplatio (Yield)
To finish, I contemplate the value of honesty and humility in the school of the leper.
In this school of honesty and humility, I note I am the clay and You are the potter. Mould me, Lord!
I also note my inability to save myself and to let, Your son, Jesus the wounded Healer to come to my roof and say His words of consecration and blessing.
Reset me, Lord!
Silence
And now, as I prepare to take this time of prayer into the coming week, let me listen to your voice in the silence of my heart and let me recognise my imperfections.
Reset me, Lord!
Silence
I now simply turn to the Lord's altar and imaginatively beg him using the sacred words of the leper:
“Lord, if you will, you can make me clean”
RESET ME, LORD!
Exit meditation

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