Lectio Divina

Prayer for stillness

Bless this moment I want to spend with you, Lord.

Keep speaking Your word to me.

I choose now to let my five senses completely be tuned to Your wisdom.

Bless my little heart to remember your words.

 

 

1. Lectio (Rejoice and Read)

 

As Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.  And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant.  They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”  And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him,  “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.”  And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.”  And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

St Luke 18:35-43, ESVUK

 

I choose “I want you to put me on the road again, Lord” as a petition to guide my thoughts and mind in the presence of God.

 

 

2. Meditatio (Rejoice and Reflect)

 

This week, the Holy Scripture puts us on the road again!

This time, I creatively imagine being on a journey that is much more different from the Emmaus, Damascus and Jerusalem roads.

I visualise being on a trip to Jericho, a safari towards which is nowadays one of the Palestinian administrative seats.

Here is where the injured man was revived and reconnected to life, thanks to the Good Samaritan’s act of love and compassion.

Traveling through a desert and several sensitive crossing points, I imagine spending a few hours being interrogated by Israeli immigration officers, asking me to give the rationale behind my trip to Jericho. Then the Israeli officer stamps my passport, which means I can visit Jericho.

I come across people who are very different from the people I saw in Jerusalem, the Holy City. These people live in a lowland, lower in elevation or altitude compared to Jerusalem.

And finally, here is a broken statue of Hiel the Bethelite who attempted to build the city of Jericho on his own will and effort, thus ignoring Joshua’s prophecy and who later suffered the consequences of his actions.

Needless to mention the fear that invaded my mind and body throughout this journey given the fact that I was previously warned that I was taking a risk to visit one of the most dangerous roads in the world not only because of its terrain but because of road criminals. That feeling of fear prevented me from enjoying the beauty of the way to Jericho.

 

Pause

 

This imaginary trip, thanks to my creative mind, reminds me of my Christian and universal call of love and compassion towards everybody I meet in my life.  I reminisced about Jesus' zero tolerance towards all forms of discrimination.  Nobody is “higher” or better than anyone else.  Everybody is equal in the eyes of the Lord.

I am also reminded that fear can hold my positive emotions such as Agape love, joy, and compassion hostage.

I want you to put me on the road again, Lord

 

 

3. Oratorio (Ask)

 

I read from a commentary that the name Jericho means the city of the fragrance and the Hebrew verb that correlates with the name Jericho means to widen or make small thing bigger (spacious). It also means to become unrestrained and unconfined.

What are trying to tell me, Lord?

Do you want to remind me of the freedom that you ushered in my life on the day of Baptism, the day I was born from the breath of the Spirit?

Are you telling me to consider what happens during baptismal consecration?

The day you renewed my mind and enabled me to put my trust in you?

The day I became “unconfined”, freer from selfish and sinful desires?

The day I became the fragrance of your Son among other fellow humans?

What are telling me, Lord?

I want you to put me on the road again, Lord

 

Pause

 

When faced with difficulties, faced with closed doors and when I wonder and when I do not know how to move forward, may Your Spirit keep me company; reconnecting me to You; resetting my heart, the heavenly city, where divine transformations and divine communion take place.

 

Silence

 

I read from a commentary that in the Holy Scriptures, Jericho was known for its interplay between its destruction and its revival. 

What are you telling me, Lord?

What is “destroying” my journey of ascension to Heaven?

Have I forgotten Your divine Highway code?

Reconnect me now to the Way of Holiness.

Revive me and give me a heart of love and compassion

always moved by the genuine concerns for others.

I want you to put me on the road again, Lord

 

 

4. Contemplatio (Yield and Pray)

 

I want you to put me on the road again this week, Lord.

 

Silence

 

And now in the silence of Your Divine presence, I pray:

 

Jesus, I want to walk in your Spirit,

I rely on what you have planned for my life in the coming weeks.

There is no doubt that there is a battle going on within me every day.

But I choose to abide with you and smell the fragrance of love this week.

 

Silence

 

"Dear Lord, help me to spread your fragrance [of love] everywhere I go.

Flood my soul with your spirit and life.

[Pierce] and possess my whole being so utterly that [all] my life may only be a radiance of you.

Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul that I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul.”

(cf. Saint Cardinal John Henry Newman)

 

 

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