Lectio Divina Template 3

"Were not our hearts burning within us...?"

We invite you to a few minutes of silence before we begin our prayer time together.

Take a deep breath and breathe in the breath of God, knowing by faith that God breathes into us the breath of life.

CONTEMPLATIVE / SILENT PRAYER

Our Centering Prayer sit is 30 minutes sounded by the chime/chant.  At the end of the Prayer sit, we will linger in silence a few minutes, then follow by praying together the Our Father.

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LECTIO DIVINA: Listening to the Word of God with the ears of our heart

First reading & silent reflection:  Reflect  in silence.

LECTIO: Luke 24:13-35. ...Jesus drew near and walked with two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus. They urged Jesus "Stay....the day is almost over." So Jesus went in to stay with them. And it happened, that while He was at table with them, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus.... "Were not our hearts burning within us while He spoke....?"

Second reading & reflection: What word or phrase catches your attention? Share or pass.

Third reading & reflection:  How does this word or phrase touch your life? Share or pass.

Fourth and last reading & silent reflection:  How is God inviting you to grow?  We will reflect in silence for a few moments before we move from Lectio Prayer to the teaching by Father Keating.

Teaching: The disciples could not recognize Jesus as long as their mindsets about who He was and what He was to do were in place. When Jesus demolished their blindness with His explanation of the scriptures, their vision of Him began to assume a more realistic tone. The price of recognizing Jesus is always the same: our idea of Him, of the church, of the spiritual journey, of God Himself has to be shattered. To see with eyes of faith we must be free of our culturally conditioned mindsets. When we let go of our private and limited vision, He who has been hidden from us by our pre-packaged values and preconceived ideas causes the scales to fall from our eyes. He was there all the time. Now at last we perceive His Presence. With the transformed vision of faith, we return to the humdrum routines and duties of daily life, but now...we recognize God giving Himself to us in everyone and in everything. ~The Mystery of Christ, Father Thomas Keating 

Go in the name of Christ Jesus to love and serve the Lord.  Thanks be to God!

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[This is an adapted format courtesy of Martha Johnston, Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington, DC]