Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading)

Structure of Lectio Divina Prayer Meeting:

Meditating on Scripture (Opening and Closing prayers taken from “Vision – Praying Scripture in a Contemporary Way”, by Mark Link, S.J.)

Opening prayer:

Father, you created me

and put me on earth for a purpose.

Jesus, you died for me

and called me to complete your work.

Holy Spirit, you help me

to carry out the work

for which I was created and called.

In your presence and name –

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit –

I begin my meditation.

May all my thoughts and inspirations

have their origin in you

and be directed to your glory.

Light candle and read John 8:12 and following prayer:

[Jesus said,]

“I am the light of the world…

Whoever follows me

will have the light of life

and will never walk in darkness.”

Lord Jesus, you said,

that where two or three

come together in your name,

you are there with them.

The light of this candle

symbolizes your presence among us.

And, Lord Jesus,

where you are, there, too,

are the Father and the Holy Spirit.

And so we begin our meeting

in the presence and the name

of the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit.

Praise the Lord with a Holy Spirit song and a Psalm song

Lectio Divina

1.  1st Reader reads the Scripture very slowly 2 times.  Silence for 1-2 minutes.  Each person shares just a word or phrase that attracts them.  [It is perfectly fine to say, "Pass," at anytime during the prayer meeting if you do not wish to say anything when it is your turn.  If someone passes, we will all pray the, "Our Father," prayer together, and move on to the next person.]   

2.  2nd Reader reads the Scripture very slowly.  Silence for 2-3 minutes.  Each person shares how they HEAR God's Word speaking to them, personally, or how they SEE God's Word touching just their own life.

3.  3rd Reader reads the Scripture very slowly.  Silence for 2-3 minutes.  Each person prays out loud in response to God’s Word, promising Him to do what they think God is asking them to DO today, or this week, or forever!

Call to Mission (Closing prayer) – read the following prayerfully:

We conclude our meeting

by listening to Jesus say to us

what he said to his disciples

in his Sermon on the Mount:

“You are like light for the whole world.

A city built on a hill cannot be hid.

No one lights a lamp

and puts it under a bowl;

instead he puts it on the lampstand,

where it gives light

for everyone in the house.

In the same way

your light must shine before people,

so that they will see

the good things you do

and praise your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:14-16)

Blow out candle and say:

The light of this candle

is now extinguished.

But the light of Christ in each of us

must continue to shine in our lives.

Toward this end we pray together

The Lord’s Prayer:  “Our Father…”