CONTEMPLATIVE READING: Growing deeper through the Word.

Posted on November 16, 2022 by thecenterforcontemplativepractice

Reading a phone book (do those still exist?) provides me with information about how to communicate with another person if they are in the phone book. Reading Sacred Scriptures is unlike reading any other book. Because it is God’s Word, authorized through the Church Universal, it is from God. As such, like Lectio Divina and Liturgy of the Hours, we find ourselves taking into our minds and hearts that which is dynamic and pure energy. Granted, each of us assimilates this Love according to our capacity (capacitas dei). My Lay Cistercian practices and charisms are all designed to place me in the real presence of Christ, and the rest is up to me. God’s grace and energy are a constant flow. My reception is not. Here is how I do spiritual reading, although I apply it to all my Cistercian practices. I practice this Cistercian way mostly at home because I am 82+ and have problems remembering if I took my medicine sometimes.

FIRST READING: READ OR LISTEN TO THE WORD

I nearly always try to proceed with any prayer with fifteen minutes of reflection to prepare my upper room (Matthew 6:5) to host my friends, The Trinity. I am mindful of St. Benedict’s admonition to his monks about humility in Chapter Seven, First Step in being humble: Fear of the Lord. I ask Jesus to have mercy on me, a sinner, not worthy to sit in the presence of a God I have never seen, nor can I fathom who I seek as my center. Then, I stop and clear my mind and wait.

In silence and solitude, both externally and internally, I read the Scriptures, now realizing that I will encounter the transformative Word within human words. Philippians 2:5-12. I wait and slowly read the first passage, which, for example, is one of my favorites and happens to be my center. Here it is for you to read.

Plea for Unity and Humility.^*

1If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy,

2complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing.^a

3Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,^b

4each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others.^c

5Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,^*

6Who,^* though he was in the form of God,^d

did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.^*

7Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;^*

and found human in appearance,^e

8he humbled himself,^f

becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.^*

9Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name^*

that is above every name,^g

10that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,^*

of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,^h

11and every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord,^*

to the glory of God the Father.ⁱ

Obedience and Service in the World.^*

12^j So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.^*

13For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work.^k

14Do everything without grumbling or questioning,^l

15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,^* among whom you shine like lights in the world,^m

16as you hold on to the word of life, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.ⁿ

17But, even if I am poured out as a libation^* upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you.^o

18In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.^p

Read it slowly one time, stop and reflect on what you read. Can you think of one thing that impressed you?

SECOND READING: Pray the Word

Don’t hurry. Take your time for five minutes to just wait in the presence of Christ using the power of the Holy Spirit. Remember, silence is spoken in your upper room.

Reread this passage; only this time, think of it as a prayer that Christ gave you. Abandon any thoughts you have about what this means. Wait for what Christ says.

THIRD READING: Share the Word

Reread this passage. This time try to move it from your head to your heart. Your head wants to know about it and to place it in neat categories, like, “just say the prayer.” Sharing in this stage means to stop to look at Christ in the chair next to you and ask Him questions. The sharing is not with other human beings but with Jesus Christ, fully human, fully divine, and your friend. Don’t put words in Christ’s mouth. Listen “with the ear of the heart,” as St. Benedict suggests.

FOURTH READING: Be what you have read, prayed, and shared.

When Christ is ready, begin. This is the area of transformation, where you become what you read. It is not you who chose me, says Christ, I have chosen you. The purpose of my spiritual life is to be more like Christ and less like me. I can only do this by waiting in the presence of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and listening. Jesus speaks through energy, which is the way of Love. The Holy Spirit speaks through energy, which is the truth of Hope. We all approach the Father, the Life of Faith, through, with, and in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This fourth reading sheds all the assumptions I have and all the hidden agendas I have built up over my lifetime. The lower nature (human) assumes, the higher nature as it is capable. Being in the presence of Christ for me is not just the horizontal time I spend in private or public prayer; it extends the scope of prayer to include my whole day. As a retired broken-down, old Lay Cistercian, I have time to pray. I could spend that time watching the plastic flowers grow or watching Bishop Barron’s YouTube. Whatever I do, I seek God, and that is a prayer. St. Benedict’s dictum rings true: “That in all things, may God be glorified.” This is not only praying daily; my day is a prayer itself to the Father in reparation for my sins and failure to see Christ. Hindsight can be a beast sometimes.

FIFTH READING: I become more like Christ. Changing dissonance of Original Sin into the resonance of Objective Truth.

I realize that I have had it wrong all these years. I don’t mean I was on the wrong track, but instead I emphasized what I could do for God through my reading or prayer. Now, through the painful process of conversio morae (daily conversion from my will to that of my will infused with God’s own will), I have come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

Conclusion.^*

30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book.^s

31But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.^t
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/20

The commentary at the end of this passage, as contained in the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) text, contains an explanation that I find helpful as my Faith is not just an accumulation of my past good or erroneous accomplishments but also what I anticipate to be my next challenge of mind and heart.

* [20:30–31] These verses are clearly a conclusion to the gospel and express its purpose. While many manuscripts read come to believe, possibly implying a missionary purpose for John’s gospel, a small number of quite early ones read “continue to believe,” suggesting that the audience consists of Christians whose faith is to be deepened by the book; cf. Jn 19:35.

These five levels of growth in my prayer life have led me to a more profound love for Scripture and Tradition. Reading from Sacred Scriptures is the core of my spiritual awareness, but only if I grow beyond reading to being what the Scriptures say. As I understand it, tradition is the Church Universal reading these Scriptures and making comments down through the centuries. The early men and women in the Church (Church Fathers and Mothers) read this same passage I did and wrote about it.

If you want a spiritual experience that takes you to new levels of prayerfulness, read the following at http://www.newadvent.org.

NOTE: This is a long list. I just “pick and choose” from this for my Tradition Reading. Tradition is the writing of those who have read Sacred Scriptures and commented on them, the deliberations and authority of the Ecumenical Councils, and the writing of the Magisterium. This is the application of Sacred Scripture as each age unfolds.

Alexander of Alexandria [SAINT]
– Epistles on the Arian Heresy and the Deposition of Arius

Alexander of Lycopolis
– Of the Manicheans

Ambrose (340-397) [SAINT] [DOCTOR]
  – On the Christian Faith (De fide)
  – On the Holy Spirit
  – On the Mysteries
  – On Repentance
  – On the Duties of the Clergy
  – Concerning Virgins
  – Concerning Widows
  – On the Death of Satyrus
  – Memorial of Symmachus
  – Sermon against Auxentius
  – Letters