form you. Stay with the text as long as it holds spiritual power.
When that experience passes, move to the third part—our
response.
We may be led to say something to God like, “Thank you for
. . .” or “I’m sorry that . . .” or “Please help me to . . . .”
This process normally leads to the fourth aspect of this sacred
reading—inner silence.
Here no words are used and no thoughts are thought. One is
simply present to God in a wordless, loving communion. The
regular practice of lectio divina makes us pause, fills our minds
and hearts with scriptural passages that nourish our spirit and
enable us to see as God sees, hear as God hears, and love as God
loves in our everyday lives.
Prayer: “Be Still and Know that I am God.”
Mount Horeb—the location of the loudest whisper ever spoken!
Here the prophet Elijah heard God speak not through a gusting
wind, terrifying earthquake, or fire, but in a “gentle breeze.”
Simply put, prayer refers to God’s invitation to be quiet
enough to hear God’s still small voice (1 Kg 19:12). Sometimes
our prayer involves conversation with God; at other times a
quiet, being with God.
Often God may seem silent. One woman recently complained,
“I put time aside in the morning to pray, but often I don’t hear
any still, small voice.” Whether we feel God’s presence isn’t what
really matters. What matters is putting ourselves in God’s presence and giving God our time, attention, and our love.
I often ask God to let something of God rub off on me—loving
kindness, the capacity to forgive, extending unconditional
love—to be God’s blessing to others throughout our day. In
faith, we know God is always working obscurely within us,
drawing us into deeper intimacy with him, and asking us to
share his love and blessing with those who make up our lives.
Our model, of course, is Jesus. The Gospels show Jesus frequently at prayer, not only at crucial moments of his life—at his
baptism, before choosing the Twelve Apostles, at the Transfiguration, in the garden of Gethsemane—but frequently withdrawing
throughout the day to pray. Jesus “withdrew to a deserted place by
himself”; “He went up the mountain by himself to pray”; “Early in
the morning, long before dawn, he found a lonely place to pray.”
Jesus sought out time to be with his Abba and to find guidance for his ministry, “Let us go elsewhere, to the neighboring
country towns, so that I can preach there too, for that is why
I came” (Mk 1:38-39). As did Jesus, if we want to hear God’s
voice, we must put time aside to be with him.
Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament
I don’t know about you, but when I really want to have
a heart-to-heart conversation with someone, I’m careful to
choose the right ambiance: a private walk, a stroll on the
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Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Spring 2015
“I went to my
beach, a quiet corner
in the back of a favorite
enemies and I
restaurant. For many
knocked on the
people today, the endoor. Would you
vironment that offers
the best opportunity
like me to bring
for conversation with
communion?”
God or a quiet loving
attentiveness to G