Praying for Unity – 2023

Starting Wednesday of this week (February 1, 2023) we will be joining Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and Boardman Community Church as we pray together over our community. We will pray over the same scripture passages each day (using the guide you can download on the right).

On Wednesday the 8th, we will meet at 6:30 p.m. at Boardman Community Church for a joint worship service to finish our prayer time together.

Our prayer focus this year will be on the first chapter of Isaiah, and we will hone in on the issue of Doing Good and Seeking Justice.

Please join us as we seek to show the community that we are united in our commitment to call upon our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to restore, revive and rebuild our friends, neighbors, brothers, and sisters.

How to PRAY THE SCRIPTURES

using DIVINE READING

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” (Is 40:8). During this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity I propose to read prayerfully Isaiah chapter one divided in eight meditations, one for each day. Let us “take time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.”[i] Let us approach to the Holy Scripture “as Moses approached the burning bush: first to contemplate him in prayer, then to hear how he teaches us to pray, in order to know how he hears our prayer”

We would like to follow the ancient method of Lectio Divina, Divine Reading, knowing that only God, through his word, can carry out the conversion of the heart (μετάνοια). This method in summary, as the author Guigo expresses, invites participants to “seek in reading and you will find in meditating; knock in mental prayer and it will be opened to you by contemplation” (CCC 2654).

There is a powerful and beautiful analogy about how to read the scripture through Lectio Divina. This analogy is a comparison of this process of prayer with cultivating wine:

As preparing the soil and planting the vines, so is the breaking the ground of our hearts and planting the seeds of the Gospel. Later the fruit that grows must be collected.

“At harvest time in the vineyard you must walk through the rows of vines and pick the grapes. Picking grapes is tedious and time consuming, done by hand so as not to damage the grapes. So too, the first rung of prayer, the reading (lectio) of Scripture, must be done with care and concentration.”[ii] After the grapes are picked, with a virginal heart, you must take your shoes off, and tread joyfully on the grapes, so the juice must be squeeze out, similarly, “we squeeze out the meaning of the text we have carefully read in lectio.”[iii] That is meditation. Prayer is as for the juice, once collected, time for fermentation. This is the time to engage in conversation with God. “After the wine has had time to ferment, age, and find its balance, under the guidance of the expert vintner, one gets to taste the fine wine.”[iv] This is what is called contemplation, that is the time to surround ourselves into God’s mercy. And as wine intoxicates our soul, we become sober intoxicated of the Holy Spirit which purifies and renews our hearts. (Cf. Act 2: 13).

Here is a simple outline to help us to visualize these vital steps to harvesting the vineyard of the divine text:

1. Sacred Reading (Lectio): The reading and rereading of the Scripture passage, with close attention to words, details, themes, and patterns that speak to you.
2. Meditation (Meditatio): Meditating or reflecting on what you have read. Be attentive to what speaks to your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you as you spend time pondering what you have read and striving to understand it in meditation.
3. Responding (Oratio): A time to bring your meditative thoughts to God in prayer. Talk with God about how the connections and implications of your meditation on the Scripture affect your life and the lives of your Christian community.
4. Contemplation (Contemplatio): A time of quiet and rest, when you become the receiver and listen to God’s voice. Contemplation is a gift from God, not something we achieve on our own—so be patient as you practice this step and strive to be receptive to God’s voice speaking into your life.
5. Resolution (Resolutio): A call for decision and action, inviting you to respond to the things you have read in Scripture and have prayed about and to put them into practice.

[i] Teresa de Jesús, Obras Completas de Santa Teresa de Jesús, Tomo I, Novísima Edición. (Madrid: Felipe González Rojas, 1902), 89.

[ii] Tim Gray, “Lectio Divina-Stairway to Heaven” in Praying Scripture for a Change: An Introduction to Lectio Divina, (West Chester PA: Ascension Press: 2009) 35

[iii] Ibid

[iv] Ibid