Easter Octave 2016 | Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney | Solemn Evensong Luke 24:13-35 | Fr Martin Davies, Director, St James’ Institute The late abbot of Mepkini USA, wrote that the meditative reading of the scriptures in which we meet Christ is Not a study … [but] focuses on the entry into the heart of the Word of God with all the power of the Spirit. It is a sacramental time, full of the presence of God through his word. Francis Kline ocso, Lovers of the Place Monasticism Loose in the Church
I have long thought that these words of Cistercian abbot Francis Kline about the reading of the scriptures known as lectio divina, get to the very heart of our holy reading as encounter with God. Simply put, we can say that the aim of reading the scriptures is to receive the revelation of God’s love. Over this last week, I thought of Fr Francis’ words again in the light of the disciples’ dawning awareness that it was the risen Lord who had been with them on the Emmaus road and in the breaking of bread. Jesus had told them what they already knew well enough of the scriptural record. But in this meeting they realised - eventually - that knowledge and study of the scriptures was not enough in itself. All the knowledge of scripture, and all the rational argument and persuasive device in the world could not have convinced the disciples of what had happened. Their recognition came at a deeper level. In their own words, Were not our hearts burning within us...? The Orthodox theologian John Zizioulas says, The liturgy is not theology, it does not specify, it shows and reveals. reference unknown
So too with the bible and lectio divina as a way of the slow, prayerful reading of holy scripture – it is not study. So too (as some might care to remember) the prayer book is not primarily a theological manual; it is first a prayer book; a liturgy book. The encounter with God in the bible and the encounter with God in worship, is lacking a whole dimension if bible reading is only for study and if use of the church’s prayerbook is only to test a certain doctrinal adherence. As the disciples’ dawning realisation following the Emmaus road experience shows us, it is only in actual encounter with God that the meaning of scripture descends from the mind and enters into the heart, where God dwells with us. It is truly as Abbot Kline says, a sacramental time, full of the presence of God through his word. We can easily make our own, the ancient practice of meditative reading known as lectio divina. There are many ways to easily grasp this way of prayerful reading. One of them is based on a paraphrase of a well-known verse from S. Luke’s Gospel (11:9) and provides us with an outline of stages involved in reading the scriptures. Seek in Reading, and you will find in Meditation; knock in Prayer and it will be opened to you in Contemplation. S John of the Cross
This meditative prayer has been undertaken in many different ways throughout Christian history. Before people generally could read, frescoes, icons and later stained glass, were a source of seeing the scriptures. Today, electronic devices offer another means where the scriptures and other reflective readings can be heard as we drive, walk, eat, rest or work. The encounter of the disciples with the risen Christ in today’s reading from the gospel according to S Luke causes me to reflect that there are different kinds of reading. The apostles already knew about Jesus. We too, can know about Jesus; we can learn about God, or about religion, or about faith. That is one kind of reading; that is study. Then there is this meditative, prayerful, holy reading – known as lectio –which has as its sole purpose, to bring us into immediate communication with God. This is the reading which goes beyond knowing about God; this is the reading in which we recognise God through Christ. This is the moment for us that corresponds, not with the telling of the story, but with the intimate moment of recognition, as when the disciples’ eyes were opened after they had eaten with him. What happens once we recognise Christ? When the disciples recognised Jesus, it was life-changing. The relationship which God call us into through the encounter that comes from a meditative and prayerful reading of the scriptures, is life-changing for us too. Even when the recognition and clarity which we desire are slow in coming to us, at least we may still allow God into our darkness and uncertainty. That may be the place where we are called to meet God. Or it may be that as a result of our recognition of God, a stronger encounter impels us to some action. Whatever the circumstances of our own encounter with God, if we will allow it, this is a relationship of love that results in yet more love. Once we let this type of meditative, prayerful reading of the scriptures take hold in us, we will begin to see that we are able to read (as it were) the whole of creation in this way. For, All creation is a book that speaks of God, and that is what we long to hear. M Basil Pennington ocso, A Place Apart: Monastic Prayer and Practice for Everyone
As in our relationship with God, so too in our relationship with humanity and with the whole of creation: We need to allow what we see and hear sink down into our depths, into that place where as S. Benedict says, we hear with the ear of our heart. This is not an active studying; it is a more passive process, requiring us to listen first – and to listen deeply - allowing what we hear and see to form us and call us forth. This is meditation. You don’t need to be academically inclined for this kind of study; you simply need to give time to allow the meeting; the encounter with Christ, to take place. We want to respond to this gift which we receive in meditation, and so we offer what God had given us in prayer, which then shows itself in the action of our lives. In time we will find that this whole way of being takes hold in our lives, and we will be more and more drawn to the constant recognition of God – everywhere, and in all that we are and do. In today’s reading from S Luke, the moment of the disciples’ recognition of Jesus in the breaking of bread, and their ability to make sense of all that had happened and finally to see who Jesus was, is a powerful illustration of recognition and understanding. Understanding of this type, takes place at a level much deeper than the verbal. Jesus had already told his disciples many things over three years, and it was only now that they finally began to make sense of it all. i
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