If you're looking for a "quick fix" to your prayer life, here it is! I began praying Lectio Divina, a "divine reading" of Scripture, 2 months ago and it has had a tremendous impact on how I pray each day. Best of all, it's a simple 4-step process, which makes it easy to remember: 1) Read 2) Meditate 3) Pray 4) Contemplate.It's had so much effect on my life, I decided to share it with the midshipmen in my Bible studies. Last Wednesday, I had them pray Lectio Divina over the Passion of Christ in Luke's Gospel and they had some awesome insights! Each guy was assigned his own section of the reading so, as we walked through the narrative, I had each guy share the insight he received with the group... it was a powerful examination of Christ's journey to the Cross.
Here are a few of their reflections:
Immediately after Peter denies Jesus the third time, "the Lord turned and looked at Peter" (Lk 22:61). Karl Knight, a junior, mentioned how he had read this section many times before but had never noticed this line. He was explaining how he just envisioned what Jesus' "look" would have been like... pure sadness. Karl talked a lot about how painful it must have been to see Jesus' sadness and how sad he must be whenever we deny him.
Luke Neitzke, a sophmore, meditated on Jesus being sentenced to death by Pilate. He spoke about how often we condemn Christ to death when we fail to stand up for our beliefs. Pilate told the people he was going to let Jesus go several times but they continued to shout for Him to be crucified. "And their voices prevailed." (Lk 23:23) Pilate caved... and we cave at times too.
John McGlynn, another sophmore, is one of those guys who really wrestles with faith and is always trying to get to the bottom of things. He meditated on Jesus' crucifixion and was really moved by the inscription upon the Cross, which read, "This is the King of the Jews". John shared how he is always looking for answers to his faith but has been looking in all the wrong places... It's so obvious: "This is the King of the Jews!"
