Step #1: Lectio / ReadClick the link below or open your Bible to the passage and read through the reading at least once, paying attention to what is happening in the text. Step #2: Meditatio / MeditateUse the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again). I was late writing this post this week, late because I was too busy working. I was too busy toiling. Too busy to reflect. Too busy to pray. Too busy to think. Everything was swarming so fast. When the magazine deadlines, website emergencies, social media updates, and emails died down, I sat down in the office, late into the night and alone after a twelve-hour day, and thought: “what am I doing?” “What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?” Work is good. It is a gift, one that God gave to Adam in the garden. It teaches discipline, fosters character, and inoculates virtue. The teachings of St. Josemaria Escriva teach us that work can be our path to sanctity. And St. Therese beautifully shows us that picking up a pin can save a soul—how much more grace can our daily work bring to the world? Much. “What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?” But, as a gal living in Washington, D.C.—one of the most workaholic cities in the world—I’ve come to learn how easy it can be to get trapped in the grind of work and forget about the life that I have been given, the people I have been instructed to love. I've learned how easy it can be to forget to offer my work to the Lord, and to forget the reasons I am actually called to sacrifice through my work. It was eye-opening when I learned that two former classmates of mine had unexpectedly died this week. Was the purpose of their lives to work incessantly? Was that how they changed the world? Today’s First Reading reminds me that time is ticking, whether I am present or not. Whether I’m working twelve-hour days or eight. Whether I’m taking time to love my family or sitting by myself on the metro at 10 p.m. We must cultivate our work to be more fully for our purpose for living, our raison d'être, and offer it up for the glory of God. If we do not do this, what are we doing? “What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?” The Lord calls us to work, but He calls us to work for Him. Everything is His. He didn’t create us to work mindlessly, or for virtue or honor of our own. He called us to work hard and offer up those twelve hour days, when they come, for Him. Everything else is just passing away. “What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?” After I sat down last night, I glanced on social media and saw a picture of a friend and her just-born baby boy. The joy. The purpose. And I smiled. And I got back to work. One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays. Step #3: Oratio / PrayThese questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today. What is the work you have to do this week? Don't stress yourself out, but take some time reflecting on what the tasks in front of you are right now. How can you cultivate your work so that it is all pointed towards your purpose for living, that it's all pointed towards God who created everything? Think back to those tasks above and figure out how you'll make this adjustment. If you someone asked you what your raison d'être, your purpose, was, what would you say? Step #4: Contemplatio / ContemplateIn this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord. "You are my purpose." "You give me joy." "You are everlasting." Step #5: Actio / ActIn light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with Lord bear fruit in you today? Think of some ways, both big and small, that you can sanctify your work today and make sure that whatever tasks you are doing, big or small, are for God's glory. Then, put those into action. Be productive, do what you need to do, and do it in light of your love for the Lord and His calling in your life. Smartphone Lock ScreenThe following image is here for you to save and use as a background or lock screen on your smartphone or device to help you carry today's Lectio Divina with you the rest of the day.  Today's prayer was prepared by Andrea Scott, a graduate of Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio currently living in Washington D.C.
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