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). When I was a child my brother and I shared a room with an 8x10 poster on the outside of our door that read: “I know I’m something because God don’t make no junk.” This perhaps should be the motto or slogan of our generation because so many times we are tirelessly trying to prove that we are something to somebody rather than just getting to the core of the reality: I am defined by my existence which comes from an all-good and all-loving God. We use excessive means in order to show ourselves to others: make-up, weight lifting, over the top flirtation, silliness to get attention, etc. You and I, by our mere existing in this world and even more so for those who are baptized have NOTHING to prove. Did you read that? You have nothing to prove. Why? Let’s look at the first reading: “For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.” God would not have made you if He did not think that you were the best thing since sliced bread. He would not have created you if He did not intend to spoil you with His love. The only reason we deny this possibility is because we live in a world of constant comparison. We can become paranoid about our looks, our grades, who is looking at me, who is laughing at my jokes, how many of my friends are considered ‘cool’ at school. This in turn leads to actions contrary to how God wants us to live: misuse of words, misuse of technology, misuse of drugs, misuse of sex, misuse of food, and misuse of ourselves. It isn’t about following rules, it is about living in a relationship with God who created us and loves us. Are we perfect? Heck no. But if we strive as St. Paul says in today’s second reading then Jesus Christ is able to be glorified IN US!! Man, that is amazing. By our living out the Gospel, namely believing that God has created us with a purpose and out of His pure love, hen we can have confidence that no matter what we have done in the past, He will warmly embrace us and receive us in His mercy. When we return to Him, especially in the sacrament of Confession, He is able to remind us that “He didn’t create no junk.” 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. 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. Do I believe that God created me from love, by love and for love? I am wonderfully made and a child of God. Who do I try to impress? In what ways do I let myself be changed? How do I define myself? Is it as a child of God? Or is it in other things? 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? "I have nothing to prove." "To God, I am the best thing since sliced bread." "God didn't make no junk." 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 Fr. Sean Grismer, priest of the Diocese of Rockford.
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