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). We should, no matter our vocation in this life, respond to the Lord as Tobiah did to the archangel Raphael: "Here I am!" Whether this is to God and the Church in answering a call to religious life, or to God and a spouse in answering a call to marriage, we must all be diligent with our response. For some of us, this call is clearer than others. It may start at a young age and stay with us, or we may marry our childhood sweethearts. For others, it takes many years of patience and trust amid fear and anxiety that things will come through, but in the end, God provides. If we look at Sarah, we see that seven men came before Tobiah to be her husband, and all had died on the night of their weddings. Raguel was assured, though, that Tobiah and Sarah would be looked after by the Lord. Tobiah was a man of virtue, as all of his works of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to this point have created good habits within him. All along his journey, the Lord had allowed trials to befall him so that he may be strengthened in his resolve for his future wife, Sarah. This is what God allows in our lives as well. Trials and tribulations are permitted by the Lord in our lives precisely because he wants to raise us to a higher level in our vocations. For those in religious life, married life, or the single life, all are based around sacrifice and making a gift of ourselves so that the other might be sanctified and loved. This is not easy. Sometimes we may be wrought with fear and uncertainty. "Be brave, my daughter! May the Lord grant you joy in place of your grief. Courage, my daughter!" "Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us and to grant us deliverance." These are the words for every vocation. Courage in the face of fear, and trust in the Lord in the face of anxiety. We resolve ourselves, with the help of God, to take our vocations, not because of a sense of pride in them, but for a noble purpose, just as Tobiah took Sarah as his wife not out of lust, but for a noble purpose. And this noble purpose, this vocation for us all is to love, shown ultimately and completely in the love of Christ the Bridegroom on the Cross for His Bride, the Church. 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 makes you excited about your future vocation? What makes you nervous? What trials and tribulations have you been through in life? How do you think the Lord might be using those to prepare you for your future vocation? How can you live the call to love like Christ even now? 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. "Be brave; have courage." "Jesus, I trust in you." "Here I am, Lord." 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 the Lord bear fruit in you today? Take some time today to pray for your future vocation, and prepare for that vocation by going out and loving like Christ. 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 Sarah Lundgren and Kevin Poynton, graduates of the University of Dayton with Degrees in Religious Studies.
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