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). For our reflection today, I invite you to pray through your past few days or your past week, doing an examination of conscience in light of St. Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians 13 today. “Love is not jealous.” How often have I rejoiced in others hardships or shortcomings or failures? When a friend or family member or an enemy succeeded in some way, what was my reaction? Was it one of joy for them and what they accomplished or one of sadness or anger that they outshined me in some way? When I saw someone fail or screw up, did I empathize with them? Was I sad for them? Was I secretly (or outwardly) happy and rejoicing in their failure or screw up because it made me look better than them somehow? “Love is not inflated.” How often have I lied about a story or about something about my personal life to make myself appear a certain way to others? How obsessed am I with myself and inflating my own ego? How many times have I said the words “I” or “me” or “my” today? How many selfies have I taken this past week? How often have I blamed things that have gone wrong this past week on others and not considered the fact that I might share some part of the blame? “Love does not seek its own interests.” In the past few hours, how many of my thoughts have been centered on myself and what I want or desire, and how many have of my thoughts been centered on the needs or interests of those around me? Have I spoken more or listened more in my conversations in the past day? When is the last time I went out of my way to consider the interest of somebody else and how I could go out of my way to help make something positive happen for them? What have I done for the poor recently? What have I done for those who can’t or won’t repay me back lately? Have I gone out of my way at any point in the past week to ask somebody “unpopular” at school how their day is going, to strike up a genuine conversation to find out a bit about them and their life? “If I have all faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” 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 did this examination of conscience stir up in my heart? Which statement about love from the first reading struck me the most today? How is the Lord inviting me to take a deeper step into the life He created me to live, to love like the Gospel asks? 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. "God is love." "I love you, Lord." "The greatest is love." 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? Pick one or two of the above questions and take about 5 minutes to journal about them today. Check back on that journal entry next week to if you stepped deeper into or away from love. 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 Austin Ashcraft, a whitewater rafting guide in Colorado.
If you have anything you'd like our team to pray for, please go to the page of our website called "Prayers" and let us know how we can pray for you today. Comments are closed.
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