Trust

​Step #1: Lectio / Read

Click 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.

ISAIAH 29:17-24

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​Step #2: Meditatio / Meditate

Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

​I LOVE Christmas time. I love these weeks of Advent where we put up lights and decorations, listen to Christmas music, drink hot chocolate, and do all of the other things that we do to celebrate this great season. I love the joy of the season, the comfort of the season, the warmth that I feel being inside a cozy house with Christmas lights when it's cold outside, all of it. 

I really always have loved this, but as I've gotten older and realized what this season is all about in a more profound way it has impacted me more deeply each year. In these weeks we take time to stop, to slow down, and to prepare for the coming of a Savior.

In today's first reading, the time of that Savior is promised as a time when all of our desires will be fulfilled and all darkness washed away. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the lowly will rejoice. 

GUYS. This is what this season is all about. This is why Advent and Christmas are so amazing. From thousands of years ago people have been waiting for a Savior who can take on His shoulders their sins, their hopes, their trials, their sufferings, all of their pain and struggle and redeem all of it. And He came, 2,000 years ago, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. This month we celebrate again the reality that He did come, that He was born 2,000 years ago, and that He is very much alive in your life and mine today if we let Him be. 

In the Gospel we hear Jesus encounter blind people who are looking to be healed. "Do you believe that I can do this?" Jesus asks them. When they say yes, when they give Him their faith they are healed. 

What is your trial, your pain, your hurt, your deep prayer this day? Where do you need Jesus? We are preparing for the coming of a Savior, the birth of the God who can and will enter into every place where we need Him. Invite Him there today. Trust that this Savior is good, and is who He says He is. Give Him everything and watch as He redeems it. Don't let this Advent and Christmas be routine; prepare your heart, and give to Jesus everything, allowing Him to do what He does and be your Savior. 

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​Step #3: Oratio / Pray

These 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 your trial, your pain, your hurt, your deep prayer this day?

Do you believe that He can heal this hurt?

Where do you need to allow Jesus in to heal the hurts of your life?

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​Step #4: Contemplatio / Contemplate

In 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.

"I need you Lord."

"I am open to healing."

"I trust you Lord."

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​Step #5: Actio / Act

In 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 a moment today to write down the areas where you need healing from the Lord in your life. If there's anything that's holding you back from being fully open to the Lord's coming at Christmas, give it to the Lord in prayer today.

Also, don't forget to go to Mass tomorrow for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (or a vigil tonight)! It's a Holy Day of Obligation!! Mary, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us!

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​Smartphone Lock Screen

The 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.

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"Today's prayer was prepared by Jason Theobald, Executive Director of Carpe Verbum.

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. "