Taking the word of God to ourselves

 Today's gospel rehearses again the discussion of Jesus with the Sadducees from a couple of weeks ago. We noted then that this gospel tells us something important about discernment, and notably that the things of this world must be seen in the light of eternity. 

Every gospel, however, is brought in by a Gospel Acclamation and today's Gospel Acclamation is one that has a wide-reaching significance for lectio divina.  Blessed are those who, with a noble and generous heart, take the word of God to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance. There is much in these words for our COLW journey, and especially the practice of reading the Scriptures every day.

We all must want to be part of the Good Lord's harvest. We all need to bear the fruit that Jesus calls us to bear. Today's Gospel Acclamation tells us that the first condition of this project is a 'noble and generous -heart'. To be noble is not to be self-interested in action. To be noble is to turn our eyes towards God to seek His measure of goodness, rather than focusing on our own deceiving measures. To be generous in its traditional sense means to be 'of noble stock', but in its contemporary sense it means 'giving freely'. For the harvest then, we must turn away from self-interest (especially self-interested religion which wants us to be perfect in our own eyes) and to give freely - first to God (to whom of course we owe everything in justice as our Creator, even before we consider His invitation to divine friendship) and then to those around us.

With nobility and generosity, we then need to 'take the word of God' to ourselves. This is precisely what we do in lectio divina. The path is sometimes smooth and easy; and it is sometimes rough and uncomfortable. Sometimes we surge through a sea of thoughts, inspirations and movements of the heart, and sometimes we sit becalmed on a sea of words that yields no instruction other than the self evident. We thought we were plunging into an ocean of wisdom, but we have the sensation of having leapt into a puddle. Let's not despair! We all have to take the rough with the smooth. We all have to be patient. God did not call us to an 'experience'; He called us to follow Him, to learn and to grow. And growth comes sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. 

But take the word of God to ourselves we must do without fail. Hopefully, we can manage the gospel every day. At least we should manage a few lines if we are truly pushed for time (though how often is our  'pushed for time' nothing other than our own disorganisation?).  We should read it and let it sit in our hearts. We should ruminate on it, reflecting on its meaning, connecting it to other gospels or sources, such as the lives of the saints (in whom the harvest was so great!). 

In season and out of season too. This world dominates our sense of time so much that we are strangers often to God's time with its own periods of quick-quick-slow, its sense of organic growth, of 'hear-for-the-long-run' endurance. The word that God speaks is His enduring love letter to us (the one good thing Kierkegaard said!). And why should we not pore over His love letters? How much we need their reassurance and wisdom.

And then, finally, we must persevere if we want to see the harvest. To see the harvest: not to feel good about ourselves but to rejoice in what God has brought about in us - his fragile vessels of clay - by His mercy. 

So, persevere with a noble and generous heart in taking the word of God to yourself. And let God give the increase.