Lectio Time

I'm having difficulty taking the time to actually study the commentary this week. The best I've been able to do most days is have a sub-vocal "Jesus Prayer" going through my mind, and to occasionally think of the vine and the branches. The connection between this little branch and the vine could be much stronger.

I want to feel the life-blood flowing through my veins! I want to feel the energy of the vine bursting through my shyness and reserve, reaching out in love for each person I encounter. My soul longs to experience the sense of being loved so completely that I am aware of the Presence overflowing within me and through me. May it be so!

Voices of Lectio

S. Meg taught us the four 'voices' of Lectio, which she identified as the literal, the symbolic, the moral and the mystical. She said that in the literal voice we are working to understand what the revelatory text says.

A revelatory text can be a part of scripture, something in nature or an experience in one's life. God is present in each moment, and reveals Godself in scripture, nature and in our lives. One of the first decisions to make in practicing Lectio is to choose a revelatory text. And, that choice is made with discernment. Our instructions were to make the choice of revelatory text using the same pattern of discernment we had used to decide whether to keep silence during the School.

I had arrived at the School with two texts in mind, but had as yet chosen neither. In reading through each text and the surrounding scriptures, I focused on the issue of "what is my question here?" It seemed to me that my purpose was and is to learn what it is to be 'in Christ' and to grow 'in Christ' and to be increasingly 'Christed.' With that in mind, it was clear that the text I would choose would be the 15th, 16th and 17th chapters of the Gospel of John. 

We were instructed to first focus on the literal voice of our chosen text. What that has meant for me so far is to read the entire Gospel of John several times, and chapters 15-17 more frequently. I often think of and try to recall how the first few verses read and what they mean. 

1. I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. 2. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. 3. You are already made clean by the word that I have spoken to you. 4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5a. I am the vine, you are the branches.  (translation is the Revised Standard Version, The Gospel of John, by Francis J. Moloney, a commentary in the Sacra Pagina Series.)

Because it is important to know how the revelatory text fits within the whole book, I have been reading the commentary named above to understand more of the context and a better understanding of how the narrative is constructed. Yet, I keep slipping into the other voices as well. The symbolism of the vine and branches is so very present. I find myself praying to be a fruitful branch securely attached to the vine.