Sunday 23 September 2012

Lectio Divina - Assuidity - Hints for making efforts to be faithful to Lectio

Assuidity is an uncommon word, but is common in monastic tradition. In monastic tradition, assuidity refers to patience and perseverance. Continuing to do Lection Divina is not automatic! It takes a certain effort and the concept of assuidity can give us four practical points to help us persevere in Lectio.

1. Making time - Do not "find time" MAKE time! This involves two things: a. Accept responsibility for your own use of time and stop being a victim to external contingencies; b. You have to prioritize differently: If you want lectio divina to be part of your life, then prioritize it ahead of other things. Procrastination comes to my mind...

Lectio divina demands a solid commitment of time!

2. Regularity - "The only way to pray is to pray; and the way to pray well is to pray much. If one has no time for this then one must at least pray regularly. But the less one prays the worse it goes." - Abbot Chapman of Downside
St. Benedict insists that the monk's day contains definite times of reading--times which are not subject to whim and are consciously scheduled.

3. Repetition - This is not to be confused with regularity. Repetition means reading and rereading the same passage. It is reasonable to assume that you will not get the full meaning the first time around.

Reading scripture can never be finished permanently.

4. Perseverance - Lectio divina is a long-term project that won't do us much good if we don't persevere. Even perseverance itself needs to be practiced! You need to monitor your progress from time to time, to make sure things are going well, because we can and do drift away from priorities. Your professionalism in certain areas of life ought to apply to your spiritual life. What business could be more important than the business of your spirit!

Lectio divina is a continuing struggle. It takes a lot of work. To experience the joy inherent in this great gift of God's joy, we have to pay our dues.

http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Reading-Ancient-Lectio-Divina/dp/0892438916/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348455501&sr=8-1&keywords=sacred+reading


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