Five ways in which the spirit of reverence shapes lectio divina:
- Reverence propels us toward silence, and silence enables us to listen.
- Reverence will cause us to surround our reading with safeguards to its seriousness.
- Reverence for God’s Word means respect for the text of the Bible. . . . It points to a zeal for the authentic meaning of the text and a corresponding reluctance to twist the Bible’s meaning. . . . The Bible is addressed not to me as an individual but as a member of the Church. Often a hidden meaning will be unveiled only by recourse to a brother or sister.
- It is our reverence for the wonder of revelation that disinclines us to allow any moment of grace to slip away. . . Lectio Divina is incomplete if we do not carry away from it something to ponder.
- Reverence builds in us is a determination to put into practice the good news encountered in lectio — to be not merely hearers of the word but doers. . . . We need to approach our reading with an antecedent willingness to be called, challenged, converted.
Lectio divina teaches us to be zealous in welcoming the Word and to cherish and celebrate the manifold revelation of God, incarnate in the Scriptures. Without reverence this is impossible.
From Sacred Reading by Rev. Michael Casey, OSCO, pp. 27-29.
