Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Listening and Lectio Divina

brotherListening is a very demanding activity. We can see this al­ready on the psychological level. Other experiences such as seeing or touching involve considerable passivity and inertia. I establish contact with an objective reality placed before me. But listening is something else. I am placed before a person who wishes to establish communion with me, who intervenes in my life. By its nature this demands active participation. At­tention is not enough; there must be a response that engages all our vital energies:

  • God speaks. We listen and respond. That is prayer.
  • God is revealed. We receive that ray of light shed on the mystery of God, and we commit our life to the gradual discovery of God’s face. That is faith.
  • God teaches. We model our mental world on that Truth. That is what Paul calls “doing the truth.”
  • When God speaks, God freely gives. In accepting the gift we enter into communion and say, “Make us an everlast­ing gift to you.” That is love.
  • God imposes norms. We shape our life according to that model. That involves our entire life.

This is the ultimate goal of listening: hearing becomes obedi­ence, total submission to the Word. We must be ready to stake our life on the Word of God.

Mariano Magrassi
Praying the Bible, pp 84-85.

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1 Response

  1. Love’s morning obedience is listening.