Lectio Divina Reading

March 9, 2006

Excerpts from:  Behold Your Life, A Forty Day Pilgrimage, Macrina Wiederkehr

Day 1

Remember you are dust; and unto dust you shall return.

Read Genesis 2:4-8

Day 2

 Before I formed you in the womb you were contained in my being. I have known and cherished you forever.

Read Jeremiah 1:4-9

Day 3

Long before the world began, I was a spark of God’s love. I was already chosen in the heart of God to be holy, to be dear.

Read Ephesians 14-6

Day 4

You shaped my inmost self carefully and tenderly. You joyfully wove me together in my mother’s womb.

Read Psalm 139:13-18

Day 5

You lifted me out of the womb, singing me the song of my life. You took me by the hand and became my teacher.

Read Psalm 22:10-11

Day 6

In the clouds a rainbow appears, a sign of everlasting friendship between the Creator and the created. When life starts limping look to the rainbow and remember.

Read Genesis 9:12-17

Day 7

I have relied on you since I was born.

Read Psalm 71: 1-8

Day 8

I have no food but tears day and night

Read Psalm 42

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for You, O Beloved.

My soul thirsts for the beloved, for the Living Water.

When may I come and behold your face?

 Tears have been my only nourishment day and night,

While friends ask continually, “Where is the Beloved of your heart?”

 

All this I remember, as I pour out my soul:

How I knew your Presence within me

As I went out among the throng,

Proceeding to the House of Prayer;

With loud voice we gave You praise and acclamation,

a multitude proclaiming gratitude and joy.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

And why are you disquieted within me?

My hope is in the Beloved, my strength and my joy,

O my soul, open the door to Love!

 

My soul is cast down within me,

Therefore I remember You

From my mother’s womb to maturity,

Through all the days of my life.

Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your waterfalls;

 All your waves and your billows have washed over me.

By day You lead me in steadfast love;

At night your song is with me,

Prayer from the Heart of my heart.

 

I say to the Beloved, the Blessed One,

“Why have You forgotten me?

Why go I mourning because of the oppression of fear?”

As with a deadly wound in my body.

One of the ways to let the “big people” in your house know that you needed or wanted something during this fragile time in your life was through your tears. It may seem strange to spend a day praying with tears, but that’s what I’m asking you to do. Tears are, indeed, a gift. If there are tears in you that need to be released, make a gentle effort to free them this day. Ask God for the gift of tears. Invite them and welcome them. Remember your past tears. Pray for those who have not tears.

Jesus, take the tears stored in the depths of my soul. And unite them to your own tears. I see you weeping at the tomb of Lazarus. I see you weeping above the walls of Jerusalem. I see Mary Magdalene weeping and washing your feet with her tears. I see Peter weeping bitterly for having denied you. Your tears and the tears of your friends give my hope. It takes both rain and sun to make a rainbow. Give me the gift of tears. Amen  

Lectio Divina for CP Groups
Contemplative Outreach of Dallas