SUNDAY GOSPEL LECTIO DIVINA

August 30, 2024

Lectio Divina, Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time September 1, 2024
The Lord our God is here listening to our prayers. It’s so easy and tempting to be swayed by the influences of the world and favor its voice over God’s. When we are quiet, what do we hear? Do we hear someone else’s words or God's? What do you hear that no one else but God has said to you? What part of todays’ Gospel stands out the most? Is there any part that leads you to think of another part of Scripture? Is there a part that leads you to think of something that has happened in your life recently? Sometimes God speaks through other people. Sometimes he speaks through events. None of it is isolated though. He backs up what he says and does with his word, the Scriptures. That’s why it is so important to familiarize ourselves with his word, because through it God speaks to us in ways we will not notice if we are not familiar with it.
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August 22, 2024

Lectio Divina, Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time August 25, 2024
Sometimes when we listen, God says something that is hard to accept. In those moments, we can turn from him or stay as Peter and the apostles did. When we are not certain if a hard saying truly is the voice of God in our lives, then is a good time to be silent and listen. Is it God speaking to our hearts, or is it the world, the flesh and the devil that is trying to compel us. God is truth. He does not need popular opinion or influential people to convince us of that truth. He uses his own Spirit and life to speak to us. He uses his word, and if his Spirit is alive within us he speaks directly to our hearts and our conscience. Listen to him there and you will hear him speak.
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August 15, 2024

Lectio Divina, Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time August 18, 2024
Many people did not want to listen to Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life. It was too strange and unbelievable for them. But I love what Peter says. When asked by Jesus, “Will you leave me too?”, he says, “To where shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.” He listened because he desired what we all desire: eternal life. And he knew that in order to obtain it, he had to listen to the one who offered it, because he had no idea how to obtain it himself. If someone tells us to do something we don’t want to do, and it’s not even required in order to obtain something we want to obtain, why would we listen? But if we know it’s the missing element that will give us what we desire most, then we will listen. So the only question that remains is, ‘Do I want to live forever?’ If so, then I should listen to Jesus.
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August 8, 2024

Lectio Divina, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time August 11, 2024
The best way to hear God’s voice in lectio divina, and in any part of life, is to enjoy the process. So often God is found in the process, in the ordinary drudgery of our everyday routines. So often we just push through our daily tasks, hoping we’ll find some relief, some peace, some form of God somewhere at the end. But he is here right in the middle of it all just as much as he is at the end of it all. Enjoy the process of finding him, of working through the hardships, and you will see God. If you learn to find God in even the hardest parts of life, nothing that life throws at you will be able to steal that joy from you.
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August 1, 2024

Lectio Divina, Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time August 4, 2024
What do you want more than anything? Christ is not a genie, but he can lead us to notice how everything we want is right in front of us for the taking if we simply abide in him. It’s easy to miss his grace. All we have to do is focus too much on ourselves and our problems. But if we think of God first, all the opportunities he puts before us will be revealed to us; and they are endless. Seek him in the quiet now. He is waiting across the sea.
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July 26, 2024

Lectio Divina, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time July 28, 2024
Jesus is waiting for us to reach out to him in faith. The stores of graces that await us are like the loaves he multiplied. Sometimes we try so hard to do God’s will that we forget to let God do his part. Now that you have reflected on God’s word, have given him thanks, and have asked him to answer, let go and let him answer.
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July 19, 2024

Lectio Divina, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time July 21, 2024
It’s time to listen for the Shepherd’s voice. It’s usually quiet but clear as a bell, familiar but distinct. If you are having trouble distinguishing between God’s voice and your own, the world’s or the devil’s, seek God further in Scripture again. This week’s Gospel is short, but it’s still packed with truth. Give it another read if you didn’t hear God’s voice the first time.
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July 12, 2024

Lectio Divina, Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time July 14, 2024
Jesus speaks through his word and through prayer, but also through life itself—encounters with others and “God-incidents”. Listen now as he opens his Sacred Heart up to you. Prayer is our sanctuary away from the sanctuary, but prayer is pointless if we forget to do the listening for God part. Sometimes his answer comes while we’re just living our everyday lives. Take some time to listen here and now after reading and reflecting on this Gospel passage, but also take that spirit of listening into the rest of your day.
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July 5, 2024

Lectio Divina, Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time July 7, 2024
If we listen, the Truth will speak to us. Take a moment to be silent and listen to Jesus. What was he teaching in the synagogue? The Gospel leaves that detail open so he can speak whatever words you need to hear from him right now.
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