During December, in preparation for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) event in Indianapolis, Abbot Austin gathered the monks together and asked each to make a short comment about lectio divina. That is, if someone were to approach and ask for a brief explanation, what would be a good ten-fifteen-second response? The Abbot then gathered the monks’ replies and grouped them into categories, which he then printed on a card that we distributed at the FOCUS SEEK2019 conference earlier this month. He entitled the whole “Give me a word,” and I think it worth sharing:
 
Words about the time and place for lectio divina. Most importantly, find the time to do it. Find a time of day that works for you. It can help to use the same time each day. Keep the amount of time short at first – you can build up to longer times eventually. Have a quiet place, away from normal affairs, to pray lectio divina. Don’t allow distractions. Find a sacred place. 
 
Words about picking a passage to do lectio divina with. At first, take just a few verses of Scripture. The First Letter of John can be a good biblical book to start with. Use an easier biblical text to start with. Use the readings for Mass, since you’ll hear them again when you go to Mass. Use a short passage from daily Scriptural readings, allowing God to speak in your heart.
 
Words about the “method” of praying lectio divina. Don’t get caught up with following a “method” or “technique,” but rather the important thing is to spend time with God through Scripture. Don’t over-think or over-analyze – eventually the Scripture takes the lead in the dance. Do lectio divina regularly, in a way that works best for you. Work on being quiet and do not focus on what you are doing. Don’t get discouraged and give up, if you don’t seem to be getting something out of it – keep to it! Lectio divina is a prayerful, patient pondering of a biblical text. Steps for lectio divina give your prayer purpose and direction. 
 
Words about how to read the biblical passage. Read over the passage repeatedly and slowly. Remember that through Scripture God is speaking to you. Be mindful of God’s presence. It can help to use a printed text, rather than a digital one on your phone or computer.
 
Words about how to meditate on the passage. Meditate on the text in order to understand it. Think about how the words apply to you and to others. Ponder yourself in the biblical story or in the original audience of the text.
 
Words about how to offer prayer in lectio divina. See your prayer as a relationship. Transitioning from meditation to prayer is important, for it helps to apply the text and opens you to what God wants to give you in this prayertime. The reading of Scripture must be applied to my life.

My own comments on the list: Given that the remarks are gathered from a variety of individuals, it’s hardly surprising that the result is not 100% coherent. One person says, start with an easier text, another says begin with the First Epistle of St. John – which, notwithstanding the pleasing sound of many passages on love, poses real challenges to quick understanding! But the little anthology of thoughts here does provide, I think, a flavor of the practice.
 
When asked by participants at the conference for further remarks, I suggested that perhaps the best way to go about lectio is to forget everything we think we know about reading. For many good reasons in a school or workplace setting, reading is a matter of extracting the needed information in as short a time as possible. That accomplished, we are free to move on to the next task on our agenda.
 
Lectio requires an altogether different approach, one that opens us to God’s agenda. The purpose is not to read a chapter of Scripture a day, to “get through” the Bible in a year, or anything of the sort. The purpose is to listen to God’s message to me, here and now, today. The quantity of material “covered” is irrelevant, and it could be counter-productive even to think in such terms. The material it should be that sets the agenda. Once we understand and apply that, we are engaged in lectio divina.