Introduction to Lectio Divina and John 1

Lectio Divina - the foundation of personal and universal interpretations of Scripture

Start with a prayer to the Holy Spirit, ask him to lead you in prayer. Each part flows to the next in a natural response from an open heart encountering the word of God i.e. God's revelation. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7

1. Lectio -  Read slowly and stop when a word grabs your attention. What are you reading? What Genre is it? What are the Objective facts about it?{use your eyes, ask]

2. Meditatio - Use imagination, engage the spiritual senses, and/or just consider the depth of a given passage and if there is another verse of scripture that may seem at odds or brings clarity to the one you read. What is significant? What was given to your mind? {use your mind, given]

3. Oratio - Pray about the passage and your reflection. What do you feel? What might the people in the passage feel? Is there something you would like to ask God for? What do you seek? {use your heart, seek]

4. Contemplatio - When you feel moved surrender to the grace. Rest there and return to reading when ready. What have you found? Where is God leading you?{use your mind and heart and find converse with God about the topic brought to your heart, and rest in the silence for a while]

5. Operation - actualize what you read, bring what you are given to others, how can you live what you read? (Use your whole being, use what you have received, walk around and return to the room that was opened to you, utilize your newfound treasure) ("...welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only", James Chapter 1)

This method allows us to derive an authentic meaning of scriptures through the Holy Spirit and moves us away from imposing modern expectations, culture, and connotation on ancient text written for a human and divine purpose many eras ago, with different concepts, terms, etc. We discussed why this was important in Session 2.

Lectio

The Word (Logos) John 1:1-18

Verse 1 and 2: We find the concept of the "Word of God", the language suggests It or rather He is synonymous with God, and the "Word" is eternal as God, and more specifically, preceding creation

• Through-out the Old Testament we do not see much particularly significant moments when "Word" is used with exception to the moment in Genesis 1 where His speech is followed by corresponding realities.

• If we seek an answer from the Language, it is in: "The Greek philosopher Heraclitus appears to be the first non-Christian to have used the word logos to refer to a rational divine intelligence, which today is sometimes referred to in scientific discourse as the "mind of God." The early Greek philosophical tradition known as Stoicism, which held that every human participates in a universal and divinely ordained community, then used the Logos doctrine as a principle for human law and morality."

Verse 3: This out-right contradicts pagan notions of God since they attribute only super-human power to so-called gods and not super-universal power, in which all-things are without exception subject.

Verse 4 and 5: Is a direct reference to Genesis 1:4-5. We see a description light's universal and inherent victory over darkness and that it is the light which is equivocal with life and real animation.

Verse 6 and 7: Suddenly our viewpoint brought from universal concepts to a particular historical moment and in particular a Prophet (witness sent from God) named John

Verse 8: We can almost see John pointing toward the light to which He testifies as though from a lightly shaded area.

Verse 9: Now John describes "the true light" which animates and "enlightens" comes into the world. The light which brought life to all things shall be among those who by their existence unwittingly reflect the light.

Verse 10-13: How does this correspond to what we have read thus far?

• Through sin we have been blinded to the light and made to dwell in darkness, and as such we did not know Him, who was light itself. 

• This aversion results the creation denying acceptance of the Creator. For those, who did not let darkness consume them, we who were made in his image, were given opportunity to become children of the light.

Verse 14: This marks the end of anecdotal and demonstrative side-tangent and definitively joins our latter subject with the former. The "Light" and the "Word" now appear synonymous. What John was writing in analogy becomes apparent, for both the Light and the Word have come to dwell amongst man. The glory therein has been made apparent to at least those who "see" him.

Verse 15: In this verse, we see a clarification that He who has come to dwell amongst men is indeed an "eternal He" i.e. in the paradox that what comes after has always been

Verse 16: From His infinity we never cease receiving His graces

Verse 17: We will look further into this in this study. However, for our purposes now, the whole relationship of God to man is made complete by Christ, whose love and grace direct what the law created for the salvation of all.

Verse 18: God indeed has been revealed in a humanly intelligible way by Christ, who bridged the gap man choose by His sin. Christ, who objectively and intentionally shares the likeness of the Father, does in fact reveal Him to use. On this also we will look further. 

The Lamb of God - John 1:29-34

Verse 29: John's vocation is profoundly realized in this statement. John not only speaks to what God hope's to accomplish, but also the role Jesus will play as the means to that end in every way. The title Lamb comes from... 

Verse 30-34: John the Baptist, ties in all he has done as a prophet into this moment:

• He speaks to the apparently ordinary life Jesus was living in that it seems like John describes the movement of the Holy Spirit in His prophesy. He says he knew Him not and this indeed points toward his role as hailing the Messiah.

• He also describes his baptismal ministry as only making sense in light of the Messiah's baptism i.e. when the spirit came rest upon him

• The Vocation of John is not fully realized until he has declared everything John, the Evangelist, has summarized. That not only will Christ's life and sacrifice draw us back to God but that He is God's "Ontological" Son

Mediatio

2723 Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life.

• What are we to derive from this?

• How were you moved as you read/were read the scripture?

• What is drawing you deeper? Follow that. Where is it leading you? What door is being opened to you?

• What has God given you and where has your mind gone as you have analyzed the text.

Oratio

CCC 2722 Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's example of praying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples.

O God, who spoke us into being through Your Word, sending Him incarnate as Your Only Begotten Son to save humanity from its own myopic gullibility and corruption through sacrifice, we humbly ask You to speak Your Word once more into our minds and hearts. May He be present not only at the core of our being, but let His presence radiate throughout our lives. Guide us in knowing Your love, and help us, like John the Baptist, reveal the truth of Your identity to others.

Lord, may we fully realize the mission You came to accomplish in every aspect of our being. We ask that You open our minds and hearts even further, through the presence of Your Holy Spirit, to hear not only what You speak to all through this passage, but specifically what You speak to us as we seek, knock, and remain open to conversation with You.

Contemplatio

CCC 2724 Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery.

Let us now rest in God’s presence, envisioning Him speaking life into the physical world we experience. That Word, through which all things were individually created, became man by the very means He Himself established. This Word Incarnate was proclaimed by our beloved John the Baptist, who unites all of Scripture with the declaration: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” He is the Son of God, whose baptism gives meaning to all Trinitarian Baptism.

We will now enter a brief period of silence. Reflect on other verses that resonate with this passage, and afterward, we will share our reflections and conclude with prayer.

Disclaimer

As we continue this study, we won’t spend much time on this method, but we encourage you to practice it in your personal prayer and Scripture reading. Additionally, as a Catholic, you may one day need to respectfully defend your beliefs. This method of interpretation is essential: first, understanding Scripture in light of other Scripture as the Holy Spirit guides you, and second, interpreting it through the lens of tradition, the teachings of the saints, and the Historical Christian perspective, which aligns with Catholic teaching.