LECTIO DIVINA: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Translated by Fray Dunstan Huberto Decena, OAR

Mk. 1:40-45

A. INVOCATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

WE INVOKE THE HOLY SPIRIT USING THE WORDS OF ST. AUGUSTINE

Come, Holy Spirit, by whom every devout soul, who believes in Christ, is sanctified to become a citizen of the City of God! (en. Ps. 45:8) Come, Holy Spirit, grant that we receive the motions of God; put in us your flame; enlighten us and raise us up to God (s. 128, 4). Amen.

B. LECTIO

WITH THE HEART WELL DISPOSED, WITH SERENITY, READ SLOWLY THE FOLLOWING WORDS, SAVORING THEM AND ALLOWING YOURSELF TO BE TOUCHED BY THEM.

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you

A. INVOCATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

WE INVOKE THE HOLY SPIRIT USING THE WORDS OF ST. AUGUSTINE

Come, Holy Spirit, by whom every devout soul, who believes in Christ, is sanctified to become a citizen of the City of God! (en. Ps. 45:8) Come, Holy Spirit, grant that we receive the motions of God; put in us your flame; enlighten us and raise us up to God (s. 128, 4). Amen.

B. LECTIO

WITH THE HEART WELL DISPOSED, WITH SERENITY, READ SLOWLY THE FOLLOWING WORDS, SAVORING THEM AND ALLOWING YOURSELF TO BE TOUCHED BY THEM.

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed: that will be proof for them.” The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

C. MEDITATIO

LET US MEDITATE NOW WITH THE COMMENTARY OF ST. AUGUSTINE ON THESE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK.

Upon coming down the mountain, after having given there instructions to his disciples and to a great crowd, extending his hand a leper was immediately healed. This means that those who could doubt the fulfillment of those precepts, with the help of the Lord were cured of such vacillation. (q. Mat. 4)

There is need, therefore, to examine the significance of the leprosy itself. Because those who saw it disappear from his body do not say that he was healed, but cleansed. Therefore, leprosy is a problem of color, not of health or integrity of the senses or one’s members. Thus it is not absurd to think of the lepers as individuals who, not possessing knowledge of the true faith, profess different doctrines of error. They are not those who at least hide their ignorance, but those who openly show it in the light of day as if it were a complete expertise and they make a show of persuasive speech. For sure there is no doctrine, however false it may be, that does not have any piece of truth. Thus, the mixture of truth and falsehood without order of concord in any debate or any human conversation, as can be seen in the color of only one body, means that the leprosy modifies or speckles the human body like the cosmetics of natural or artificial colors. These persons must be greatly avoided for the Church. It is such, that if it were possible, they appeal to Jesus with loud cries from a great distance, like those ten who stopped at a distance and raised their voice saying: Jesus, Master, have pity on us. They must have thought of themselves. It is not clear to me that anyone would come to the Lord asking for bodily health giving him the title Master. That is why I am inclined to believe that leprosy is a sign of all false doctrine that a competent master can eliminate (qu. eu. 2.40.2).

D. ORATIO

WITH THE TEXT, LET US NOW PRAY FROM THE DEPTHS OF OUR HEART. I SUGGEST THE FOLLOWING PHRASES AND QUESTIONS THAT CAN AWAKEN IN YOU DIALOGUE WITH GOD, AND AT THE SAME TIME CAN GIVE RISE TO AFFECTIONS AND SENTIMENTS IN YOUR DIALOGUE WITH GOD. DO NOT MOVE TO THE NEXT PHRASE OR QUESTION IF YOU CAN STILL CONTINUE DIALOGUING WITH GOD IN ONE OF THEM. IT IS NOT A MATTER OF EXHAUSTING THE LIST, BUT OF HELPING YOU TO PRAY WITH SOME POINTS THAT BETTER FIT YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

a. “As leper approaches asking him and kneeling tells him: ‘If you wish, you can cleanse me’” (Mk. 1:40)

• Of what leprosy do you need to be cleansed?

•The leper recognizes the power of Christ, as St. Augustine says< “Christ, our Lord, has great power” (Io. eu. tr. 43, 1). How is your faith in Christ’s power?

b. “Feeling compassion, he extended his hand, touched him and said: ‘I do will it, be made clean.’ And immediately, the leprosy disappeared and he was made clean” (Mk. 1:41-42).

• What experience do you have in your life of the compassion and mercy of God?

•Are you compassionate with people around you imitating the example of Christ?

E. CONTEMPLATIO

I PROPOSE TO YOU SOME POINTS FOR AFFECTIVE INTERIOR CONTEMPLATION. ONCE AGAIN, YOU NEED NOT FOLLOW ALL OF IT, RATHER YOU CAN CHOOSE WHAT FITS YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

a. Contemplate the leper approaching Christ, and receiving the healing of his illness. Contemplate his stupor, his happiness, and how he thanks Christ.

b.Contemplate and imagine that you yourself are a leper and you approach Christ with the leprosy of your own sins, of your pride, of your illnesses. Contemplate how the eyes of Christ see you with compassion and love , and how he cleanses you and heals you of all your illnesses. Verify your own affections and sentiments.

F. COMMUNICATIO

THINK OF EVERYTHING THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH THOSE AROUND YOU ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE YOU HAD WITH GOD, ESPECIALLY CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST AND THE UNIVERSAL JUDGMENT. THE FOLLOWING POINTS CAN HELP YOU AS GUIDE TO SHARE WITH YOUR COMMUNITY THE EXPERIENCE OF THE LECTIO DIVINA ON THIS TEXT.

• What have I discovered about God and about myself in this moment of prayer?

• How can I apply this text of Scripture at this moment of my life? What light does it give me? What challenges does it put before me?

• What concrete commitment does this text of Scripture ask of me in my spiritual life, in my community life?

• What has been my predominant sentiment during this moment of prayer?

G. FINAL PRAYER OF ST. AUGUSTINE

Turning towards the Lord: Lord God, Father Almighty, with a pure heart, as far as our littleness permits, allow us to give you our most devoted and sincere thanks, begging with all our strength from your particular goodness, that by your power you may drive away the enemy from all our thoughts and actions; that you may increase our faith, govern our mind, give us spiritual thoughts, and bring us to your happiness, through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who with you lives and reigns, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen (en, Ps. 150:8).

If you give with the hand and you don’t sympathize with the heart, you did nothing; if, on the contrary, you have compassion in the heart, even though you have in hand nothing to give, God accepts the alms” (en. Ps. 125:5).