Contemplative Moment
Lectio Divina puts the experience of contemplative within our reach. As the word ‘moment’ suggests it is an experience that we come to on the lectio journey. As Fr Michel presents it, this is not a new stage on the journey because trust in God’s presence (which is a the core of contemplative prayer) is already an important dimension of our prayers of thanksgiving, repentance and petition.
Every passage of scripture has the potential to dispose us to this deep prayer. After a while the words become fewer and fewer and the presence of God takes over – drawing us into greater silence and stillness. With faith, and in trust, we surrender to His mysterious presence.
At the Father’s invitation we rest our hearts simply and receptively in His love. There is no longer any need to say anything or to do anything. We are just content to be there as His beloved children – a moment of oneness with God, with God with each other and with all of creation. In the contemplative moment we let go and we let God, leaving ourselves – our whole selves- in God’s hands. And allowing him to breathe His Spirit into us – to mould us and shape us, to use us for his work.
From experience we know that this journey into silence and stillness can be often be disrupted by distractions of one kind or another. Fr Michel suggests the use of a sacred word or phrase from the passage that might serves as a kind of ‘mantra’ on the journey into His presence. Ideally, a word that has become important for us in our meditation and prayer; a word that holds something of the presence of God that we have already encountered. When repeated in the quiet of the heart, it can help us to let go gently of the distraction and put us back on track.
It is important to remember that the contemplative moment is not an end in itself but a precious experience (part of our birth-right as beloved children of God) that nourishes within us the contemplative attitude: a deep trust in the presence and activity of God in all the circumstances of our lives. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to be ‘contemplatives in action.’ The contemplative moment fosters a deep trust that God is there, that God’s love is there and that His is at work in our lives and in our world; and that someday soon we will experience the final victory of that love.