Lectio Divina for the Nineteenth Week  in Ordinary Time

We begin our prayer:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father, bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

(Collect, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Reading (Lectio)

Read the following Scripture two or three times.

John 6:41-51

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets:

        They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Meditation (Meditatio)

After the reading, take some time to reflect in silence on one or more of the following questions:

• What word or words in this passage caught your attention? 
• What in this passage comforted you? 
• What in this passage challenged you? If practicing lectio divina as a family or in a group, after the reflection time, invite the participants to share their responses.

Prayer (Oratio)

Read the Scripture passage one more time. Bring to the Lord the praise, petition, or thanksgiving that the Word inspires in you.

Contemplation (Contemplatio)

Read the Scripture again, followed by this reflection:

What conversion of mind, heart, and life is the Lord asking of me?

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him. How have I experienced God’s call? How have I responded to that call?

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. How can I become more attentive to the Father’s voice? How can I learn from him?

The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. What effects does the Eucharist have in my life? How can I give of myself for the world?

After a period of silent reflection and/or discussion, all recite the Lord’s Prayer and the following: 

Closing Prayer:

I will bless the LORD at all times;     his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the LORD;            the lowly will hear me and be glad.

Glorify the LORD with me,                Let us together extol his name.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me       And delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.

            And your faces may not blush with shame. When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard,     And from all his distress he saved him.

The angel of the LORD encamps

            around those who fear him and                      delivers them.

Taste and see how good the LORD is;           blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

(From Psalm 34)

Living the Word This Week

How can I make my life a gift for others in charity?

Spend some time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

Excerpts from the New American Bible, revised edition ©

2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.