Lectio Divina for the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
We begin our prayer:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
O God, who teach us that you abide
in hearts that are just and true,
grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace
as to become a dwelling pleasing to you.
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, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading (Lectio)
Read the following Scripture two or three times.
Jesus came down with the twelve and stood on a stretch
of level ground with a great crowd of his disciples and a
large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. And raising his
eyes toward his disciples he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your
reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors
treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false prophets in
this way.”
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?
Blessed are you who are now weeping,/ for you will
laugh. What burdens or circumstances in life grieve me?
What things in life bring me joy?
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. What
reward do I seek from God? What do I imagine that
heaven will be like?
Woe to you when all speak well of you,/ for their
ancestors treated the false prophets in this way. When
have I pursued others’ good opinion of me rather than
what was right? How do I treat those who speak
uncomfortable truths?
After a period of silent reflection and/or discussion,
all recite the Lord’s Prayer and the following:
Closing Prayer:
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked,
nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
but delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
From Psalm 1
Living the Word This Week
How can I make my life a gift for others in charity?
Pray for those who have died, especially those who
have no one to pray for them.
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.
Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal ©
2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy
Corporation. All rights reserved