Praying over Scripture works

Seventh in a Lenten series on Stewardship -- A Life of Prayer

	Stewardship Stewardship: A Way of Life is the diocesan thrust. It invites Catholics to acknowledge that all of life is a gift of God and to respond through prayer, service and sharing. This series will look at ways to do that.

Praying over Scripture is a method of prayer St. Ignatius Loyola made popular almost 500 years ago in the Spiritual Exercises. Today, people all over the world use this way of praying daily.

Last month, I was in Australia, where I was reminded of the fruitfulness and relevance of this kind of prayer. I met clergy, religious, and lay persons from Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia who use prayer over Scripture daily, as do many people in Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Lent
• Lent-related articles  • 2003 Lenten Wish List (3/7 issue)  • Lenten rules (2/28 issue)

The theology underpinning this kind of prayer is ancient and can be found in documents of the Second Council of Orange in 529.

Praying over Scripture should not be confused with a class or lecture about Scripture or a Bible study group, in which one learns the history, background, or practical application of a passage. These have no general expectation that the passage will engage one's heart or challenge one to change one's life. In prayer over Scripture, one meets God personally and individually. That encounter demands a conversion.

Prayer over Scripture boldly assumes that God will deal directly with me, and that I will be personally involved in this relationship. It is not primarily about faithfully keeping a particular law or regulation. It is about taking seriously today's inspirations and encounters with the Spirit of Jesus and being willing to incarnate them.

It takes a certain faith and simplicity to begin a period of prayer over Scripture by asking, "Dear God, reveal yourself to me at a level deeper than I now know. Help me to know what you wish me to know. Lead me where you wish to lead me" (Fr. Peter Beer, SJ). One then prays with the confidence that this opening prayer will be answered.

Holy Week is an excellent time to try this kind of praying. It is not difficult.

At the next prayer time, with the background of all I learned in a class or a discussion or by reading footnotes and cross-references, I allow myself to enter the Gospel story with particular attention to movements of feeling and desire.

I observe the characters of the story, their interaction, and their attitudes toward each other. I might move from being an observer to being a participant, knowing that the blind man on the road to Jericho (Lk 18:35-43) or the paralytic being lowered through the ceiling (Mk 2:10-12) are, indeed, me and that Jesus is saying to me, "What would you have me do for you?" or "Your sins are forgiven."

I might catch my own movements of puzzlement, gratitude, joy and repentance and stop in amazement at what Jesus is telling me. I might tell Jesus what I need and trust that I will receive it. Out of that prayer there may come a renewed resolve to bring about this grace in some concrete way for those people and structures with whom I live and work.

Sometimes, people think it must have been easier to pray when Jesus was actually present to the apostles, and the apostles heard these stories first hand. However, there is no privileged moment in history. In the Latin liturgy, each Gospel reading began with the phrase, "In illo tempore" ("At that time Jesus said"). "That time" is today as much as it is any other time in history. The initiative of grace, the inspiration of the Spirit, and the underpinning of faith is as present to us now as it was 2,000 years ago to the apostles.

Prayer over Scripture is one of God's invitations to be intimate with God. With great confidence we believe in the closeness of God to us and we delight in the promise, "how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." (Lk 11:9-13).

(Sr. Roemer is a spiritual director living in Appleton.)

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