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The National Catholic Broadcasting Council presents Let Us Reflect Together Forty Days of Lent Retreat From the Cross to Hope. Day 29, Entering the Passion with Mark, Listening for God's Voice, with Cardinal Thomas Collins.

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Well, welcome everyone to Lexio Divina this evening. I'm very glad to be here at St. Clement's to celebrate this form of prayer, which is a very ancient form of prayer in the church. This is a way of praying the Word of God. It is divine reading, Lexio Divina. And it is not the study of the Word of God, that's exegesis. That's when we go into the background, read commentaries, try to understand the setting within which the Word of God came to us, the human setting. And it's not exactly the liturgical reading, that's where we at Mass, the prime home for the Word of God, where we proclaim the Word of God in the assembly of God's people, especially at the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. That's where much of the New Testament certainty began. So that's profound, that's very important. No, this is the praying of the Word of God. And it takes many different forms from ancient times. The idea of simply reading it out, especially aloud, that's a good idea. Speed reading is good maybe for, I don't know, a few things, lists, shopping lists, newspapers, things like that. But something that is profound and important, it's always good to read aloud because we can catch it with our ears, with our eyes, with our mouth. Abraham Lincoln once used to bother his law partner because he read everything aloud. And when the partner said to him, Abraham, why are you always reading aloud? He said, Well, I get it in with my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my it sticks better if you read it that way. And that's what we will do in this form of prayer. In fact, uh, it's sometimes difficult, though. If you're in the church, I wouldn't recommend reading aloud, everyone reading aloud. It bothers others when they're trying to pray. So there's a little, you know, common courtesy dictates we'd be a little more careful. But at Mass, the Word is read aloud. And if we have a chance, we should do that. And that's what we'll do tonight. I will read aloud the Word of God. And after we read it, we then think about it and say to ourselves, what does this passage say to my head, to my heart, to my hands? I remember a couple of years ago when I was in grade one, well, maybe more than a couple of years ago, the old thing is, why did God make you? He made to know, to love, and to serve. Head, heart, and hands. We are to know, to love, and to serve God. And so when we hear the passage read out, we should say, what does this tell me about God and about our Lord Jesus coming amongst us? How does it draw us to love Him more? And what does it practically ask us to do? Every time we read any piece of scripture, we should say, What does it say to my head, my heart, and my hands? So first we read it, then we think of that, and I'll throw in some thoughts to try to help a little bit with that, prime the pump of it. And then after that, we meditate upon the Word of God, and then we finally, in our heart of hearts, we say, Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. From reading to thinking to seeing what it says about our life, how can we serve? This is the meaning of Lecture Divina.

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Entering the Passion with Mark, listening for God's voice.

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In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's just let our hearts be still. Ask the Lord's forgiveness for those things which are barriers. Let's ask the Lord to help us form a pathway to our hearts. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Away with all those distractions, those things that clutter up our minds and hearts. Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening. Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening. And on the first day of the unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover? He is celebrating the Passover of the Jewish people. He and his disciples. They're a community that comes together, a community of faith to worship the Lord God. And they want to know where they will do that together. And he is in control. He always is. He isn't disorganized. He knows what he will do, and he does it. And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the city, and a man carrying a water jar of water will meet you. Follow him. And wherever he enters, say to the householder, The teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. There prepare for us. And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. This is the plan of the Lord. He is to come to celebrate the Passover with His disciples this last time. As he offers Himself up in sacrifice. It is all according to the plan, the divine providence of God. And the disciples go and see the way in which the Lord has prepared it for them. We must, each one of us, so often we think we want to be in control. Yet the Lord is guiding us day by day. He arranges things much more fully than he arranged the Passover. And set up that man with a little signal. It was a bit unusual for a man to be carrying a water jar in those days. That would be usually women would be carrying a water jar. The sweet stick out a little bit there. It was a bit unusual. He set a signal for his disciples and got it set up. So often we don't trust the Lord to take care of our lives. But we need to more and more. You know the old saying, entrust the past to God's mercy, entrust the future to God's providence, that he's going to take care of us. And in the present moment, say, Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will. We see the beginning of that. We see it very, very much in the Gospel of John. But even in the Gospel of Mark, which is much more rugged than that of the Gospel of John, much less sublime, we see the hand of God, our Lord Jesus guiding his disciples. So let's pray the Lord to help each one of us to be more docile, more humble, less wanting to have our hand on the steering wheel, a little more ready to listen to where the Lord is guiding us, and maybe to watch for the little signals he sets in front of us. Perhaps not a man carrying a water jar, but what are the signals the Lord gives to us of what he wants us to do? They're all around us if we will be attentive. And not so caught up in ourselves that we do not see his will for us. How does this affect my life? My head, my heart, my hands.

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Join us tomorrow for Day 30, Entering the Passion with Mark, between Betrayal and Mercy, with Cardinal Thomas Collins. For more information, please email us at info at ncbc.ca, visit our website at dailytvmass.com, or call our office toll free at one eight eight eight three eight three six two seven seven seven seven seven seven.