Today marks the first day of my new discipline of mental prayer following the VLX (video Lectio Divina) method - a form of Lectio Divina popularized recently by Sensus Fidelium and Pilgrim Priest on the now very popular Youtube medium for learning. I will commit 15 minutes a day to meditate on 1 verse in my daily gospel reading. So today's verse is Luke 8:15. If you follow the link from Biblegateway.com I opened up 4 translations: NRSVCE, Mounce (Greek), Vulgate (Latin), and either NIV or MSG. I will simply read the verse multiple times in the original Greek and these multiple translations to try to understand what Jesus is actually saying to me. Then I set my timer (key to success), then be silent and listen... 15 minutes later:
What spoke to me most was on this one part:
"hold firmly onto the word (logos) and
bear fruit (karpophoreō) through patient endurance (hypomonē)"
What I'll do:
- I will commit this verse (as the word of God) into memory
- I will hold on to Christ - the Word of God - to love Him and gaze on His beauty, to pray to him without ceasing
- I will be patient (not my time but His time)
- I will endure (which will include sufferings no doubt)
- I will anticipate and long for the fruit - praise Him and be thankful
What is so beautiful about the Biblegaeway.com is the feature that when I clicked on the word "karpophoreō" I get this extra information from the Strong Concordance: καρποφορέω (karpophoreō); Strong: G2592; GK: G2844 - to bear fruit, yield, Mk. 4:28; met, to bring forth the fruit of action or conduct, Mt. 13:23; Rom. 7:5; mid. to expand by fruitfulness, to develop itself by success, Col. 1:6, 10
This speaks to my intellect but can be distracting...
I look forward to doing this every day or as often as I can. I am thankful for the many ways these tools can help me grow in my faith.
This morning the men's group I am part of had a zoom session on
Aquinous 101 - Powers of the Soul.
Imitation of Christ - Book 1 Fourth Chapter - Prudence in Action.
Great discussion and I learned a lot from my brothers in Christ!
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