Word, WORSHIP, & Works of Mercy, part 2

Tuesday night at the Mission: Thomas Smith (from Idaho, not Colorado as I reported previously) opened the evening with a discussion of what is WORSHIP.  We usually consider worship something that we go to or do on Sunday at Church. But he explained worship is much more than that. Worship should become our way of life.

The Hebrew word for worship is AVODAH. And this word first appears in the Bible in Genesis 2:15. “The Lord God took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”  The Hebrew word for cultivate here also means to worship.  God was telling Adam and Eve to create a place to worship. The term “to keep it” in Hebrew “shamar” means “to guard jealously.” Thus, God is telling man to make a space (physically and in our day) to worship Him. And he wants us to keep this space in our world just for him, just for the purpose of worship.

Further, Smith explained that this word WORSHIP translates in Greek to the word PROSKUNEO.  This word also means “to kiss someone on the mouth,” as a bridegroom does to his bride. Thus, in this meaning we see that God is calling man to worship in a deeply personal, intimate relationship with Him. And we should worship him in awe and wonder and joy, with humility.

The linking of our relationship to God is also likened to a marriage relationship in the Hebrew faith when we look at Moses and the 10 Commandments. In the Jewish faith the 10 commandments are called the 10 Wedding Vows. (I will discuss more about the VOW later). In fact, when God presented them to Moses on Mount Sinai, the heavy clouds overhead have been likened to the Jewish wedding canopy. And in the Book of Revelation, the end of time is referred to as a great wedding feast, again with God as the bridegroom and man as the bride.

In early Jewish days, a bridal payment was made prior to the wedding. When the bridegroom’s offering was brought to the bride, she showed her agreement to marry him by accepting his sacrifice and responding with “AMEN.” With Christ, he made the payment to his “bride” by paying with his blood.  The Eucharist is always offered as a sacrifice in the Catholic Mass. During Eucharist at Mass we are renewing our wedding vows with Christ. We respond likewise at Holy Communion with the same “Amen” to show our acceptance of Christ as the bridegroom in our love relationship with him.

(This difference between a COMMANDMENT and a VOW is of utmost importance. A Commandment is an order, while a VOW is an agreement on the part of both parties. And a VOW is an equal promise between persons, like a covenant.)

Smith then discussed the importance of building a lifestyle of worship. This happens through prayer. Within the Catechism of the Catholic Church, there are four pillars of what Catholics believe. (The Profession of Faith, The Celebration of Christian Mystery, Life in Christ, and Christian Prayer.) The fourth pillar of the Catechism of the Catholic Church discusses the value of Christian prayer. Smith explained that there are four keys to the fourth pillar. Each of these keys are unquenchable, and unending:

1.     1.   Reading the Word of God (Scripture) – We must pray as we read Scripture; it nourishes us.
2.     Liturgy (The Holy Mass, Holy Eucharist is  powerful prayer) – It is the source of life and each Eucharist is like another Pentecost, a Spirit-filling event.
3.     The theological Virtues – We enter into prayer through FAITH. The Holy Spirit teaches us to pray in HOPE. And we receive God’s LOVE poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
4.     Today – The Spirit of God is offered to us each day and at each moment. It is in the present that we encounter Him, not yesterday or tomorrow, but today, “O that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts!”

Smith concluded his presentation with a prayer method called the Examen Prayer. (This type of prayer is NOT the same as the Catholic Examination of Conscience you may have heard of.) There are five steps to this prayer practice:

1.    1.    Express gratitude to God for the day.

2.    2.  Ask for the grace to see the truth about yourself: “Show me what you want me to see.”

3.    3. Review your day with Christ at your side. Where did you make him known in word and deed? Where may you have failed to mirror Christ to your world?
4.    Ask pardon for your sins.
5.    Make a concrete intention to act differently tomorrow, by God’s grace, using what you learned in the Examen. Close by praying the “Our Father.”

Smith notes that we will never grow or change if we don’t examine our day and our life. He recommends that we spend some time each day with this practice, and that it should be done at least once a week. Ideally, it should be done at the close of the day.

That's it for day two. It was a very enriching presentation and now I am challenged to try to apply what I have learned. I will have to pray for God’s graces to integrate these practices into my life. The next posting will summarize Day Three, which addresses the Works of Mercy.

Word, Worship, & Works of Mercy

This week my church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Temperance, MI, is hosting a 3-day mission for our parish. The speaker is Thomas Smith, from Colorado. He shared a little of his personal faith journey with us last night. You can read about his background as a former Mormon, and later a former Baptist minister, finally becoming a Catholic in the 1990s from a 2001 news article by clicking here. Mr. Smith now travels the country and the world presenting programs such as this one and the Great Adventures Catholic Bible series. He did an excellent job.

The topic of the 3-day mission is the three pillars: Word, Worship, and Works of Mercy. These teachings are found in the early Jewish faith (Rabbi Simeon the Just taught that “the world exists through three things: the Law, worship, and beneficence.” -Pirkei Avoth 1:2).  The three pillars later appeared in two famous sermons of Jesus (Matthew 5 – 7 and 23-25.)

On Monday night Smith addressed the first pillar, the need to study the Word—the Holy Bible. Smith discussed how many of us struggle to study the Bible. One method he mentioned was exactly the same as I discussed in an earlier posting on this site: Making a new year’s resolution to read the complete Bible in one year. Unfortunately, the narrative of the Bible gets people lost somewhere around Leviticus and then they give up. Another method he called “Bible Roulette.” In this method a person lets the Bible fall open, points to a passage, and reads and meditates on it. While this may work in some cases, often the passage has an obscure meaning, making it difficult to relate it to one’s daily life. Instead, it is best to read the Bible in the proper context of what is happening at that particular time, who the audience is, etc. Smith recommends learning about the Bible from Bible studies, good books, etc.

However, Smith did offer us an excellent way to study the Bible right now, even without much Bible background. We can use the Word in a prayerful way, through a method developed by St. Benedict and Pope Gregory I. The method is called Lectio Divina.  Lectio Divina (pronounced “lex-e-o   di-vee-nah”) is Latin for Divine Reading or Spiritual Reading. Smith recommends we do this daily. This method has four steps:

1-    Lectio (Reading) – Smith recommends choosing the Gospel passage of the day  (the reading from daily Mass is a great place to start.) The Gospel, the life and words of Jesus, are often the most easy to apply to our daily lives.

2-    Meditatio (Reflecting) – Certain phrases or passages will spark your spirit to respond to them. Focus on those.

3-    Oratio (Responding) – Turn what God has brought to your attention back to Him in the form of prayer.

4-    Contemplatio (Resting) – Give God some quiet time where you can be still in His presence.

Smith said we can better understand and recall this using the metaphor of eating a fine meal:

Step 1: The LECTIO is reading the Bible or taking a perfect “bite” of Holy Scripture to start with.

Step 2: The MEDITATIO is to “chew” on the word of God. Smith says that the pre-translated word for “meditation” is really more a sound.  The sound is the satisfactory noise one makes when digging into something tasty and satisfying, like when you slide cheesecake off your fork and into your mouth. Meditation as referred to here is not just the silent state of contemplation, but the pleasant sound of succor when are senses are filled.

Step 3: The ORATIO is when we are digesting the fine meal. In Scripture, we are bringing nourishment from the “food” of Scripture into our being to build the strength of our spirit. 

Step 4: The CONTEMPLATIO, or resting, is when we rest in the Word. It is the after-dinner period of rest when we internally acknowledge our satisfaction with the feast. It is the quiet time of prayer, where we allow all things to be still so that we can be with God. It is the ultimate act of hospitality, when we make time and space for God.

While Benedictine’s recommend an hour per day in Lexio Divina, Smith says everyone can benefit from just about 20 minutes daily of practicing this method of study and prayer. For a deeper explanation and understanding of this method of study and prayer, Smith recommends reading Praying for a Change: An Introduction to Lectio Divina by Dr. Tim Gray.  Thomas Smith also has a website where you can read more about his apostolate and his teachings. It is www.gen215.org.

If you are interested in attending the remaining sessions on Nov. 9 & 10, it is not too late to join us. On day two Smith will speak about Worship, where we will learn the Examen Prayer. On day three Smith will present how to incorporate the Works of Mercy into our lives. The gathering is in the church and the evening session runs from 7 to 8 pm, following 6:00 pm Mass. There is also a morning session after 9 am Mass. All are welcome to attend. There is no registration required and no fee to attend. If you would like to join me there, or have questions, just email me at bonnie@folkberry.com.  May God continue to guide you on your journey and have a blessed day!